Friday, May 29, 2009

Help Me Pick an Avi, Please... POLL at right.

Please make your choice in the poll in the column to the right.

I'm trying to determine which avatar to adopt, it's very difficult, I love them all equally. lol.

Which of these makes you feel like you just gotta click to see more? or at least, which do you like best?

Thanks for your help and comments are very welcome!!!

1) Spiral Ring


2) Textures Wrap Ring



3) Hoop Earrings


4) Copper Pendant


5) Sterling Pendant

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Some new rings!

I've been working all weekend getting my booth display together to take photos to enter a juried show this holiday season (yes, this far in advance! lol) but I had been working on these wrapped rings and really wanted to get them up, so here I am, late at night, posting them. I can barely see the monitor anymore ;-)

Here's just a few, you can see more in my Etsy shop.


Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Handmade Seller's Profit Worksheet

Hi all, I've been working hard to keep myself organized and one of the things that I made I'd like to share with anyone who needs it. A seller's Profit Worksheet.

Click HERE to download.

I've added all the important info (
that I can think of) and formatted everything to calculate automatically, including Etsy and Paypal fees, renewal fees, your hourly wages, and more. I've included some tips for using it, hopefully they are not too confusing, feel free to ask me questions if it's confusing.

Here's a screenshot, fyi.



I'd also love comments on it. Especially if you find a bug or a mistake, I can fix it right up.

Please feel free to download and use this worksheet (it's Excel), but I would love credit for it. Please don't link to it directly from your site or blog, instead link to my blog and people can download it from here. Thank you.

One thing to remember is that this doesn't take into account any indirect costs, like rent, utilities, equipment, bank charges, marketing, etc. For a good calculator for those costs, visit Chris Parry's blog for a great pricing worksheet that includes all those costs and more. chris-parry.bolgspot.com

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Recovering from a Rainy Cub Scout Camping Trip!

So, the first day was actually gorgeous, so I can't really complain. But we were waiting all day for the predicted downpour to start. And start it did (luckily after bedtime) but I literally thought we were going to be washed away! Luckily not cold, but very loud!

Then, to top it off, my son is an early riser and convinced my husband to actually get up and go outside!!!! Camping men are crazy! They decided to try a geocache, got halfway out and were soaked to the bone and came back and just sat around outside in the rain (at least they didn't try to come back into my comfy tent, where I was still happily sleeping away and enjoying the rain as an excuse to do so! lol)

Anyway, needless to say, further scout events were canceled and by the time I emerged from the tent 9/10ths of the campers were packed and gone. Only the few die-hards (like my son and husband) were left.

We packed up (in the rain) and headed straight to a Starbucks!!!

The End. (except for all the laundry, tent drying outside, dirty car...)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I made it into another treasury (#2) I'm so excited!!!



So cool. Here's a screenshot of the treasury. Everything there looks awesome! I'm glad to be included!! (my earrings are on the top row, center)

and here's the link to the earrings if you'd like to see them up close. Mixed Metals Earrings

Hope everyone is well! Best, Deb.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Hope Everyone had a Happy Mother's Day.

I spent the day with my husband and son, watching the new Star Trek movie!! Eating a great lunch, hanging out at the bookstore, and taking a nice walk in the beautiful weather here in MD. It was a great day!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Getting Ready To Do Some Craft Shows

Wow! What a lot of work to put together a decent booth for a craft show. I'm actually just in the planning and purchasing stages right now, but am spending hours researching. Well, part of that time is trying to find the best deals for a tent, etc.

Anyway, I'll post when I know the date of my first show! Exciting.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels...

Got this from my cousin. I love it. Getting the extra layer off before summer is always a challenge!

Monday, May 4, 2009

A couple of photos of new stuff...

Here's some examples of the forged and aged jewelry I've been working on. I'd love your thoughts.

1. Copper dangle earrings with sterling beads - I love the contrast of mixed metals.
2. Heavy copper pendant with mixed textures on a sterling chain.
3. Copper dangle earhoops with big topaz Swarovsky crystals.
4. Copper spiral ring with multi-texture surface - my personal favorite (good thing it's not my size =)






More coming, stay tuned...

Working Away!

I've been doing more handforging of sterling and copper and I'm loving it. The noise is a bit much (well for my husband, who works from home also. lol) and my hands and fingers are sore, but it's sooo worth it. The shapes and textures are great. And I've been giving some of them an aged patina also using liver of sulpher (which stinks like rotten eggs) and they turned out great. I need to get a couple more tools to make the work easier and the variety better, hopefully soon.

Anyway, I'll put photos up soon of the new stuff, check back!

Friday, May 1, 2009

And the Winner is... Karen!


Congratulations Karen! Hope you enjoy the earrings.

I'd love any referrals to my shop: aweshop.etsy.com

Everyone keep an eye out, I'll be doing another give-away soon!

Wood & Copper! My jewelry display at the Weekend Boutique trunk show.

Display views from the Weekend Boutique! I love designing my display almost as much as I love designing jewelry! What do you think? Do you...