just hangin' around...

oh boy what fun i have had making key chains using vintage silverplate silverware, in this case forks...
a neat thing about these key chains is they hang over the side of a purse pocket, adding a little "bling" decorative effect, but the best thing is you just grab the handle of the key chain, no more digging through your purse hunting for your keys.
great for when you've got too much stuff in your hands to hunt for your keys..

oodles of vintage silverplate patterns available, these forks have been around the block a 'few' times so there are some age 'spots'-scratches etc adding to the patina

wanna come up and see my etchings?

okay, i don't know what old movie that saying is from or if anyone besides me is still alive who has ever heard it but i couldn't resist (pun intended) using it as the title for this post on my new etched copper fishing charm key chains
I've been playing around with my charm templates in publisher since Jan and FINALLY  the day arrived I knuckled down, finalised my designs, and had all the pieces in place to etch...
i printed out my designs on PNP blue etchant paper, mixed up my etchant chemical, cleaned my sawn copper blanks...adhered the designs to the metal and floated the pieces in the etchant
i was so impatient waiting for my etchings, i tapped the side of the plastic container to remove the etched particles to speed up the process and pass some time.... tick tock, lift, check, nope not etched enough yet

fishing reel

FINALLY  i had my etchings: Reel HOT fishing charms to hopefully bring good luck to this year's fishing season


assorted Reel HOT fishing charm key chains

bill fish Reel HOT key chain

bass fishing charm Reel HOT key chain

bye bye godaddy website

sigh, with in the hour my godaddy website will be no more. sort of sad to see it's demise. it was a huge pain to use the 'back store' features.
for those of you who aren't familiar with all the things brick and mortar stores have to do to get product on the racks and shelves so you can buy it, there is so much work involved.
so i bought this godaddy website tonite and 'easy' shopping cart. oh my goodnes, i click on it for the first time and it's so foreign, thought about asking to intern in a retail back office so i could learn what to do. but eventually i figure out how it worked but it was soooo cumbersome. i just didn't upload my products for sale. (hey i'm not alone in not using a godaddy shop after purchase, i've got many friends that throw up their hands as well)
 in an online store, there is a slew of things involved.: assigning product numbers, uploading inventory counts, taking pics and then editing them, sizing for the website uploads,  writing your item descriptions, mangaing your categories and subcategories, yada yada
finally a fellow jewelry maker told me about a website deal with supadupame. they are a UK based ecommerce site and so much easier to use than godaddy.
so today i finally bit the bullet, forward important emails stored in the godaddy goldenwaters acct, copied item descriptions and cancelled my godaddy site. the good news is i get 5 months refund...yeah
then i had to redirect my domain name to the supadupa site. just waiting for that change to take effect, fingers crossed i did everything correctly.
boy i wear soooo many business hats in my one woman business
it's the creating that i love but these other things are so necessary but time consuming

going to aspiring metalsmith spring gathering in Fl

yahoo, hubster agreed to change the date for client spring party so now i can attend the aspiring metalsmith May gathering in st petersburg, fl.
still in the final planning stages, around 15 or so going. 3 four hour metal workshops, an evening craft booth at saturday nite Art walk.  lots of time to talk, hopefully some beach walking time.
our group has never had a meet-up but some lucky folks have met on their own in various parts of USA.
the reason i woke him up this a.m. to ask about changing party was the fact that Barbara Lewis will be teaching one of our workshops. i've been a member of her online Painting with Fire group for years (actually met a fellow PWF member when i did the thompson enamel workshop in Ky in sept '10.)
Here's a link to Barbara's book, so many new PWF group members from their seeing the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Torch-Fired-Enamel-Jewelry-Workshop-Painting/dp/1440308861

 how lucky for us she is moving to St Pete and will have her studio ready to teach us....

the party date adjustment will mean a bit of crazyness. Saturday will be hubster's high school yearly reunion party and then Sunday will be client party. we usually have about 80 or so folks hanging out in the back yard for that one.

valentine's day

must share this joke a fellow crafter posted on one of my etsy team threads.......

After she woke up, a woman told her husband, "I just dreamed you gave me a diamond necklace for Valentine’s Day. What do you think it means?"


"You’ll know tonight," he said.

That evening the husband came home with a small package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it--to find a book entitled “The Meaning of Dreams.”

hope you enjoyed the chuckle.
I don't have any diamonds in the shop but check out my other goodies...

some gift suggestions from artisan friends of mine

have you heard of Etsy? an online venue for handcrafted items, supplies and vintage?
one of the great things about Etsy is the community of artisans from around the world. we can join teams based on techniques used, business topics, etc to help with business ideas and to get answers on how to do certain techiniques.

so the starting gate is just about to open on the holiday shopping season...
i thought i'd showcase some of my teamies. the artisan industry has huge dollar influx into USA economy but artisans are constantly battling up against mass produced imported items.we unusually can't compete on price but we pour lots of love into our creations...please take a look at these handmade items and try to support an artisan... school budgets keep leading to more arts programs cut so where is our next generation of artisan going to learn? american crafts have always been a big part of our culture. please help keep us around... and the best part is you get some unique items to enjoy...

laura lives in MA and has a goat herd, how cool is that? her soaps are fabulous
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TrystingTreeFarm?ref=pr_shop_more

Tropical xmas tree skirt

Annie is a  local Southern Californian. as you know we can have wonderfully warm xmas. i don't miss MI winter. would it be tooo cruel to send this xmas skirt to someone buried in snow?!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/anniekdesigns

 whimsey, what a great word and feeling, lets add some in to our lives....
you can order custom banners for your special events
http://www.etsy.com/shop/simplewhimsey?ref=ss_profile

Jenn can also create custom cards for you. i love this happy card
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sophienme?ref=ss_profile

carol has cards for many occasions
http://www.etsy.com/shop/QuirkynBerkeleyCards?ref=seller_info

okay it can get cold here...
dana makes fun hats
http://www.etsy.com/shop/danadooleydesigns?ref=seller_info


heres one last one, a tote bag to carry with you, made by a high school friend and former neighbor.


melissa is a fabulous seamstress. we have a baby quilt she made Scott. she has bags in many styles along with other fabric items such as book covers
http://www.etsy.com/shop/japanesqueaccents?ref=seller_info

wishing you all a safe fun Thanksgiving weekend,
jeanne

how many earrings can i design in a year's time?

how many pairs of earrings can i design in a year's time? it turns out alot! at the beginning of the year in 2010, i set a goal of just going in the studio and making 5 pairs a month.... lol now i could easily make 50 different pairs a month
obviously i can't give all of them a home on MOI ears, so i will be listing alot of pretty new ones to go on their way to a new home all over the USA...
here are some samples. i still struggle drastically with my photos, my creations are much prettier in person...

a pair of lampwork glass barn owls for my MOD friends, you know whooooo you are

a small pair of xmas ornament looking red glass beads with copper accents swirled around

i love these eggplanty purple glass beads, the side is a matte finish, the front and back are polished so it's like you can see into the heart.. accented w/ assorted glass beads these are on sterling silver earwires

i love the ocean, anyone want to go on an island vacation? these remind me of ocean waters, the triangular glass bead has several ocean blue tones, the shell dangle is silverplate

so those are just a few of the ones waiting to go up in the shop. i've got scads more using freshwater pearls in assorted colors and shapes, fance semiprecious gems in briolette shapes w/ faceted rondelles...
hopefully tomorrow will be a good day of photgraphing and uploading...