New Item!

The gorgeous new amethyst and freshwater pearl necklace I've recently added to my Etsy shop has been made for quite a while, I just hadn't had the time to photograph and list it with the demands of lab work and getting everything in order to start my PhD program in the fall. This week has been rough for me as well, as I've been in somewhat of a physical, emotional and mental rut. I guess that happens when you get about $1,000 worth of bills in one week, which is going to be painful to pay on my measly graduate student stipend. I've been seriously questioning my financial ability to keep making and selling jewlery, especially since I haven't even broke even with my initial investment to start my Etsy shop. After much thinking, and many tears I've decided to stick with it...I won't be able to post as many new products as I had wanted, but I am hoping the fall and the holiday season will bring me some sales! I'm also doing a craft show in Connecticut in September with my Mom (she does original artwork), which I'm hoping will be a success for both of us!

Well, enough of my sob story. Here's a few photos of my new creation. Enjoy!

My First Etsy Treasury!

I'm so very excited to announce that I've finally gotten an Etsy treasury! It features pink and green items I enjoy from some of my favorite sellers on Etsy! Below is a screen shot of my Pretty in Pink and Green Treasury, and you can view it directly here:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=74116

A Creative Weekend

Happy Monday!

I had a very crafty weekend! Saturday I photographed my lovely new Chrysoprase necklace I made. I tried out some new camera tips, (whitebalance and playing with the exposure settings) and I was very pleased with the result. I was delighted to discover that lowering the exposure is the key to capturing the beautiful shimmer of the pearls, without them ending up like a glaring white blob. The necklace is listed here in my Etsy shop:http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28380623

I also made a trip to the craft store this weekend and bought some sterling silver earring hooks and head pins for some earrings! I made two pairs, a pair to match the custom kyanite necklace I did last week, and a pair to match the black agate shell necklace and bracelet I have in my shop. Pictures to be posted soon! Completely unrelated to jewelry, I also made some fun beer bottle cap magnets to decorate my refrigerator! My boyfriend has collected all the beer bottle caps from most of the beer he drank in college, so we have a huge bucket full of bottle caps in the back of our closet. I picked out some of my favorites that we drink often (Blue Moon, Guiness, Shipyard, North Coast Brewing, Sam Adams) and super-glued magnets on the back of them. They look great on my previously bare refrigerator!

I'm also excited to say that I made my first Etsy purchase yesterday! I bought a beautiful lampwork bead for my Pandora bracelet from TheSassyBead2. I received a Pandora bracelet as a graduation present from one of my cousins, and I only have one sad little bead on it! The glass beads Pandora sells are so expensive and un-original, so I was very excited to find TheSassyBead2's shop on Etsy. Her Pandora bracelet-sized beads are absolutely gorgeous...they are little works of affordable art. I can't wait to receive mine!