Etsy MetalClay Charity Charm Bracelet

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.

Earning 500 Hearts has been an Interesting Journey

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.

The Button Nut's Favorite Search Words

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.

Happy New Year

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!

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.

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

Trunk Show Success and Front Page!!

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 Treasury List

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

Etsy MetalClay Team Website

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.