Sept 25 B'Sue Boutiques Creative Group Blog Hop!

Excited to participate in my first blog hop! Hopefully you will like my pictures of my September Challenge piece!

I had already decided which piece I was going to use of the 4 choices available. I really don't wear bracelets much anymore, so while that is the common use for this stamping, I knew I wasn't going to do that. So here it is after I cut it in half:

cut and filed

  

After going through my Vintage stash, I really like blue, so colored the piece silver w/ my Swellegent and was going to attach this vintage piece.

After figuring out I didn't have any beads the blue color, I decided to switch back to the one I had originally thought to use. Mostly because of the background color of the vintage piece, but also I liked neutral colors of it better.

Clipped off the bail on top and the loop on the bottom with the little dangles too. Now it was what I wanted.

I had also decided to reduce the size of the piece and cut the very center of the filigree out, as well as just the outer half circles. I colored with the bronze Swellegant, buffed back, and glued the half circle pieces to the base. Once dry, I added a rivet there to hold them all together.

Then I glued the focal onto the stamping.

Sealed it all with the Swellegant matte sealer. I didn't want to seal the part under the focal until after I had glued it to be sure it would hold well.

I bought some fringe from the craft store that had the perfect "beads" I had envisioned for this piece. I used them with Crystal Copper Swarovski beads and antique brass rolo chain to make the dangles.

I felt they matched really well with the focal and the overall "Vintage Boho" feel I was going for.

And just when I thought I had it figured out and only the neck treatment left, I decided to add one more vintage piece at the top to close the gap. Just didn't like the aesthetic look of it. But I do now.

Debated for while about the neck treatment.  Chain? Leather? Both? Or beads? Hmmmm, this took me awhile to decide. If I did more than one, I felt it would be too "heavy" for how small the overall piece is.  And I had ordered some beads for this purpose, but they were sent to someone else in error from the vendor (not B'Sue).

REVEAL!

Please hop on over to these fellow participants!!

HERE IS THE LIST OF PARTICIPANTS:

Mary Deis

The Rose Sword

http://theroseswordmdeis.blogspot.com/

Jann Tague

Clever Designs

https://janntague.wordpress.com/

Lori Beekman

B.Accessorized

https://baccessorized.wordpress.com/

Renee Hong

Fine and Dandy Jewelry

http://www.fineanddandyjewelry.blogspot.com/

Cynthia Wainscott

Exotic Peru Jewelry

http://exoticperujewelry.blogspot.com/

Dana Hickey

Magpie Approved

http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/

Mary Beth Quigley-Spiker

Q Settings

https://qsettings.wordpress.com/

Karen Eaton

KJewelry Creations

http://kjewelrycreations1.blogspot.com/

Shari Gardner

SLG Jewelry Designs

https://slgdesigns.wordpress.com/

Alison Huie

Ally's Baubles

http://allysbaubles.blogspot.com/

Pamela Anger

Novegatti Designs

http://www.novegattidesigns.blogspot.com/

Carole Carlson

Beadsophisticate

https://beadsophisticate.wordpress.com/

Cindy Peterson

Howling Dog Jewelry

https://howlingdogjewelry.wordpress.com/

Marcia Tuzzolino

Aurora Designs

http://auroradesignsjewelryblog.me/

Charlotte Smothers

Sea Horse Ranch Life

http://seahorseranch.blogspot.com/

Catherine Shattuck

Victorian Rose Boutique

https://vrbrose.wordpress.com/

Clare Wells Nemeth

Papercrafting Magic

http://papercraftingmagic.blogspot.com/

Erin Whitacre

Shattered Time

https://shatteredtimejewelry.wordpress.com/

Lynda O'Mara

Lomara Creative

http://www.lomaracreative.com/

Ginger Hammond

Lynn Leigh Designs

https://lynnleighdesigns.wordpress.com/

Ingrid Anderson

Lilis Gems Artisan Jewelry

https://lilisgems.wordpress.com/

Deb Beechy

Beetique

http://www.beetique56.blogspot.com

Harry Wood

Oscar Crow

http://oscarcrow.blogspot.com/

Delyssa Maxwell

Past Time Fancies

https://pasttimefancies.wordpress.com/

Paula Gaskill

Lovely Layla Bugs

http://lovelylaylabugjewels.weebly.com/blog

Irene Hoffman

Heart's Dezire by Irene

https://heartsdezirebyirene.wordpress.com/

Alexandra Sefton

Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art

http://wilywolverine.blogspot.com/

Leslie Carver

Adorn Divine Designs

http://adorndivinedesigns.blogspot.com/

Participants in the blog hop and testing of links!

List for Blog Hop September 25, 2015

Brenda Sue Lansdowne

Jewelry Making Outside the Box

Mary Deis

The Rose Sword

http://theroseswordmdeis.blogspot.com/

Jann Tague

Clever Designs

https://janntague.wordpress.com/

Lori Beekman

B.Accessorized

https://baccessorized.wordpress.com/

Renee Hong

Fine and Dandy Jewelry

http://www.fineanddandyjewelry.blogspot.com/

Cynthia Wainscott

Exotic Peru Jewelry

http://exoticperujewelry.blogspot.com/

Dana Hickey

Magpie Approved

http://magpieapproved.blogspot.com/

Mary Beth Quigley-Spiker

Q Settings

https://qsettings.wordpress.com/

Karen Eaton

KJewelry Creations

http://kjewelrycreations1.blogspot.com/

Shari Gardner

SLG Jewelry Designs

https://slgdesigns.wordpress.com/

Alison Huie

Ally's Baubles

http://allysbaubles.blogspot.com/

Pamela Anger

Novegatti Designs

http://www.novegattidesigns.blogspot.com/

Carole Carlson

Beadsophisticate

https://beadsophisticate.wordpress.com/

Cindy Peterson

Howling Dog Jewelry

https://howlingdogjewelry.wordpress.com/

Marcia Tuzzolino

Aurora Designs

http://auroradesignsjewelryblog.me/

Charlotte Smothers

Sea Horse Ranch Life

http://seahorseranch.blogspot.com/

Gillian Cunningham Wright

Bead Therapy Girl

https://beadtherapygirl.wordpress.com/

Catherine Shattuck

Victorian Rose Boutique

https://vrbrose.wordpress.com/

Kelly Wymer

Winged Wisdom Enchantments

https://wingedwisdomenchantments.wordpress.com/

Clare Wells Nemeth

Papercrafting Magic

http://papercraftingmagic.blogspot.com/

Erin Whitacre

Shattered Time

https://shatteredtimejewelry.wordpress.com/

Lynda O'Mara

Lomara Creative

http://www.lomaracreative.com/

Ginger Hammond

Lynn Leigh Designs

https://lynnleighdesigns.wordpress.com/

Ingrid Anderson

Lilis Gems Artisan Jewelry

https://lilisgems.wordpress.com/

Deb Beechy

Beetique

http://www.beetique56.blogspot.com

Harry Wood

Oscar Crow

http://oscarcrow.blogspot.com/

Delyssa Maxwell

Past Time Fancies

https://pasttimefancies.wordpress.com/

Paula Gaskill

Lovely Layla Bugs

http://lovelylaylabugjewels.weebly.com/blog

Irene Hoffman

Heart's Dezire by Irene

https://heartsdezirebyirene.wordpress.com/

Alexandra Sefton

Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art

http://wilywolverine.blogspot.com/

Leslie Carver

Adorn Divine Designs

http://adorndivinedesigns.blogspot.com/

I'm excited to participate in this new  Challenge! Ideas are swirling in my head, but we'll see what actually comes to making the idea a reality!

Not FUN, but NECESSARY!

So, for some strange reason, I'm sure a lot of us can relate to, my acquired bits and pieces, tools, basic jewelry making necessities, etc.... frequently feel like they are taking over my space, and rightfully so! I have pictures of all my tools, I have a separate (bathroom!) space for my soldering/torching, and my desk/workspace, well, yes, it's a DREAM to be able to see the top! I'm convinced that will not happen for a very long time. My brain is constantly abuzz with ideas~and strangely sometimes I even "challenge" myself to make something out of all the left out bits that are right in front of me! But, alas, when I spend more time SEARCHING, either on the desk, or in the magic drawer for the right jump ring, length of ear wire, etc... than it takes to actually create something when all parts are located, it is time to get down to business and get a bit of organizing done. And that's what happened today. Actually the majority of the afternoon! Especially after opening an Etsy shop, I am realizing time is money! And choose to NOT spend that time HUNTING!! SO, as some have already seen, my progress today. The before picture is scary because one place I order things from, and sometimes 10 of that particular thing, come in separate little baggies, but all in a LARGER one, that, invariably, gets thrown into the drawer, taking up valuable space in the process. So today was spent "undoing" that special packaging, and downsizing to more manageable and practical organized containers.  Great find at Hobby Lobby on the packs of 12 little jars w/ clear lids (regularly $10.99, were 50% off this week) and the plastic little baskets to hold everything were reasonably priced too. Decided for ME, it was better to make 2 layers of the baskets that would stack, and hold like kinds of things. The large basket under the one you can see holds my "ending" items~lobster clasps, crimp tubes/bead tips, jewelry tag, etc....The top one holds jump rings, and the other "top" layer basket holds all the various head/eye pins. I opted to keep these in their original bags, not so much bc of the length of them, but of the different wire gauges that would just be a jumbled mess otherwise. Probably not optimum, but I think it will do the job. Other baskets in the back part of the drawer hold 1) all gold "filler" beads, 2) all silver "filler" beads 3)bead caps used the most 4) bails and my new little cell phone plugs that just arrived from China.

So without further ado, I present the (embarrassing) before and after pictures of my drawer!
Before:

After!

I would love to see how others organize their supplies! Feel free to share!

New website-NOT for the faint of heart!!

SO not being a coding person, I have gotten a new domain with my Etsy shop name, and created a new website. I previously used Homestead for my hosting, and found out recently that if I change templates, it would wipe out all my hard work! YACK! NOT COOL!! So I purchased a new domain, and decided to give them a shot at the hosting too. Yep, decided to keep both at Netfirms. After a learning curve today, walking away for awhile, and coming back later, the new website is live and, except for not having any gallery pics for the Holiday section yet, it's going reasonably well.  Please feel free to check it out at http://kjewelrycreations.com/!! Nothing much else was accomplished today, but hopefully with it rolling I'll get time to get back to the beads!

Gettin' there, little by little!!

I now have 20 items up on my Etsy shop at https://etsy.com/shop/kjewelrycreations!! This is quite something for me! I have been trying to list at least 2-3 new items a week, and while this isn't many for a lot of shops, for me it's quite a feat! I am encouraged by the number of views and such, and hope to have more sales, but not so many I can't keep up! LOL!

Did resin this week, and things turned out well over all. I think this is one of my favorite resin pieces so far. Simple, yet elegant in the Victorian style brass ox bezel from http://bsueboutiques.com. I think I am in love with the brass ox!! Will definitely see what else is offered in that finish!
Have a great rest of the week and weekend!!!

Lighting is EVERYTHING!!

so have taken photos w/ my lights. Did research this week and changed up a couple things. Seemed to work. Then I decided to splurge on OTT lightbulbs for my little lights on the sides of my light tent. WOW WOW WOW WOW!!! What a difference!! Now I barely had to edit the lighting on the pics, and except for a quick crop on a few, was totally amazed at the difference!! Some rocks from Michaels came in handy as props too! Check it!

Etsy experience so far~~

so far, I'm liking the whole Etsy experience. I have sold 2 items in 2 weeks, and am trying to list things at least every other day. We'll see, but I'm up to 11 items in my shop. Finishing up some earrings to try to get them up, so we'll see how those go!

The start!

No idea how easy/hard this will be, but want to experiment! Will have to do some research and see how to make a gallery!