And soon it will be new

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was lower key than most years and I loved it. We attended an outdoor Christmas Eve service with live Nativity this year. Starry sky, carols sung to a single acoustic guitar...its was probably the best Christmas church service I have ever been to.

I re-opened my shop today and will be running sales throughout the week. I like to do a lot of clearing out around New Year's including all aspects of my life. (Those of you who read my blog can also take advantage of free shipping...use FREESHIP as the coupon code when checking out ;-)

Winding down

Filling the shop with the rest of the new finished work that I have. The shipping continues but the making is winding down. As always there is so much "in the works" but it will have to wait until after the holidays.

If you have the chance visit my Etsy team's blog post today. I researched and wrote a short piece about freedom, shopping, fingerless gloves (?) and the power of purchasing from artists and small business owners.

Small and special

I've decided to end the Stone Upon Stone line and will post the last (and smallest) of the earrings this week. This design originated after I was in a huge rockfall in 2008. You could say it was part of my healing process and now...I feel like I'm done and its time to move on. Although the rings and earrings have been good sellers for me I'll be selling off the pieces I have left.

Ah..that feels good. Making way for new things.

I'm trying to keep lots of new stocking stuffers in the shop right now. Small earrings are my way of practicing new techniques, 3D sketching in polymer, so lots of the tiny earrings are one of a kind or limited edition. Small and special doesn't have to mean diamond studs.

Ring, ring

I decided to try some paid advertising this year. The folks at 20BestTwenty could not have made it any easier (thank you Meg)! I went out on a bit of limb by choosing a ring to promote for starters. I know, not the easiest jewelry to sell since fit is key. I have full and half sizes 5-10 ready to ship - this is more production mode than I've attempted with rings thus far.

After a quick and helpful tweet chat with Danielle last night I realized that it would help if I provide some sort of chart, link, or ring sizers. So after the boys get started with math thats the first order of business this morning.

Danielle (HandyMaiden) makes the most charming animals. Hand sculpted, handed painted polymer - each with such personality. You can find your standard favorites (fox, owl, deer) but if its a Red Panda, Fennec Fox or Eastern Quoll you're after, she's got that too.

Partner in Polymer

My high school art teacher husband is adding a polymer clay unit to his 3D design course (pretty forwarding thinking of him, eh?) so he's been invading my space lately.

Its nice to have company in the studio, especially clever company who thinks of new ideas and likes to solve problems. He's making his way through certain skills trying to narrow down the ones he will teach while keeping his expectation of what the students will do with those skills wide open. Unfortunately its all too easy to teach a skill, show an example...and then just end up with 24 copies of that example. He encourages creativity above all and of course, polymer clay willingly obliges.

Live the good life

I believe in the idea of craft as part of economic, spiritual and emotional renewal! You can read about it here and here.

Most good things have been said and now just need to be lived. - Shane Claiborne

Elements

Lots of new parts and elements floating about. I'm still wondering how they'll all come together.

I find I like the sides of the beads for a new bracelet as much as the tops.

New Favorites on Etsy

1. Prickly Stem Earrings - Mioraklime 2. Teal Bird and Ivy - ManglePrints. 3. Eucalyptus Bud Ring - RebeccaDeans

(Did I mention there are 61 shopping days until Christmas?)

Back in the swing

My Etsy shop is open again and I am slowly posting some of my new work. I've been working on construction, kinetic pieces and incorporating non-traditional elements (yarn, rope, antler...)into my work. (and polymer clay IS traditional? what?)

On another note, if you're new to Etsy or selling online in general, I really recommend checking out the new series on the Artisans Gallery Team blog - The Don't Do List. Part one was posted today and covers some important points about shipping.

Too many irons in the fire

I feel like I'm being pulled in a lot of different directions lately. So I'm gathering supplies in preparation of taking 1o days off from Etsy to concentrate on some of the (many) projects I have started. My shop will close Friday...but I'll be back :-)

Fog, photography, and a new ring

When Ema left for college she took her camera, leaving me to adjust to using my husband's Nikon D300. (I know, poor, poor me, right?) I'm not complaining but it is different, heavier, a little unweildy for me. I'm practicing; I know the only way I will learn is to just have at it.

The new Fragment ring in is the shop today.

Happy together

My Manifesto Necklace is showing up in lots of nice places! Today Emily featured it over at El Vintage. (thanks Emily!) The vintage suede ankle boots in her Etsy shop caught my eye.

Echo

Lately I've been feeling like ideas and dreams from long ago have caught up with me again.

Echo necklace

Art as a magnet

Artists and craftsman! Read this business blog post for a shot in the arm.

Fest

I'm coming up quickly on my only show this year. New Freedom Fest, celebrating small town life happens right in my small town, New Freedom PA on Saturday, Sept. 17 from 10am - 4pm. (For reference we are 1 hr. directly north of Baltimore, MD.) There will be music, games, food and a farmer's market. And at my booth (#22) there will be sales (!) and new work. Stop by and say 'hi' - I'd love to meet you!

My husband lamented that he didn't have a Jibby and Juna piece to wear...so I fixed that situation.

Personal museum

With Ema leaving tomorrow and school starting for us on Thursday we're in clean up/re-organized mode. I realized its terribly sad that the natural history (aka treasures, aka stones and sticks) that I've collected from two continents and three islands have been sitting in plastic bags in a cupboard. Decided to rectify.

Only smaller bits fit on the narrow shelves created by hanging a printers tray side ways.

The house we rented this year in Maine had a private beach that was littered with huge mica flakes. I wish I could figure out how to set this one in a bezel.

The tiny collection.

The best of the heart stones.

Fossils from Calvert Cliffs.

Off you go...

Our daughter leaves for college one week from today. (can this really be happening?)

I made this necklace for her (and a couple like it for the shop). This type of beading is rather calming when the world feels like its rushing by.

So very timely...found a back to school treasury I was in over at The Handmade Gift Guide today!

Into the woods...

School starts in 2 weeks so we're packing in all the fun. Today - sailing. Tomorrow - the zoo. I'll probably only have a couple more full days in the studio.

A belated thank you to Heather Kent! It was very nice to find a photo of my work over at her blog last week. She has nice interviews too. Below is one of her new hand painted lockets - I lean toward all things woodland. She has a wide variety of images (from hedgehogs to red velvet cake) available on pendants, rings, earrings and even cufflinks.

Manifesto

Last year sometime I heard someone (and I honestly can't remember who) say slightly snidely "Well! You don't want finger prints in your polymer clay!" and that did it for me. I started working on beads that had my finger prints as their texture.

Lately I've been wrestling with the big ideas of copying and being authentic and how can any of us ever be sure we aren't unwittingly using too much of someone else's idea, what with the overwhelming number of visual images we have access to EVERY SINGLE DAY. Angst.

It seemed like the right time to finally complete and post this necklace. The white beads are made with my finger prints. No one can copy my fingerprints but if someone would copy the beads they will be forced to use THEIR OWN finger prints. I enjoy the irony.

My treasury "watch out for sharks" was chosen as the Artisans Gallery Team's treasury of the day!


Click over and check out my inspiration, this Porcelain Great White Shark by cedarpottery, AND my other 15 great finds!

Almost there now

Our 180 days of school for the 2010-2011 school year are finished! I'm still getting the boy's portfolios in order but the end is in sight. Studio time has mostly been limited to fulfilling a large custom order but I also spent a little time rummaging through the " discard box" and re-working pieces that didn't work out. Carving works wonders on Stone upon Stone pieces that were made before I got more consistent with them. (I throw nothing away.)


I had a pleasant surprise from Amanda at Ulixis who featured my white Fragment earrings on her blog yesterday! Check out all her lovely finds!

Turtle update

Some time between 11pm and 7am our snapping turtle left us. God speed turtle!
To answer one of the questions in the comments, no, turtles don't sit on their eggs they drop 'em and leave. But we will work to keep the eggs safe for the next 6-7 weeks. Once they hatch we were told we can move the babies to the stream. (Sam is having a little trouble being convinced that a snapping turtle wouldn't make a good pet.)

Our dog gets it that she isn't allowed to dig where the eggs are but we have some concerns about the neighborhood cats. We're thinking we should construct a wire dome of some sort.

Expect the Unexpected

I woke up this morning expecting something unexpected.


We found her just outside our backdoor. Mind you we live IN town - she had quite a walk. She is LARGE with a top carapace thats about 10 x 13 inches. She has now buried herself underground. I don't think I need to tell you what she's doing down there.

I called the local park (they take injured birds, snakes etc.) and they said to leave her alone; she'll finish laying eggs in about 24 hrs.

Hazards on the job

Big orders, lots of beads...beads, beads, beads. Soreness in one hand led me to try making the same small beads between the thumb and pointer finger of my other hand and lo and behold, I am polymer ambidextrous! (well, at least with that kind of bead)


This is one of the "rest" projects I am working on after both hands get stiff. I cut into my thumb on Saturday because I was carving and not wearing my leather finger protector. Amazingly its just about healed already. And I've learned my lesson.