The Creative Process

I had in my head the perfect post to introduce a series of posts on my creative process.
Can I remember word one of what I wanted to write? Noooo The bread and butter business interrupted my writing with end of year paperwork and insurance and banking and life as we all know it! My perfect introductory post .... is toast!

Ah well, I do remember it had to do with these earrings. They've been on my to do list for the lifetime of my blog to date so I thought they would be really fitting to show off since you've been reading about my needing to make them for so long :)

Every now and again I'll start an awesome project and for various reasons it gets put aside - sometimes for much longer than intended - oops These earrings are the perfect example of that lol

A friend of mine really liked these Sterling silver filigree earrings but the drop is a Swiss Blue Topaz and her birthstone is Golden Topaz.


So I hunted down some Golden Topaz and started the frames, set them aside to wait for the Topaz to arrive and in the meantime........I'll just play with these little cuties over here....... Several pieces later I picked those frames up again to work on them when I realized I didn't have enough 2mm silver beads left to make the earrings and I had JUST placed an order, so put them aside again.

Two orders later I got those silver beads and gathered all the components to make the earrings and, well, I just wasn't in the mood. I had all these other ideas demanding attention and other things I HAD to do, so they sat, and sat, and sat. Until a few days ago when I picked them up again and felt really guilty that an entire year had passed......... So here they are One year and Three months in the making :)

Now thankfully not all of my pieces take so long to make, but it can seem that way when description writing faces that same time dilemma LoL or when it takes two days to write one description because the words just aren't coming even after playing the word association game which is really how I should write my tags!

The Update for the To Do List :) is a little shorter this week!

The talisman got a leather cord instead of chain, that chain ended up a tassel hanging from a Danish love knot at the bottom :) the whole thing took on a very oriental feel and I'm very happy with it. Not bad for I think I'm feeling better, lets try to bend some wire! Needs a description and price, maybe one more pic

Replica of my fav necklace is done - needs pics

Egyptian talisman finally has pics, and a description and finally got listed :) Took me two days to write this lol

Peacock is assembled and waiting for a couple more inches of chain :D yay!

Pulled together all the components to start the valentine earrings -- and a simple pendant not matching just got the idea a few minutes ago lol

Color of the week is yellow and grey - don't have much for yellow but I may try some Hessonite Garnet with some oxidized silver and design it for the simply adorned collection.

Still have a couple descriptions to write - everytime I write one I make another - so I think this is more like laundry - it's NEVER ending lol

oooh just realized the desk is getting cleared of UFO's again time to sketch out a design for the Aventurine Donut I won at Christmas from the Jewelry Connection oh and get to those earrings I sketched out for the Flourite I won on the forum! Oooh fun fun! Jewelry Lessons is also doing monthly challenges now maybe I can play at a charm bracelet for that along the way as well. Time to get busy!

Til next time!

Why Yes I am still kickin'!

Even if just barely :) I've had the flu - upper respiratory tract infection coupled with a nasty sinus infection - or if you listen to me a great case of bronchitis that is seriously draining all my energy. I'm slowly getting back into the routine, but large chunks of time are being used to simply stare at my tools and wire and thinking I should. It's not that I don't want to, it's just I'd rather be curled back up in bed, all snuggly warm, half asleep and listening to Rachael Ray cook things I know would make me instantaneously well if I had just one bite, maybe two.

I do have several posts worked out in my head, I just don't have them worked out in a file yet! So for now we'll play off the last update and let you know how much time I REALLY am staring at my tools!!

update:
Received my Christmas swap items! I love our forum swaps, they are so completely fun! I actually managed a more in detail post on FB, so if you're my friend there, you've already seen :)

My Art with Heart piece did not win round 3. That's ok, it really pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I learned several things about my design style and I'm happy with where I took the design. That seems to want to be a blog post too.

My inspiration piece - the Peacock, is waiting for chain and a couple small tweaks to assembly. It still makes me very happy to just look at him!

Got that last chain revamped, STILL needing a couple descriptions to write and pricing. And now I need lots more pics taken too!

SnowFlake jewelry all made, I even managed to throw in a corsage and boutonniere. That corsage is a blog post all it's own....... and was actually intended for todays post - but - I figured at the rate I'm going, it might be another month before I get it written and once a month is slooooow enough for a blog to begin with!

New to the list: I have a pair of earrings a third way done that have been on the to do list for over a year!

A new pair of earrings sketched out - just in time for Valentines, and a woven key the earrings were born of.

A simple talisman of copper waiting for chain and a replica of my daily wear necklace just lacking a couple more inches of being finished.

Now if I could do more than just stare at my tools some of these could get finished and then I could have even more descriptions to write!

I think the family may be expecting dinner so I should get! Til next time!

Thinking Ahead or Back

My Aunt Linda loves Garage and Estate sales. She loves jewelry (she's the one who started me out way back when I was much shorter than I am now!). Doesn't toss any piece just because it's broken, rather she hands it down to someone else in the family who would love it. She's always sent little trinkets to my girls, my niece and my cousins girls. Once she found out I was back to making jewelry Aunt Linda started sending me vintage pieces she'd been holding on to that needed repair.

One of those pieces was a gorgeous double strand crystal bracelet. Most of the Diamante beads had been crushed and as such was not wearable. There were a couple that were still in good condition and I thought they could be remade into earrings and a pendant, very appropriate for this time of year. I sat down to take it apart, looking closely at its construction. I looked at one of those crushed beads and picked up my round nosed pliers - it was already crushed so why not try to fix it, the worst I could do was end up with pieces I could wire into some other design. Oh my! They fell back into shape with very little effort! In just about an hour, using just my fingers, I had that bracelet completely repaired. It was so pretty, I was immediately transported back to my childhood. Sitting on my Mom's bed, staring into her "Treasure" box (that's what 5 year old me called Mom's jewelry box) Oh how I loved her crystal jewelry, they were the most precious, sparkly, beautiful things in the world! I couldn't possibly take this one apart to make a single pair of earrings now! It's too small for my wrist so it will wait for another project to come to mind, something worthy of it's beauty, something worthy of a "Treasure Box".


update:
My Christmas swap items have been finished, mailed, and received by our wonderful Hostess :) I can feel the anticipation building as the countdown begins to receive swap items in return! I love our forum swaps, they are so completely fun!

My Art with Heart piece is nearing completion after a complete and total redesign LAST minute! No pressure there! It's completely out of my comfort zone, colors, style and size but I think it's turning out rather pretty. I absolutely adore the focal :)

My inspiration piece - the Peacock, is nearly finished as well. It's a rather large piece by my standards but I'm really really happy with the overall effect. This will be one of those pieces that won't hurt my feelings if it doesn't sell. I'll be quite happy to look at it for quite some time!

Found time to create a Christmas treasury for the Etsy team and I think it may be my favorite yet!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cf6a92e9e1c6d91439ba9fe/home-for-the-holidays
awww I just noticed the second pic got changed :( kind of changes the overall look and feel....

Revamped those chains and got those pretties listed. One more piece waiting for a revamped chain, a couple descriptions to write and pricing. I don't know why I always leave pricing to the last, it would be much easier if I priced as I went - one of these days I'll learn :D

My younger daughter loved the bracelet I made and the clasp :) so much so she wants a choker made for her upcoming dance. I'll save the pics of that for a later post.

Got that mortar mixed but it's been too wet and cold to do much rock work these last weeks - weather is supposed to be nice for another day or so, hoping I can get some done then - we're climbing up between the windows now!

'Til next time!
Dana

Google's Banned Words for SEO

Well, it seems Google has a list of terms and words they'll disallow for searching in Google Shopping. Most I don't mind at all, they're not terms I use and often find annoying when searching myself - alternating capital letters the @ symbol in place of an o. I don't really even mind the drug and explosives terms being banned. While I do understand the alcohol references, there are a number of colors that use the same terminology and that's going to make things a little difficult.

They're also banning text and twitter speak, the shortening of a word to a single letter or number. Here's where it gets a little tricky for me personally. The screen name I've used for close to a decade contains 4U2, That screen name has meaning to me, it fits me, it holds dear memories of my children. I'm well known by it, and now it's banned. While I don't use that screen name for my shops I do have several profiles where do I use it, and link back here and to my shops. Link backs, we've all been told, are crucial to building an on-line presence and now it can penalize me.

I suppose I could change my screen name, create a more unified brand for my shops, but that means I'll be starting over in creating my presence and the 1000's of posts will still be there, penalizing me in search rankings. I googled, I have over 11,000 posts in combined forums and message boards - but Google will only allow me to actually look at three pages. I've already been truncated.

On a brighter note, I've been quite productive this week taking pics, writing descriptions, pricing, and even managed to get several items listed in both shops. I have a couple projects nearly finished, several planned out for Art with Heart, the Christmas swap on the jewelry forum and of course gifts to friends and family.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are inching ever closer and I suddenly feel an urgent need to get MOVING! I'm hoping to make a piece a day, but I'm sure there will be days where I won't make it. I did ask for my Master Bath to be finished for Christmas and that means I have taping, texturing, tiling and grouting in my very near future. On top of rocking the basement!

Not much has happened on that front this last month. Alan has been busy working and the backhoe/sand transporter has not been available for grout mixing and I have discovered I don't have the upper body strength to tip a full mixer of grout. At least not at the height it is set to allow for dumping into the wheelbarrow. I just don't have enough leverage. But the trim is up around the windows, stained and varnished, the rocks are stacked up to the trim, and it sure is looking pretty!

Well, I have some pictures to take, an e-mail to send, a Peacock to get finished, a bracelet the needs a clasp, a couple necklaces that need chains revamped and several projects to get started and mortar to mix. So I had better get moving!

'Til next time!
Dana

I really do think I should l have posts (at least topics to expand on) on stand by for this poor neglected blog. I really don't mean to neglect it, there are just only so many hours in a day and I find myself wishing for more hours on a regular basis.

Well, except for this last weekend, the thought of more hours in a day was a terrifying thought. That's how busy I was and how exhausted I was by it all! Thankfully it seems the fast forward pace I was running at is returning to normal play. Whew! I don't think I could keep up the pace for very much longer either.

The good news is, I finally got some of my garden planted up in pots and moved up here. They're waiting patiently to be tucked into their new home! I still have a lot of work ahead of me but it just warms my heart to look out my door and see my roses. I really didn't realize how much I missed puttering in the garden.

Pulled out my landscaping plans - really just an informal sketch - circles with numbers that remind me where I wanted to put what plant, and now I can get to work.

So now that you have an idea of what's been going on in my personal life and why I've been absent (sort of) I can update you on my jewelry goings on.

Beads n Blessings, Art With Heart Cycle 3 is under way! My kit arrived and I'm really excited to get started!

I joined a Color Challenge group and that is turning into so much fun. The group votes on a color scheme for the week and then creates something using those colors. It's a very diverse group of artists so their offerings are always fun to see, from web site graphics, to business cards, to custom aprons, to lamp worked beads, to jewelry, it's just a blast!

I've also joined a treasury team and have had the honor of being included in some very nice treasuries. I belong to other groups, but have never been chosen for theirs, so this is really quite exciting for me! It's even given me the pleasure of discovering some new shops I'd not seen before and also provided me with some inspiration.

Coupled with the Color group I will have a new piece to share with you in another blog post very soon I hope. And with Etsy's newly remodeled profile pages I hope to be able to use it to help tell the story of how I create the pieces I do. Should be interesting, and yup more work!!

Until next time!
Dana

Making progress

I have completed my first locket, thanks in large part to the inspiration Mary provided me (see my last post) I'm quite happy with it for it being a first and have a number of variations of it floating in my head :)

Art with Heart Beads n Blessings Cycle 3 is now taking pre-orders. This cycle's charity is Step Up for Cancer. I lost my Dad 23 years ago to Cancer, lost my Grandpa (Mom's Dad) a week after 9/11, lost my Aunt (Dad's Sister) in May. My younger cousin is battling her third round, I can't think of a better cause, I'm all in! I've made my order and have my design worked out, as much as I can without knowing what the surprise element will be! I am really looking forward to this cycle!

I've got a fairly decent routine going now. Rocks, box, or garden is my morning routine mantra. Stack some rocks, unpack or repack a box, or weed the garden. The rock work is really coming along now, my house is staring to look like a home, and the weeds .... are still overwhelming (it's a brand new rather large bed)- but give it some time.

I've also discovered another blog to follow, she's just moved to her own domain http://www.newdressaday.com and I gotta say, I read all the way back to her very first posting and I am really impressed with this young lady's creativity, she's really quite an inspiration. On just one dollar a day, she is creating a new outfit to wear each and every day for an entire year. What she can do to a MuuMuu is just amazing. The girl has definitely got an eye for style and color. Check her out and see if you don't agree!

When did I get so busy!!

I just noticed I haven't posted in weeks, yikes! My excuse? I have been really busy of late. Really I have!

I've been putting tons - literally tons - of rock on the left half of my basement wall. It's stating to look really good too! Working with all that rock does tend to swell my fingers up some though, and the super high heat we had left me with a nasty heat rash on my rib cage. This pic was taken several courses of rock ago - I'm just below the Lowe's logo now.

Having an outdoor wedding to attend I took a couple days off and made myself a very pretty Silver and Turquoise set.

Then..... where did the time go??? it was time to get my kids ready for back to school! We went back to school supply and clothes shopping. Since my middle child is driving, she and my son were able to get their schedules and pick up those last little things they needed.

I looked around the house and boy did it look neglected! I spent another week cleaning and rearranging furniture. Digging through boxes and unpacking and just doing my best to try to make my house look more like a home. It's looking more so all the time. Still a few more boxes to go through but I'm making headway.

Then on her way into school, the low fuel light came on in my daughter's car, so she pulled in to the gas station. Rather she tried to pull into the gas station, she was just pulling in when she got hit. I can not begin to tell you how truly thankful I am that bruises, cuts and minor burns are all my children received. I AM truly thankful he took the nose of her car and did not t-bone them. The insurance declared it her fault as she was crossing traffic - but it didn't take a whole lot of looking at the facts to realize it wasn't entirely her fault. This being accident number 6 for the other driver - one of those was a few months ago, in January, for falling asleep at the wheel and he's only 21, is just one of those facts, but the one that bothers me the most. The rest are details and just putting 2 and 2 together and then finally hearing from the girl in the car driving behind Paige confirming it all. I am happy to say we found Paige another car, she drove it to school yesterday, but there are still a few repairs to be made yet before she is truly back on the road.

All of this in just a couple weeks! Feels like months. I did manage to remake several pairs of earrings, get pictures taken and listed too. I still have several pieces in my shops that need new photos, several pieces that still need listing AND I'm working on a design for a locket. I've had this design floating around since January of 2009 fiddling with the how to's of it. Finally, thanks to Mary Tucker of Wired Elements http://www.etsy.com/shop/wiredelements I've finally decided how I want to do it. It's a technique I've known for many years and she gave me a wonderful slap the forehead moment when she shared with me how she did it! Her blog is the Angsty Artist, http://theangstyartist.blogspot.com/ if you're so inclined.

I'll try not to let so much time pass between postings.....'til next time!