Clever Endeavor

Etsy MetalClay Charity Charm Bracelet

2011-05-03T12:06:00.006-05:00

Awhile ago the EMC Team had a charm exchange. All of the participants made extra charms with the hopes of donating a complete charm bracelet to a worthy cause. After some discussion the team decided to donate the latest charm bracelet to the Red Cross through Ebay Giving Works. 100 % of the sale of the Charm bracelet will go to the Red Cross. Please view the ebay listing here. The Charm Bracelet auction will end on May 12th! Please spread the word on this lovely bracelet it is for a good cause!

Description of the Bracelet

This charm bracelet is composed of a sterling silver 7.5 inch cable chain with 21 handcrafted fine silver, copper and bronze charms. The charms range in size from 1/2 inch to 1 inch. These handcrafted charms were made by members of the Etsy MetalClay Team. The Etsy MetalClay team is a global group of jewelry artists and designers using silver, gold, copper and bronze metal clays to create their work. We strive to make innovative, unique, and boundary pushing designs -embracing both modern technology and old world traditions.The Etsy MetalClay Team would like to donate 100% of the sale of this charm bracelet to the Red Cross in a effort to help the people of Japan.

Go Dutch Treasury

2010-06-16T16:56:00.005-05:00

I was lucky enough to be part of the Go Dutch treasury. Please check out FlamingJuneVintage store. She has several vintage jewelry pieces that I like. I apologize for not blogging, it has been a very busy month. I am recovering from my trip to Italy. It was an amazing vacation and I am finally catching up here am home. I will post some photos of my trip later in the week.

Etsy Metal Clay Treasury

2010-04-19T13:25:00.007-05:00

Louise, fellow EMC team mate and artisit behind Peculiar Forest, was kind enough to place me in her Etsy Metal Clay Treasury! Thank you Louise. Man it's been a while since I have done a treasury on Etsy. I had no idea that Etsy has added a Treasury East section and reformated the treasury layout. I will jump back on the Etsy treasury band wagon as soon as I finish my EMC team charms.

Earning 500 Hearts has been an Interesting Journey

2010-04-08T10:58:00.012-05:00

I just hit a pretty cool milestone. I woke up this morning to see that 500 people have hearted my Etsy shop. On Etsy if you truly love someones work you can bookmark or "heart" their shop as a favorite. It bring a smile to my face that I have earned the hearts of 500 people. I think any artist constantly questions their work. You may love what you create but that nagging feeling of wondering if anyone else will like it plagues everyone. This morning's surprise was a little boost in confidence. I always enjoyed making my jewelry, I am hoping to branch out this year and learn how to make a variety of new things. Well thank you for all who support me and here's too earning my next 500 hearts.

Plastic Fantastic and Traveling Dreams

2010-04-01T15:24:00.013-05:00

1. Indian Summer Pin 2. Asian Floral Bangle 3. Polymer Clay Pendant

4. Autumn Bangle 5. Twilight Ring 6. Turquoise Beads

7. Filigree Heart Locket 8. Rose Hair Pin 9. Resin Bangle

Above are some of my Polymer artist crushes. I am trying to dabble into the world of resins, polymer clay and DECO clay. I bought Sharri Haab, Resin Jewelry Book earlier this year. I am happy to report that I might be able to resuse all of my metal clay molds to create resin jewelry as well. Once I have some reasonable experiements done I will show them to you.

I have some outstanding news! I will be in Italy this May for eight days! I am so excited, we will be traveling from Venice to Florence and then to Rome. This trip has been in the works for two years and now we are finally going!

Thursday's Theme - A Touch of Luck

2010-03-11T22:39:00.027-06:00

1. Four Leaf Clover 2. Luck of the Irish 3. Luck of the Irish

4. Lucky Key chain 5. St Patrick's Day Bolero 6. Celtic Moon Clock

7. Celtic Ar t 8. Shamrock Tea Towel 9. Lucky Shamrock Scarf

This Thursday's theme, if you have not already guessed, is Saint Patrick's Day. Saint Patrick's day is next week and I composed a variety of inspirational pieces to fit this Thursday's Theme. It is amazing how many symbols we have to conjure that elusive edge in life called luck. Horseshoes, four leaf clovers, rabbits feet, the number seven, stray eye lashes, wish bones and rainbows. Lord knows I am superstitious; I knock on wood, wish on stray eye lashes and I would never kill a lady bug. So do you have a good luck charm or maybe a superstitious routine to capture that lovely lady called luck?

The Button Nut's Favorite Search Words

2010-02-23T13:09:00.035-06:00

I am a button nut. As you can see from the picture above, I have an addiction to Victorian black glass buttons. I probably take a half hour each day to search through the eBay and Etsy. My favorite search words is "black lacy glass buttons" Why black glass? In the late part of the 19th century the most detailed buttons were comprised of black glass. These black glass buttons are also called mourning buttons, this is due to the fact that Queen Victoria wore only black jet buttons after the death of Prince Albert. Another favorite search word of late is "carved celluloid". Bakelite or celluloid was the first plastic of the 20th century. It was not until the I came across this celluloid bird shown below, that I paid more attention to carved celluloid.

(Vintage carved celluloid bird bottom left, bronzclay bird from mold upper right)

I live close to a Hobby Lobby (aka Michael's or AC Moore) that sells my favorite two part silicone mold maker. I use a product called "The Amazing Molding Putty" I love this stuff it is very rare when I can not get a good mold from this product. Another product I use to create molds is polymer clay. I specifically use sculpty when making molds that have very fine detail that is not recessed enough for the silicone mold to pick up.

Below is an example of my Sunflowers Pendant, you can see the finished silver pendant, the unfired greenware, the original black glass button and the two part silicone mold.

Tulips, Hearts, and Bronze Stars oh my

2010-02-18T20:24:00.008-06:00

Some new Bronzclay pendants. I have a lot of items floating around my bench right now. I just finished the above three pendants this week. They still have a lot of polishing and finishing work but I am pleased with how they came out. I call the pendant on the upper left my tulips, hearts and stars pendant; the second located on the left is another Victorian flower pendant and the last pendant is a version of my Victorian Flower Charm. I am not sure about the patina on the tulip, hearts and stars pendant. I am never happy with the patina on my bronze pieces. Not to mention they always look silver in the photos. Hopefully this weekend I get get some good light to take some better photos, it so hard to take pictures at night.

Thursday's Themes - Valentines Day

2010-02-11T20:16:00.010-06:00

1. Silver drop dangle earrings 2. Silver Heart Pin 3. Petal Locket

4. Fluttering Heart 5. Etta James - At Last 6. Sweet Pink Arrangement

7. Bonnie & Clyde Bracelet 8. Red Bargello Heart Cuff 9. Burning Heart Necklace

It's Valentine's Day this Sunday and I am looking forward to a nice dinner with my husband. Some of the items listed above have been on my favorites list for a long time. Have a great weekend and I hope you enjoy my heart collection.

Thursday's Themes - The Man Cave

2010-02-04T22:52:00.014-06:00

1. Green Monster Seats Photo 2. Boston Red Sox Emblem 3. Streets of Boston

4.Ultimate iPod Station 5. Shot Glasses 6. Rhino Head

7. Poker Motto 8. Pulp Fiction Wall Decal 9. Leather Lounge Chairs

This weekend is my husband's birthday. Currently all the guys are downstairs in the basement playing the ritual Thursday night poker game. Our basement is pretty bare, except for my husband's poker table (which he made himself), the billiards table and the dart board. It is truly a man cave and as of last Wednesday it also now contains the dog that Jason has been wanting for a very long time. Last Saturday we visited the Champaign County Humane Society and adopted Pepper a female lab-mix. She is a very cute and rambunctious 4 month old puppy. Jason has been asking for a dog, for as long as I can remember and now that we have a house, he finally has the dog to complete his man cave. The above choices are things that I think would improve the vibe of the man cave. It is unfinished right now but I now my husband has great plans for it. Have a great weekend everyone and happy birthday hubby. Below is a picture of Pepper, I love her little Yoda ears.

Online Tutorials for Metal Clay Users

2010-01-27T12:45:00.012-06:00

I am for the most part, a self-taught precious metal clay artist. I use the term "artist" loosely here, a better description of me would be a professional silicone mold creator. I have a mountain of precious metal clay books but I am a very visual learner. So when I can actually find video tutorials online for various precious metal clay techniques I bookmark them and study them diligently. The two websites that I have always returned to for their video tutorials is Whole Lotta Whimsy and Cool Tools.

There was however a very cool development last night on Tonya Davidson's blog , who is the co-owner of Whole Lotta Whimsy. Tonya Davidson has created a design team which she calls the Master Muses. These Master Muses are ten highly respected and experienced metal clay artists, that will be submitting a precious metal clay tutorials on various techniques on Tonya Davidson Blog every Wednesday starting January 28, 2010 . Two of the ten Master Muses are also Etsy Metal Clay Team members. A big congrats to Lora Hart and Ruth Baillie of Birdland Creations. There will be roughly 60 tutorials posted on Tonya's Blog. I can't wait to see all the different tutorials!

Handcrafted Help for Haiti

2010-01-20T12:48:00.012-06:00

I found out the other day that there is a shop on Etsy called Hearts for Haiti. This wonderful shop has a collection of various items, that have been donated by various Etsy artists, to raise funds for the humanitarian efforts needed in Haiti . The Hearts for Haiti Shop will donate 100% of the proceeds (minus Etsy fees and Paypal fees) to Doctors Without Borders in bi-monthly increments. I am in the process of contacting this shop owner to donate one of my pendants. One of my fellow EMC teammate's, Liz Hall from Lizards Jewelry, has already donated her Heart Ring to the Hearts for Haiti Shop. There are several lovely items in this store that would make for great Valentine's Day gifts.

My Seed Bead Bracelet Project

2010-01-17T21:32:00.015-06:00

So what does 2,500 seed beads weaved into four tiers using the right angle weave look like. This Seed Bead bangle is called the Metalsmith's Match and it was designed by Shelley Nybakke. Shelley has a bead shop in Bloomington, IL that I have had the pleasure to visit. This bracelet is almost done. Though the fourth tier has been extremely hard to weave. There has been a lot of cussing recently finishing the last tier. I hope I will finish it some time this week.

New Year, New Goals and New Skills

2010-01-14T15:23:00.021-06:00

It was a crazy December as usual. We traveled to Connecticut for Christmas to visit my husband's extended family. It was fun to catch up with everyone and to see how much my nieces and nephew have grown. I was also able to meet some fellow EMC Team members in person! I was able to meet Lis-el of Heart of the Fire, Janice of Destinys Creations and Lucia of Gulino Art Jewelry. All of these lovely ladies meet me at Lis-el Art and Soul Gallery! It was great to meet everyone and to talk "shop" with someone in person. Thanks Lis-el for opening your gallery to us for such a lovely chat.

I can not believe it is 2010. It just seems weird to be in a new decade. It also the beginning of a new year and I have slowly begun to realise all of the goals I want to achieve this upcoming year.

I unfortunately received the bad news that I did not pass my Professional Engineering Exam. That was a pretty big blow but after reviewing my test results, I found I did fairly well in the morning and completely bombed the afternoon portion of the exam. The afternoon portion of the exam is a more discipline specific area that I did not have enough time to focus on. Hopefully with some more time spend studying this area I will pass the second go around in April 2010.

One thing I do not want to repeat is how my studying took over my life. I have resolved to be more organized with my time. To actually schedule in my crafting time into my day. Chris not crafting makes for a very unhappy Chris.

This organization of time will be hard because I want to explore some new craft skills. Over Christmas I was able to amass several amazon.com gift cards to purchase a plethora of crafting books that have been on my favorite list since forever. The two that have really capture my attention is Clay Art for Special Occasions by Yukiko Miyai and The Art of Resin Jewelry: Layering, Casting, and Mixed Media Techniques for Creating Vintage to Contemporary Designs by the always crafty Sherri Haab. The lovely bouquet to the left is called the Yellow Mellow Arrangement and can be found in ccbycherrie Etsy shop. I would love to be able to make soft clay flowers like this!

Resin has also captured my attention and hopefully I will be off to the craft store this weekend to get my resin supplies. I fell in love with Quercus Silver Etsy Shop! I absolutely adore her Treasure box resin rings. I love the red one in particular listed above. Check them out.

Determination Delivers Delicate Details

2010-01-04T22:23:00.009-06:00

I have received such good treasury luck lately that I thought I would return the favor. The above treasury is called Determination Delivers Delicate Details. I have been working on a pretty intricate seed bead bracelet lately. I will show you pictures once I have finished it. Hopefully I will finish it before the 2011. The endless stringing of seed beads inspired this treasury. My latest bracelet work brought the thought that determination delivers delicate details. Enjoy this treasury it will be around for two more days.

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T10:10:00.007-06:00

Happy 2010 everyone. I hope everyone had a great New Year. I was happy to find that Jane of Daisy Jane Designs placed me in her Silver is just Fine treasury and Lori of Moda di Mango placed me in her Happy 2010 treasury this morning. Thanks ladies!

Tidings of Comfort and Elegance Treasury

2009-12-17T15:01:00.009-06:00

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

2009-12-16T08:33:00.004-06:00

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

2009-12-13T17:48:00.006-06:00

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!

2009-12-08T20:26:00.006-06:00

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

2009-10-30T13:16:00.003-05:00

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

2009-10-20T19:13:00.006-05:00

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

2009-10-07T19:58:00.007-05:00

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

2009-09-17T13:34:00.009-05:00

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.

2009-09-06T14:09:00.009-05:00

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

2009-08-20T15:00:00.003-05:00

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

2009-08-14T14:48:00.012-05:00

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

2009-08-07T14:41:00.004-05:00

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

2009-06-30T09:41:00.006-05:00

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

2009-06-22T12:59:00.008-05:00

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

2009-06-19T11:46:00.016-05:00

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

2009-06-15T20:41:00.011-05:00

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

2009-06-11T22:05:00.007-05:00

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?

2009-06-10T12:31:00.007-05:00

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

2009-06-09T19:32:00.008-05:00

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

2009-06-04T21:26:00.008-05:00

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

2009-06-02T08:46:00.008-05:00

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

2009-05-28T23:43:00.009-05:00

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

2009-05-26T20:53:00.012-05:00

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

2009-05-22T00:19:00.010-05:00

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

2009-05-19T13:08:00.011-05:00

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

2009-05-17T21:15:00.009-05:00

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

2009-05-14T23:32:00.011-05:00

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

2009-05-11T20:06:00.011-05:00

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!

2009-05-10T15:16:00.009-05:00

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

2009-05-07T18:56:00.004-05:00

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

2009-05-04T19:30:00.008-05:00

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.

Welcome the New Members of the Etsy MetalClay Team

2009-05-03T18:48:00.010-05:00

We have three new members to welcome to the Etsy MetalClay Team. These new members are Judy of Teefeebijoux, Nicola of Murano Silver and Oshrat of Terra Firma Studio.

Oshrat of Terra Firma Studio was born in Israel and moved to the United States a few years ago. Oshrat jewelry illustrates her love for abstraction, shapes, and texture.

Terra Firma The Trio

Nicola of Murano Silver lives and works in the little village of Market Deeping in the UK. She is a Designer Member of the British Jewellery Association. Check out Nicola jewelry on the following websites http://www.muranosilver.com/, http://www.muranosilver.blogspot.com/

Nicola's Wheel of Life

Judy of Teefeebijoux was first introduced to metal clay at the BeadFest in Philadelphia. Most of her techniques have been self-taught and she is currently experimenting with bronze clay.Judy is also a member of the PMC Guild.

Judy's Linen Disks Earrings

Going Around in Circles Treasury

2009-04-30T12:47:00.004-05:00

I was able to snag a treasury for the EMC Team. Getting a treasury on Etsy can be a frustrating waiting and refreshing game. Nothing is worse than lurking on the treasury page for hour, having your poster sketch waiting to go, your treasury title copied and ready to paste and then after frantically refreshing your computer after the magical number 333 expires, seeing that the treasury list is now 642 and you have nothing to show for your efforts. I was able to capture a treasury spot last night. Below is my "Going Around in Circle Treasury", please visit and comment on this little beauty. It will be around until May 2.

Tuesday Treasuries "Some Summertime"

2009-04-28T19:38:00.000-05:00

Lori of Moda di Mango was kind enough to put me in her Some Summertime Treasury. I love all of the seaside critters in this treasury. I can't to visit my parents during the Fourth of July. Nothing like sitting out on the beach or chilling out on the boat to celebrate your holiday weekend. My Celtics are giving me heart burn at the moment. Hopefully we can close the series out in Boston.

Sneak Peek Sunday

2009-04-26T13:19:00.000-05:00

I am coming out with several new pendants. I have listed three of these pendants in my shop. I have listed them below, I love my Floral Victorian buttons what can I say. The fourth pendant was a birthday gift to a friend of mine. I am currently remaking this fourth pendant but I am having a hard time coming up with a name for it. I was thinking of calling the last pendant "Wind", "Wheat" or "Calla Lily's in the Wind". Not sure which one best represents the piece. What do you think?

Tri-Tulip Pendant

Mirror Flower Charm

Dual Flower Charm

Thursday Treasuries

2009-04-23T19:14:00.001-05:00

I was lucky enough to be in two treasuries this week. I big thank you to Lori of Modadimango and Lisel of Heartofthefire for placing me in their treasuries. The trunk show went well for the little part that I was able to see. I have a lot of work to do this weekend. I made several new pieces but have yet to take pictures of them. It's been raining here for what seems like weeks. Today was the first nice day. I'll keep you posted.

Jason's Wood Working Project

2009-04-19T20:39:00.000-05:00

Jason, my husband, hobby is wood working. Because of his injury he had been unable to play in the garage with all of his wood working tools. He is close to getting his boot off and in the mean time he has been putting together some pretty cool cutting boards and boxes. A good friend of our turned 30 this week. As a birthday gift my husband made a wonderful wood box. This box would hold a very nice Kelt XO Cognac. Below are some pictures of my hubby's handwork. I really want him to make me a table with the same deign. The box is composed of maple, cherry and walnut. Jason cut, glued and sanded all of these different pieces of wood together. He then covered the box with Danish Oil.

Mother's Day Trunk Show

2009-04-16T00:15:00.001-05:00

The Etsy MetalClay team will be hosting another Trunk Show on April 21 at 2:00 pm EST/ 11:00 am PSTin the Etsy Virtual Labs. I will not be moderator for this event. Sadly, I have a day job and can't attend. Jane of daisyjanedesigns has taken on the responsibility of moderator. Eight members of our team will be presenting items with a Mother's Day theme. Please stop by and pick up a lovely gift for the hard working mom in your life!

Made the Front Page!

2009-04-14T12:12:00.001-05:00

Etsy Front Page 4/13/09 Admin, originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers.

Last week was nothing but bad news. I had a terrible head cold. I was congested to the point where I had to drop out of the 5K race that I had signed up for. I also found out that I did not get accepted into the Taste of Champaign Fair this year but things are turning around. I found out this morning that I made the front page of Etsy! And I recieve 4 lovely feedbacks to my shop yesterday. So things are getting better. Maybe I will host a jewelry party this summer.

Friday Favorites, "Splash of Color"

2009-04-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

This week's Friday's Favorites is called Splash of Color. Working with metal clay is on thing but incorporating color into silver clay can make a piece really pop. Below are some of my favorite pieces that incorporated color resin, polymer clay, colored concrete, fused glass, and gemstones. All cool techniques that I am trying to master myself right now.

1. Cathedral Window 2. Color Spiral Earrings 3. Splash of Sunshine

4. Rainbow Sherbet 5. Silver & Concrete Cherries 6. Celtic Tree

7. Here We Go Pendant 8. Lotus Sapphire Ring 9. Scarlet Ophelia

Prepared to be Jealous!

2009-04-01T22:19:00.000-05:00

I found out today that a spot opened up in Gordon Uyehara’s Bronzclay Class at the Metal Clay World Conference in Bloomingdale, IL. I was put on the waiting list but didn't expect to get a call! I have always greatly admired Gordon's work. I first saw his work on Flickr and was blown away by his detailed sculpted creatures. I am so excited, hopefully my Bronzclay questions and woes will finally be answered. Below are some of my favorite pieces of Gordon Uyehara's:

Gordon Uyehara's Desire

Gordon Uyehara's Silver Clay Fish

Chocolate and Steel Giveaway

2009-03-31T16:40:00.001-05:00

Christine of Chocolate and Steel is a fellow member of the Etsy Metal Clay Team. She has the most fun and romantic jewelry. This week she is giving away one of my favorite piece's in her shop (My Heart Belongs to Pendant listed below). To check out the rules for her pendant give away go to her blog Chocolate and Steel.

My Heart Belongs to Pendant

I love this pendant it is simple and romantic without being sappy. Thought the above pendant is one of my favorite's from Christine's shop, I also love her rings and her cute Apple pendant.

Delicious Apple Pendant

To me Christine's rings are unique and definitely encompass the entire feel of her shop; simple, bright, fun, feminine and romantic. I also like how delicate her rings appear as well, they are not thick and heavy looking like other metal clay rings I have seen. Below are two of my favorite rings from Christine's shop. I love the bright gemstone rings she creates. I would have never thought of putting bright yellow with silver!

On the Rocks Ring

Petals and Dew Ring

Sneak Peek Sunday

2009-03-29T21:23:00.000-05:00

I am still a Victorian button nut. However thanks to my Etsy Metal Clay group, I have bought some Press and Peel Blue Paper and hopefully will be experimenting with some etching techniques soon. But in the meantime here are some new pendants I have been working on. The pendants are still in there green forms and hopefully, I will have them completed by the end of the week.

Friday Favorites

2009-03-26T22:34:00.001-05:00

Below are some of my favorite heart themed pendants from the Etsy Metal Clay Team

1. Anyone can fall in love 2. Two Heart Bangle 3. Stormy Surf
4. Fired Up 5. Heart Full of Love 6. Locked Heart Pendant
7.Charming Heart 8.Tendril Heart 9.Paramour Pendant
10.Engagement Necklace 11.Midnight Serenade 12. Angel Wing
13. Peace and Love 14. My Divine 15. Winged Heart Charm

Tuesday Treasuries

2009-03-10T12:56:00.000-05:00

I was in a two treasuries this week. Thanks to Teresa of TZtudio for placing me in her Silver and Bronze Treasury. I was also placed in Maggie's of Sweetscarlet "Different and Divine Treasury"

Tztudio's Cubic Zirconia and Fine Silver Lotus Ring

Sweetscarlett's 1920s Art Nouveau Bookplates Designs

Treasuries of my Sea Critters

2009-03-06T08:53:00.000-06:00

Lisel of Heartofthefire and Lori of Modadimagno were both sweet and put me in their treasuries. My shop is sooo empty right now. I am working on a ton of stuff so hopefully you will see a few new things soon.

Thanks again to Lisel and Lori for choosing my Seahorse and Starfish Pendants in their treasuries. Below is some of their work.

Lisel's Guenivere Necklace

Lori's Engagement Necklace

Welcome New Members to the Etsy MetalClay Team

2009-03-04T11:57:00.000-06:00

We have two new member to the Etsy MetalClay Team. Lori of Moda di Magno and Zoe of Artwear. Please check out their work below.

The hubby is on the mend. He can't wait to get his hard cast off next week. I am extremely behind in my work but I am working on several items. I will hopefully have two new items coming soon. I will have a bronze Geisha pendant and a scroll pendant. I am currently trying to figure out if I want to do a summer art festival this July. Three days in the local park surrounded with other artisans at a booth fee of $80 seems pretty reasonable. I have never done a show or fair before, so I will have to figure out tables, tents, and displays. Not sure what to do. I'll keep you posted.

The Queen Necklace by Lori Magno

Blue Topaz and Fine Silver Flower Pendant by Zoe Nelson

Two Treasuries in One Day

2009-02-23T21:33:00.000-06:00

Two treasuries in one day, is a good way to start out a Monday. My Victorian Snowflake was featured in Deb Kaplan Designs Treasury "Its Metal Clay Day Hurray." Below is some of Deb's work.

Thistle Splendor Necklace With Grey Freshwater Pearls

Clarity Fine Silver Pendant and Grey Pearls Necklace

Treasury and Surgery Updates

2009-02-23T09:31:00.001-06:00

Karena of kaleprimitifs was sweet enough to add me to her treasury. My Bronze Shield Pendant is in the upper right hand corner. Also in Karena’s treasury is Christine of Chocolate and Steel, cute stud earrings. A family emergency has kept me away from my blog lately. My husband tore his Achilles tendon while playing basketball. He was in surgery last Friday. I am happy to report that the surgery went fine but my poor husband will be in a cast for two months. Not being able to work in his wood shop is driving him nuts. I have convinced my husband that crutches and power tools don't mix and hopefully he will have a speedy recovery.

Below is some of Karena of kaleprimitifs work. I love her bronze work, she has the cutest stuff. Thanks again Karena for the Treasury inclusion.

Little Sparrow Earrings

Heartfelt Bronze Necklace

Welcome New Members to the Etsy MetalClay Team

2009-02-13T09:03:00.000-06:00

We have three new members to the Etsy MetalClay Team. They are Linda of Clay-ol-o-gy, Karen of Eggtooth Originals and Jane Font of Daisy Jane Designs. A big welcome to our new members and I hope you enjoy our team as much as I do! Check out some of their work below.

Linda's PMC Textured Link Bracelet

Karen's Quercus Legacy Pendant

Jane's Twilight Garden Party Ring in Fine Silver

Featured in "Love to a Stranger" Treasury

2009-02-11T10:29:00.000-06:00

I was featured in a treasury today called "Love To A Stranger" PoppyLove, the curator, created the treasury to feature artists that were new to Etsy. She placed my Fine Silver Sea Horse Pendant in her Treasury.

As a thank you to Poppylove Jewelry below are some of her wonderful earrings. I love her vintage style and I might have to buy her Moroccan Lace earrings.

Moroccan Lace

Muse Earrings

Featured in Found Handmade Blog

2009-02-10T19:47:00.001-06:00

My bronzclay owl was featured over the weekend on the Found Handmade Blog on February 6. Check out these other cute owls at the www.foundhademade.com

New Work Continued

2009-02-05T08:48:00.000-06:00

As a result of the trunk show, I put pressure on myself to come up with some new pieces in my shop. I came up with six new pieces. I would love feedback on them. Below is my little sparrow pendant and my Victorian snowflake pendant. The sparrow is molded from an art nouveau pin and the snowflake from a Victorian button. I'm unsure about the title Victorian snowflake. Does this title go with this piece? I started calling it snowflake and so it stuck that way. I love my little sparrow. Hopefully this weekend I will have my Koi fish in my store. It has taken forever to match my bronze fish with the right beads and necklace design. I am going to place the Koi fish in a three strand blue stone necklace. I will post it when it is done.

Victorian Snowflake

Little Sparrow Pendant

New Work for the New Year

2009-02-03T09:14:00.000-06:00

I have been a very bad blogger. I have however been extremely busy. Last Thursday we had our second Etsy Metal Clay Trunk Show. I think it went well and everyone had fun but preparing for the show and getting new items into my shop has been pretty time consuming. I have added several new designs to my shop. I am still on a Victorian button kick. But I really like some of my results. My two new favorite pieces are my Bronze Peacock Feather Pendant and my Victorian Lace Pendant check them out below.

Victorian Lace Pendant

Bronze Peacock Feather Pendant

Featured in Etsy Treasury

2009-01-09T14:06:00.000-06:00

My Bronze Flower bouquet was featured in a treasury Lace and Ice this morning. A large thank you to missgaylee for placing me in her treasury. I have been a very lazy blogger lately please forgive me. I have some interesting news thought.

The Etsy MetalClay team will be having a Valentine's Day Jewelry Trunk Show on January 29th at 7:00 EST in the Etsy Virtual Labs. We will be giving away 8 door prizes. So please stop by our Trunk Show and if you know your Valentine's Day trivia you could possibly win free fine, handcrafted jewelry for yourself or your sweet heart. Have a great week! Below is my Winged Heart Charm that I will be presenting at the Trunk Show on January 29th at 7:00 EST in the Etsy Virtual Labs!

Winged Heart Charm

Santa was very good to me

2008-12-31T10:28:00.000-06:00

Well I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I know I did. I received the awesome news that I passed my Engineering in Training test! So I am now officially an EIT. I am so glad that test is over. It was eight hours of hell. The good news is I passed, the bad news is that I am now qualified to take another test. I hopefully will qualify for my Professional Engineering Exam this Fall, another eight hour test. This one thankfully will not contain calculus, thermodynamics or advanced Chemistry. And hopefully if I pass it, I will be an licensed professional engineer.

It was great to see all of my family this Christmas. Its so hard being so far away from them. We had a lot of fun and hopefully I will see them again this Spring. Santa brought me my tumbler and my torch, so I have now all the tools I need to make my latest ideas. I can't believe December is coming to a close. October, November and December flew by this year. The year 2008 was a good year for me. I finally got my EIT certification, I found a new passion in jewelry, my husband and myself have our health and happiness. Let hope 2009 is just as good as 2008. Have a happy and safe New Year!

Etsy Front Page !!

2008-12-17T15:08:00.001-06:00

Etsy front Page 12/17/08 kaleprimitifs, originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers.

Its been a good week. An extremely busy week but a good week. I made the Front page of Etsy today! Karena of kaleprimitifs put my Tumble Rough Good Luck Charm in in her treasury! I am also featured in the Etsy Metal Clay blog this week. Catherine was nice enough to post my interview on the team blog. Check out my interview here. I sold a few items this week and I am currently make a few custom orders. Hopefully by the end of this week my pirate ship pendant will be back in my Etsy shop again.

Welcome New Members to the Etsy MetalClay Team

2008-12-08T15:04:00.000-06:00

We have two new member to our Etsy Metal Clay Team! Monica of Handmade by Hapa and Victoria of Vixenware are the new additions to our team. Monica makes the most delicate and cute origami silver jewelry and I have been admiring Victoria's shop for a long time. Please take a look at their shops.

Japanese Origami Wedding Crane Necklace

Seeing Red - Fine Silver with Garnet Necklace

In Etsy Treasury

2008-12-02T09:14:00.001-06:00

My cute little tree frog was featured in a treasury today! A big thank you to Liz Hall of Lizards Jewelry for adding me to her treasury. And good news I sold my little tree frog this morning. Sorry I have not written but between Thanksgiving and remodeling my shop, I have been very busy. That right, my Etsy shop Clever Endeavor has a new look. I have dropped my blue backgrounds for more neutral tones. Hopefully this will help me get into more treasuries! Anyway I hope everyone had a good holiday. I love Liz work. Below are some of Liz's new work that I absolutely Love.

Polkapin

August Eve

Featured on "Such and Such" Blog

2008-11-17T16:43:00.001-06:00

Lora Hart, our fearless Etsy MetalClay Team leader, was sweet enough to include me on her blog Such and Such this past Friday titled "Weekend Eye Candy." My BronzClay Leaf Earrings are in the third row to the far right. I love Lora's Blog it is a treasure trove of info and has numerous links to other talented artists. Below are some of my favorites from her Etsy Shop.

Pillow Bead Pendant

Renaissance Dewdrop Earrings

Featured on Angeldamico Blog

2008-11-13T13:02:00.001-06:00

My Silver Leaf Pendant was featured on angeldamico blog yesterday. She was kind enough to send me a convo to tell me about it. She has great taste in fashion and I really love her t-shirts. Check out her Etsy Store http://www.angeldamico.etsy.com, below are some of my favorites from her store:

Purple Tunic

City Screenprint Tee

Welcome New Members to the Etsy MetalClay Team

2008-11-11T11:27:00.000-06:00

We have six new members on our Etsy MetalClay team. So everyone please take a peak at their shops. We have Cherylyn of clystudio, Heather of CherryCreek, Kelly of kfehrdesign, Martha of amordeplata, Molli of modernmetaljewelry and Wendy of cnkdesigns. I have been busy trying to learn how to fuse glass. My fusing class is fun, hopefully I can show you some pieces soon. Below are some of the work from my new team members.

Modernmetaljewelry

CNKDesigns

CherryCreek

Featured in Etsy Treasury

2008-11-06T16:37:00.000-06:00

My Fine Silver Tree Frog was featured on a treasury today. A big thank you to heartofthefire for placing me in her treasury!

New Work Finally!

2008-11-03T12:12:00.000-06:00

I've been busy between work, my recent EIT Test and the Etsy MetalClay Trunk Show, so I have not really finished any of my work. I finally finished my Victorian Floral Charm and Starfish Pendant. I have a couple of Bronzclay pieces coming and I will be starting my fused glass class soon. Hopefully I will be able to figure out how to apply silver overlay paste to my fused glass pendants. Below is some of my finished work.

Starfish Pendant

Victorian Floral Charm

Featured in Storque Article!!

2008-10-31T09:27:00.001-05:00

My Pirate Ship Pendant was featured in an article on Etsy Today!!! Daniellexo name me one of her top ten favorite metal clay favorites. She also named Jen of Wearableart, Dina of dinaalexander, Karena of Kaleprimitifs, Alina of SilverGarden, Ruth of Birdlandcreations, Christine of ChocolateandSteel, Natasha of NBDDesigns and our fearless leader LoraHart. So nine out of the ten were EMC Team Members. Yeah exposure!! Below is my pirate ship pendant I was listed as number 8 on the list. To view the whole article please click the following link: Storque Article.

Trunk Show Success and Front Page!!

2008-10-31T09:11:00.000-05:00

Wow after much work we finally had our Trunk Show in the Etsy Virtual Labs last night. And I think it was a huge hit! On top of this the admin over at Etsy were kind enough to help us with promoting our Trunk Show by placing us on the Front Page and featuring us in a Storque Article. Big thank you goes out to Daniellexo for her help! I can't believe my Silver Leaf Pendant was Featured on the Front Page! It got 200 hits from making the front page! Anyway a big Thanks to my EMC Team mates, we pulled off a great Trunk Show and I think everyone had fun.

Etsy Metalclay Team Virtual Trunk Show

2008-10-27T20:55:00.000-05:00

The Etsy MetalClay team will be participating in a Virtual Trunk Show this Thursday October 30 at 7:00EST /4:00 PST in the Virtual labs on Etsy. Please follow this link, http://www.etsy.com/virtual_labs.php , and click on the tree house room in order to reach our Trunk Show. This will be a live Trunk Show, ten members of the Etsy Metal Clay group will be presenting three of their items during the trunk show.We will have three door prizes available for attendees that are paying attention. Free handcrafted jewelry is always a good thing!! So check out Etsy Virtual Labs this Thursday!!

Featured in another Treasury!

2008-10-23T19:34:00.000-05:00

My Silver Leaf Pendant was featured in another Treasury! Jennifer Kahn was kind of enough to add me to her Stunning Silver Treasury. Below are some of my favorites from Jen Kahn Etsy Store.

Eclipse Pendant

Reversible shell slice pendant

Featured in Etsy Treasury

2008-10-20T18:47:00.000-05:00

My Checkmate Pendant was featured in a Etsy Treasury today. Yeah I love it when I see my stuff in a treasury. Fellow Etsy Metalclay team member, Heartofthefire listed me in her "Wonder of it all" treasury. Click on the link to see other work from the Etsy Metalclay Team in the Treasury.

Below is some of Heartofthefire work

Faerie Medallion

Celtic Elements Pendant

Can't take New England out of the girl

2008-10-18T16:18:00.000-05:00

I'm looking at my bench and realizing I miss my grandmother's beach. I have scallop shells and starfish almost ready for the kiln. The Fall was the best time of the year to collect scallop shells on Hyannis beach. I have one large scallop shell in bronzclay and one silverclay starfish. I will hopefully finish them soon. I miss my ocean and I miss my Fenway. The Fall also means baseball for me. If you haven't notice my profile picture, I am a huge Red Sox fan. Big Papi came through Thursday night but we are back in Tampa tonight , so I wish my team luck, we will need it. Below are some pictures of my current work.

Scallop Shell and Starfish

Rose, and Victorian Button Designs

Christine of ChocolateandSteel

2008-10-12T20:45:00.000-05:00

Etsy Spotlight Article:

Quit Your Day Job: Chocolate and Steel

Fellow Etsy MetalClay Team member, Christine of ChocolateandSteel, was featured on the Etsy spotlight series "Quit your day job." Check out Christine Etsy interview. I personally love these articles. It is inspirational to see someone turn a passion into a business. It takes a great deal of courage to take such a plunge. I've learned quite a deal playing with metal clay (I still have a lot to learn) but the eye opener in these last few months has been the amount of work necessary to sell my jewelry. Posting your work on Etsy is not enough. Marketing is an active exercise of blogging, maintaining a website, maintaining a Flickr site, networking through Facebook, being at craft fairs, selling to local vendors and hosting jewelry parties. I am actively pursuing all of these objectives this year, hoping that my little shop might get off the ground.

So its great to see a fellow Etsy MetalClay Team Member succeed in what she loves best. I have always loved Christine's fun and simple designs. Below are some of my favorites:

The Uprising

Delicious Apple Pendant

My Heart belongs To Pendant

Etsy Treasury List

2008-10-10T10:53:00.000-05:00

Etsy :: Treasury List

I don't know what's harder waiting until the final seconds of a popular ebay auction item to bid or trying to snag a treasury on Etsy. The Etsy treasury list is fun to create and I think it was a good idea on Etsy's part. The front page of Etsy website always features a list of someones favorites (that should not include their own work). This keeps the Etsy front page fresh and it also showcases handcrafted items that fellow Etsians find interesting and beautiful. And from a sellers point of view it is the best free advertising one can have on Etsy. So I have created a list of my favorite Etsy items with a fall theme hoping it will make the front page. I would love for my jewelry to make the front page of Etsy but alas it is yet to happen.

I have included a number of my fellow Etsy MetalClay team members in my Treasury list. I have been drooling over Karena's Fennel Feather Leaf Pendant and Jennifer's Fern Fossil Pendant. Please check out my Etsy Autumn Radiance Treasury and tell me what you think!

Karena's Fennel Feather Leaf Pendant

Jennifer's Fern Fossil Pendant

Things I have been working on

2008-10-08T08:42:00.000-05:00

So I finally fired my Koi Fish and King Arthur Bronzclay Pendants last night, hence my dirty fingers in the picture above. I carved all of the scales in the Koi Fish and I also carved out a lot of detail in the King Arthur Pendant. Both pendants still have a lot of finishing work but I think they came out pretty good.

I think I will be redoing the King Arthur Pendant for the Art Jewelry Magazine contest that was posted on Etsy the other day. Art Jewelry magazine (www.artjewelrymag.com) is challenging Etsy artisans to make a piece of jewelry, using 10 grams of metal clay or less (Arthur is exactly 10 grams). Art Jewelry will select five finished pieces and publishing them in their magazine, along with the winners names and contact information. I think Arthur would be a good submittal. The Koi Fish is 13 grams so I can't use that pendant for the contest unfortunately. I really want to redo both pendant in silver clay and experiment with aura 22 carat gold paint. I think Arthur would look cool with a gold shield and silver armor and the koi fish would look interesting with silver and gold scales. Anyway things to experiment on. Let me know what you think.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2008-10-05T14:41:00.000-05:00

Teresa Swanson, a talented member of the Etsy Metalclay Team has created a collection of watches. With the sale of each watch, 50% of of the proceeds will go to the San Diego Affilliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Kara Medsker McCain, a good friend of Teresa, is a twice over survivor of breast cancer. You can purchase Teresa watches and read Kara inspiring story at the following website Time For A Cure.

Etsy MetalClay Team Website

2008-10-03T23:42:00.000-05:00

I have been very fortunate to be part of the Etsy MetalClay Team. This new group is currently comprised of 21 members with various skills and perspectives on jewelry fabrication. Liz Hall, of Lizards Jewelry, was generous enough to put together the Etsy MetalClay Website. The MetalClay Website features all of the jewelry created by members of Etsy MetalClay Team, the website will connect you to each of the members individual Etsy Store fronts. A large thank you to Liz for all of her hard work on the website.

Working with Bronzclay

2008-10-02T21:44:00.001-05:00

I was so excited back in July when I heard a new precious metal clay was about to come on the market. Precious Metal Silver Clay is a lot of fun to work with but the cost of silver clay will make anyone hesitate before undertaking a large, complicated project.

Bronzclay is composed of 11% tin, 89% copper, water and non-toxic binding materials. Bronzclay pieces can be molded, carved and then placed in a kiln where the binders burn off, leaving a piece that is composed of casted bronze, a process similar to silver clay. The difference in price though is extreme. This summer the average price for 10 grams of silver clay was $20, but currently I can by 100 grams of Bronzclay for $20. At $0.20 a gram, I have been experimenting a lot more with Bronzclay.

There is another large difference between Bronzclay and silver clay. This main difference is the method to fire the material. With Silver Clay a beginner could utilize a torch to fire their jewelry pieces but Bronzclay requires a kiln. The Bronzclay must be fired at such a high temperature and at such a long period of time (think 5 hours) that torch firing would be impossible. A kiln is not the only other piece of equipment that is required, a stainless steel container and activated carbon is also necessary. While sliver has to be fired in environment with oxygen, Bronzclay requires the opposite. No oxygen can be introduced to the Bronzclay during the firing process and this is why it must be buried in a layer of activated carbon.

So about three weeks ago, I am in my basement playing mad scientist. I got the kiln, the Bronzclay, the activated carbon and the Bronzclay directions in my hand. I follow the firing directions that came with the clay to the letter. So after about 5 hours of waiting I rushed to my kiln and after carefully extracting my pieces out I found them to covered in raised bumps. So a word to the wise do not follow the directions that come with the clay. These temperature are too hot and will simply cause the piece to blister. Cooltools has a learning section on their website that has been super helpful when it comes to figuring out firing times for jewelry pieces of different thickness.

I am currently working on a King Arthur Pendant and a Koi Fish Pendant. One of the aspects of Bronzclay I do like is the ability to easily carve into the dried clay. I am carving some cool scales onto my Koi Fish Pendant. But above is a picture of my first successful bronzclay piece, my Pirate Ship Pendant.

Etsy MetalClay Team feaured on Storque

2008-10-01T23:23:00.000-05:00

I am a proud member of the Etsy MetalClay Team. This active group has been extremely busy and a lot of fun to work with. Today our team was featured in an article on Etsy. Click on the link below to check it out. This is a very talented group with a wide range of perspective on how to manipulate our favorite material metal clay. I big thank you to our team leader Lora Hart for putting this article together.

Storque Article on Etsy MetalClay Team