Finished!

The necklace is made with fancy cut Garnets and faceted Labradorite. The reason that I made this is because while we were at the FaerieWorlds Festival this summer, my best friend saw a necklace similar to this, it was beautiful and she fell in love with it. She wanted it so badly, but refused to buy it out of guilt or something because I make jewelry. Though I told her over and over again to purchase it, that I would never make something like that (I didn't have the stones on hand, and the style isn't something that I do or make)...she still wouldn't budge. So out of my love for her, for her friendship and obvious loyalty I decided a couple of months ago that I would try to make something similar to the necklace that she fell in love with. I really struggled with my memory of it....it's not what it used to be that's for sure, but I think it's close and I hope she likes it.

This will be one of her Yule/Christmas gifts along with a matching pair of earrings. We're meeting tonight to enjoy some coffee and other such goodies. With the holiday's being so hectic we didn't have time to get together. Her basket is going to be packed full...I can't wait :)

Busy Creating

Here's what I've been creating lately as gifts for the girls at work and for the women in my family for Christmas. The pearls are larger than what I wanted them to be...it gives the pendant more of a peekaboo effect with the initial stamping. I had a great time oxidizing them then using steel wool to give them a slight patina.



I'll try to post more about the oxidation technique later...super easy and I'm sure for those of you that read the how to's it's not going to be anything new, but I created a little trick that I'd like to share with you in a later post.



This will probably be my last post until after the holidays so I wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year!!

Holiday Rush

I will probably only be posting a couple of times a week until after the Holiday Season. It's been crazy busy around here between my day job, Etsy, Christmas parties, shopping, making gifts and cooking a lot of goodies. I haven't even had time to post anything new on Shophandmade.com, but hopefully after Christmas I'll be able to focus a bit more on my shop there.

EAST, the Etsy Street team that I'm a member of, all signed up on Elfster to do a Secret Santa Gift Exchange. I had never heard of this site, but it's the bomb! Once you've signed up, send the link to a group of friends, family or coworkers so they can sign up. Fill in your wishlist and all the other requirements like spending limit etc. Then it automatically matches people up. Everything is anonymous, so you can ask all the questions you want of the person that you drew and they don't have a clue who their Secret Santa is. We're doing all handmade items, and set a date where all of us will join in a chatroom and open our presents. Of course there may be some of us that might peek a little early....oohhh nooo...not me :) No really any packages that I get that I'm not expecting my son is going to hide from me until it's time to open them! Yes, I was one of those kids that shook the package with my name on it, and sometimes even tried to unwrap the gift to get a peek. I was such a bad girl! It should be fun, and it's definitely a site I'm going to recommend to others including my day job.

Well I'm off to get the last of my weekend purchases packaged and ready to be shipped out tomorrow. This last month on Etsy has been phenomenal for me! Love...love....love it!

Holidays, Sales and Shopping

I hope everyone survived Thanksgiving. Though I enjoyed spending all of that time with family, after 3 turkey dinners, I'm thankful it's over!

I was not one of the brave ones who shopped during the wee hours on Black Friday, but I heard that it was pretty crowded....I'll leave that day of shopping for the die hards! I don't shop the day after Christmas either. Don't get me wrong, I love shopping, but I don't like the large crowds, plus with my back I can't stand in lines for hours either.

The Etsy Street Team that I'm on is having our 2nd Annual Winter Wonderland Event Sale. With each of our members offering discounts in one way or another in their shops. So if you have any last minute holiday shopping to do then be sure to search on Etsy for items with the WWEE tag.

I'm offering a free pair of earrings plus 10% off all of my items with the WWEE tag and an additional 10% off all items in my Sale Section for a total of 25% off.

Here are just a few of my items that are included in EAST's 2nd Annual Winter Wonderland Event:

Handmade Gifts for Christmas

I have a lot of people to buy for so these last few years I've been making gifts for my family, friends and co-workers. I always make some type of jewelry gift for all of the women, but for the men...well they don't really do jewelry (at least not the ones in my little circle) so they tend to get bought gifts. Though I am making polar fleece throw blankets for my boys...they've been wanting them for awhile now after I made one for one of their girlfriends. It's really easy, just buy the polar fleece fabric in whatever length you want them in. Buy 2, one can have a pattern and the other can be a solid color. Pin the fabric together right side facing out. Cut strips along the outside edge of the entire blanket, 2" wide by 4" in length, and tie each set of 2 strips (front and back together) in a double knot. Voila...super easy! If I didn't explain myself well, just post a comment and I'll help you out.

This year for the women, I'm making hand stamped Initial Pendants with Pearls and Birthstones. I just purchased my stamps and sterling silver tags and can't wait to get started on them. In a sense it's a 2for1 deal, I bought the items to make for gifts BUT I'll be able to use them for my jewelry business. I'm looking forward to start listing some of these pendants in my store.

Told you...

That she'd love the box more than any other gift she got! She's too stinkin' cute! I got a new camera for Christmas and it has some fun features, so I gave her wings and a crown. She's a Fairy Princess!

Christmas is going to be soooo much fun this year...

because of this cutie petutie! I can't believe my niece is 6 months already...and she's just too darned cute. She's sitting up on her own now and she has so many more milestones ahead of her, I can't wait. She'll have so many gifts this year but I'm sure she's going to be more interested in the wrapping paper and the boxes than anything else. I remember how my kids could care less about the gifts, they just wanted the boxes...LOL It's amazing how fast they grow!

It's definately that time of year....

when everything is hectic and life is moving at mach speed! I'm enjoying this holiday season, even though I'm starting to feel a little run down but Christmas is right around the corner. I still need to make a list of everything that I've bought and all the things I still need to buy...eeek!

Here's a bracelet that I've listed this week. I used Charoite, Amethyst, purple Kiwi Jasper and sterling silver. I haven't had alot of time to make new pieces, I've been working on orders for my co-workers which has kept me away from my computer and my Etsy store *sigh*

Speaking of which, I've got to go make more snowman pendants for my co-workers, hopefully I'll have more time soon to pay attention to my blog, create and list some new pieces on Etsy, but until then I'll try to post something every other day.

A little something...

for my co-workers! I'm making these little snowman charms/pendants and a fun Holiday Bag of Magic. These turned out to be the cutest little things. I used Swarovski Crystals and sterling silver to make these little guys. I do wish I could've found some red crystal rondelles, but the green will do!