My Studio

It's been a super busy season! I had to reorganize, reorganize and then reorganize! So here is my studio these days! In the closeup you can see Sparkklejar's beautiful tins which hold my various pliers!

I'm so much more productive and my shop is growing steadily! Thank you one and all for the terrific support! YOU ROCK!!

I'm ever

New Tools - New Designs

Welcome, welcome, welcome. I hope everyone is enjoying the Olympics - we in beautiful British Columbia, Canada are truly LOVING the role of playing host to the World!!

On the jewellry front, I've been having a blast!! I received some cash at Christmas and thought I'd do something productive with it other than a manicure and pedicure, which I badly needed. :-) I bought TOOLS!

I bought an awesome top of the line dapping set that will last a few lifetimes, a beautiful disc cutter and some stamping tools.

The dapping tools are used to shape metal and I had a ball making these Silver Spheres of Imperfection!! Ok, bad pun intended!! The Silvery Moon Pendant was super fun as well. Check them all out at my Etsy shop.

I haven't got the stamping down yet, it takes a bit of practice and I'm impatient so it'll be awhile before you see anything up in my shop which encompasses them. Keep watching though.

The disc cutter has been tons of fun as well and it has been instrumental in several new designs including the Silver Spheres as before I shape the sheet metal I have to cut it out. It is super easy to use and I wish I would have purchased one years ago.

I'm loving my studio these days and it's hard to pull me out of here, however the sun shines more often these days and with flowers starting to bloom here on the west coast of Canada - I'm being pulled outside. I'm sure my family will be very happy about that - maybe they'll see me every once in awhile!!

Til next time...enjoy!!!

Thank You for a Wonderful 2009 and Introducing New Designs for 2010!

2009 was quite the year for my Etsy Shop and I have all of you to thank. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU - from the bottom of my heart! My sales increased every month in 2009 even during the summer when I closed my shop and went on holidays. Absolutely amazing!! Without the support of family members, friends, everyone at Etsy, my Twitter-mates, my blog followers and all my customers this would not be possible. I am so grateful for everyone and everything I have been blessed with in 2009!!

For the 2010 Season I have introduced 18 new designs and I hope you love them as much as I did making them. I'm really proud of the Well Healed Collection and all the other new designs plus I have a sketchbook of ideas ready to be made. I'm going to upgrade some of the 2009 designs but I will leave the Goddess Tear Falling Behind series http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=37764580 and the Maria's Goddess Tear Studs http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=37739894 listed due to the tremendous interest these 2 styles afforded last year.

Along with new designs, logo and business cards you can expect more blogging regarding the jewellery industry from the prospective of the artist. Jewellery has almost over-taken the Christmas fairs, outdoor markets and both Etsy and Ebay have strong jewellery sellers - not to forget chain stores that can sell at a fraction of the price it often cost me to make an item. How does an artist stay in business and compete with the countless competition? As well, I hope to provide some discussion on shopping for jewellery and some simple but insightful questions and answers that I know people would appreciate.

Thanks again everyone for a fabulous 2009 and here's hoping that 2010 is the best year yet for one and all!!!

Tis the Season

Good day all! Well it's upon us, the Christmas season, and my shop is buzzing. Sales have increased substantially and my family is getting meals prepared on the weekend and frozen. I'm happy, but the family, not so much! :-)

I've done a few new things including joining the EtsyCanada team and advertising at IndieNorth a wonderful site dedicated to promoting Canadian artists. http://www.indienorth.com/

I like to buy local so my thinking floated to, why not try to sell locally. My Etsy store was already established and doing nicely, but my Canadian sales were a small trickle. I found my answer on Twitter, where I met Beth, the wonderfully creative and industrious lady who is the force behind IndieNorth. Beth is a delightful Tweeter and gave me the wonderful hint to add the word 'Canadian' as a tag in my Etsy shop, plus a placed a very reasonably priced ad on the IndieNorth site and my Canadian sales have easily tripled! Thank you IndieNorth and Beth! I recommend all Canadian artists check this site out.

This week, I was contacted by Christina of Akane Designs http://www.akane.etsy.com who has kindly accomplished all the necessary administrative work to set up a new Etsy Team, called EtsyCanada of which I am happy to say, I am now a proud member. I'm looking forward to getting to know more Canadian artists from across the country and promoting our creations together. I'm super excited!!

That said, with sales soaring, I must get back to the studio! 'Tis the Season' and artists around the world are in high production and high promotion mode. Did I mention how much I LOVE IT!!! :-)

Have a great day and remember: Today is the tomorrow you've been waiting for! ENJOY!