Ode to High Speed Posting!

La la la! Singing the praises of high speed internet! I was able to post 5 new vintage jewelry listings on Etsy tonight. Can you say effortless? For those of you who haven't read any of my travails regarding dial up, let me just say that trying to list 5 things on Etsy a month ago would have taken all night and a year off my life!

I love to buy old jewelry at yard sales and church bazaars. Some go into new jewelry pieces or artwork but some are real finds, either signed (which means the name of the manufacturer is stamped on the back) or not. Here's a couple of things I posted tonight:

Here's a beautiful pair of Richelieu earrings. The pearl is peeling just slightly but otherwise they're in great condition, with all the shiny shiny rhinestones intact.

Are these a blast from the past, or what?! Do you remember sweater guards or clips? I wore them when I was a kid. You clipped each side of the collar of your sweater so it wouldn't fall off when you had the sweater draped over your shoulders. These are classics signed by Judy Lee.

I picked up this apple because I was impressed that all the rhinestones were intact. This little baby really shines! It would make a unique teacher's gift just because of the blue color.

Come on by bearchick.etsy.com to see more vintage and handmade items I've posted in the last few weeks. And remember, domestic and Canadian shipping is free till December 15!

www.bearchick.etsy.com

www.bearchickart.etsy.com

What Bear Chick's Been Up To Lately

I didn't want to post this until my best friend got the card I made for her birthday. But she's got it now and says she's putting it in the box where she saves things... Believe me, she's not a clutter bug, so when she saves something, it's a compliment!

Similar to my Party Dress ATC, I outlined a dress and "colored" it in with molding paste I'd mixed with red acrylic paint. Then added micro beads that I gently squished into the wet paste. I used Pearlescent and iridescent Gold Golden paint splashed on for confetti in the background.

For the wording, I created a swirly font I had fun lettering with a Crayola retractable pencil, which was really soft and easy to use.

My plan is to make more of the dress ATC's and maybe even some cards. Right now I'm doing a couple of cute Halloween ATC's and I'm also working on new necklaces with chain, charms and lots of dangly color. Here's the first one I made of those, which is actually kind of subtle since I've made another that's absolutely loaded...

This necklace was heart-centric, with it's red theme.

But other necklaces will be more freeform and chunky, like this cat themed one (which is MINE, by the way).

I'm on a jewelry jag right now, thinking of and trying new things. You know me, I don't want to do the same things for too long or I'll get bored! Wire seems to be a recent fave material.

Finding the time to be creative and manifest all the ideas in my head (and on dozens of sticky notes and scraps of paper in my purse and around the house), along with doing things around the homefront and working full time is certainly a challenge! Plus, I decided to separate my jewelry from my art on Etsy, so when folks visit my shops, they'll make more sense and look more organized. BearChickART.etsy.com is open softly (meaning it's not looking great yet but there are some things for sale) but will have a Grand Opening at the end of the month.

But the Big News this week is that Bear Chick has finally come into the 21st century with High Speed internet! Etsy's now working wicked fast and uploading pictures like a champ, so expect a lot of new items in the next few weeks. I'm planning to take lots of photos tomorrow in preparation to add to both shops in Etsy over the coming weeks. Think Holiday Shopping!

www.bearchick.etsy.com

www.bearchickart.etsy.com

Heaven Help Me, Now I’m On Shop Handmade!

I guess I’ve been frustrated by Etsy’s picture uploading on my poor old dial up (9 more days to High Speed!) and I saw some chat about this on Etsy’s forum… And when I took a look at it, one of my favorite Etsy artists had already started a shop. So, I came home tonight and decided to see how this thing works.

It works pretty good! I’m just happy to get pictures on more easily. As I told Margie at Artbymar (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5006877), my heart belongs to Etsy but my mortgage belongs to the bank that wants it’s money every month! So the more venues I’m seen in, the better. And for now, during the Beta period at least, the commission I’ll be paying goes to the Rain Forest.

I’ve put on a few earrings and that’s where my Autumn Encouragement necklace landed, plus another really wild necklace--purple girls, come see!

So check me out at bearchick.shophandmade.com and help the Rain Forest with any purchase of Bear Chick treasures!

www.bearchick.etsy.com

http://www.bearchick.shophandmade.com

www.flickr.com/photos/bearchick