This Week on Etsy…

I spent most of today photographing, editing, writing and posting jewelry on Etsy. I think I need new lights to use with my little light box. I need to do some research on bulb colors. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been working on the last few weeks.

Tri Color Byzantine Necklace with Netted Beads
I LOVE playing with color. I started this as just red and silver. Then I thought, Oooooo, wouldn’t this be cool with some black thrown in?! Then I was trying find some red lampwork beads but I stumbled on the netted ones I ended up using. They had been in my drawer for probably a year, just waiting for the right project. Yea! I really like the drama of this piece.

Pink Flower Handmade Chain Bracelet
Again, love playing with color! And this is such a fun and pretty chain pattern. Looking through my stash of toggles, I had to laugh when I found the dragonfly. What could be better for a flower bracelet?

Black Onyx Drops Handmade Chain Earrings
The magazine I found this chain pattern in called it Celeste. I LOVE it. (I’ve got a lot of enthusiasm tonight) I experimented with these earrings by hanging not only the central Black Onyx bead but also the two tiny ones on each side. I think they look pretty elegant.


Flowers and Pearls Upcycled Choker
I found the focal piece for this necklace at a yard sale who knows how long ago. If you could see the boxes I have of all my saling finds, just waiting for their day in the sun! Well, it’s finally time for this beauty to have it’s debut! I found just the chain I wanted and put that in place. Then I searched around and deemed the faux pearls perfect for this piece. Attached the toggle and whoo! Or whoops… I noticed that one pearl was missing from the focal. Argh! But, without even getting up, I caught sight of a funky little earring with one sparkly little gee gaw. And it fit perfectly in the empty space. I glued it in, waited a few days and did my best to yank it out again. I think it’s in there till the next millennia! So I was very happy. Everything is better with a little sparkle!

Friday we’re going to the Orange County Fair and with any luck, I’ll have pix next weekend of me with my entry. I’m inordinately excited by the prospect of seeing my necklace on display. I suppose there are worse things to be!


www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

How Did All This Work Get Done?

Even though I was fighting a cold this week and working my butt off at The Day Job, I managed to make a few things and list them on ArtFire and Etsy. I kinda took a miss on Valentines Day. I intended to do a bunch of new ATC’s but that never happened… Since I had a couple of strings of these cute green shamrock beads, I worked with them to get a jump on St. Patrick’s Day. So, here’s an Irish themed bracelet on ArtFire:

And a cute pair of earrings on Etsy:

And I also experimented with gold and silver and made this flower design chain with a gold heart toggle, also on ArtFire:

And I FINALLY finished the travel themed Charm N Bead necklace I’ve been working on for weeks. It was one of those times, I guess, when I’d come up with ideas and just work on them, "you know, really quick… I’ll get back to the CNB tomorrow… " So here’s a sneak peak at the Travel necklace. It’ll be going on ArtFire soon.

The weather here is ridiculous! It was over 80 degrees today. We were driving around in shirt sleeves with the windows rolled down. My Massachusetts friends curse me, since they’re having a really cold winter. The subject line of my BFF’s last email was, “My face is freezing off.”

Well, back to work tomorrow for a week of craziness. They’re merging two companies into the payroll system, so there’s going to be a lot of checking and double checking of all the info that we’re importing for all these new people. I’ll be cross eyed by the end of the week.

Have a good one. Stay warm or cool, whichever applies!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com

Bear Chick’s Artfire Studio

Ok, I finally broke down and started an Artfire shop. I’ll tell you why. Two reasons.

1.) I wanted to be able to differentiate my chain work from my bead work. When I look at a shop, it’s a little chaotic when they sell a bunch of different styles or products. That’s why I opened BearChickArt for the ATC’s (which I haven’t been inspired to work on in a while--ATC muse is on winter break, apparently).

2.) I had just read an article saying the more places you are on the web, the better to be found in Search Engine searches. That ended my debate on whether I should just quit thinking so much and have everything stay on Etsy only.

So, I closed the Shophandmade shop because their beta never got better. I found them to be very uninspiring and just didn’t like the layout. Artfire is more like Etsy, in that they’re trying to foster a community of artists by offering forums and featuring articles by and about the artists themselves. It’s still in the Beta stage but I’ve heard a lot of good things and I follow the founder on Twitter, who seems to be very hands on. It’s a snap to add new items and I like the search feature. There are things I miss from Etsy, but it’s all good. Here I am:

http://www.bearchick.artfire.com

And here are two of the new anklets you’ll find at Artfire.

Pretty metal swirlies with a flower design chain

Sterling silver swirl connectors with a double chain pattern

So, come by and see me. We need all the traffic we can get. And tell two friends so they’ll tell two friends and so on and so on and Scooby dooby dooby. OK, I was up late last night…

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com

Just Posted on Etsy!

The Husband is waiting for me so we can watch the final two episodes of Deadwood - you know I'll be making something new as we watch! But I wanted to share a couple of cool things I just posted.

This is a resin necklace and it's so bright and fun! I confess I wear most of what I make at least once so I know (in my paranoid little brain) that it's not going to fall apart and when I wore this to work, I got a ton of compliments on it. I've been perfecting my wrapped loops. Plain loops, without the twirly layers of wire at the top of the bead, are fine for small beads and when I'm connecting to chain (see below) but I like to do the wrapped loops on bigger beads and long bead combinations, just for security.

And here's my newest thing, chains I've made myself using jump rings. I've always loved pattern and this plays right into my obsession. I've been making the one/two chains, with one ring, connecting with two rings, then one, then two. But the "flower chain" is really cool. It takes a little patience but it looks sweet and delicate, with three rings connecting to one. The turquoise necklace above is a good example.

Off to watch Deadwood and make a purple chain necklace!

www.bearchick.etsy.com

www.bearchickart.etsy.com