On another topic....some really bad weather!

We have had over 7 inches of rain in 2 days on top of days of rain just a week earlier. It's a disaster here in Rhode Island with many roads closed, or severely damaged by water runoff, and many cars ruined and homes flooded. I am thankful that we only had some very minor water in our cellar - we have a new, little river running from the woods to the side of our house and water was pooling up along the cellar windows and dripping down the inside walls. My husband dug a ditch in our lawn and rerouted the stream - although the ditch is an eyesore, I would rather have that than water in my cellar! I have the utmost sympathy for all those whose houses have been damaged by this awful weather. We are finally looking forward to some sun today, and hopefully after the rivers crest later today, the situation will begin to improve. Here are a few photos my daughter took in the local area - pretty scary stuff!

Blog Feature

I am thrilled to have been featured in a wonderful artisan/crafter blog - please visit and leave your comments. I would love to hear your opinions! This blog also devotes a lot of thought to women running their own businesses which is a great topic and timely as many women are trying to supplement their incomes in this tough economy.

Selling Jewelry Online

I started 2010 off relatively nicely with some steady online sales, but the last two weeks have been a bit slow. When I hit a lull in sales, I try to look through my online store (right now I am mainly concentrating on etsy) and reevaluate my photos and descriptions to make sure I am showing my work to its best advantage. Much has been written about the absolute importance of excellent photography - and it's absolutely true since your photography has to make someone stop and look and then entice them enough to buy your handcrafted jewelry without every being able to handle it or try it on. I have been working on improving my photography, although I still feel like I have a roadblock as far as earrings are concerned. I don't like the idea of someone modeling my one of a kind earrings - many people are put off by the notion of purchasing earrings that someone else has already worn even if you clean them, and I can really understand their apprehension. I do have an old department store mannequin, and I have asked my wonderful husband to drill some holes in her ears so she could potentially model my earrings. Right now my main concerns about photography are clarity, interesting composition, and as accurate color as possible. I have made a lot of strides towards that goal, and am continuing to work on my photography skills.

With all that said, I can safely say that I have shopped online and been drawn to someone's beautiful jewelry, pottery, painting etc. by virtue of their gorgeous photography, only to have them fall short in their description of their product. If I am going to buy your lovely necklace, I really want to know more than it's made with beads and love. What kind of beads - acrylic or glass? If you used crystal, is it really Swarovski or maybe Jablonex? The findings - silver plate, fine silver, copper plated brass or maybe something else? Stringing material - did you use nymo, c-lon, fireline or something else? I understand that if you are using repurposed materials, such as parts of vintage jewelry, it's not always possible to answer all these questions, but when I look to buy online, I really want as much information as possible. Also, in addition to a thorough listing of materials, I really want dimensions - width, height, chain length etc. Being a citizen of the US, I use inches, but online shopping knows no boundaries, so it really is in your best interest to list items in metric units as well. For smaller dimensions - a few inches or less, I use millimeters - 1 inch equals 25.4 mm - so a 2 inch pendant would be 50.8 mm. For more than a few inches, I use centimeters - 1 inch equals 2.54 cm - so a 10 inch section of chain would be 25.4 centimeters.

I would really love to hear other opinions on this topic! Feel free to leave yours in the comments section.

Olive and Gold Unakite Studded Cuff

I had a great time making this latest beaded cuff, and I am pleased that I was able to incorporate some recycled materials. I started with a background of upcycled, clean 100 percent cotton denim over a stiff fabric interfacing, which I edged with metallic gold acrylic to seal the edges. Six unakite disc beads and one unakite cabochon were then attached with beaded bezels. The bezels are made with matte gold delica beads and shiny metallic gold rocaille beads. Each stone is surrounded by a ring of olive green rocaille beads, and then surrounded by another ring of tiny size 15 shiny gold rocailles, to create a studded appearance. The entire piece was then edged in brick stitch with more metallic gold beads, and backed with very soft brown suede leather. The closure is copper plated brass with lobster claw hook and chain extender, so that the size of the cuff can be made larger if needed. All the thread used in this piece is nymo, which is widely used by beadweavers and is very sturdy. Every bead on this piece was sewn on by hand, using peyote and brick beadweaving stitches, and couched bead embroidery.

I am planning on making a few more of these cuffs in different color combinations.

New Bead Links

I have added some links to my link list - personal blogs from some amazing bead artists. Not all are in english, but anyone can appreciate the spectacular artistry that these bloggers display. Please enjoy!