Hoobastank - The Reason

Technically, this is has a gemstone involved, so I think it is okay that I post this on my blog ;-)

Treasury!

I was delighted to find out that my Magnolia Flower pin was featured today in this gorgeous treasury curated by the very talented Etsy jeweler:jaC Jewelry. Please click and comment on the treasury to make it hot!

New Improved Banners

I have to share my new and Improved Banners for my two stores. Took me a while to get these right on MS Publisher, but eventually I got one that I liked.

Here for my Jewelry store:





And this is for my Supplies Store:

And the Phoenix Rises from her Ashes

I had put my jewelry store on hold for a while while focusing on my gemstones store. Wow, managing two stores on Etsy is quite a challenge, I absolutely detest switching between my two profiles. I wish there was a single profile to access both shops. Maybe I should jot that down under the Ideas section on the Etsy fora.

I have had quite a bit of success of late under the Alchemy section with some 24 odd Bridal orders so far this season. I offer high quality Boutique style bridal jewelry minus the sky-high prices. Running my own Supplies store helps, because I get purchase the materials on a wholesale basis and in turn pass on those savings to the customer. I remember studying Pricing as one of the four Ps of the marketing mix during my MBA days. In today's economic condition, it has become the primary distinguishing factor for many bridal customers. Young brides-to-be look for balance between good quality and low prices. I am lucky to have found many such customers who entrusted me with jewelry for their special day.

So, I re-vamped my erstwhile jewelry store into a Bridal Boutique geared towards offering exceptionally high quality products at a wholesale price.

I have been experimenting with a lot of rhinestone components too. I think rhinestones add glamor to even the simplest of pieces. Just a touch here...an accent there can transform and update the look dramatically.

My absolute favorite are these stunningly beautiful and exceptionally sparkly Crystal rhinestone component that is securely wire-wrapped to a long silver hair pin. This particular flower has a stacked look with two layers of smaller rhinestones embellished with a large center stone. This flower pin will add sparkle to any hair style, and add glamor to any hair color.

Bridal Customer Raves on TheKnot.com!

I created a set of 6 Bridesmaid's necklace and earrings and one more set for the maid of Honor for bridal client of mine. She was exceptionally knowledgeable about the products and had a clear sense of design. When the client knows exactly what she wants, it is essentially all down-hill from there. :)

The design incorporated Swarovski crystal flat briolettes in Crystal AB color along with Black (Jet) and Crystal AB bicone crystals. The designs were given to me by my customer. I just applied those ideas to metal and crystals.

These are the final jewelry pieces.







Imagine my utter delight when I found out that she has raved about my jewelry on the message board of TheKnot.com! Wow! What an honor! This just made my day!!

Whoo!!

Peridot Necklaces

One of my favorite color combination is Peridot Green with pale pink. So imagine my delight when Felicia approached me with a request to pair Peridot gemstones with Pale Pink Swarovski crystals along with a genuine freshwater pearl. She needed 6 sets for her Bridesmaids and was looking for a simple drop necklace. This is final result and looks so-pretty!!

Hale Shower Necklace by Anthropologie

I just finished a necklace inspired by the Hale Shower Necklace by Anthropologie. My client needed a necklace similar to the original in a turquoise-y color. This is the final result using Swarovski Crystals and Gold Filled components.

Rush Bridal order and my very first Rhinestone Brooch

A bride's rush requirement of a Hair pin turned into my first attempt of this rhinestone brooch. I was so delighted to find that this item was also featured on the "Recent custom creations" strip on Alchemy.

I would like to explore these rhinestone components further over the weekend. Lets see where that leads me :)

Charm Bracelets for Bridesmaids

Charm bracelets are a fun way of instantly personalizing a piece of jewelry. Kim's bridesmaids all have different personalities and different aspects of interacting with her. I was given a detail of the hobbies of each person and then used charms suited to each individual.

The vision was to create a mixed-metal feel, sterling silver with brass charms, in addition of genuine Carnelian gemstones and pearls. Vintage inspired flowers and leaves added a shot of color, and accented the bracelet.

The individual charms came from all over the world. The feather came from France! Yes, ETSY is a Global Market. It is marvelous to tap to the resources available online!

AAA Exceptional Pearl Necklace

This is a necklace I have fallen in love with! The single pearl was taken off a AAA grade exceptional pearl strand that I have been saving for my brother's marriage. (Well eventually! :))

The customer required a larger pearl but fell for the quality of the strand and I was able to spare a single pearl to make the necklace that she wanted.

This is the final necklace! The multiple delicate sterling Silver chains contrast the rich luster of the pearl. And the final necklace is surprising light for the looks.

Sneak Peek

Coming Soon.... ;-)

Custom Orders and Alchemy

Debashri is someone I have known for a long time. Not only is she an exceptionally good singer , she is also a gifted artist. Her medium? Clay! She is a clay flower artist based out of the beautiful island state of Hawaii. For those who haven't already visited her fabulous shop on Etsy, please do so and see what you have been missing. She specializes in Bridal bouquets...and what a great idea to be able to hang on to beautiful flowers from your own wedding, for years!

I could go on about Deb and her flowers :)...but this post is actually about her custom earrings. Deb approached me with a request for Citrine and Emerald Earrings; she also gave me complete liberty as to how I design it! Wow! How many people do that? Knowing her simple but elegant style, this is what I came up with. Sparking Faceted AAA Citrine teardrops and gorgeous green Emerald rondels were wire wrapped with Sterling Silver and accented with .925 Sterling Silver Components. I love the fact that the Sterling Silver Rope spacers hang loosely on the Citrine teardrop and are movable. It adds a certain whimsical touch to these sparklers. Enjoy your earrings Deb! Here's to creating more jewelry with complete free rein...Cheers!!

This was a week where I also lucked out on the Alchemy or Custom Feature of Etsy. Alchemy (now re-named as Custom) is a feature where Buyers can post requests for custom handmade items, and then sellers bid on the opportunity to make the goods. One such request was for a Gold Bead necklace by a delightful College librarian, knitter, reader and writer. It was M's first Alchemy request (and my second) and I am very very happy to share that she loved the necklace that I made for her. I took 6mm 14K Gold Filled Smooth Seamless beads, and strung them into a simple strand for her. These beads are 14/20 Gold-Filled, which means the piece is 1/20th 14 karat gold. The 1/20 notation refers to the ratio of the 14 karat gold layer to the brass layer by weight, which is 5%. Thank you so much M, it was a pleasure to work with you.

Meet A. Bride-to-be.
A. was looking for 3 silver necklaces with a flower charm and an initial charm on each for her three Flower girls. This was another Alchemy request and luckily I won the bid! A. wanted the charms and chain to look nice (not cheap) and we settled on these gorgeous 3-Dimensional large flower charms with smaller initial charms, all .925 Sterling Silver. The flower has a slightly oxidized look to bring out all the details, especially the stamen. This is one of the necklaces that I finished today. I can close my eyes, and imagine a little flower girl all dolled up.... wearing this lovely necklace, sprinkling petals down the aisle for the bride. Aww...
This is my first wedding transaction on Etsy....thanks so much A! Here's to your perfect wedding!

Yay Michigan!!

Recently, I got in touch with a bunch of wonderful fellow Michiganders on Etsy! I was delighted to see an array of very creative stores on threads started on the Etsy online forum called Michigan Trolls and Calling all MICHIGANDERS!! If you are from Michigan on ETSY, please respond on these threads. I would definitely love to check out your store.

I was also able to link to some Blogs from these store. Please check these out. Let's support each other and our community!
Yay Michigan!!

60 Miles Closer more...
Angie's Design Shop
Deanna Blogs (dedeetsy)
Fish Princess Designs
Queen Be

Subzero Temperatures and Icy Blue Topazes

So the beloved weatherman warns of Michigan in deep freeze. Apparently the northern part of US is being plummeted by the Arctic blast. Wind chill further lowers the temperature to sub zero levels. The current temperature is 6 degree F which 'feels like' -8F. That is -22.22 Celcius for y'all!! Brrrr.

Bundled up in layers of thermal and fleece, out door activities are pretty much out of the question. Which brought me to listing some 21 lots of gorgeous AAA London Blue and AAA Swiss Blue Topazes. I adore Blue Topaz. According to Wikipedia, Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities.

There are several varieties of blue topaz common to the jewelry industry:

• Sky blue topaz, often simply called "blue topaz", it is the most common seen in jewelry. Its color is fairly similar to that of top-quality aquamarine, but without aquamarine's gray components. Its also available in a wide range of sizes.
• Swiss blue topaz, which has a electric blue appearance. It has a more saturated color than sky blue topaz. I was extremely lucky to have my paws on an unbelievable strand of AAA Swiss Blue heart briolettes. Can you just believe the color of these??
• London blue topaz, which is a deep steely grayish blue color. It is the darkest non-coated variety available on the market. Its name does not imply its origin. London Blue topaz is by far one of the most sought after gemstones I have ever sold. I think the rich grey-blue color adds depth and sophistication to any jewelry creation.

So its back to the hot soups and hot cups of tea every hour. Its supposed to be -20F (with wind chill) at 7am tomorrow. And how am I supposed to deal with that?!

WireWrapping in Copper

Emboldened by the number of years I spend making jewelry, I recently started on the technique of wire-wrapping. I started with wrapping Swarovski Crystals around simple brass hoops. For, my second project, I used Copper colored Swarovski crystals on Copper components. While the Swarovski crystal in itself has a orange/ yellow tone, the actual copper component is rosy. The addition of black wire adds a nice contrast. I adore anything asymmetrical, which is why I thought it would be a nice point of interest to add the tiny Swarovski crystal beads in an unbalanced fashion around the Copper Circle. Wire wrapping is something i would like to continue for my future projects, but for now, these two are my ode to Wire Wrapping in Copper.