Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Welcome Musarra & Co.!
Please welcome our newest team member, Lisa Musarra of Musarra & Co. Musarra finds fabulous vintage jewelry and buttons and remakes them into modern jewelry! Musarra writes, " I love vintage in it's orginal form and recycled into modern. I love grandma's jewels and mom's jewels. Nothing better in my book than finding that perfect gem that you might not ever take another look at and changing it into something that you would die for....Well not really die, but you know what I mean."
Sunday, October 4, 2009
October Give-Away by Happy Cloud Moments
Win a $45 gift certificate from Happy Cloud Moments! Just post a comment telling us what you love from her shop! And, if you want, pick items from our other shops, too!
Want extra entries? Of course you do. After you do each of the following, post a comment here and it'll count as an extra entry.
Happy Cloud Moments is Joyce Chau, who lives in Germantown, Maryland, US of A.
Q. What is your favorite thing about where you live? What is it like living there?
A. My favorite thing is probably the cherry blossoms in the spring. I have always loved Japanese culture and what's more Japanese than cherry blossoms? When all the trees are blooming, I can pretend for just few seconds that I am on Mt Fiji in a buttercup yellow kimono, sipping green tea. It is very suburban here, but it's close enough to DC that I can enjoy city life if I feel like it. There are a lot of places to eat and hang out with my friends. I think it has a good balance of urban craziness and suburban sleepiness.
Q. What kind of jewelry work do you do? Why do you like doing it?
A. I do mostly sterling silver and Swarovski crystal jewelry with wirewrapping. I dabble into bead weaving, but in general, I don't weave or string. I also can't resist really cute charms such so I make charms for gadgets also. I love the movement of the beads when they are swinging on a chain. The way a pair of long dangly earrings or a Stardust bracelet sways with you is like having your own fairy groupies scattering fairy dust as you saunter around. I just love seeing that and being able to create that magic.
Q. What materials do you work with? What colors do you work with most?
A. I work with sterling silver, Swarovski crystal and pearls, cubic zirconia beads and lampwork glass charms. I tend to use warm colors and I am biased towards yellow and purple. Of course, clear crystals with AB coating is always a favorite.
Q. Describe your art education. Are you self-taught? How did you learn? What attracted you to making jewelry?
A. I have always loved art. Every time I had a chance to pick my extracurricular classes, I have picked various art classes like origami, drawing, painting, pottery and more. There were times that I would go to libraries to look at various craft and art books. I actually wanted to major in graphics designs, but decided on computer science. I did take a few computer animation courses and focused on computer graphics for my masters, so you can say that I never really left my love for the arts behind.
I am a fairly practical person, so I love jewelry because it's like art with a purpose. Besides, who can resist all those sparkly crystals?
Q. What was your most exciting piece to make and why?
A. Every new design is the most exciting piece for me at that moment. From the moment I get a design in my head to the moment I put the last bead on, I am excited. All my jewelry are like my children and I love them all equally.
Q. What is your most interesting/disasterous/funny story about making jewelry?
A. Right before my brother's wedding, I rushed to make a necklace and earrings set for my mom and I was so happy to be done. I left it on the table and went to get some water. I came back and saw my cute little puppy happily chewing on something on the couch. So, I went there to pet him and realized that he was happily chewing on the newly finished jewelry! He unraveled the pendant from the necklace and broke a few crystals in half in the 2 minutes that I was gone. I had to rewrap the pendant and remake the earrings instead of sleeping and getting ready for my trip the next day. There's nothing like seeing your work destroyed, even if it's by the cutest puppy in the world.
Q. Tell us about 3 of your pieces.
A.
This is one of my Stardust bracelets. I love these bracelets and I have made them in a lot of different combinations. This bracelet is the reason I started making jewelry again. I think every girl should own something like this. It is a classic style, extremely sparkly, but not overly dressy. I made three for myself in yellow, purple and all clear. I wear them just about every day.
A.
This is basically the most popular item in my store. I personally love stars and I was very excited when Swarovski came out with these beads last year. This necklace is simple but so delicate and pretty. I also have matching stud earrings and many other colors.
A.
I think these are the cutest charms in the world. It's polymer clay doll heads with dress and shoes made from Swarovski crystals. They are great as charms for all your gadgets like phones, Nintendo DSi's, PSPs, and cameras. It is also perfect for hanging in your car. I learned how to make them when I traveled to Hong Kong last year.
Want extra entries? Of course you do. After you do each of the following, post a comment here and it'll count as an extra entry.
- Tweet about this giveaway and leave the link here. You can use the retweet button above. Suggested Tweet: "Enter the $45 Gift Certificate Giveaway for Handmade Swarovski Jewelry and Accessories! http://tinyurl.com/hcm-giveaway @EtsyJewelryTeam"
- Follow Joyce on Twitter: http://twitter.com/_HappyCloud_
- Follow Joyce's Blog: http://happycloudmoments.blogspot.com
- Become Joyce's Fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HappyCloudMoments
- Post a link to the giveaway on your Facebook fan page and leave a link to your Facebook fan page. We want to become your fan :)
- Blog about this giveaway and post your link here.
- Follow Jewelry Sampler on Etsy Team on Twitter: http://twitter.com/etsyjewelryteam
- Follow this blog.
Happy Cloud Moments is Joyce Chau, who lives in Germantown, Maryland, US of A.
Q. What is your favorite thing about where you live? What is it like living there?
A. My favorite thing is probably the cherry blossoms in the spring. I have always loved Japanese culture and what's more Japanese than cherry blossoms? When all the trees are blooming, I can pretend for just few seconds that I am on Mt Fiji in a buttercup yellow kimono, sipping green tea. It is very suburban here, but it's close enough to DC that I can enjoy city life if I feel like it. There are a lot of places to eat and hang out with my friends. I think it has a good balance of urban craziness and suburban sleepiness.
Q. What kind of jewelry work do you do? Why do you like doing it?
A. I do mostly sterling silver and Swarovski crystal jewelry with wirewrapping. I dabble into bead weaving, but in general, I don't weave or string. I also can't resist really cute charms such so I make charms for gadgets also. I love the movement of the beads when they are swinging on a chain. The way a pair of long dangly earrings or a Stardust bracelet sways with you is like having your own fairy groupies scattering fairy dust as you saunter around. I just love seeing that and being able to create that magic.
Q. What materials do you work with? What colors do you work with most?
A. I work with sterling silver, Swarovski crystal and pearls, cubic zirconia beads and lampwork glass charms. I tend to use warm colors and I am biased towards yellow and purple. Of course, clear crystals with AB coating is always a favorite.
Q. Describe your art education. Are you self-taught? How did you learn? What attracted you to making jewelry?
A. I have always loved art. Every time I had a chance to pick my extracurricular classes, I have picked various art classes like origami, drawing, painting, pottery and more. There were times that I would go to libraries to look at various craft and art books. I actually wanted to major in graphics designs, but decided on computer science. I did take a few computer animation courses and focused on computer graphics for my masters, so you can say that I never really left my love for the arts behind.
I am a fairly practical person, so I love jewelry because it's like art with a purpose. Besides, who can resist all those sparkly crystals?
Q. What was your most exciting piece to make and why?
A. Every new design is the most exciting piece for me at that moment. From the moment I get a design in my head to the moment I put the last bead on, I am excited. All my jewelry are like my children and I love them all equally.
Q. What is your most interesting/disasterous/funny story about making jewelry?
A. Right before my brother's wedding, I rushed to make a necklace and earrings set for my mom and I was so happy to be done. I left it on the table and went to get some water. I came back and saw my cute little puppy happily chewing on something on the couch. So, I went there to pet him and realized that he was happily chewing on the newly finished jewelry! He unraveled the pendant from the necklace and broke a few crystals in half in the 2 minutes that I was gone. I had to rewrap the pendant and remake the earrings instead of sleeping and getting ready for my trip the next day. There's nothing like seeing your work destroyed, even if it's by the cutest puppy in the world.
Q. Tell us about 3 of your pieces.
A.
This is one of my Stardust bracelets. I love these bracelets and I have made them in a lot of different combinations. This bracelet is the reason I started making jewelry again. I think every girl should own something like this. It is a classic style, extremely sparkly, but not overly dressy. I made three for myself in yellow, purple and all clear. I wear them just about every day.A.
This is basically the most popular item in my store. I personally love stars and I was very excited when Swarovski came out with these beads last year. This necklace is simple but so delicate and pretty. I also have matching stud earrings and many other colors.A.
I think these are the cutest charms in the world. It's polymer clay doll heads with dress and shoes made from Swarovski crystals. They are great as charms for all your gadgets like phones, Nintendo DSi's, PSPs, and cameras. It is also perfect for hanging in your car. I learned how to make them when I traveled to Hong Kong last year.Lizzie wins Licia Beads Gift Certificate
Lizzie (entry #103) wins Licia's Beads gift certificate. Congratulations, Lizzie!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Welcome Sue Davis Jewelry, Our Newest Member!
Sue Davis Jewelry is our newest member to our Etsy Jewelry Sampler Team. Sue is the Director of the Orchard Gallery in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and makes her living as an artist. Her specialities are painting, raku pottery, and of course jewelry! Of her beach stone pendants, Sue writes, "I made this pendant from stones I found along the shores of Lake Michigan. My husband, Steve, drilled holes in them for me. At the bottom of the stack of stones is a juniper berry we got on a recent trip to Utah."Thursday, September 3, 2009
September Give-Away by Licia Beads!
Win a Licia Beads gift certificate and free shipping! Just post a comment to enter! And let us know what you love from everyone else's too! Feel free to ask if you have questions about the drawing. The contest is open until the end of September.Want to know a little bit about Licia?
Q. Name? Like I don't know you!
A. Licia (Like Alicia, without the first A)
Q. City, State, Country?
A. Mukilteo, WA USA A little seaside town North of Seattle, complete with lighthouse, ferry crossing and waterfront train. There is even a tiny park with an ancient looking pear tree that has been spared in memory of the woman who kept an orchard long ago.
Q. What is your favorite thing about where you live? What is it like
living there?
A. I have lived in this region my entire life and even when I travel I miss the water the feel of the
air that is here. There are many inspiring aspects to this area. We are set between mountain ranges with Puget Sound lapping at our feet. All four seasons are distinct and that lends to a rather short but lush growing season which allows us to make a living designing and building gardens for our other work. In winter the days are short and the nights cold which makes the holidays a perfect time to shift gears a little and concentrate on beads while the plants go dormant for the season.Q. What kind of jewelry work do you do? Why do you like doing it?
A. I do a wide variety of jewelry work simply because I cannot keep my hands out of the pie and am always excited to learn new things. When I first started (20 years ago) I worked mostly with seed beads and czech glass simply because that was what my birthday income would buy. I was delighted when I got my first custom order from my keyboarding teacher (yes, it was an actual typewriter) which included actual gemstones. Her necklace contained Rose Quartz and Malachite with gold and it was the most expensive thing I had ever had the chance to make. Thru the years my seed bead work developed into weaving, and I started wire wrapping with gemstones and precious metals. Since finding Etsy and realizing that I could make additional income with the massive amounts of beads that I had hoarded away, I have been delighted to share! I have also began teaching individuals in a one on one basis at my home.
I like the repetition of simple work, and hard work, and the mingling details. I like that after a
while it becomes something larger than itself and it can contain as much variety as I like. It's wonderfully rewarding to receive compliments and feedback from people who like my work and encourages me to carry on with it despite the sometimes silly things I weave up. I also adore gemstones and the characteristics unique to each one. They all deserve a special setting like the earthly treasures that they are. I picked up wire wrapping about a year before finding Etsy and am awestruck by some of the work that people can create.Q. What materials do you work with? What colors do you work with most?
A. Well, I seem to have just about everything now, except fire. I don't have the proper space to use torches or other metal designing tools, but everything else I am willing to try at home. I use everything from gold, silver, glass, Lucite, pearls, gemstones and even fiber and paper.
I am a big fan of greens and tend to fill my shop up with them faster than anything else. I also like the less favorite colors like orange and browns. I don't have any particular favorite, and when it comes to gemstone colors I love them all!
Q. Describe your art education. Are you self-taught? How did you learn?
A. I am self taught when it comes to the jewelry making, I have a little education when it comes to pottery. Eventually I would love to build my studio. There are plans for a Japanese Teahouse style pottery studio on the back hill.
Q. What attracted you to making jewelry?
A. I'm not sure I have a definite answer to that. Initially it was snooping on my sister and her friends and wanting to copy them. I suppose I just never stopped. At this point I suppose it is just the need to work with my hands and create something beautiful that expresses something to someone. Being able to make something with my hands that can be cherished or enjoyed for it's qualities is appealing to me. Jewelry that passes thru generations develops it's own history and life and becomes a part of a person. It's a form of self expression, I just must do it.
Q. What was your most exciting piece to make and why? What is your most interesting/disasterous/funny story about making jewelry?
A. My most exciting... I'm not sure I would call it exciting, but it certainly has gathered the most attention. My Toilet Paper jewelry is quite the "hit". People like to be silly and jewelry is not usually the typical way to do that so they are most startled to see it. I have my own and it does gather attention and strange looks. Since they started I entered the Humor themed Beadweavers challenge with a special version of the TP pendant and won. As an added surprise, I sold the necklace and a custom order bracelet to go with it.
In fact, for the holidays this year my mother gifted me some of grandmas (faux) pearls and strung along them was an actual, full sized TP roll. The whole family laughed for a while over that one. I still have it next to my desk... I suppose for emergencies.
And here are 3 of Licia's favorite jewelry pieces!
1.
The Curiosity Killed the Toilet Paper Beadweavers Challenge necklace (Challenge winner for June 2009)2. Beadwoven Swarovski Rivoli based on my own design. I learned how to bead my
own settings and really enjoy how they turn out. They make great little pendants, the hardest part is choosing colors to go with the crystal.3.
I also really like wirework because of its ability to let me do just about anything I can dream up. Actually doing it takes a lot of concentration and planning but the detail is more than I can do with any other medium. I like that about it, the greater the detail, the more I like it.
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