Great Finds

I know I promised to write about the process of creating a custom piece of jewelry...and I will get to that soon. However, something awesome happened that I just *had* to share.

My earrings were chosen to be in this weeks "Great Finds", a regular blog post done by Made for Me by Oaklie. This week's theme was Sunshine & Blue Skies, and my gorgeous yellow crystal earrings made it! Each week the winner receives free advertising in several places. If you like my earrings, please go to the link below, scroll down & vote for me on the left hand side of the screen. You do have to scroll through all the entries and hit "Vote" down at the bottom. Thanks for your support!!

Great Finds

New Shop!

Since it's only been *forever* since I posted anything, I figured now was as good a time as any to start back up with blogging. Thanks to some recent changes on Etsy, I decided to also open up a shop on Zibbet, another handmade marketplace site. Click here to go visit the new shop: Laurie's Custom Creations.

There will be alot of items that are the same as in my Etsy shop, but there will be items that I am only going to post on Zibbet...so you'll have to check both places to stay on top of new items.

Next up on the blog...the process of creating a custom item!

Latest Doings

Well, it's been ages since I posted anything new. Been doing some new jewelry designs, and I've been working on some off-line selling ideas. I've also been pretty busy with the Etsy LabRats team that I belong to. And on top of all that, the gorgeous summer weather has been a real inhibitor to me staying in my crafting corner away from the sunshine. I have managed to get a few things done, though, so here's some pictures of my newest "creations".

Weekend Update

My wire crocheting skills are slowly improving...here's a picture for your evaluation. I went bead shopping yesterday and came home with more tools than beads, but that's not a bad thing! I got a ball pien jewelry hammer to use when hammering wired jewelry, a set of mandrels to help make neat coiled circles and curlicues, plus some steel bookmarks that can have beaded lengths added to them! I'm really excited about the bookmarks, as I've wanted to try my hand at them for a long while. Keep your eyes and blogger dashboards open for pictures soon!

New Technique

So I was in JoAnn Fabrics yesterday, browsing through their newly revamped bead section, hunting for some inspiration. I came across a book: "Crocheted Wire & Bead Jewelry" by Jacqui Harris. Woohoo!! Inspiration struck! I grabbed the book and started looking. The end of the story is that I went home with an odd assortment of beads, 2 crochet hooks, and two colors of 26 gauge wire! I've crocheted ever since I was little, but the idea of using WIRE to crochet with was completely unique. Once I get the technique down, I've got tons of new ideas for necklaces and bracelets. Watch out world: I'm armed with wire, beads, and a crochet hook!

Today is a good day! I sold a necklace today to a friend and it's already shipped! I came up with a new packaging idea last night which will let me use some fabric I've had my eye on. I also listed a few new items on Etsy. They got a fair amount of views right away, which is encouraging. I can only hope that those views will turn into sales! Here's a picture of the necklace that I listed. The beads are actually lava, which I think is really cool. Check them out on Etsy!

So I decided to run a small promotion for my Etsy shop: get a free pair of earrings with any purchase from my shop! These "freebie" earrings are NOT ones posted in my shop, but will have the same quality of workmanship as anything you see in the shop! Happy shopping!