In Gemstone Cluster Heaven

Ok, it has been so long since I've posted that blogger has changed the entire back end of the blog and I have no clue what I'm doing.  HA!

What have I been doing since my last post?  Oh my word.  It has been crazy.  One of the biggest changes has been a complete redo to my website.  Quick history...when I used to sell on my website I used...well, let's call it Option A, as my website host and shopping cart.  Back then it was totally adequate for my needs.  A couple of years ago I decided to consolidate all my selling to just my Etsy shop.  That worked well for years, but, with all the updates and changes Etsy has been making, I have been itching to get my website rolling again.  So I finally logged back into my Option A account to update my website from my old green dominated logo to my new stark white minimalist logo.  Uhm.  I ran into problems immediately.  One, I really have no clue what I'm doing with HTML, etc., which is why my blog looks the way it does.  LOL  Very simple, not much to it.  *grin*  I totally know where my skills are deficient. HA!  So I started looking into hiring someone to update my website.  All the while my friend, fellow jewelry designer, and business owner extraordinaire Rhonda of Prolifique Jewelry and I have been debating reopening our websites and discussing all the details (actually, we've been talking about this for over a year).  We started looking into other webhosts/shopping cart packages and within hours of starting our search it became overwhelmingly apparent that I would be changing web hosts/shopping cart. While Option A was completely adequate, it was not going to work for what we wanted.  I wanted MUCH more for my website than what Option A was offering.  After weeks/months of research in our spare time (*pause for hysterical laughter* what spare time??!!!) we decided on Big Commerce.  I love it.  I really do.  So I have been spending any spare second building my website using one of their templates which I have since figured out how to modify slightly.  The website look is not perfect, but, compared with what I had....I'm very happy.  Over time I will figure out how to continue modifying things behind the scenes to conform with the image I have in my head...but until then, I'm so happy with the update.  And I'm happy that I was able to do it myself and not have to hire a MUCH more experienced person/company to do it for me.  *grin*  All that money I saved went into buying new gemstones of course!!  hahahaha....

While I haven't made the "official, official" announcement to my newsletter subscribers yet, my website is live and yes I'm taking orders.  Uhm, I wasn't QUITE ready to take orders yet, but ah, if you build it, obviously they will come as I've already had an order unexpectedly after I went live.  HA So I guess things work!  *grin*  I'm finishing up some of the last little details (changing merchant accounts, etc.) this week and then I'll be sending out my newsletter, etc., to "officially" open.  *grin*

So that is one of the biggest things that has been going on...there is sooo much going on right now.  I am not a person who does busy well, HA...I actually dislike being insanely busy.  I really like quite time and chaos-free time, but, that is far and few between lately.  I'm thinking it will be another 16 or so years until things really settle down into some semblance of relaxing peace.  *grin* 

My favorite thing to do when it gets this busy, especially the weekends hubby is not working, is to sit and make gemstone clusters.  And I have been the gemstone cluster queen lately.  HA!  I have been listing quite a few new Gemstone Cluster Earrings over the past week, and several have already sold.  My favorites:

The only pair from the above which has not sold (yet! LOL) is the bottom, Crystal Quartz and Black Tourmalinated Quartz.  They are located on my website.  The rest have been sold.

Ok, I keep getting distracted by little monkeys....LOL  More soon! 

New Gemstones Listed

Yesterday I made it my mission to add more gemstones to my Gems Shop. And oh boy....did I! LOL I have some personal favorites that I listed. Here is some eye candy to tempt you! *grin*

Moss Aquamarine Rondelles, available HERE

Multi-Color Quartz faceted round beads, available HERE

Pink Mystic Quartz Onions, available HERE

Green Fluorite Briolettes, available HERE

Pink, Green and Blue Tourmaline faceted rondelles *YUM!!*, available HERE

I have also listed Tundra Sapphire rondelles, 2 lots of Labradorite briolettes, Black Tourmalinated Quartz rondelles, and more. I also have soooo many more to list its just not funny. I have a feeling the task of listing my overstock is going to take me months. LOL!

Long, Lost Neglected Gems Shop

LOL! Morning ya'll! I can't believe it has been two months since I posted. Seriously I need to have flashing neon lights around my computer reminding me that I have a blog!

Anyhoo....so many new pieces have been posted in the last two months. Many different Shimmer Layers Necklaces with gemstone in Oxidized Sterling Silver, tons of Duets Necklaces, oodles of gemstone earrings and my latest enjoyment has been diving back into gold. Right now I am mostly working in 14K Gold Fill, but, I will more than likely bring back my Solid Gold pieces at some point in the next couple of months. I am recreating many of my Silver PMC pendant shapes with the Gold Fill and sawing them out of 14k Gold Fill sheet metal. I haven't used my jewelry saw in so long I forgot about how soothing it is to just sit and create with it! LOL Quite a few basic shape pendants and earrings have already been posted...with many more to come and also tons of pieces that combine gemstone with the Gold Fill.

My Sale Section. I haven't been updating it as often as I'd like, but, people are enjoying what I put on sale. I will continue to leave it for a couple of months, but, at some point I will more than likely go back to newsletters and coupon codes. I'm undecided right now....what are your thoughts?

The REAL reason for this post. *cheesy grin* Thankfully my jewelry shop has been slower this month and it has given me time to gather together the hoards and hoards of gemstones that are just laying around waiting for new homes. Yes, I am FINALLY updating my Gems Shop. I feel like I have an endless supply of gemstones to list. Many of them I will be listing at or below my purchase price, most of which I purchased wholesale and/or for discounted prices. Why am I letting them go for such a low price? Because I just want them GONE!! They are gems I will never use again and they truly need new homes. I'm not looking for a profit...I just want them out of my studio. The other thing I am doing behind the scenes is a serious reorganization of my studio....decluttering, throwing away tons of paper, boxing up tools I haven't used in eons (uh, pretty much my entire soldering station....LOL) and just trying to clear a path in my jam-packed studio. With this reorganization comes the offloading of pounds and pounds of gems. I know I've been talking about it for years, but, it is finally happening....I'm going to be a listing machine over the next few months photographing, editing and getting those gems out there for ya'll to buy. So PLEASE. I BEG YOU.... LOLOL! Help me clean out my studio!!

Ok, the littlest cutie patootie is making the entire house know she is awake and ready to eat and play.....Have fun shopping ya'll!!!!

New SALE Section

Ok, so I'm going to try something new and see how well it goes. Typically, I send out newsletters each month with a coupon code with a nice discount for my newsletter subscribers and I also post the coupons on my Facebook page. Instead, I am going to try a SALE section in my shop and each week on Sunday or Monday (whichever day I have more time, LOL!) I will update the SALE section with new pieces that have been discounted up to 50%. Every week the SALE section will change, so just because you see a certain pair of earrings or a certain necklace in there now, does NOT mean it will be there the following week. I will also *NOT* be sending newsletters with coupon codes for several months so I can see how well this SALE section goes. I have had several favorable comments from my customers already who were excited about this new change.

So.....no newsletters, no coupon codes for several months. *grin* YES, I will take suggestions from customers as to what pieces they would like to see in the sale section. YES, there will be times when new items will be posted directly into the SALE section. Will I ever send out another newsletter? Of course! But I am not sure when that will be....could be quite a while, *grin*, so make sure you check out my shop every week to see what's new! YES, I will still post my new pieces to my Facebook page as soon as they are listed so ya'll see them first.

So....go check it out!!! ----> SALE SECTION

Let me know what ya'll think! I love hearing from my customers!!

And they all fall down....

Yep. All three girlie girls are now sick. I suppose it is better they are all sick at the same time for 2 weeks than one at a time for 6 weeks of sickie time. Ah well. It'll be Spring soon enough...hopefully sooner rather than later. *grin* Though I do miss hubby once the season starts and he gets back into his insane schedule, I'd much rather have no sickies, open windows and play time OUTSIDE. hahaha

So I haven't had much time in the studio lately, but I was able to create the custom earrings for one of my brides and yippee! She loves them. While I was working on her earrings my fingers and pliers could NOT stop wrapping *grin* and I made several other pairs of earrings in a very simple, yet elegant style. So, here we go:

Tracey Earrings No. 1 ~ Champagne Citrine, Rhodolite Garnet and Sterling Silver


Tracey Earrings No. 2 ~ Peach Quartz, Aquamarine and Sterling Silver


Tracey Earrings No. 3 ~ Fuchsia Quartz, Chrome Diopside and Sterling Silver

Oops, I think I forgot to post several other pairs of earrings I posted this past week....I'll have to post those soon for ya'll.

Well, back to the land of sickies....Enjoy your Sunday, ya'll!

Sickie, Blech.

Duets Necklace No. 63 (Moss Aquamarine, Peach Quartz, Fine and Sterling Silver (oooooo...my new favorite)

Soooo, the littlest cutie patootie is sick. Ugh. I really hate when she is sick...she gets sooo miserable at night as its so hard for her to breathe...thankfully she has such a happy heart and this is a cold that, praise the Lord, isn't hideous...just gross. She's happily pushing her handmade horsie around the rooms making her way around and around just a happy as a clam as I'm sitting here typing and watching her. She loves to see the tracks she makes in the carpet. Ahhh...the life of a 2 year old. *grin*

One of my beautiful brides and I have been collaborating on matching earrings for her wedding Captive Heart Necklace. She decided on one of my older styles of earrings, the Cascade Earrings. I haven't made these earrings in soooo long that now we've been discussing it and I have the pile of gemstones sparkling like mad here on my desk I'm dying to get my hands on my pliers and make several different pairs. The gems are sitting here mocking me....tempting me to wire wrap them into something purty. *gaaaaaah* Torture, I tell you...this is torture!! LOL Instead of wire wrapping, my hands are instead chasing after my over-exuberant almost-2-year-old wiping her dripping nose. Where do kids get all this energy from?!?!! Oh my word.

Anyhoo...I have been able to add a couple of new pretties to my Etsy shop, and I actually have several pairs of earrings waiting to be photographed. Three pairs of Chainmail Flower Earrings in Fushia Quartz, Swiss Blue Quartz, Crystal Quartz and then a goooooorgeous pair of long, smooth London Blue Quartz Minimalist Earrings. I want to make myself a charm necklace with one of those London Blue Quartz smooth brios....they are just gorgeous. Ok, yes, right...I'm getting distracted....here are the last two new necklaces...the first one is posted above.

My Heart Necklace No. 9 (Pink Opal, Fine and Sterling Silver)


Duets Necklace No. 64 (Pink Amethyst, Champagne Citrine, Fine and Sterling Silver)

Ok, now where did that tissue box go???

Spring Flowers and Valentine Hearts

Brrrr....its COLD out there today! Yesterday was 60 degrees and we had a front move through yesterday and today is going to be miserable with wicked wind and harsh cold. Praise the Lord us girls will be nice and cozy warm inside working on normal-schmormal things like laundry and homeschooling. *grin* I love nice, boring days. I do have a few orders to process and get out today....and some new jewelry toys...uhn, I mean jewelry tools arrived yesterday so I will have fun daydreaming about what those are to be used for while I wait for the rest of what I ordered to arrive.

I have also added a few new pairs of earrings for ya'll to browse through. Teeny Tiny Flowers and Hearts and also larger versions of the same Flowers and Hearts. Some of my customers prefer the Teeny Tiny versions...I actually wore my pair of the Teeny Tiny Flowers yesterday and loved them....but some of my customers prefer just a slightly larger size. Here are two versions for ya'll to see (all of them are in my Etsy shop, of course):

Valentine Hearts Earrings with my Enchanted Garden texture


Teeny Tiny Spring Flowers Earrings also with my Enchanted Garden texture


Off to feed my hungry hoard of giggling girlie-girls. LOL

Heart, Music & Paisley

I'm sitting here typing this while the two big girlie-girls are diligently working away on their daily math work. The little squirt is happily pretending to make something or other with her kitchen set, swirling a spoon into a cup and dancing around the room. What a cutie. HA. Now she just handed me one of her favorite books and roared at me. *grin* Her favorite book is the "If you're happy and you know it" book and each page has different activities, clapping, wagging your tail, roaring, etc. Nothing cuter than her shouting "hooray!!" as she flips to the last page. *grin*

Three new pieces have been posted this week. As you can see I'm starting to make sure I have plenty of Amethyst pieces for February birthdays.

Duets Necklace No. 61 - Sheet Music Pendant, Amethyst & Pink Opal


Duets Necklace No. 62 - Mehndi Paisley Pendant, Smoky Quartz & Peach Quartz


My Heart Necklace No. 8 - Amethyst and an Enchanted Garden Captive Heart



I am processing a pile of orders today, working on a custom pendant order for a lovely customer who has been sooo patient waiting for me to finish these pendants, and ew.....tackling a little more of the massive task which is my taxes. *groooooan* I'd rather hang from my toenails from the roof. Ah well. As soon as I get it done it won't be hanging over my head any longer. HA

Paperwork, Schmaperwork

Blech. I hate paperwork. For as organized as I am, I have this horrible penchant for just piling up paperwork and then when the piles get too high, shoving them into a box and hiding the box in my studio instead of doing the responsible thing of FILING the silly paper. HA. (What, you don't do that too????) You'd think that after all this time I'd learn to just take 20 seconds to walk over to the file cabinet and PUT the piece of paper into its proper folder, or oh my word, THROW something away (seriously, do we really NEED 40,000 catalogs???) instead of just ignoring it. Hm. I betcha it would be waaaay easier to walk around in my studio if I didn't have all that paperwork laying all over the floor. *big cheesy grin*

*sigh* But I have this weird habit of ignoring things that I don't want to deal with. Boy I'm good at ignoring things instead of just dealing with them and putting them behind me. HA.

So, I'm spending the day moaning and groaning (*grin*) through our household paperwork and then I'll spend a few hours on putzing with my business taxes. The sooner I get that done the sooner I can get back into my studio to play. I'm supposed to be working on a custom request from a customer, who thankfully is such a sweetheart and is being HIGHLY patient with me as I putz around with her request. It is something that I was planning on doing anyway but I haven't had the chance to actually finish the necessary calculations. So I'll get to that this weekend as a reward for doing all this silly paperwork.

*pause for some oooing and ahhhing time over my darling not-quite-2-yo-yet's adorable new hair style as styled by my 8 yo* Oh how I love my girlie-girls....so cute.

Have I mentioned that I hate paperwork????

My Heart No. 7 Necklace and More...

While I truly enjoyed and desperately needed a break from my studio during the holidays, oh boy does it feel good to get back into designing. One of my darling customers happens to be a bride and is planning her wedding jewelry and the jewelry of her bridal party. I had the distinct pleasure of custom creating her wedding necklace and those of her attendants. Her first order was a custom version of one of my Captive Heart Necklaces. It had been quite a while since I was able to create any of my Captive Heart Necklaces and I was so excited to sit down and get my hands dirty (so to speak, *grin*) with her first piece. I also took time to create three more versions, one of which I have listed in my shop today.

My Heart Necklace No. 7 (Peach Quartz, Fine and Sterling Silver)


I was able to zip into my studio this morning to photograph two more necklaces, which have both been listed in my Etsy Shop for sale.

Solo Necklace No. 35 (Green Quartz, Fine and Sterling Silver)

Duets Necklace No. 60 (Swiss Blue Quartz, Amethyst, Fine and Sterling Silver)

I have quite a few more new pieces to photograph....and yes, LOL, they are all necklaces. I am trying to focus on creating more earrings and have several new ideas drawn out. Now...when will I get a chance to get back into my studio to create them?!?! LOL

Seriously??!!

Why does blog writing always take a back seat?! LOL Hey ya'll! I canNOT believe that 2011 is over and we are in a new year. How crazy. Though seriously, 2011 was a rough year for our family, yet filled with uncountable blessings nonetheless. We are very excited to see what the Lord brings us in this new year.

Last year my jewelry went into a new direction with the introduction of PMC (precious metal clay) to my work. Oh my goodness I have been having a BLAST with PMC. Here are a few of my favorite pieces from this past year.





This year I will be concentrating on expanding several different lines and introducing a few more lines to my ever expanding jewelry offerings. *grin* My highly popular Duets and Solos Necklaces will continue to be available with more color and gemstone combinations with a large variety of handmade charm shapes and sizes. I love the larger charm shapes with just a single dainty gemstone or a splash of color with two or three gems. Though there are days when the teeny, tiny gems and small charms are just as sweet. I will also be adding in more wire wrapping in the form of clusters and wire wrapped gemstones incorporated into the chains. I have several PMC and gemstone bracelets just sitting here waiting for me to finish, so keep your eyes peeled for those arriving soon!

My Unique Petites Collection has proven to be extremely popular, with my Music In My Soul pieces taking top spots as the most purchased pieces of the collection. Since music is so special to our family (I will NOT get sappy, I will NOT get sappy..... *grin*) I have been creating more and more pieces with music as its central theme. I will be adding to this collection with more shapes (hearts and flowers) and can't wait to start adding those to my shop!

One of my main focuses this year will be on chains. I desperately miss my hours weaving my chainmail and I will be creating many one of a kind pieces pairing my love of gemstones and maille together. But I will also be marrying my love of chainmail with the fun of PMC, so stay tuned for those new pieces.

Ok, my free time has ended. hahahaha Thus the life of a homeschooling Momma of three crazy girlie-girls. More soon..... *grin*