... little bitty glass flowers. Every-freaking-where.
What can I say? I guess I'm ready for spring.
I've been dreading this day for a while. The day I go and decide to completely change up the style of our product photography. See, I'm more comfortable with my neutral gray, doing the same old thing every time. But that's not what catches the eye of lots of people, at least not on Etsy. And since one of my marketing strategies this year is to tap better into Etsy, well, it was time to step out of my comfort zone.
I see lots of gorgeous artsy fartsy photos on Etsy and wonder to myself "hmm, could I do that?". I wasn't sure I could handle it. I mean, wow, SO much color... no gray? What? NO GRAY? A color theorist I am not. I mean, shoot... my couches have beige slip covers, my rug is beige, our chair and the accent walls are chocolate brown. (At least nothing is gray.)
A couple weeks ago Dustin and I ran around town, finding little things to use as props. We went to the used book store with the sole purpose of buying some hard cover books in pretty colors. I found the coolest old, old, OLD Winnie the Pooh book in a nice shade of red. I had to have it. I'll actually read that one to our kids. Then I saw The Yearling in a lovely teal. A couple others that I'm not sure of the titles... but their covers were pretty in their chocolate brown and purple-ish. Score!
Next I found some white vases, perfect for displaying hanging earrings. Finally I raided my mom's stash of scrapbook paper. People. The woman has a stash big enough to scrap for the entire state of Texas. Score!
I went home and got to work. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do a good job. I'm not sure why, because I have a fabulous camera and an even fabulous-er macro lens... but I was afraid they would suck.
They don't. In fact, I pretty much love them and am wondering why I was so afraid of color before. Hopefully you'll love them too, and they'll catch some spending eyes over at Etsy.
We're also planning some pretty big website changes this year, so stay tuned to see how that all pans out. I'm excited!
Here are a few new things.. photographed with no gray! Yay!
But someone's gotta do it. 
That someone is me and my mama. Those fingers in the photo belong to yours truly. Surprisingly, they are actually pretty clean for an afternoon at the bench. Those fingers usually walk away much dirtier than that, but it was a relatively small job and I had already washed them a few times in between.
That green stuff, if you're wondering, is a safety tape that helps protect my tender little digits from burns while polishing metal. You'd be surprised at how quickly metal heats up to incredible ouchiness while being polished by a rotary tool at 22,000 RPM.
My poor little fingers. I abuse them so. You see the bandaid under the safety tape? That was from jamming the tip of an X-Acto knife into it while cleaning my bench. Cleaning is bad, bloggy buds, and trying to put a cover on an X-Acto knife when the cover belongs to your OTHER X-Acto knife, so it does not fit this one properly is even more bad. I jammed it in pretty good. Shhhh, don't tell my doctor... I'm not exactly up to date on my tetanus shot.
Ah well. All the dirt, shmudge, cuts, bruises and burns are worth it cause those dirty and abused fingers make such pretty things.
Like this pair of tassel earrings:
Or this textured pendant made from metal clay:
How about some gorgeous pink coral stones from Hawaii?
Or another PMC pendant, this time with a Celtic knot:
Aren't you glad we aren't afraid of getting our hands a little (or a lot!) dirty?
I'm guessing we won't qualify for a visit from Mike Rowe.
I'm addicted, y'all.
Can't.Stop.With.The.Mixed.Metals.
They call out to me, begging me to make them all harmonize. The sterling tells me it can't stand to be alone, and the copper is all, "yo, I need a bright and shiny bud".
Seriously. My jewelry talks to me. Doesn't yours talk to you? No? Well, maybe you just aren't listening! (Or maybe you're just, you know, sane.)
I actually had a little creativity in the past few days. Not much, but a little. Mostly I've been bogged down with adoption stuff or filling orders for my handmade supplies shop for things that have long been designed (not that I'm complaining, mind you). I haven't gotten to actually design something in a few weeks.
I've been wanting to make a triple metal Jens Pind bracelet for a while. My Shaggy Loops bracelet was originally going to be a Jens Pind, but the aspect ratio was off just a touch, and Jens Pind is a very picky little weave. So picky, in fact, that it is apparently one of the hardest weaves to learn. But never fear, jewelry loving friends, for I have mastered it. I guess chain maille becomes me, because I actually found it fairly easy to learn. (Am I allowed to say that I'm dang proud of my mad chain maille skillz, yo? Cause I am. I have now mastered two of the so-called "hardest weaves". Go me! Woooo! I kick massive chain maille booty!)
(You do realize that I don't really say words like "mad skillz" and "yo" and "kick massive booty" and "fart in your general direction", right? It's all an online act. Sorry. It's true. In person I am quite eloquent and have mad speaking skillz, yo.)
(Stop laughing.)
(For real, Dustin. Stop laughing.)
My photo set up is packed away while my office is getting the new flooring, so these photos taken on my kitchen table (with a cool little wooden dish that came from Hawaii!) aren't the best.
Here is what I made today. Six gemstone pendants (from left to right, top row first: black water jasper, blue pearl, lapis lazuli, kiwi jasper, Russian charoite, and a wooden teardrop, all wrapped with sterling silver wire) and some mixed metal earrings. Copper flowers, hammered antiqued brass teardrops, and antiqued brass lotus flowers, all on sterling ear wires.
Oh, and just look at these little earrings! I did not make them. My parents brought them back from Maui (where they are handmade! Woo!) and gifted them to me (along with... *happy sigh*... handmade soap!! Do they love me or what?). These earrings are little sterling plumerias. I think they're just the most darling earrings ever, so I had to share.
What is your jewelry saying you to you these days? ;oP
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