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100 Days of Creativity: Day 49

Posted on February 23, 2009August 5, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

Despite being really tired today because my little was awake at the crack of dawn, I got quite a bit accomplished. This has to do with the fact I had my morning cleared as an appointment in the city has been postponed until tomorrow morning. So I was free to play amongst the beads. 🙂

First off I am happy to say my customer loved the baby birthstone bracelet I made yesterday, & bought it plus my tiny bubbles bracelet; which as I mentioned in previous posts I adore. It’s going to a good home, though. A milestone has been reached. I set a couple goals for myself at the beginning of the year. One was to have 20 things sold in my Etsy Shop by the time I have baby #2. As of last night this goal has been reached. It has been a really good month for me, considering how much time I can dedicate per day to jewelry making. Besides the Etsy sales I have had some off-line custom work as well. I am quite blissful with part time jewelry making & it is nice to see money in the bank again.

The second goal, was to have 100 things in my shop before baby arrives. Tonight I am pleased to say, I am 75% of the way there. Here are the three pieces I made today:

I am hard pressed to choose a favourite today. I so adore tiger eye & its metaphysical properties; yet pearls are always so classic & these are a light shade of violet; plus fluroite, another powerful stone…well, the cuff I am definitely proud of because of the tedious nature of this kind of work. No sore wrists today! Horray! 🙂

Anyway, I am very tired and probably incoherently babbling…so I bid you adieu for the evening…

100 Days of Creativity: Day 48

Posted on February 22, 2009August 6, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

Ow, my wrist. Today’s creation was rather fun & used up a whole lotta agate chip beads. I bought a huge lot of chip beads about 8 years ago from a dude in Newfoundland with a rock hounding shop who was selling them out cheap. And, I have been trying to use them up ever since! I’m a lefty, so my left wrist hurts from holding 5 strands of wire steady while I added the beads…and then finishing it off is a very tedious task. The outer strands are easy to tie off; the inner ones are so tight together it takes a lot of patience & skill to get the wire wrapped.

I made this one 7 inches so it would be a nice snug cuff for most women’s wrists. It’s about 2 inches high, and priced really cheap considering how much tedious work I put into it this morning…

The second thing made today, was a custom order request for a baby’s bracelet. I was really excited to make this since it was yet another bloodstone request (who knew how popular that stone would turn out to be!) and it’s for a baby expected to be arriving in the world around the same time my next little one will. This was my first Alchemy request on Etsy, so I was very pleased to give this a shot. Even though she has not approved the request yet, I went ahead & made it and listed it as a reserved listing. If she decides she doesn’t want it then it counts as one of 100 pieces I want to get showcased in my shop. I also want an example of a bracelet that can be customized for babies for when my website will be up and running, so it’s all win-win for me. I have made a handful of baby bracelets over the years but never got one photographed! Go figure…

So this is a smaller version of my fully adjustable delicate bloodstone bracelet. I have two delicate bracelets in bloodstone currently for sale but I think something fully adjustable would make the most sense for a growing baby…

I can also customize this piece with a variety of different stones; I bought 4mm beads just for this purpose, and of course never got around to making any. My own baby goes jewelry-less…everyone says, “when are you going to make her something?” You know that old saying, how the cobbler’s children has no shoes…. 😉

100 Days of Creativity: Day 47

Posted on February 21, 2009August 6, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

I had a pretty good day today: three things designed, made, photographed & listed.

I have a lot of pieces made out of hematite in my shop. A few years ago, I had a lot of requests for hematite pieces. It is a pretty, shiny, weighty stone that appealed to both men & women. Since it is an ore which is melted and molded into beads & pendants, it is also very affordable. So I stocked up…because of this, I have a lot of hematite odds & ends: 20 beads in this size, 10 beads in another size, 50 beads in this shape…I thought of starting a destah site & just selling them but really, the effort to photograph these & put them up for sale, well, I’d rather be making jewelry…

So I decided to challenge myself to make some pieces out of the smaller lots of odds & ends using up as many of the beads per piece as possible. These three creations emerged:

Piece #1: hematite & pink jade bracelet

Piece #2: hematite & moonstone bracelet

Piece #3: hematite & peridot anklet

Ah, pink jade. The controversy. I bought these pink jade beads several years ago from a distributor in China; before I knew that pink jade is awfully rare. I question whether or not this is the real deal, or simply dyed. No guarantees here folks, & that is reflected in the price. Either way, it is a pretty stone & makes for a great addition to jewelry making.

Check out these pieces, & my other hematite creations, in the “down to earth” section of my etsy shop…

A Gesture that Made my Day: I Won a Lemonade Award!

Posted on February 14, 2009 by Leilani — Leave a comment

Dawn, fellow jewelry maker & blogger, nominated me today for a lemonade award, in recognition for great gratitude/attitude. It may seem like a small gesture, but to me it means so much! Dawn is also a talented jewelry artist & a great source of inspiration for me. I am honoured to be a source of motivation & inspiration for her as well. Big hugs to you, Dawn!! Check out her Etsy Shop…

100 Days of Creativity: Day 36

Posted on February 11, 2009July 21, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

I have all these fun, brightly coloured beads: dyed quartz, fossil beads, etc. When I look at the bead case, they really remind me of candy. With the sun shining coupled with unseasonably warm temperatures for this time of year, I have been motivated to make something with these yummy colours. I have started a new section in my Etsy Shop called “eye candy“. This is the first piece I have created today. Simple yet very fun!

The pink is a bit deeper than what you see in the photo; more like a hot pink. Find out more about today’s creation in my Etsy Shop.

100 days of Creativity: Day 34

Posted on February 9, 2009July 21, 2017 by Leilani — Leave a comment

I started this blog a little late into my 100 Days of Creativity…which honestly I will never reach before this baby arrives! So I am aiming for 100pieces in my Etsy shop. I’m half way there. This is today’s piece that I made:

I used 5x5mm square glass beads that are an earthy red tone with gold accents. I decided on a magnetic clasp as the chain was rather lost in all the beads; a lobster or spring ring clasp would have been a challenge.

This piece is currently for sale in my Etsy shop. Please visit for more information on this bracelet and to see many other creations from my creative journey…