Happy End of 2007!

Nothing Exciting Here. I did get tomorrow off of work though. Yippee!

Amanda's Wedding

It was lovely.
I had a weekend out-of-town, and it was nice to catch up with old friends.
Funny thing- I didn't get a single picture of her or the groom, only a handful of her daughter dancing at the dinner reception!
Anyway, we each made promises to keep in touch better, and hope to plan a girls weekend in a few months.

The cake: 3 tiers of a rich chocolate cake, four layers each with a black raspberry filling and REAL buttercream frosting. The picture she sent me was about the size of a quarter, but I guess I got pretty close!

Been Shopping---

TIS THE SEASON!!!

But I've been doing a lot of wish listing of supplies....

Chain, charms, PEARLS... MY my my.
I sure do love my pearls.
I'm getting those first!


JET (Jewelry on Etsy Team) is finishing out our Holiday Sale this weekend.
MAJOR takeover in the treasuries. I think I was in 7 today!!! Yea Me!


More gifts to wrap, my Secret Santa to finish (I was finally inspired!) and the wedding cake for this weekend.

Still busy- Hugs on the run!

Fish

http://FishOnTheWall.etsy.com

Opps. Got something really different

...For my work.

Trying to work more on a target market. Seems the beachy bit is the tween-twenty thing. So, after some light research- I'm incorporating chain into my work.

I've done some cool earrings with Sterling chain, and now a pewter charm on chain. Antiqued silver-plate chain.

see them at my etsy shop http://FishOnTheWall.etsy.com.

That's all for now.

WHITE TRASH!!!

So- I had a craving- and as it's a little early for holiday snacks- I threw up my hands and said "Who cares!"

Here is a sampling of our White Trash. I wish we would have had some pretzels to go in it too. Oh well.

TA DA!

Here are the STERLING SILVER SWIRL EARRINGS!

The first real pair!

The sterling wire is a heavier gauge than the silver-plate.
Size is slightly larger.
(Oh! Handmade ball-end headpin,too!)


See- I TOLD YOU they were pretty!

I love my silver wire!!!

I'm so glad I ordered the wire. It was cut & shipped on Monday, and by the time I got it on Friday-- the Silver Spot price had already risen a whole dollar!

I've made a few handfuls of headpins-- it is so fun to watch the silver melt into a little ball!!!
Tride a few different sizes of pens and markers (even the inhaler!) trying to find the right size for my swirly hoops- I found it & hammered out a few pairs of earwires, wrapped some pearls & WALA! LOVE THEM!!! But, I can't share them right now, because I lost the camera card.

So, Just know they are beautiful.

I took the BIG Leap

I ordered the "right" wire.
Silver Wire that is.
20 Gauge HH Sterling Silver to make my own earwires.
24 Gauge HH Fine Silver to make my own headpins.

I did it Friday, So I'm not sure if it went out in the afternoon, or will be shipped on Monday- but it will be here soon!

See, my favorite earwire shape doesn't come in Sterling Silver...

So, of course I couldn't wait for the new stuff, and HAD to try it out with the Sterling wire that I have for knitting. The gauge is all wrong- way too fine & too soft, but I tried it anyway. Hammered the earwires with some help from LittleMan. I love the way they look. And I fired up some silver wire for the ball-end headpins. WHAT FUN!!! Now, I really cant wait to get the "right" wire!! I think I'm addicted already! So, here is what I whipped up. After a bit of practice, some handmade earwires will be showing up as jewelry in my Etsy store. http://FishOnTheWall.etsy.com
<- LittleMan with the hammer.
The Hammered Swirls

Bronze Pearls On Swirls with homemade headpins!


Have a super day!

~fish

So, I got a new tire.

$127 dollars later.

Oh well. At least I have a car.

10-31-07 The Day from Hell.

A few personal notes-- This is ALL TRUE. This is how my day went...

Woke up to a 60* house, the heat didn't come on.
Little man spilled almost a whole gallon of milk on the kitchen floor (I mopped last night).
Forgot that the daycare needed diapers and snack today- stopped at store on the way to work.
Forgot ATM card.
Bought diapers, cookies & candy bar (hey, I was having a bad day.)
Got to work 20 minutes late.
Settled in at my desk, get a few things done and reach for the chocolate.
Open chocolate bar.
ROACH runs out of foil. (SERIOUSLY)
Get an email that a (distant) family member is in hospital and not doing well.
Call the boss & tell him I need to leave early to go to hospital.
Get to the hospital, find the room, Betty passed about an hour prior.
Then, on the way to pick up MC from school, a box truck slams on breaks, fishtails & I run just off the side of the road & blow a tire.
Drive VERY SLOWLY the three blocks home (yes, that part was good)
Unload the trunk (which is full of Christmas presents and groceries that I WAS hiding from the kids)
Get out the spare & jack.
There is NOT a lugnut wrench.
Seriously.
None of the neighbors are home...
Finally, a neighbor comes home & lends me a wrench, but seems worried that I shouldn't be trusted with it.
I change the tire & get black tire grime all over my favorite white t and favorite jeans.



SO, that was my day today. How was yours?





Moral of the story: Dad was right. Thanks for making me learn to change a tire before I was allowed to get my license. The other thing- whenever you buy a new car, buy a set of jumper-cables and put them in the trunk. (But that wasn't needed today.)

EEP! OCTOBER!!!

Oh NO!
First moving, and now soccer games twice a week, and Yippiee! A root canal is scheduled for Friday. So Un-packing has not been attempted as of now. It WILL happen this weekend-- or at least there will be major progress made.

I have things that need to be photographed and posted, as well as new beads calling my name. Plus I will be cat sitting starting next week- So the craft room MUST get done!

Still Un-Packing

So, unexpectedly we had the opportunity to move into a bigger, roomier house! For the past week and a half I've been packing and loading and hauling and stacking and moving and unpacking. Many thanks to my mom & sis-in-law for all of their help.

My beads are still packed, stacked in the corner of what is to be my studio! Yippie! It's been almost two years since my crafts have had a place of their own. With this move I've also be given two sewing machines ( a Brother & a treadle Singer that has been converted to motorized! ) so I will be able to do those curtains and Morsbags that I've been wanting to do for so long! They, along with the fabric are waiting for me to get the house unpacked! My computer is in there too, and it has a new (to me) computer desk waiting to be covered up (freebie again, my friends LOVE me!)

I will be posting some of "Nana's Knit Dishcloths" to the Etsy store, and more of those Christmas holiday stampers- If I can find the camera.

** Still looking for the cell phone that got boxed up by mistake =( **

Rubberstamp Destash- Craft Closet Clean-Out

I'm no good at this!

I am SO bad at keeping up with this BLOG.

I had my doubts when I first started- But I've proven it. I haven't been able to Blog on a weekly basis. But, I also know that no one misses me- cause no one reads this but me.

SO-- This week I worked with a nice buyer who bought 5 pairs of my swirly earrings, and the bathtime fun washcloth. HA! I'm happy about that!


I picked out my Christmas present from my mom- From Etsy seller Beanblossom.
This great market tote made from AMAZING vintage fabric! Hand Screen Printed with the phrase "Not Plastic" I LOVE IT! I'm building a collection of totes to use at the grocery store- I'm so sick of having my milk double bagged in plastic- IT HAS A HANDLE. Really.
So, now I have 3 totes! (Well, I will after Christmas!)





I also came across this on Etsy. A VERY accurate painting of Bodie Island Lighthouse, on driftwood!! I really like the worn, smooth edges. I showed mom first & I'm having it sent to her as her Christmas Present! Yippie! (Mom & I can't ever wait & wrap things for under the tree.) It will look so wonderful upstairs on the Beach/Hatteras floor of her house! This seller has some really nice work! I can't wait to see it in person.



Soon I hope to be moving to a new apartment where I will have a room dedicated to my crafting. I am being given (!) an almost new sewing machine & an antique Singer (!!!) it has been converted to motorized (no treddles for me) and has a beautiful table/stand! Once I move into my new place, I can get these two babies going!!! I can't wait! I've started some projects- duvets and curtains for the kids room and they are ready for some stitches!!!

I will be organizing and cleaning out my crafting pantry- so more destash items will be arriving in my Etsy shop soon after the move.

Okay, That's all for tonight- I've got cakes to make in the morning!

EEEP!

It's not Sunday -- but I missed last week's blogging.
My goal was to do the blog thing once a week, just to mark my progress. But, here it is Friday, August 24, and my last post was on the 11th.

New Listings
I did have some inspiration last weekend and my Blue Jeans & Pearls Bracelet is the result. Crochet wire with coral cupolini and pearls, and my signature charlotte seed beads.

Also, I've listed some genuine turquoise pieces, a necklace and bracelet. I really want to invest in some good sterling silver beads to go with it, but I haven't found the right ones yet.

Display Bust vs Model
There are mixed views concerning live models wearing items in the Etsy listing photos. I have chosen to try a few select items with model photos as well as display bust photos. I have decided to use black and white shots when using the model, as to lesson the focus on the model and to use the shots as way to show drape and length.

The displays can be misleading when it comes to comparative size. I have a "mini" that I don't even use because it is just too small. It would work for displaying a solitaire on a chain, but not the necklaces I make. My "small" one is used sometimes, and I have a fabric covered form that I made myself that I like the best. At least the proportions are more realistic using that. However, it can be tricky to use as well, because there is no depth to it and the hanging length on the front is variable. I try to represent the length as it hangs on myself, and have a spot on the back to hook the necklace so that the lengths are consistent from photo to photo.

Let me know how you feel. Is buying a piece worn by a model gross? Is it better because you can see it hang?

See you on Sunday!
~Fish

PS earrings will NEVER be pre-worn. That IS gross, and against the law!

I've been BUSY!

I've been so busy 'cause it's too hot to go outside. Everyday this week it was over 100* at 5pm. The humidity has been horrible. Thank goodness my new office has AC!

I've made a batch of Swirly Swarovski® Earrings- simple sparkle for any outfit! These are not going to be OOAK, earrings just have limited design possibilities. However, they are available in a bunch of different Swarovski® crystal colors.

I've also beaded up some new pearl and Mother of Pearl necklaces, and I'm brewing up a new bracelet design. I just got some new cupolini in great dyed colors, a bright coral pink necklace will be my first item made from that!




I was featured in two treasuries this week. etsyBEAD's Theme of the Week- "Good Morning Sunshine" had my knitted copper pendant with red agate necklace, featured top row center; and my new Candy Girl necklace was picked for a JET Treasury, again top row center!




Thanks for picking some of my new things to feature in the Treasury!

I'm off to take some new pictures! Have a SUPER week & check out my Etsy shop: http://FishOnTheWall.etsy.com

Slow Week

Ha! I was so busy I didn't get a chance to slow down & create jewelry!
I did retake some photos and I listed one of my washcloths.

Washcloth! Wash Rag! Dish Rag! Dish Cloth!
This one is in a color called Gumdrop. Each night I sit with the kids while they take their baths, and I tried reading the new Harry Potter, but with all of the splashing and fun, I couldn't follow the story in a manner that Harry deserves. All of a sudden it dawned on me that I should pull out the yarn and make something as I referee bath-time. This week's end result is listed for sale here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5060430&section_id=5047235


I redid the first photo for the Green Quartz necklace and it shows up much better on the tan than it did on black. See it here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6198022

New knit sterling necklace was also added to my shop. I hope I can add a few more things throughout this coming week!

Thanks for checking out my etsy store: http://FishOnTheWall.etsy.com

2 New items up in the ETSY store

Let Me Brag!

I really love the Golden-Bronze Pearl bracelet- I've had the smaller flat-back pearls for several years, but the matching coin pearls were bought on my recent spree at the bead show. (Mermaid's Treasures went with me-- We TOTALLY blew our budgets- but we ended up with so many incredible beads!)

The twisted aventurine necklace was designed over the winter, but I wanted to add it to ETSY to add some variety to my listings.

The humidity was lower today, so I was able to take some pictures outside. I think the bracelet picture in front of the ponytail palm turned out nice. There will be several more photos with it in the background!

http://fishonthewall.etsy.com

Blog- day 0

WHY am I doing this?

Goodness- I can't believe I'm joining the legions of Bloggers! But, I want to do a little more to promote my line of jewelry, so I'm giving this a shot! I've seen some VERY nice blogs that are interesting, informative and funny. I hope mine ends up a little like those.

Fish on the Wall Artisan Beaded Jewelry & Random Crafty Stuff
can be found on ETSY.com a site for all things handmade.
To find me there go to http://fishonthewall.esty.com


I am a member of two Etsy street teams: JET and etsyBEAD.

JET = Jewelry on Etsy Team and out stuff can be found by searching for the tag JETT.

etsyBEAD = A street team for beaders. Find different themed items on sale each week by searching EBTW (which stands for Etsy Bead Theme Week.)

Right now, I am working on updating the member roster for JET. We have 275 members, but only a handful of active members. I am checking by each shop and inviting non-participating members to join in our fun.

JET has a weekly chat-thread and I feel like some of us are almost close friends! Although I don't know what anyone looks like (unless their picture is in their avatar!) I have imagined how many of these people look! Similar to how you develop the appearance of characters in a book, except I get to pick all of the features.
Some members are young, some retired, married, single, educated, hobbyist, professionals, mothers, and some are even male! (Like one of my favorites Wired http://wired.etsy.com ) JET is a wonderful mix of jewelry makers from around the world, and I am happy to be a part of it!