Artistry in metal, stone and glass
Wow, is this Holiday season racing by! Hope you are staying warm and enjoying lots of goodies! I have been a very busy girl filling orders and being Santa’s little helper. But that doesn’t leave much time to write right now! I will be back in force after the Holiday Season and hope to see you then!
Until then I wish you all a
Very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New Year
A place for me to bring you along on my jewelry making journey!
Writing my very own jewelry making blog has been on my mind for quite a while. But it has taken me some time to work up the courage to get really serious and get started on this newest venture of mine. I am far from computer savvy and anything tech related pretty much sends shivers down my spine. But I love to create and I love to write – so it is time to overcome my inner “nay-sayer” and just go for it.
I hope you’ll stop by frequently to check out what’s happening at my little work bench! I want to get one thing out of the way first: I am no expert by any means. But I do love creating jewelry and I am always trolling for ideas on how to improve my skills, come up with new designs, finding new materials.
Whenever possible I want to incorporate as many locally sourced components as possible. Join me as I explore! I am just putting my feelers out to connect with other local artists and I am already amazed at how many equally passionate jewelry buffs are all around me! The possibilities are endless.
When you are stuck in the zone and spend hour after hour working on your creations, it’s easy to forget how many kindred spirits are right there with you! And I am happy to report that I have encountered nothing but sharing, generous artists. It is a lovely community!
Enjoy your day and check back often to see what’s new and happening in my work shop!
For the past six years I have been a wife and a mother who no longer works outside the home. I have been a mother for nearly eighteen years, a wife for longer than I can remember. My family is not your typical family. My younger son has autism and requires a significant amount of care and attention. My husband has been battling cancer for the past year. Oh yes, and there is my oldest, to whom I will refer as the teenage person in the house.
And the cutest black lab mix you could ever lay eyes on.
Flexibility is a definite must.
When I first came across Etsy a couple of years ago, I loved it just for the browsing and dreaming of beautiful things that would almost certainly never find their way to my house. A household full of male creatures does not bode well for beautiful things!
Over time I became more and more interested in the stories of those selling their creations on Etsy and it slowly dawned on me that many of them were people just like me, passionate about craft and motivated to sell their goods. From what I could tell Etsy seemed user friendly enough and so far I can say that it has been. I do love how I can always fall back and ask just about any question in one of the many forums and it will be answered by someone who may have encountered a similar issue within minutes. I love the fact that Etsy features different stores at regular intervals! I love reading about how various sellers have overcome obstacles and found their own version of success. And of course I dream of being interviewed for one of their features some day…
Doesn’t everyone?
I finally took the Etsy plunge last November. I have to confess I was pretty naive. I completely underestimated the time and effort required over and above what it took to make my jewelry. Photography can be a real bear! And it is incredibly intimidating when you see the gorgeous pictures featured on the front page. I shudder even now when I look back at some of the photos I took in the very early beginning! Let’s not forget that for all intents and purposes I am still a newbie! But not as green as I was then, thank God!
On the left is an example of one of my early attempts at photography! Geez Louise!
The right is an example of how my pictures look right now.
We’ll dissect this in the next post, alright?
If you are like me, passionate about your craft and want to earn an extra buck doing it and just aren’t quite sure if a platform like Etsy could work for you I invite you to follow along on this journey!