November 30, 2010

Nests & Twigs

I want a twig ring for Christmas, which had me looking around on Etsy and sparked the idea for nest rings created from wire.  Here I created them in copper and antiqued them.  It took a few attempts before I came up with a design that I liked.  My girls were smitten and that's always a good sign.  This was my first attempt at rings, I finally had a chance to use my ring mandrel!

I love them too and will have to make one for myself after the show.  I'm also thinking of some folks on my gift list who would like these.  I'm so glad I have more girls in my family than guys!

A few in sterling silver.

Yep, my booth is going to be full of nests this weekend.

My twiggy wish list:
1. Spring Twig Ring  2. Tiny Twig Hairpins  3. It All Stacks Up (Yes, I'm dreaming!) 

November 29, 2010

Earring Invasion

I have been like a little Christmas elf over here burning the midnight oil.  I'm doing a show this weekend - Hecho a Mano here in San Antonio.  I think this is my 5th year.  A portion of the sales benefit the Guadalupe Cultural Center.  I've made 85 pairs of earrings over the last week.  As you can see, I take one design and do it up in 3-6 different colors.  I work in assembly line fashion to get them done quickly.

Here are 3 new styles for this year using 20 gauge sterling silver wire, I used the entire spool that I snagged from Rings & Things!

Spirals - these are my favorites, they look like little pieces of candy.

For these ones I made a ball at the end of the wires and hammered them.

And ones that have hammered paddles on the bottom.

Tagged and bagged.  (Okay did I mention Jess watched a 1/2 a season of Warehouse 13 while I worked on these.  What a goofy show, it's like X-files meets Eureka.)

Hecho a Mano (means 'made by hand' in Spanish) is Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I will list the earrings left over in my Etsy shop next week.  I'm looking forward to meeting people, seeing the art work and doing a little Christmas shopping myself!

Today is the last day to shop for jewelry in my shop, everything will be taken down until next Monday.

November 27, 2010

Nest Ornament Project

I made this nest ornament for my tree.  We do a woodland theme and I'm going heavy on the birds and nests this year.  I thought I'd share the directions. 

I've been having fun making a few art bead ornaments, getting ready for the Art Bead Scene ornament blog hop - you can still sign up to play along!

Supplies:
Snow dove - Humblebeads
Disk bead - Earthenwood Studios (or Jangles.)
Filigree brass leaf
Brass blank leaf
3 red 4mm crystals
1 brass 3" headpin
1 brass 7mm jump ring
3" green wire lace
34" brass color 18 gauge wire
3" brass color 24 gauge wire

(Wire, wire lace, crystals and leaves from Bello Modo)

Directions:
1. Cut 4" of the 18 gauge wire, create a large spiral on both ends and hammer with a ball peen hammer.

2. Form a 2" circle with the remaining wire, wrap the wire around into a circle two more times to form the wreath/nest.  Continue wrapping the wire around the nest to form the texture on the nest. Leave a 4" tail of wire.  Form a loop at the top of the nest and wrap the remaining wire around the loop.

3. String the 3 crystals on the 24 gauge wire, center and twist the wire to hold the crystals in place.  Wrap the wire under the top loop.

4. String the wire through the two leaves and wrap around the top loop and through the wire of the nest to attach securely. 

5. On the headpin string the disk and the dove, wire-wrap a loop and attach to the nest with the jump ring.  Attach the wire hanging to the nest.  Tie on the lace ribbon.  Pinch the ends of the lace and pull the middle of both sections to create the leaf.

This would make a cute teacher's gift, hostess gift, office gift-exchange or Secret Santa present.  You could use different color birds and disks to personalize each one.

November 26, 2010

Holiday Freebies

'Tis the season!
Now through Tuesday you can get the following deals in my Etsy shop:

All orders: free shipping

Orders over $25: free Willow Charm (shown above)

First 10 orders over $50 - free snowman bead. 
These are limited editions that I'm no longer making!

Free gift wrapping for all jewelry purchases.

Free Gift Idea!

Use one of my tiny charms like the mushroom, willow or starfish charms to create a sweet little pendant for preteens or teens on your gift list.  Attach the charm to the 18" gunmetal chain with a 6mm jump ring.  (You can find them at Rings and Things or your local Hobby Lobby.)

Adorable!  Aren't my nieces going to be lucky this year!!!

Add a little bead on a sterling silver wire-wrapped bail and a sterling silver chain for a more sophisticated look.  Stocking stuffers anyone?

And the last freebie of the day - win this Modern Forest toggle clasp! This design was featured in Handcrafted Jewelry Magazine. Tweet or facebook about my Etsy specials (with a link to this blog post) and leave a comment letting me know you did - I will enter you in a drawing for Tuesday and will pick one random winner. 

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day.

And a really big thanks to those who purchased during the Plumber sale!

November 19, 2010

My Pain - Your Gain Sale!

It's more like the DAMN I have to pay for the plumber - time to have a quick and huge sale.

Okay this is the scoop:
Today and tomorrow only

50% off your entire order from

Yes, you read it right - any size order you get the wholesale price.

Doesn't not apply to my Etsy shop or any previous purchases.

You must use discount code: PLUMBERSALE
when you check out.

Please allow 7-10 business days before these orders will ship out.  Beads from my website are made to order.

This sale includes the jewelry section - great for holiday shopping.

Please share this sale with your friends, social network, etc.  Thank you in advance!

I will also draw one random customer from this sale to receive a free set of Purple Disk Beads!!!!

Sand sculpture photo from Tesla314