Favorites For Friday

I recently had someone on Etsy ask me if I would consider oxidizing one of my copper bracelets for them if they decided to purchase it. I have to admit that over the years of making jewelry my tastes have basically stayed the same but some things I have opened my mind to. Oxidizing is one thing and I answered that, of course I would. Then I started thinking about all the possibilities there are when you do oxidize metals and it actually got me thinking that maybe I ought to get my act together and make a few things. Till then, I thought I would share some of the pretty mixed metal items I found over on Etsy. I was surprised there was only 6 pages when I typed in "oxidized mixed metals" as my search.

Mixed Metals Copper Squares with Sterling Silver - Dream Belle Designs
(these are dainty but I LOVE them!)

Wavy Mixed Metal Ruffles & Ridges Earrings - Pobbletoes

Brushed Golden Teardrop Oxidized Sterling Silver Dangle Earrings - Glitz Glitter

Mixed Metals Sterling Skull Copper Earrings - KimVGlass

Chandelier Oxidized Sterling Silver Wire Heart Earrings - Mayahelena

I still love looking at shiny metals but after checking out these beautiful designs I definitely want to explore the world of oxidizing. As always, once I do I'll post some pretty pics here.

Favorites For Friday

Ahhh not long to go before it will be Christmas day. Sorry, not meaning to get you into a panic about it but it is true. One thing about Christmas time that I love are candy canes, don't know what it is about them but I can't get enough. I love the colors and the flavor! That is why this weeks favorites are all candy cane inspired from Etsy.

Peppermint Twist Bracelet - Fancee That

Crochet Peppermint Candy Swirl Scarf - Diane Langan Crochet Designs

Peppermint & Dark Chocolate Spoons (my 2 faves together!) - Nicole's Homemade Treats

Christmas Peppermint Candy Magnets - Cha Ching CK

Peppermint Candy Cane Scented Star Soap - Howards Home

Now if these items don't whet your whistle for some cool peppermint sweetness, then I don't know what will!

Etsy On Sale

I decided that I would skip Favorites for Friday this week as I am having a sale in my Etsy shop. For those of you who do sell on Etsy there is a great new site out there to help us when we want to run a sale. It's called Etsy On Sale and it is a great application and website. It's very simple to use too. If you haven't already seen the site then make sure you check it out here.



You can set your sale for whatever time and date you want. Plus you can have a sale in just one section and set the discount as a percentage or dollar off amount. No more going in and having to edit every single listing which is no biggie if you have 5 listings but I know a lot of Etsy sellers have well over 50-100 listings. I can't even imagine how much of a pain that would be! I have also added the sale as an event over on Facebook. As soon as the time of the sale is over, all you listings go back to normal. I'll have to let you know how the sale goes though really I just wanted to try out this new app that is available to Etsy sellers. Oh, and if you check out their site you will see that all the sales items on Etsy are listed on their site...brilliant!

Have a great weekend!

Favorites For Friday

Tomorrow I will be doing something I haven't done for probably 30 years.....going horse-back riding! I am SO excited too. A group of us women will be riding in the Nevada desert. Of course, I'm taking the camera so I can share this fun experience with everyone. I just hope it isn't too hot as it is still in the high 80's right now but at least I've got my Factor 30. This made it easy for me to choose this week's theme for my favorites - horses.

Copper Morning Mist Horse Pendant - KDemArt

Horse on a Sunny Day - Poochie's Pics

Horse Portrait, Metallic Ink - Coup

Handmade Reusable Horse Lovers Sandwich Bag - Original's by Lauren

First Snow Original Watercolor - Maria's Watercolor

I shall be holding on to those reins pretty tight seeing as (my husband reminded me sternly) we have no health insurance...lol.

Enjoy!

Favorites For Friday

On Monday I started to feel a bit rough, achy and well, like I was about to get a cold or the flu. I realize that despite the fact that it is now Fall in most Northern Hemisphere locations that does not mean anything here in Las Vegas. So by Tuesday it was on and I sat in all day trying to sweat it out which wasn't hard since it is still about 100 degrees most days here. I even had intended to do a post earlier in the week but that was out as I could barely move. So, this weeks favorites are from my own personal faves on Etsy, a way to cheer myself up (if I had the $$) after feeling so terrible earlier in the week. I'm sure you will enjoy some of these too.

100 Custom Earring Cards - PixelbyPixel

Liquid Mineral Eyeliner - NatureGirlz

Mineral Lipstick Orchid - SkinBodyworks

50 Personalized Logo Labels (2" Round or Square) - Bleu Soleil Design

Cute Heart Sterling Silver Ring - TDN Creations

Let's be honest, shopping always makes a woman (and some men - though NOT my husband) feel better. I know that shopping for make-up certainly gives me a boost. Anything to make me look better will do that...lol. Jewelry, despite the fact that I make it, always makes me feel good too. The others are items I really would like to have to make my shop a bit more complete. I know I'm not rolling in sales but, hey, it would be nice to have a nice uniform and more professional look.

Favorites For Friday

It's that time of year, when the leaves start to fall from the trees. If I had a bucket list (which I don't) then one of the top things on it to do would be to visit the New England area during the time when the leaves change. All the beautiful colors! On that note, that is the theme for this week....leaves.

Set of Pistachio Autumn Leaves - Earthenwood

Branch of Leaves Bracelet - Fourviere Hill Jewelry

Messenger Bag - Sinem Inugur

Glowing Leaves 5x7 Fine Art Photograph - Joy Tanner Photography

Autumn Soap Leaves - Enchanting Soap Favors

I hope you enjoy these, even if you happen to be in the Southern Hemisphere where it is almost the start of Spring.

Been Busy

Ahhh boredom can do funny things to people. For me, it makes me just sit down and play! I'm sure there are others of you that do the same thing and you will know that sometimes things work....sometimes they don't. The first photo is a bracelet that I ended up making for myself. I've had my coiling gizmo for a while now and had attempted these coils before but just could NOT get them right. I finally sat down and set it up and was determined this time to get them to work. They turned out much better than previous tries but I still wasn't 100% happy with them. At least not enough to sell something like this but at least I'm getting there.

I love wire, all colors, shapes and sizes. In fact, I collect wire like Lisa over at Alterity Art collects buttons! Seriously, I have a box full of wire. So, again time to play and I came up with these babies. I also have a real fascination with swirls so I love to mix and match colors. By the way, these are listed over on Etsy here....only $6!


Of course, I couldn't make all these earrings and skip out on my first love - chain maille. These are Shaggy Loops earrings which I also added some big (size 6) seed beads. I have this tube of beads in all these lovely shades of purple and thought they would look very nice on some aluminum jump rings. I made them shorter as I know the majority of women prefer shorter earrings, especially for every day wear.


Lastly, this was originally a necklace which I had used these fake Swarovski crystals that I bought years ago when I first starting making jewelry. They really looked fake too. I decided to take it all apart other than the chain maille bits and then re-connect them. I decided to go with these orange anodized aluminum rings which I think look pretty nice. Now it is a bracelet which I shall be listing on Etsy soon.


I still have a few more pairs of earrings that I haven't had a chance to take photos of yet but there is time. Plus I have a few more ideas running around in my head of some more wire creations.

Favorites For Friday

I almost forgot it was Friday and then when I stopped by my blog to do this post I happened to notice that Victoria over at Three Fates Design had stopped by to tell me I had won on her blog. As it has been SO long since I've won anything and it is such a stunning prize which you can see here, it is her Butterfly Cuff, I decided that this weeks favorites will all be butterflies. Man there were so many beauties to choose from too.

Hand Painted Teal Wings Butterfly Necklace - Lucinda's Charms

Ava Handbag with Wooden Handles - Tangerine Kitty

Rubber Butterfly Stamp - Dragonflybuzz

Mod Butterfly All Sterling Silver - The Karma Tree

Emerald Swallowtail Real Framed Butterfly - Bug Under Glass

So a big THANK YOU to Victoria and please make sure you stop by not only her blog but her Etsy shop as she really has some lovely pieces of art to wear - jewelry to most but to me they are works of art. Hope everyone in the US has a great Labor Day Weekend!

My Home Back!

The husband left on Saturday to escort his mother back to England and he is due back late tonight (Monday). Of course, I haven't had much time to myself as I've been trying to clean up after she left. Also, it was just nice to not have to worry about entertaining her which has been very tiring for us both. I will say this about the dementia/memory thing....she forgets she's been somewhere and we can take her over and over again!

During her time her, the mother in law got real tired, real easy. She is 83 so it was to be expected and of course the super hot weather (108 most days) can tire anyone out. She took quite a few naps which was time we had to just relax and maybe get a few household chores achieved. I did manage to work on a few new jewelry items including the above earrings. I have these really cool spikes which aren't real spikey and are made of aluminum so they weigh next to nothing. I did make an anklet with a few but I still have quite a few left and grabbed a few rings and whipped these earrings up.

Over the past week and half I actually have had 3 sales on Etsy which is great considering I re-opened my shop back in June. It was just like I had opened it from the beginning all over again...waiting for that "first" sale. By the way, I'm loving the new wider pages over on Etsy, looks so much better and cleaner.

Now that things are sort of back to normal I shall hopefully be able to post more regularly and will definitely have my Favorites For Friday back this week.

Favorites for Friday

I always try to have a reason/theme for choosing my Favorites. This week is no exception. Last night I was eating dinner and after I was done I felt a sharpness in the back of my mouth. Well, I'd only gone and lost (eaten..ick) a filling. Luckily it is one right at the back but of course, no health/dental insurance so I shall be walking around with a big gaping hole at the back of my mouth. That is why I chose the word tooth to do a search on Etsy this week. I came up with some cute and cool items.

Mastodon Tooth Fossil Wire Wrapped Pendant - R2 Rockz Art Gallery

Monster Tooth Pillows - Hannahlah Designs

Pearly Whites - It's Beautiful

Tooth Fairy Pillow - Chloe Jane Handmade

Gothic Victorian Human Teeth Cuff Links - Loved to Death

I have to say I'm really loving those cuff links. I have a pair of teeth that I had to have pulled when I was about 14 before I got my braces. Always kept them in the hopes of being able to make or have them made into earrings. Hope you enjoyed these and have a great weekend.