A Custom Necklace…for my Daughter…

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P1000911.jpg

September means one thing in my household – my oldest’s birthday. She will be 4 this year, and for the past several months she has been pretty clear with what she wants: a “Hello Kitty” Necklace (just recently she also added a pink stroller for her doll but she is still pretty adamant on the Hello Kitty necklace :)).

My children have no idea what Sanrio even is. All they know is that Hello Kitty is a girl and is a cat – seeing that we have 3 cats at home, it was a natural gravitation to the Hello Kitty character. And it’s all my fault that they have any interest. I was introduced to Sanrio when I was about 11 or so by my Asian pen pals…so I couldn’t resist pointing out Sanrio merchandise on shopping trips for my own nostalgia…not to mention they inherited my Sanrio stationary from back in the day! (My favorite was actually kerokerokeroppi but we don’t live with any frogs so I guess he’s just not as appealing. ;)).

So to humor myself I did do some looking around different BBS and jewelry stores to see what exactly is on the market for Hello Kitty necklaces. What I found was not surprisingly disappointing. Either cheap materials for too much money or…well, let’s just say I am not buying anything encrusted with pink diamonds for my 4 year old! 😉

This creative mama knew she could make it work, and personalized at that. I started looking at official licensed merchandise. The charms were much too big and not what I was looking for at all. I knew I was going to have to make my own charm. I had these small pewter flower picture frames that I knew would be perfect. Now where to get an image that is essentially 8mm in diameter? I didn’t want to print an image as I planned to set it in resin and I was dubious I could get a good image on our ink jet. So I thought stickers…still couldn’t find stickers small enough. Then it hit me: nail art stickers! One trip to Sephora and I was in business….

The nail sticker is set into the frame with a UV resin. Just 20 min. under a UV light (or set out in sunlight, which takes longer) and voila! Done! I added a 4mm ruby Swarovski crystal bead and an engraved silver plated disk with my daughter’s name. Since she is starting to take interest in the alphabet, particularly her name and her sister’s name, I thought plain text would be best rather than a fancy initial.

I finished the piece with a 14 inch sterling silver chain. I am quite pleased with the overall size…perfect for tiny necks. 🙂

This was actually the first image I set in resin. I liked it better because the sticker was metallic so I thought it would look more like jewelry. However, once it set it was obvious that there was not enough contrast between the image and the metal of the photo charm. So my 2 year old will get this necklace…at that age she will care not that the image isn’t as strong as her sister’s, she will just be honored to have one as well. 🙂

I will not be reproducing these necklaces for sale due to the copyrighted material. However if you have your own personal image you would like set in resin feel free to contact me. I have photo charms and pendants in several different sizes. 🙂

 

Going Solo: Setting Up My Own eCommerce Website

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Website

When I decided back in January to set up my own website using open-source cart software, I had every intention of blogging about the process along the way in hopes of  inspiring or helping others in the handmade community who were thinking of doing the same. I have always felt rather suffocated & limited by third-party sites. I tend to like to do things my own way and not have to play by the rules -or agendas- of others…it’s the artist and the entrepreneur in me, I guess… 😉

What I wasn’t prepared for, was how time-consuming it was going to be. Oh, open source, la la la…once I learn how it works, how hard can it be? I have enough geek knowledge under my belt – this will be fine. Truthfully, it was a HUGE learning curve…one that has left me feeling totally accomplished – but still, jewelry making (development & skills) has been put on the back burner while I take on this very big endeavor (all the while, I still am taking custom requests. Eeek!).

So here is what I came to realize:

1. You can’t go it alone – unless you are a programmer in your “day” job.

Whether you use ZenCart, Magento,  PrestaShop or OSCommerce…whatever the software you find, it will never be perfect, and will need tweaking. Unpacking the software and uploading it to the web space in the first place was a head scratcher. And then, I cannot express my frustration loud enough of loading in a section or a product and having it not display properly. Luckily for me – I happen to live with a developer. My husband got me set up with the site, and tweaked the style sheet when items would not display properly. I am geeky but I do not code – unless you count simple html and that ain’t gonna cut it. 🙂 So, no matter how many hours of sweat equity you want to put in, you will still need to have help from someone with technical know-how. That may mean paying someone – or maybe setting up a bartering system for goods in trade for programming. In my case all I have to do is turn really red and mash the keyboard really hard and my hubby comes to my rescue. I know everyone cannot be so lucky. 😉

2. Be willing to make compromises.

One of the reasons why it has taken me so long to even develop my own site is because I had visions of grandeur…all the things I wanted it to be able to do, to represent – AND do it all the while with an edgy, artsy look. Over the past 7+ years I have sketched out the website of my dreams on paper over and over again…tweaked and re-tweaked. The truth is, to have the kind of website I envisioned it wouldn’t have taken several hundred dollars in development time, it would have taken a few THOUSAND dollars in development time. Although I am married to a developer – time taken to put together that kind of site is food out of my children’s mouths. Literally! If he is working for free for me he is not doing work for his clients…

So I realized that I had to settle for heavenly flower, version 1. You have to start somewhere. So when demo-ing different cart software I looked for one that was closest to what I wanted. The one I chose has a fairly easy to understand back-end, it also had modules I could add for features I wanted. Besides being able to sell a product to customers, this one allowed browsing with different currencies, had a customer wishlist and also a rewards program. Also, I was able to find a theme I liked that was inexpensive, that was fairly easy to implement and fairly easy to tweak (again – hubby took the lead here…it would have been a disaster if I gave it a go solo!!). It’s not perfect. There are things I would like to change – and being open source we will probably change. But for now, version 1 is usable and presentable so onward & upward as they say. 🙂

3. Be realistic with your goals

In January when I finally decided to go ahead with this project, I thought end of May would be ample time for implementing and launching the whole site. We are talking 4 months. Then, life happens. I am a mom to 2 little ones – and at the time I decided this timeline, I didn’t realize I was a *pregnant* mom.  Yet, I like to give myself tight deadlines as I tend to procrastinate. It turned out the fact that there is a new family member on its way really kicked my butt in gear. I spend my days with my kiddos, and added an hour or two extra at night to get my crap together. It did mean compromises – like going with older photos I had taken with the old camera. But this is heavenly flower, 1.1. I had to tell the perfectionist in me to politely eff off. I can always go back & retake photos later, once the site is finally live.

4. educate yourself as much as possible about the software you choose

I read many tutorials & posts on message boards to understand how the software worked, what I could expect, and any issues people had encountered with it. Hard on the head, yes – but if I hadn’t of done this, there would have been useful features that I would have totally missed. Not to mention when something wasn’t working it was such a time saver to pin point the exact problem.

5. weigh out the pros and cons of having your own site, and think long term

Are the sales rolling in since launching the site a little over a week ago? Oh hell no, of course not! I still have SEO (search engine optimizing) to do, not to mention all my own promotion and advertising I did when I sold on the third party sites. It ain’t that easy folks. For me, it is a long term plan. First, set up shop on a site like Etsy and try out this online thing for a couple of years. It had been over a decade since I first sold online – a lot of things have changed about online shopping since then. As a busy mom I love to shop online so I soon learned what I like and dislike about the experience. I plan to spend the next year building up my brand…which is a never ending process whether you have your own website or not. The point is, I have not made and am not making sales my goal for this year. If I get requests, great, but again I am thinking long term. I’ve never really been comfortable with my name attached with such-and-such selling community. So it is worth it to me to take the time -finally- to build something for myself. For others that may not be such an issue. Nor is everyone ready to invest that kind of time (and possibly money) on something that is not necessarily a sure shot. Remember that your own site means not only paying to set up the site, but for hosting. In my case, once I stopped paying Etsy listing/renewing fees and downgraded my Artfire to basic I have ample money to pay for the monthly hosting cost. The goal is to eventually offer my own credit card processing as well. What you want to offer, who to and when are all questions to ask yourself.

***

So it’s the end of May – did I reach my goal? Yes in the sense that the site is live. No, because I am not done – yet. Still more products to load. And we need to move over to the faster more reliable hosting. Am I happy with the direction things are heading? Absolutely! Having my own site in many ways is like birthing a baby. It’s a huge responsibility and can be scary/intimidating at times. But I have never felt so free and excited about the future of my handmade business! 🙂

Sneak Peek at the Custom/Engravable Line…

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Dpp 416

Well, I cannot believe my eyes. As of last night, the website is LIVE!  All of my Etsy & Artfire inventory is now available on my own little piece of the world wide web. But, before I work on search engine optimization, we still need to move the site over to the faster hosting, & I really need to get my custom collections up & running. I had originally set a goal of having it all live by the end of May, however after finally assessing how many collections I developed over the the winter, I have my doubts that I can go public with every single one in less than 2 weeks, especially with the custom requests that happen to come in in the meantime.

Here is a sneak peek of what to expect nonetheless. I will launch one collection at a time and announce each on the home page of my website. I also would like to do a giveaway to kick off the launch, but I haven’t figured out what just yet. Suggestions welcome! And sooner than later before I get wrapped up in all things infant! 🙂

So here is but one item available from each collection.

From “Awareness”:

From “Beaded”:

From “Children’s”:

From “Dark Angel”:

From “Gemstone”:

From ” Gothic Spider”:

From “Keepsake”:

From “Sweetheart”:

From “Remembrance”:

I also have a pet tag engraving collection conceptualized on paper only. At this time I decided it is best to go forward with what I have before developing anything new. 🙂

Cross fingers that the attributes (for customization/choice on each piece) built into the software are straight forward and I can get this up and running smoothly. With open-source, anything can happen. 🙂

 

New Engraving Font

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Interlock Mono

I am excited about this new engraving font. And even more excited that I mastered it quickly. I engrave manually so it takes a bit of skill to have the letters of this monogram interlock:

 

Here is an example of it actually engraved:

This font will be available as part of my engraving collection on my website. The website will be going live shortly with my clearance section active – over the coming days I will be loading in the custom collections as well as upgrading to faster hosting.

Personalized Necklaces – My latest Custom Engraving Order

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Boxing

I just shared this custom order on my Facebook page…and I mentioned there that I normally do not share custom requests. Normally the pieces I do are very personal in nature & I just don’t feel comfortable putting them out there.

This particular order, was a request by a business for their employees. I engraved the names, and added a pearl charm. And since the company is kickboxing – I found these adorable boxing glove charms. I really love the final product, and with prices of sterling going through the roof, happy to offer the engraving blank in a silver plated steel.

If you are from the Calgary area, why not check out this company run by women, for women? Kick butt and get in shape! Foxykickboxing.ca.

My Eye is on the Ball for a May launch…

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Me

Here is a cross post from my other blog, to explain the growing excitement for our family these days: Our Growing family .

Despite all the excitement & distractions, I am still working towards an end of May launch for my new website.  (Preview new look of the site here).

My clearance section, now currently the inventory on Etsy & Artfire is loaded. My hubby the developer has my list of tweaks as there are a few hiccups with the style sheet (I am using an open source software to power the site) which are well over my head technically speaking. Stage 1 of testing the Paypal API has been successful – I now have to test it using different currencies & countries.

This weekend I started pairing and pricing collections, which is exciting…and I am itching to make new things. I have to keep my eye on the ball, though. Due to our family’s unexpected coming arrival I am really behind, but I am confident I can catch up even if it means launching with only one collection live.

Once I decide on customizing options for each collection & price, I then get to play around with attributes on the website. Oh goodie, I say apprehensively. I am excited to be able to offer custom choices on each piece, but it is a bit of a headache to figure out on paper, let alone figure out  how to do it via software. It will cut down a lot of back & forth time with my custom work though, which is win-win for both me & my customers. Well worth the headache.

I will be permanently closing down both my Etsy Shop & Artfire Studio end of May. I really need all the funds I can get to pay for my hosting. I have cheap hosting now but it is not reliable. I need an upgrade like, yesterday! To be honest, my feedback from customers on the third party sites has been luke-warm at best, to the down-right, “I hate it”. Unless my customers are already members of these communities, they haven’t really served me well for what I do. In fact, this blog accounts for 95% of my jewelry requests! So it will be nice to finally have my own little home here on the internet that I feel best represents me. 🙂

I am planning on having a sneak peek of the collections here on the blog shortly…stay tuned. 😉

 

Changes…

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Heavenlyflower

There are some changes (challenges?) coming up this year for my family that have forced me to evaluate what projects this year are most important and concentrate on them. I am a big believer in change & getting out of one’s comfort zone…so as much as it is not how I envisioned my year I choose to embrace it!

Change has a way of kicking my butt in gear. When I realize my timeline has been shortened, this is when my best work emerges. I tend to over think – over perfect things. In essence I work the best under pressure.

So the one thing I could not put off any longer, was programming my website. My own little piece of cyber space where you can browse my jewelry online for purchase – either limited edition or custom and to request pieces for wholesale or consignment . I needed a place of freedom where everything would be in one space and I would have total control over it. This would eliminate the need for selling on third party venues. Maintaining these shops is time consuming & I have not much control on the space itself (customizing). I find myself constantly saying, “I wish I could do…”, “I wish I could offer….”

So the software has been picked. The theme has been chosen and customized. I am now adding product for testing. Here is the test site… http://shop.heavenlyflower.com – which will soon become http://heavenlyflower.com.

(This is a test site so browse only…created accounts will not be kept once the site goes live). Once completed customers will be able to browse/buy and request jewelry, keep a wishlist & email items to friends/family, earn reward points, join a referral program & browse in 5 different currencies (more may be added later).

We still have to test the sign in/account/payment capabilities. For now I have payment set up via Paypal API, and eventually will also offer direct credit card payment.

I also have plans to add downloadable brochures & press releases to the site as well.

This will not only simplify my life but allow me to market my business & represent me the best way possible. 🙂

So that is what I am busy with. Along with moving over 100 ready to ship pieces to the site, I have over 30 pieces for my custom/engravable collection to photograph and add to the site as well. Then once that is complete I have to do it all over again for my supply shop. 🙂

To keep up to date with the site’s development & new products, check back here on the blog, or via Facebook.

 

 

 

Creativity 2011 – Learning to Knit! Basic garter stitch…

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Knit

With the stick weaving mastered in no time flat, it was time to try my hand at the needles. Knitting is another skill on my list of things to learn in 2011.

So on this same trip, I brought along with me some size 7 needles and a great skein of wool I had picked up at the Vermont Wool Show. I should mention that I have knitted before – when I was about 10 years old. I don’t remember actually completing a project, just casting on/off and doing what I know now is the basic garter stitch. I can’t even remember how got to doing it – if it was a kit as a gift, if someone showed me or I just figured it out somehow, but I can picture the plastic knitting needles. In any event I don’t remember a thing about how to do it, so to me this was like my fist time. 🙂

The thing with me is, I simply do not learn in a conventional manner. I find books and instructions rather confusing as they are too one dimensional, and videos I never seem to be able to keep up with or I am too concerned with copying exactly what the person is doing in the video rather than actually learning. In other words, take the video away, and I freeze. If my work doesn’t look like that in the book or my technique doesn’t go as smoothly as the person in the video, I get discouraged. This is probably due to anxiety of my conventional schooling: text books are intimidating & due to the learning anxiety I simply regurgitated what I was “taught” in school – nothing truly retained. I guess that’s why with my jewelry making I’d rather just figure it out for myself than be taught…regardless of how many hours extra it takes me…I can be stubborn like that!

So after reading through & studying diagrams from an ebook on my Nook, and watching a video on our Tab – I felt I had somewhat of a foundation of what I was supposed to do – so I threw them to the wayside and practiced myself.

First of all I loved the size 7 needles & found them easy to maneuver – I can see why this size was recommended to me for a beginner. But, I really wanted to work with a larger size while I was learning. Smaller needles = smaller stitches so my work was progressing really slowly.  I wanted to see some results fast just to keep me motivated. I also realized I needed to get some cheap yarn for practicing. I kept unraveling the good stuff if it wasn’t perfect…I just felt like I was wasting it. As with jewelry making, it felt like leaping straight into the fine silver wire when you don’t even know how to wire wrap yet… 🙂

So the next day I was off to the craft store. I bought a pair of size 10 bamboo needles & some yarn that was on sale for about $2. The instructions for the project on the yarn called for a larger needle than a size 10 so it had the “fatness” I desired to see larger stitching.

My very first knitted – anything. It’s a simple cast on & garter stitch. Believe me there are a lot of mistakes here…yarnovers, double stitches…oh well. My goal was to get comfortable with the feel of knitting, so rather than going back to fix mistakes I simply carried on.

My tensioning gets tighter as I go as well. I think I struggled with this the most even more so than holding the needles. My stitches were loose in the beginning and would easily fall off the needle, as well as looked sloppy…with practice they got better & will continue to get better.

See how loose the stitches are at the bottom…

I keep this project in the car & work on it while we are away. Obviously, I am not the one driving. 😉 I love being able to have something to do with my hands…jewelry making was never a practical traveling project for me since I work with beads. I love how easily yarn & needles tuck into a bag. “But what are you making?” My husband says. He only pictures knitted socks & hats! For now, I think I will stick to making blankets for my girls’ dolls. 🙂 When this is done I’ll try a different stitch to make another one. Those dolls will be nice & warm. 😉 Once the movement becomes totally natural with a variety of stitches I will then tackle an actual project…other than just square objects. 🙂

So I am finding knitting, now that I don’t have to think so much & the feel is natural, very soothing & satisfying. I wondered if the repetitive motion would bore me but I found just the opposite. Interested in seeing if other stitches feel as natural, or what actual projects I will be inspired to do.

I couldn’t tell you if I knit in the “English” or “Continental” method. Or even if my form is correct – hell, even if it looks correct. All I know is, in my hand, it feels right, and that’s all that matters. If there is a new project that you want to take on but you are intimidated because you may not do it “just so” or the “right way” – what makes it right is if it is right for you. Make it your own…Own it! Make 2011 your year to try something you’ve always wanted to do! 🙂

 

Stick Weaving

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Stickweaving

I have declared 2011 the year to learn some creative skills that have been on my list for ages (not jewelry making related). One is to learn to knit, which actually has only been on the list a few months. I was inspired to give it a go after attending a Sheep & Wool Festival last fall.

Before knitting however, I found this inexpensive stick weaving kit from Lee Valley. It says it’s simple to learn so I thought I’d give it a go. I am always looking for creative objects that I can pass along to my girls as they get older.

On a recent road trip I packed the stick weaving kit & the knitting needles. Upon reading the instructions I opted to try stick weaving first. The verdict? Stick weaving makes knitting look like rocket science!! This was incredibly easy – and incredibly satisfying as the projects work up really fast.

The instructions say that stick weaving is “the simplest version of warp and weft weaving” and I believe it! It made me feel like I knew what I was doing right away.

Definitely a project highly appropriate for children. Not my girls who are very young, but elementary grades for sure. Although I am sure you could teach pre-schoolers this as well.

Finishing is a breeze. You can knot or braid the ends, creating fringe. Or tuck it under with a crochet hook. Weave sections and sew them together for larger projects.

In fact, I enjoyed this so much I decided to go out & buy another kit while we were on our trip & purchase some inexpensive yarn to experiment with a 12 stick weave.

It will be neat to try weaving other materials as well: embroidery thread, strips of fabric…I’m sure you could even weave wire in this fashion. The possibilities are endless…and I love that the finished project looks like you had a lot of skill & took a lot of time to make it. 😉

 

Cool Tool: Silica Gel Dehumidifiers

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Silica

Recently I moved my finished jewelry pieces to a jewelry carrying case equipped with jewelry trays instead of my usual plastic baggie in binder or on shelf option. I wanted everything in one place and most of all – portable so I could easily take my work with me to show potential buyers. However  I was a little concerned about tarnish since the jewelry is no longer concealed in plastic with an anti-tarnish strip. I placed anti-tarnish strips inside the case but I didn’t have  the confidence that they would do the trick.

Then I found these silica gel humidifiers from Lee Valley. They wick the moisture out of the air around metal gardening tools – so why not try them in the jewelry case? I bought the 40g one which is nice & compact. I like that once the beads fill up with moisture you can pop them in the oven & dry them back out – reusable over & over again.

It’s been several weeks now & so far so good. I’m thinking of getting another; one for the bottom of the case & one for the top.

I’ll report back with an update in a few months. I figure if the results are not great then I can always throw these into my garden shed. 🙂 But so far…no complaints.

 

New Year, New Goals…The End of the Jewelry Sabbatical

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Jadenrose

I have been quiet. The end of the 2010 was drawing near & I wrapped up my jewelry sabbatical getting a head start on 2011 projects. Like a writer who sequesters themselves in a secluded cabin to write a novel, a lot of times I do similar when I feel a new project idea coming on and I need no distractions to bring it to fruition. I’m glad to have been inspired to get a jump start as January is not going quite as smoothly as I had hoped. I am the perpetual over-achiever. 🙂

So let’s recap what I’ve been up to…

I started one year ago my jewelry sabbatical. I decided over Christmas break a year ago, after over a decade of beading/beaded jewelry that I wanted time to concentrate learning/trying new skills. I found myself feeling really stagnant making the same style over & over – and I needed time to not feel pressured to be making sales. The biggest result of that is I learned how to engrave using a pantograph engraver. A line is already in development & well on its way to completion. I decided to source out supplies that were quality but not precious metal. I’ve always been dedicated to offering my work at a price that is affordable to everyone. There will be sterling silver variations as well, but I will start out with blanks that are treated for durability, the cores being metals such as brass, copper & steel.

This is my new project. Named after my two girls, jade-n-rose will be offering jewelry making & craft supplies in small lots. Inspired by my early days jewelry making, I will strive to offer quality supplies in small quantities for those who only want a few items at a time. Currently housed on Artfire, we are starting to work on its very own website in tandem with the heavenlyflower website. I was hoping to have more items listed by now but have gotten sidetracked. I hope to get back to it soon; I literally have hundreds of items ready for sale.

I also (finally) chose a blog layout I am happy with! I believe these types of themes are called “magazine” layouts…and they give a snippet and photo from the post rather than showing the whole post on the front page. I’m a skimmer so I love this format for searching for topics that interest me. My holistic blog has also been updated.

There was a lot of things that I didn’t get to last year or only barely scratched the surface. I have carried it over to my to-learn list this year, although it is a tall order since I already have non-jewelry creative projects on the list. Considering all the goals I have for this year, it still feels exciting & ambitious rather than daunting and impossible. I will dig in, and hope that the blog this year will continue to inspire you to take on a creative project that perhaps you have been putting off for some time. This is my theme for 2011: tackle the projects that I have always wanted to do but never got around to do it.

Creatively yours,

Seven Things

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Seven

I was tagged by the beautiful Tasha Chawner to share seven things about me. While I am flattered that she  thought of me in all my blogging glory, I am having a hard time coming up with seven things to mention…darn it I am just not that interesting! 😉

1. I taught myself the alphabet in Canadian Sign language…

…which, for all intents & purposes is American Sign Language – ASL – (we say “zed”, they say “zee”) but as far as the signing, it’s the same. :). Yes my #1 is totally piggy backing on Tasha’s #5. 😉 I taught myself so that I could have hand gestures when singing the alphabet song (heavily requested in my house) with my three year old during circle time. I was quite impressed at how quickly I learned, now I would love to learn more! 🙂

2. I hate spiders but they love me.

Over the years, I have learned to tolerate them, as they do such a nice job keeping the other bug populace down. But they seem to want to be friends even though I would like to remain acquaintances. Here at the computer for instance, on a regular basis they like to come crawling up (or repel downwards), and I usually don’t notice until they’re traveling up my arm or neck. Flick it away and minutes later I witness it crawling back up the chair. Hello…take the hint! Recently I had one crawling up my leg while we were travelling down the interstate in Massachusetts. I had to stifle my screams lest Rick drive off the highway. Plus with the kids I have learned to suppress my disgust for them so to not encourage a phobia of their own. 😉

3. I am afraid of the dark

Totally in the irrational, childlike sense. I don’t think I ever got over fears from childhood, and too many episodes of “Unsolved Mysteries” back in the day really did not help me out there. You remember the original – Robert Stack’s voice, the creepy music…any who…if I have to travel anywhere by myself in the dark – say, to the loo in the middle of the night – I take a deep breath, move as quickly as I can & keep my eyes shut tight as much as possible…lest I see a – dead person or ax murderer or something. Things that go bump in the night – ask my husband, I have woke him many a time to check on a noise that was just the cat vomiting. 😉

4. I prefer to be alone.

Which may come to a surprise to you if we have only interacted in social settings. I have the traits of a person of the melancholic temperament.  I spend a lot of time in my head – contemplating & compartmentalizing everything…so when it comes to socializing in large groups I just don’t know how that chaos fits into my world. Many times people assume that I am depressed or upset or snobby or rude…truthfully I just spend a lot of time “out of my body” as I am so self aware. Over the years I have learned how to be an out-going creature, but  it makes me feel rather drained & it takes me a long time to recover from a social event. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good party, in fact I do need those as well to help keep me balanced. I really look forward to participating despite the awkward feelings I may have during/after the fact.

5. My dreams predict when something significant will happen to someone close to me.

I could add myself to that as I dreamed I was pregnant with baby girls just days before conceiving both my daughters. I dreamed a close friend was having a boy, and everyone was convinced it was a girl. My dream was right. The last prediction dream I had was two years ago – I dreamed of the death of my mother. One week later she died suddenly at the age of 54. Needless to say this experience has left me rather rattled and I have not had a prediction dream since. I think subconsciously I have turned off that filter, at least for now. The difference between a prediction dream vs. a regular dream is that it is startlingly real. I can  touch, smell, feel everything – know everyone who is in it (I tend to dream about strangers a lot…characters my head seems to make up in slumber land) and I am left feeling like I have be thrust back to earth to my body as if I were in another time or place.

6. I am left handed…sort of…

I’m sure that being left handed comes to no surprise seeing how creative I am. But I am actually somewhat ambidextrous – for lack of a better descriptive term. Although I am left hand dominant for writing & using eating utensils, I tend to use my right hand for everything else: using a can opener, scissors or pliers, throwing a baseball… Still, I recognize myself as a south paw; everything creative comes out of my left hand whether it be writing or sketches for jewelry designs.

7. I sweat a lot when I am writing…

…in a creative sense – not when I am say, writing a cheque or even listing a new item in my shops. It’s happening right now! It’s like I have a hot flash when I have to think and write at the same time…I can remember the same thing happening when I used to write essays in high school! My poor little brain cells are firing so fast they are creating a lot of heat in that noggin of mine. 😉

There you have it, Tasha – Seven Things. And yes, it was painful to come up with! I do hope it was somewhat entertaining! 🙂

Creativity Beyond the Beads: Handmade Book

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Book

The other day I was looking for a new book to write down my creative ideas, and I came across this one that I had made 10 years ago. A printer, old photos, paper & a hole punch…decoupage et voila: 🙂

After all these years, several moves & even a location to another part of the country – and I had never used this book. Until now. I made this book in a very sad time in my life…I think it was waiting for a more positive time to inspire. 🙂

Jewelry Inspired: Getting Started with Gemstones

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Turquoise

Back when I started jewelry making, the thought of using actual gemstone beads in my designs seemed unattainable. I was unemployed, and I had to decide between jewelry making supplies or food much of the time.

Then one day while browsing ebay I stumbled upon chip beads. Long, 18 to 21 inch strands of stone chips with a hole drilled in each – and if you think of how many beads you get per strand, that makes them more affordable than machine cut glass beads.

I must admit in the beginning I had a hard time using these irregular shaped gems in designs. But soon I grew to appreciate the raw feel of the stone. It also was a good practice in judging detail. For example, if I were to make a pair of earrings with chip beads it is important to try & find beads that are similar in shape & size so that both the earrings in the pair appear balanced.

I still have quite a few chip beads from “back in the day”- and will even pick up a strand or two here and there at a Gem Show if they catch my eye. My only word of caution is, they can be soft & fragile due to their irregular shape thickness, so if wrapped too tightly they can break.

Here’s some examples of jewelry I have made with gemstone chips:

Malachite

Mookaite

Howlite (dyed)

Turritella agate

Red tiger eye

Lapis lazuli

emeralds

turquoise

amethyst

garnet

My New Investment: A new DSLR Camera

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Dslr

I’ve been quiet as of  late, & that is because last week I finally decided it was time to upgrade my camera & invest in something less automatic. I have been using a digital point-and-shoot camera for 4 years now,  & it has served me well. However I felt very limited. I wanted to be able to customize more, and also achieve true macro photos, rather than ” macro”  (close ups) with a telephoto lens. I wanted to get more detail in my photos; that 3-D effect you see with a true macro lens.I also found photo taking time consuming, as I would have to take several shots, then download them onto my computer, sift through the different angles and choose the best. Time is money. Being able to take a decent picture the first time, crop & go would be heavenly! Especially with the amount of jewelry I have been making lately.

So I assessed my needs. I knew for my budget and experience I wanted something relatively entry level as far as ” pro”  style cameras were concerned. For me that meant being able to add a macro lens. I needed speed & ease of use. I needed something I could learn quickly & start taking decent photos right away without much of a learning curve, but still be able to customize.

So I narrowed it down to the two main players. Will it be Nikon or Canon? In the end I decided on a Canon camera specifically because it comes with computer software (Nikon has software too but you have to purchase it separately). Computer software means – you can control your camera & shoot your photos directly to your computer – which is a huge time saver!

The other reason I was sold on a Canon is because Costco sold them. With Costco I can return the camera with no questions asked, so if it didn’t meet my needs it would be easy change. Also Costco products come with a 2 year warranty with my membership. For my budget, Costco had the Canon EOS Rebel XS and XSi series. The difference was about $200 on the price. In the end I went with the Rebel XS as I wanted to have cash for accessories like a macro lens & a remote switch. I figured a sacrifice of megapixels for a great lens was worth t.

Costco sold both cameras with an add-on package which included a bonus lens (comes with both EF-S 18-55IS and EF-S 55-250IS…I guess “IS ” is a relatively new technology for them that stabilizes the lens to compensate for camera shake) & camera bag. The macro lens and switch I bought from a local camera store. The switch is great because you don’t have to worry about moving/shaking the camera when you press the shutter, but honestly I’m not using it as much as I thought I would since I am controlling the camera from my computer. Still a handy accessory to have.

As far as the macro lens goes, it was a painful decision for me. I knew I wanted the 100mm macro lens, but it was a hard pill to swallow cost wise – more than the price of the camera. So I decided on the 60mm lens: EF-S 60mm f/2,8 Macro USM. It was roughly the same cost as the camera, which was easier for me to live with. I have to be closer to my subject to take the photo but it still photographs wonderfully and the motor is whisper quiet.

This is my old camera…good ol’  point-and-shoot Fuji Finepix. Bought for approx. $300 CAD 4 years ago. Served me well and we will still use it as a back up camera.

But how does it do for taking pictures, you ask? Is it really worth the investment? Keep in mind, I am still learning. But I am impressed by the results despite my limited knowledge of camera settings.

The one on the left is taken with my Fuji camera. That is about as close as I could get to the piece, and about as white as I could get the background without ” photoshopping” .  The one on the right is with the new Canon Rebel camera, absolutely no cleaning or tweaking of the image. Taken by someone who didn’t know what the heck they were doing. The macro lens was pretty much fresh out of the box here. I immediately fell in love. 😉 I’d say not bad for straight off the camera. I know many would argue it is washed out – that is a camera setting thing – I personally like the artistic merit of the image in this form.

Here’s my set up. My old laptop is controlling the camera. 🙂

I think my only disappointment is that there are some tools in the software unavailable for the XS and XSi series that the higher end cameras have the ability to do (like setting custom white balance).  I guess that means upgrade in the next few years. 😉

Read about my other new gadget that I love:  The Nook on my other inspired blog. 🙂

Come Tour My Jewelry Box: Pearls from the Philippines

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Pearls

I attended a very dear friend’s wedding today, so I thought blogging about my pearls tonight would be fitting.

During my own wedding a few years ago, my mother’s dear friend whom she had known back in the Philippines traveled all the way from Switzerland to attend. That was an honour in itself, and then she gave me the gift of a string of pearls. What made them particularly special to me, is that they were hand picked from the Philippines. She gave me her blessing to go ahead and restring them.

So I decided to pair them up with some sparkly Swarovski crystal rondelles and add a sterling silver extender chain so that I would have the freedom to wear them at different lengths.

If I have never mentioned it before I will mention it now: I. Hate. Stringing. Pearls. I’ll do it, but I do not enjoy it. I admire anyone who can do it well and quickly: that just ain’t me. 😉

I put two pearls aside to make matching earrings; coupled with silver-gray freshwater pearls for contrast.

Oddly enough, I didn’t wear this set today. 🙂

I cherish having a classic set of pearls which hold such meaning for me.

Check out my fossil/slab necklaces also from my jewelry box. 🙂

Creativity Beyond the Beads: Wedding Invitations

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Invitations

Before there was the beads, the wire, the metal – there was paper. I have been in love with paper crafts since I was a little girl. I used to sneak paper out of my dad’s desk and cut it up for later gluing into little books or drawing pictures on – as early as the age of 5.

I had the privilege of designing & making the invitations for  a dear friend’s wedding. The color scheme was lilac (lavender) with a gold accent. After consulting back & forth with my friend I chose card stock for scrapbooking in the two colours. In the beginning we were just going to do lilac & white but after she mentioned it I agreed that the gold accent would be nice.

I cut the lavender paper into strips using a paper cutter, and then cut small lengths of the gold paper to add as an edging.

Ribbon was added to the center of the strip.

This piece was then glued to the middle front of the card.

Inside the card, I had already placed lilac colored paper inside with a vellum overlay. On the vellum was printed the text for the card. The vellum was adhered with a vellum tape so that you did not see a mark where the tape was through the opaque paper.

My friend wanted a monogram design for the card. I designed one on my computer using Paint Shop Pro, and printed them out. Originally I designed this as a square monogram, but the couple preferred oval. At first I wasn’t sure how to achieve the oval shape neatly. Cutting free-hand was not clean or even at all. But before I gave up on the idea altogether the curvy cutter came to my rescue!

Using the graduated oval template for the curvy cutter, I made ovals with the lavender paper slightly bigger than the monogram to adhere as a backing.

I felt that there was an imbalance with the gold only down the sides of the middle strip, so I cut another slightly larger circle out of gold foil paper to make it all come together. I just wanted a bit of gold peeking out the sides.

The assembling…in progress. 🙂

Orphan Beads/Leftover Supply Project 5: Beaded Rings

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Ring

I have been making rings like mad lately.

I don’t know why I never thought of this before, but what a great way to use up leftover beads: make some funky little cocktail-style rings with them! There are many affordable add-a-bead type ring bases on the market that you can purchase. These are silver-plated with an adjustable base. I love that they work up quickly and the end result is very cool!

It is a lot of fun to see what patterns emerge when you mix and match different beads. Wrapping them tightly in wire to finish them off makes a nice solid design…the shape is somewhat of a mystery until you finish wrapping.

I especially enjoy using different shapes. The end result is even more intriguing than your usual round bead.

Using up the mishmash of chip beads is by far my favourite material. The beads lay together tightly once wrapped & the colours of the stones blend together very well.

In fact the chip bead rings inspired a new limited edition collection I will be unveiling really soon…:)

Check out my orphan bead project: zipper pulls. 🙂

Come Tour My Jewelry Box: Fossils & Slabs

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Fossil

It’s no secret, to anyone who knows me, I love rocks. I was ecstatic to find out my now-husband likes rocks too. Between buying beads, minerals and specimens we can do some major damage at a Gem & Mineral Show. Eventually we both want to get into rock hounding & lapidary. For now we leave that to the experts and simply admire.

These pieces from my jewelry box, are what I call my homage to the Gem Show: Slabs. 🙂

Above is an orthoceras, a common fossil. Both this slab & the one below were set into pendants by a Nova Scotian artist. These were purchased at the Parrsboro Gem & Mineral Show about 7 years ago. Paired with fossil beads (dyed black) and snowflake obsidian chip beads.

The above slab pendant, by the same artist, is paired with bull’s eye agate & flower jade beads, as well as milky quartz chip beads.

This pendant was from the LBS (local bead store). I loved the patterning of the agate & felt it went well with my collection. So I added this to the jewelry box a couple of years ago. 🙂

My style ranges from the big & bold to the sweet & dainty. But everything has meaning. 🙂

Check out my girls’ toddler bracelets also from my jewelry box.

Orphan Beads/Leftover Supply Project 4: Zipper Pulls

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Bagcharm

This particular project is combining orphan beads with an excess of nickel lobster clasps. I upgraded to sterling silver lobster clasps sometime ago so I have a wholesale lot of nickel ones sitting around gathering dust.

So applying the same inspirational principle as the key chains and bookmarks, I came up with this zipper pull simply because the metal pull on my girls’ lunch box snapped off.

It gives a nice touch to the usually boring lunch box. I  think these would make cute little gifts for jackets, purses & bags, children’s shoes or even as cell phone charms. Since they are on the lobster clasp, you can easily change the pull to another style as the mood desires. I can see my girls having a lot of fun with these when they get older.

Orphan Beads/Leftover Supply Project 3: Keychains

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Keychains

Expanding on yesterday’s post on Beaded Bookmarks – the same theory could be applied to make beautiful & inspirational keychains out of leftover beads:

A little positivity to take with you as you go about the day or a little keepsake for your friends & family to know you care. 🙂

Orphan Beads/Leftover Supply Project 2: Beaded Bookmarks

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Bookmarks

Another great way to use up leftover beads is to adorn bookmarks. Bookmark bases come in a variety of shapes & sizes and best of all are readily available at most bead supply stores – many exist on Etsy. Or, you can buy leather cord and make beaded leather book thongs, also an affordable idea.

I like to include a bookmark in a birthday or Christmas card or if I am giving a book as a gift to personalize it even more.

To make them extra special I acquired some inexpensive word charms to make them an inspirational keepsake.

I also find it easier if I have some inexpensive findings on hand, rather than dipping into my main batch of findings for my jewelry work. I am always on the look out for  wholesale closeouts & sales so that I can acquire a large lot of findings cheaply.

Here you see pewter bead caps which I acquired at wholesale & on sale. Buy a large amount to get the best price, and then store them away for these type of mini projects. These bead caps are pewter & have a nice weight to them…and only cost a few pennies a piece.

Check out my orphan bead project idea: Hair Accessories

Artfire Collections & Etsy Treasuries

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Artfire

It appears that Etsy has successfully launched their new treasury format, which now allows you to tag your creation with key words so to make it searchable.

Just recently Artfire also launched their Collections and users have been creating fast & furious.

Both platforms are a wonderful way to promote & blend together different art mediums you will find on each site.  heavenlyflower has been featured in:

Funny how the 3 Etsy ones are all featuring my turquoise color pieces! 🙂

Why I don’t Get Anything Done on a Saturday Afternoon…

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Zany

I step out of the room for a brief moment, and look who found a new nap spot:

Before I assess the mound of jewelry to be photographed you plowed over, the tools you knocked off the table, and the amount of hair I will now have to delint…

I might as well get some nice shots of you. You are after all, in the photo box!!

That’s the Zany cat – 13 years still ticking & boldly going where no cat has gone before (because the other two are scared as to what I’d do to them if they attempted this!). 😉

All in a day’s work. 🙂

Come Tour My Jewelry Box: Grow-With-Me Toddler Bracelets

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Toddler

The next items I wanted to share from my jewelry box, are actually not for me at all, but for my two little ones.

I designed ID bracelets for them that could be adjusted as they grow (currently my girls are 16 months and almost 3 years). Now as they are very young they wear their bracelets as anklets. The bracelet is one continuous chain. I simply slip the piece over their foot & clasp where comfortable. When they grow large enough that I cannot slip it over their foot anymore, they can continue to wear them as bracelets (I can easily slip the 8 inches of chain over my hand to fit my wrist).

I thought of making them baby bracelets and then as they grow designing larger ones however I like the value of being able to use the same object for as long as possible. My jewelry philosophy is to make something that lasts, so why not make an item for growing children that grows with them.

Both bracelets are constructed out of sterling silver chain. The alphabet beads are culinary grade lead free pewter. Both contain their birthstones in Swarovski crystals & a small charm. I added two small freshwater pearls to Sophie’s design.

See more items from my personal jewelry box. Check out my Wedding Jewelry in this post. 🙂