Spur of the moment SALE!!!

Today through Sunday, July 26th receive a 10% discount on the purchase of any Etsy "Ready to Ship" item! Discount will be refunded via PayPal. If paying via check, please convo me and wait for a revised listing.

Happy Shopping!!

Time, talent and money.......

I've been doing quite a bit of work on spinner rings, lately. I'd like to say it's because I've had tons of orders but I can't. I have had more than usual but certainly not any kind of record! Nope, I've been doing a lot of work on spinner rings because I've had to remake - in some way or another - each spinner ring that's been ordered!! They're a bit tricky for me and I greatly appreciate all the advice and assistance I've gotten from Tammy over at Tammy's Treasure Chest! HUGE help!

Is it odd for me to admit that? The fact that I don't get it 100% perfect right off the bat? I don't think it's odd. I think it's honest. If you want to 'know' my jewelry then you have to 'know' me, too right? So here are my thoughts.

First, let me state that my pricing doesn't really include an 'hourly wage'. Many jewelers use a pricing equation to determine retail & wholesale prices. Something along the lines of:

rate x time + supplies x 3.

For the life of me, I couldn't come up with an acceptable 'hourly rate'. Many of my 'contemporaries' are trained and have been doing this for some time. What might take them 10 minutes may take me 1 hour. Certainly not fair to my customers. So I spent a bit of time looking at other's pricing and product, took at look at my supply cost and..........well, guessed. I'm not going to lie. I do make a profit. Aside from personal gratification, why else would I do this :-) But I certainly don't pay myself as would a master jeweler. (By the way, there's a really interesting discussion going on over in the Etsy forums about pricing.)

So getting back to admitting mistakes. I want happy customers. If I customer has a problem with a piece I've created for them, I want to make it right. I'll redo sizing, finish, what have you. But I'd rather there be less of a chance that anyone will have a problem in the first place! If I look at a piece - not just a spinner ring but ANY of my pieces - and I don't like the way it's come out, I'm not going to send it to my customer. It may take a bit more time and a bit more supplies - neither of which I'm compensated for, obviously - but I'll redo it until it's right. No use buying anything from me if it's garbage, right?

So if you've ordered something from me and it takes me the entire two week turn around time for me to get it to you, you can bet that I've made and remade your piece. You won't find that kind of dedication at your local Bloomingdales ;-) Hopefully my effort is appreciated - I certainly appreciate my customers!!

I've curated my first Etsy Treasury!!!

Please give it some love!!!

Another feature!!!

God has really been blessing me the past few weeks! Adding to the blessings, I'm honored to say that I'm the first featured artist on the MetalCraft Market Blog! This brand-spankin-new blog highlights the artists, events & happenings over at 1000Market's MetalCraft Market.

Go check it out, spread the love and check out the other fabulous artisans!

The possibilities of enamel..........

Here are some beautifully enameled pieces from 1000Markets Artisans compiled into a byhand.me Spotlight:

I've been featured!!!

Kelly over at Macaroni and Glue, a wonderful mom and creator of awesome papergoods: Retrocrafted and Freshlycrafted has featured me on her blog! Read the interview here and spread the love!!!

Color choices.....

I've been working on filling orders, some from the new Couleurs line, and I've taken photos of the pieces that have been requested in alternate colors:
The first thing I noticed is that the red on the Vessel Pendant, because of how the heat reacts with the copper, gives the piece a kind of gothic look. I like it! With respect to the Wanting Earrings, since the green is an opaque enamel rather than transparent like the turquoise, that mottled/varigated effect is missing. Thoughts? I've also got an order for the Wanting Ring in cobalt so I'll post that pic as soon as it's done. I'm excited to see these pieces in the different colors!!

It's also pretty obvious that I don't use a template when cutting out my copper but that's just fine with me! Each piece ends up unique - the beauty of handcrafted ;-)

The "Unnamed Series".......

Unfortunately, I haven't heard from "Thoughts on My Life" so we had another drawing. And the winner is...........................

"Unbroken" from Carole of Soupsboys. She's been a huge supporter of my work since I began so I think this was an apropos 'choice'!

Don't forget......all the pieces in the Couleurs line are available in Cobalt, Spring Green, Fire Engine Red, Rose and Turquoise. I've a few orders for the pieces in different colors so I'll try to remember to take pictures !

Looking for "Thoughts on my Life......."

So sorry for taking so long to post!! This past weekend was busy, busy, busy - weddings, family reunions and picnics. I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Now. I did the "Name that Series" drawing days ago but I've one problem: this person didn't leave me a way to contact her (or him!). I see that this person is now following my blog so I hope they'll respond with some contact info & their chosen piece. As I said in my post title, this person is identified thru blogger only as "Thoughts on My Life" without a blog of their own so please contact me!!

After we've cleared this up, I'll be able to post the new name of the series. You'll like it, trust me!

Thank you!!

I'd like to say a very heartfelt "thank you" to everyone who participated in my Virtual Launch Party! It was more work than I expected but I am so glad that I did it and I really appreciate all the support and well-wishes!

I received some really great name suggestions for the "unnamed series". I'm not going to be able to choose between them. You've all really captured who I am and what I'd like my work to be with your names. That being said, I'm going to have hubby pick a name out of a hat and I'll let you know who wins!

And speaking of winning, we did have a winner for the scavenger hunt - technically there were two but the first passed her prize along to the next. More on that in a minute. Here were the clues and their locations -

Sapphire: Stars in the Sky Resin Necklace
Sea: Copper Waves Ring
Meadow: Garden Door Pendant
Fireworks: Trial by Fire Copper Drop Earrings
Rose: Petals Resin Necklace

Now you may be able to see the relations between the clue and it's location (if you care!). You might have also noticed that those clues were chosen to represent the colors in my new line. Okay, so on to the important stuff......

The recipient of the scavenger hunt award is Danna, the creator of This Little Piggy Bags. She's also a designer at Brazen Betties and I just love her bags. She's my first purchase as soon as my little man is out of diapers! Congratulations, Danna! As soon as you decide which piece you'd like, it's yours!

The first person who successfully completed the scavenger hunt was Stacie of Azoho - a fabulous jeweler herself. I'm guessing she passed on the prize because I know she's also going to be doing a bit of enameling pretty soon. Can't wait to see it! Stacie also put up an ad on one of her blogs promoting my launch party. Thanks, Stacie!

I need to say a special thanks to Jenny of JennyBunnyCreations - also a fabulous jeweler. She blogged, she twittered and she was one of the participants in "Name that Series". I really appreciate the help, Jenny!

Stay tuned for the announcement of the new name!