Tidings of Comfort and Elegance Treasury

Behold the power of the treasury on Etsy. I have been a huge slacker in grabbing treasuries lately. I have forgotten how useful they are in promoting oneself on Etsy. I made a sale the other day and I think it was largely due to the Thoughts of Christmas Treasury, Kristi of Dream Some Designs put me in. I grabbed a treasury today with the theme Tidings of Comfort and Elegance. Hopefully this treasury will give the talented artists listed above some well deserved promotion.

Christmas Treasury

Kristi of Dream Some Designs was nice enough to place me in her Thoughts of Christmas Treasury. I can't believe Christmas is next week! I have so much wrapping and packing to do! Thanks again Kristi.

Art Nouveau Christmas

I had many silver pieces on my bench begging to be finished. I was able to finish five pieces this week. I noticed an unintentional theme of art nouveau pieces. I love art nouveau so two of my new pieces I absolutely love. The Holly Art Nouveau Pendant is currently on my Etsy website and my Arch Flower Pendant is for sale at Glass FX here in Champaign, IL.

Holly Art Nouveau Pendant

Arch Flower Pendant

New work! Finally!

I have a ton of stuff on my bench that was abandoned when I was studying for my PE Exam. I am trying to finish all of my lost treasurers and make Christmas gifts at the same time. The little bronze beauty above has more of a spring vibe to it. I will probably list it on my Etsy website tonight, I think I will call it the Sparrow and the Shell Pendant. More work to come, hopefully this weekend.

Back in the Saddle

With my PE Exam out of the way I can now focus on making jewelry. With Christmas and the EMC Team Challenge coming up, I am trying to dive back into photopolymer plates and copper etching techniques. I made a ton of sketches and now I am trying to scan my sketches onto the computer and into Photoshop for further editing.

I am also back on the treasury band wagon. I have been neglecting my Etsy Store since August because work and studying made my life so chaotic. It's amazing the amount of effort needed to keep ones name out there. Below is my Through the Silver Lined Looking Glass Treasury. This beauty will be around until Sunday, please check it out.

Glass FX revamped Website and Doomsday Looming

I will be officially free Saturday October 24th. Every spare moment of my time has been spent studying for my Professional Engineering Exam, which is this Friday from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. At this point I just want to get it over with. It will be nice to have my creative life back.

I did get some good news today. Glass FX is the local stain glass/fused glass/art clay studio. I have been selling some of my pendants there. Glass FX has revamped their website and were sweet enough to include photos of my pieces. Check out Glass FX new website here.

2010 Metal Clay Jewelry Calendar

Sorry I have been so MIA from my blog. Work is crazy and I am studying for my test. Its seems like I have been putting in 14 hour days lately. I got some really good news today. You are looking at Ms. February 2010. Haha just kidding, my Winged Heart Charm was selected by Marjorie Oxman to be in her 2010 Metal Clay Calendar. You can purchase the calender by clicking on the following link, 2010 Metal Clay Calendar. Several of my talented Etsy Metal Clay Team Mates are also in the calendar.

Thursday's Treasuries

I am lucky to be in two treasuries this week! A big thank you to Kathy of KVossDesigns and Lucia of Gulino Art Jewelry. Check out this treasuries before there gone.

The Charms Are Done! And I am Officially 30.

My 30th birthday party was a lot of fun, it was fun to celebrate with my friends on a beautiful day. The day before my birthday there was a double rainbow over our neighborhood, I am thinking this means good luck right?Also I am finally done with my charms for the EMC Team Charm bracelet exchange! Each participant had to make 26 charms, then ship them all to Teresa Boland of Teresa Boland Designs. Teresa would then ship everyone a package containing 25 charms from each individual. One of the charms would be incorporated into a charm bracelet that would be raffled off for charity. I am so excited! I mailed mine out Saturday morning. Spoiler Alert: I have a picture of my charms below if anyone wants a sneak peak.

Double Rainbow over Champaign

Spoiler Alert for EMC Team members! Picture of charms below.

Bronze Flower Charms

Creative Clayations Treasury

Murano Silver was sweet enough to place me in her Creative Clayations Treasury. Thanks Nicola! My shop is so empty right now but I have ten pieces on my bench, hopefully I will get them done soon. I am also working diligently on my EMC Team charms. I have about 15 made only 10 more to go. Is anyone else excited about Project Runway! I am so happy that my guilty little pleasure is back! It's now on Lifetime but hopefully they will not change the format too much.

One Crazy Summer

I have been a very bad blogger. It has however been a very hectic summer to say the least. The fact that it is mid-August is scaring me to death. It has been a very fun summer. I spent the Fourth of July with my Family in Plymouth. We watched the fireworks from my father's boat, drank entirely too much beer and gorged ourselves on lobsta.

It seems like the very next week I was off to Bloomingdale, IL to go to the Metal Clay World Conference. Unfortunately I did not have the time or the money to attend the entire conference but I did manage to get into two outstanding classes. Pam East taught Champleve Enameling and Gordon Uyehara taught Bronzclay basics. It was unfortunate to hear that I do not have the proper kiln to really create deep color gradient enamel design. I have a top loading kiln and after seeing how many time you have to load one enamel piece into and out of the kiln, I realized I really need a front loading kiln. Well maybe Santa will be good to me this year but until then I plan on experimenting enamels on shallow recesses with my ultra-light kiln. I enjoyed Gordon's Bronzclay class as well. We worked on several bronzclay masks. The most important lesson, I came away from Gordon's class was to think of a piece in parts. I am so used to creating one mold for one pendant but it was interesting to see Gordon create a mask from various parts and glue them together with thick paste. I have had a vision of creating a lovely orchid or rose pendant for a while but have been unsuccessful creating anything using the one mold technique, perhaps it best to start think of this problem in parts.

Two weeks after the conference the EMC Color Splash Team Challenge took up a lot of my time. I received many wonderful pictures from my fellow team mates. I also realized with horror that me, the person who suggested the team challenge and organized it, did not have a piece to submit for the challenge. Ahhh! I plunged into photo polymer plates and enamels. It was a stressful week but I was able to produce my Blue Enamel Star Pendant you see below. It still needs some work but I think it came out pretty good for my first try.

I am currently working diligently on my charms for my EMC Team Mates. Most of my fellow EMC team mates are participating in a charm bracelet exchange. So I will receive 25 lovely charms from all of my team mates but that also means I have to create 25 charms myself. I have a simple, familiar design going. Hopefully I will be done with all of them by the end of August.

I am currently studying for my Professional Engineering exam. Unfortunately studying for my exam is going to take over most of my time from now to October 23. However if I am able to pass the 8 hour test from hell, I will be set in my career for a while. Going home after working a full day to study is not fun.

What hopefully will be fun, will be celebrating my 30th birthday next Saturday. Yes I am turning the big 3-0 on August 22. Yikes. I do plan on celebrating my birthday drinking like I just turned 21. Truth be told I don't feel like I am in my twenties anymore. Married with a mortgage and babies on the brain, make me finally feel like a somewhat responsible adult. It's been a crazy summer hopefully the fall will prove to be less stressful.

Nautically Delicious Treasury

I am a sucker for cool Etsy Treasury names and I love all things nautical. So I was very pleasantly surprised this afternoon when Fairy Tales Unlimited placed me in her Nautically Delicious Treasury. Thanks Fairy Tales Unlimited! Fairy Tales Unlimited has an assortment of cool miniatures in her shop, my favorite are the donuts listed below. Happy Friday everyone!

Fairy Tales Unlimited 3 Donut Tray Miniature

Tuesday Treasuries and some Good News

Nicola of Murano Silver was sweet to place my Pirate Ship Pendant in her Clayology Treasury. Thanks Nicola! Its been a crazy couple of weeks. I am finally going on vacation this Thursday. Going home to Plymouth to visit the family, it should be a lot of fun. And once I get back I will be going off to the MetalClay World Conference in Bloomingdale, IL. I can't wait for that either.

So I do have some exciting news. My work is now being sold at Glass FX here in Champaign. Glass FX specializes in stain glass and fused glass but they also carry art clay. Glass FX does teach classes in fused glass, stained glass and metal clay. I am so excited they are carrying some of my pieces!

Tuesdays Treasuries

I was able to snag a team treasury. I tried to assemble a montage of lovely geometric modern shapes. Simplicity is hard to pull off. Check out my Modern Metals Treasury it should be around till Wednesday

Modern Metal Treasury

Nicola of MuranoSilver was nice enough to place me in her MetalClaymorphosis Treasury. Thank you Nicola!

MetalClayMorphosis Treasury

Blogs I Love

Zoe Nelson gave me the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you Zoe! Zoe is a fellow EMC Team member who shares my addiction for metal clay. Zoe's jewelry have a very organic, earthy style to them. I love how she incorporates different gemstones into her pieces.

Zoe's Blue Hickoryite set in Fine Silver

I wanted to thank Zoe for giving me the One Lovely Blog Award and I would like to share with you the other blogs that I love to catch up on.


Blogs I Love:


Etsy MetalClay - A little bias here because I belong to the EMC Team and because I contribute to the Etsy MetalClay blog. Lori and I try and add tips, tricks, member interviews and team news to this blog.


Such and Such- Lora Hart is a the founder of our EMC Team. She blogs about her creative process, her metal clay classes and other artists that inspire her. I especially love her Weekend Eye Candy posts, where she post pictures of new work from artists she is interested in. I know Christine Street and myself have stolen her weekend eye candy idea but her's is still the best.


Inside the artisan - Ruth is a fellow EMC Team member but I love her blog because she has a variety of subjects. She talking about her latest creations, contests she has entered, her life but she also discusses the issues that comes with running a business.


All Things Metal Clay - This little blog has the pulse of the metal clay world so to speak. Calls for entries into books or contests, latest equipment reviews, tutorials, tips and book reviews, make this blog a must for anyone interested in metal clay.


Kraftomatic - Lora of Such and Such clued me into this hysterical blog. If you want to laugh out loud like I did this morning, check out this blog that pokes fun at some of the craft oddities that can be found on Etsy.


Sand Fibers - I am a huge fan of sand fibers work. I am a seed bead fan. I love what can be created with the peyote stitch for example but I don't like the 40 hours needed to create a bracelet. This is why I think I will stick to metal clay instant gratification in comparison with seed beading.


I actually have a very long list of blogs I follow. Most of the blogs I follow are my fellow EMC team mates. It's great to read about people who share my interest in metal clay and to learn about their lives and creative processes. With an ever expanding team it seems we have an ever expanding list:


So the EMC Team Blog List Includes:


C-lyn Studio

Chocolate and Steel

CNK Design

Destinys Creations

Happyday Art

Jennifer Kahn Jewelry

Kale Primitifs

Lulu Bug Jewelry

Mango Tango

Moda di Magno

Murano Silver

Peculiar Forest

Njia Studios


Hopefully I did not forget anyone! Have a great weekend everyone.

Tuesday Treasuries

I made it into two wonderful treasuries this week. My Winged Heart Charm was featured in Nicola's of Murano Silver "Something New" Treasury. And my Victorian Floral Charm was featured in Janice of Destiny's Creations "Bellezas Spanish for" Treasury. Thank you Nicola and Janice for placing me in your treasuries.

I have a treasury in my poster sketch itching to be posted. I will try and snag another EMC Team Treasury tonight. I'll keep you posted.

Etsy Finds - Art I Want

1. Cinder and Smoke 2. Last Rose of Summer 3. Prairie Path

4. Unpredictable 5. Through Woodland 6. Natural Patterns

7. Beach Series I 8. Ditch Plains Shoreline 9. Sea of Tranquility

It's hard to believe that two years ago this July my husband and I bought our first house in Champaign. If you told me three years ago I would own a home, I would tell you that you were nuts. Up until three years ago, I was quite use to living in a very small city apartment. Out here in the suburbs we have a lot more elbow room but one thing remains the same; empty walls. I am guilty of loving artwork but never being able to make up my mind on how to decorate my living space. Two years in this house and I still have uninspiring, empty walls. I love all types of art work but I can never find art that really goes with the feel of a room.

Anyway I am on a mission to tackle the very empty rooms in my house and the ones listed above have been on my Etsy favorite list for a while. Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone.

What Am I About Anyway?

Catherine Witherell of Happy Day Art tagged me the other day with the subject of "If you were going to write down the things you were about at this particular moment or day in time, what would they be?" She talks about what she is currently about in her Blog.

This summer is turning out to be extremely busy. I really need to organize myself. With a full time job, studying for the professional engineering exam, keeping on top of my Etsy Store, my blog, and keeping my commitments to friends, family and my EMC Team, I feel a little stretched. I also feel like I am trying to balance my time between two different worlds. My engineering job requires me to pass my professional engineering exam this fall. This will require a lot of studying and taking a review course in Chicago (2.5 hours away). I am also attending two metal clay workshops at the MetalClay World Conference in July. So there is my engineering life and then there is my metal clay artist life. So for my two worlds I have two lists:

Clever Endeavor to do list:

copper etching

breaking button habit
being a consistent blogger
fused glass
jewelry party in August
consignment at Glass FX
bezel settings
rings
earrings
art fairs
polymer clay
enamel
resin

Engineers to do list:
check to see if application has been accepted
sign up for PE Exam Review Class
sign up for October exam (a lovely 8 hour exam)
buy all review books (you do not know how much these cost its disgusting)
make a study schedule and stick to it!

And did I mention that I am hitting the big 3-0 this August. Yikes where the heck did my twenties go? I think keeping a very detailed calander may be in order soon.

Tuesday Treasuries

A couple of different treasuries to talk about this Tuesday. I was able to capture a treasury for the team, I called it My Metallic Identity. I figured I would try and feature all of the cool custom lettering one can do with metal clay.Check out this lovely treasury, it will around till Friday.

I was in two treasuries this week. Thank you to my team mates for placing my Starfish Pendant and my Victorian Leaves Pendant in the treasuries below. Check out Oh my starry eyed surprise Treasury.

Wicked Sense of Humor

1. Bucking Bunny Tee 2. Silver Pug Pendant 3. Reverse the Curse

4. Embroidered lipstick 5. Chewbacca Mouse 6. Coffee Stencil

7. R2D2 Cufflinks 8. Grenade Soap 9. Cool Beans Tee

I like how my weekly Etsy Finds proves that I am a geek from Massachusetts. The Reverse the Curse Photo is a famous little sign on Storrow Drive. The Red Sox fan that upgraded the reverse curve sign is indeed brave. If you have ever driven on Storrow drive, you know how crazy that road can be. The curvy road, the highways speeds, and the extremely aggressive drivers make Storrow Drive very dangerous at times. So my hat is off to whoever hanged upside down over Storrow Drive to make this little masterpiece. Yankees Suck.

"Cool Beans" is a Massachusetts catch phrase. You think it would mean something was wrong or bad but actually its the opposite. Cool beans is usually used if you are happily surprised or excited about something. It took a whole semester while at college in Pennsylvania to be broken of my habit of using the word wicked as an adverb for everything. College was wicked cool. I still however use "cool beans" from time to time and the folks here in Champaign, IL still don't get it. We won free tickets to the game, cool beans!

I have a major rabbit problem in my back yard right now. There were two last year and now there are five this year. That's why the Buckling Bunny Tee Shirt got a snort from me. I can't catch the little critters and they seem to like to eat anything. Maybe wrangling them cowboy style would be such a bad idea.

The I'm Pregnant Coffee Stencil made me laugh out loud. Talk about waking up in the morning. No caffeine needed after that little tid bit of news. I don't think I could ever break the news to my husband in this matter. First I don't think he would notice and second I don't think he would find it that funny.

I am a nerd, therefore I love Star Wars. I love the R2D2 cuff links in Cufflinks shop and I absolutely love the Chewbacca mouse. If you have never been to the House of the Mouse please check out her shop. It is ridiculously cute and you will definitely find your next desk mate there.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Tuesdays Treasuries

I am a big goof, there is no denying that. I love my crazy treasury titles though. Below is the latest treasury I was able to snag for the EMC team, it called the The Fonz digs Bronze. Aaaayy, its good stuff go check it out.

I was also in a treasury created by Nicola of Muranosilver. She placed my Silver Tree Frog in her Malleable Metal Treasury. Thanks Nicola! Check out the treasury she created below.

Very Late Sneak Peek

I was very lazy this past weekend and never got around to posting pictures of my new bronze pieces. He's back! King Arthur is back in my line up. I have also added a new piece. I have been calling her my Geisha Pendant. My husband doesn't seem to like the name though. Both still need some polishing work but I am pretty happy with the results. Have a great weekend everyone.

King Arthur

Geisha Pendant

Tuesday Treasuries

I am in two treasuries this week. Lori choose my Sea Horse Pendant for her Fabulousness Treasury and Janice picked my Victorian Floral Charm for her Around the World with EMC Team Treasury. A big thank you to my teammates Lori of Modadimagno and Janice of DestinysCreations. Sorry to my EMC Team, I have been slacking on grabbing treasuries over the weekend. It was a great Memorial Day weekend. I got a few new pieces done. I will be posting pictures of my geisha pendant tomorrow.

I received good news last week. I got into the Champleve Enameling on Metal Clay Class at the Metal Clay World Conference in Bloomington, IL in July. So I will be learning BronzClay from Gordon Uyehara and Champleve Enamel from Pam East. Yeah I can’t wait! A very expensive and early 30th birthday gift to myself.

Gifts for my Mom

I know Mothers Day was a week ago. But my Mom's birthday was this past Monday. Lots of birthdays in the month of May for my family. The list of beauties below are some items that I think my mother would love.

1.Pearl Silver Shell Necklace 2. Custom Portrait 3. Louisa Earrings

4. Shell & Pearl Rose Ring 5. Seashell Star 6. Heart Bowl

7. Sweet Elegance 8. Cellini Spiral Bracelet 9. Cheerful Handbag

Tuesday's Treasuries

My Etsy MetalClay teammates are very sweet. Karena of kaleprimitifs and Lori of Modadimango place me in their treasuries this week. Thanks guys!

Karena has added a few new bronze pieces to her shop, I love her new Posies in Bronze Earrings.

Karena Posies in Bronze Earrings

Lori has added several shells pendants to her store. I love her new starfish and sand dollar pendants. But the oyster shell is my favorite. It reminds me of home (sniff.)

Lori's Sea Shell Pendant

Sunday Sneak Peek

Its was a very quite weekend. I was home alone, my husband was away at a golf outing in Indiana. I spent most of that time catching up on house work and organizing my studio space. I figured that not being able to see the floor anymore was a sign that I might want to reorganize my work space. I was able to finish a few pendants, including one new pendant. I think I have decided to name it Wind. I should be adding this pendant to my shop this week.

Bronze Age

1. Crescent Earrings 2. Brocatelle Earrings 3. Sunshine Flower Earrings 4. Tribal Dome 5. Braille Heart Pendant 6. Arrowhead Pendant
7. Bronze Shield 8. Sapphire Mussel Necklace 9. Beachcomber Pendant

With the sharp increase in the price of silver, I think I will be doing some more experimentation in bronze. I have been working on several new pieces, that hopefully I will finish soon. It seems like my bronzclay pieces take forever to air dry. Bronzclay is a wonderful material. It is not as forgiving as silver clay and is very temperature sensitive. I think I completely ruined my first few batches until I turned down the temperature in my kiln. There are several good resources for Bronzclay out there though. I have always found the learning section on CoolTools to be very useful. There is a new book on my radar as well, Sherri Haab has published a new book that called Bronze and Copper Clay Basics.

Most of the montage of bronzclay pieces shown above are from Etsy MetalClay members, Jen Kahn, Lora Hart, Kaleprimitifs, Mango Tango Designs,Kfehrdesigns and our honorary member Celie Fago. (Who I would love to take a bronzclay class with, if I only had the time and money to get to Vermont this summer) The eighth pendant is a mussel shaped pendant from Twinklefish. Twinklefish has several lovely bronzclay shells and seahorse pendants in her shop. The ninth pendant is from Beadserroneous Shop. She has a little bit of everything in her shop but I love her bronzclay pieces. Have a good weekend everyone!

Tuesday Treasuries

I was lucky to be in three treasuries this week. One of those treasuries made the front page. A big thank you to Lori of Modadimagno designs for placing my Tri-Tulip Pendant in the "Think Shiny" EMC Team Treasury.

I am also currently in the "For the Knight" Treasury that is currated by Oncetraveled. My Checkmate Pendant is in the "For the Knight" Treasury. Oncetraveled has a cool store, she reclaims vintage stamps and turns them into pendants on recycled scrabble tiles. I like the one that is listed below.

Oncetraveled India Pendant

Sunday Sneak Peek and Front Page!

It is always exciting when you make the front page. You know something is up when an item goes from 20 views to 115 views in one afternoon! This front page lead to the sale of my mirror flower charm. Sweet. A big thank you to Pianobenchdesigns for placing me in her treasury! Pianobench designs have several cute wire designs. I love her "Love Necklace"

Love Necklace

I am working on a lot of bronzclay pieces right now. I found an incredible snow owl mold the other day. I believe its an old soap mold, I made a bronzclay mold of him. Pictured below is the unfired green piece of my snow owl. The owl is huge though he is 3 inches long. I am hoping by firing him in bronze I can shrink him to a more manageable size. Is 3 inches long and an 1.5 inch wide just too big to be a pendant?

Birthday Gift for my Grandmother

My grandmother turned 80 this week. I was so sad I could not be back in Massachusetts to help her celebrate her birthday. For her birthday I made her a scallop shell pendant. Growing up I used to collect shells on a small beach close to her house in Centerville. I still have a lot of the shells I collected when I was a kid. I still remember some of the nasty sun burns I used to get walking up and down the beach. I sent her gift in the mail today, hopefully she will like it. Her birthday was yesterday, it's late I'm such a bad granddaughter. I was thinking about adding this to my shop but my nautical themed pendants do not seem that popular. Hmmm. Should I add this to my shop. What do you think?

Tuesday Treasuries

I am lucky to be in two treasuries this week. Voscoleccion placed my pirate ship pendant in her "Chocolate and..." Treasury.

Check out Voscoleccion shop. She makes glass pendants and rings, my favorite is her Red and White glass pendant.

Red & White Glass Pendant by Voscoleccion

The second treasury is a EMC Team Treasury called "Think Shiny". A big thank you to my team mates for including my Victorian Leaves Pendant in this treasury.