Smooth Sailing

I read my horoscope this morning and it said:

"Today you should have a very strong sense of well-being. Your inner self is functioning harmoniously, and you do not feel emotional turmoil or strife. You are not in the mood for adventures, challenges and major changes, nor is it necessary to be so."

Nice, huh? And it's true. There really hasn't been a lot on my mind, and definitely nothing that would put me in a mood like I was in a few weeks ago. I seem to be at the top of the wave right now, and it feels good.

I have been in the studio because it finally feels like what I want to do. I've just been moseying along doing what inspires me. Here's a few of the new things:

Three new pieces with the beautiful dichroic glass I got at the Gem Show last July.

This one has a lab ruby.

I'm going to try and do an Etsy Shop update this weekend. I've found some more studio stash that I'd like to get rid of and I'll list some new things, too. Maybe I'll list these four!

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone, and stay safe!

Cyber Monday

Click here to go directly to the listing on Etsy.

We're done with "pre-Thanksgiving" and "Black Friday", so I think today is the last day with a label until we get to "Last-Minute Shoppers". Gack! I'm really sick of pimping my work so that maybe one of you gazillions of people that are online today might buy something. I'm not sure that my little reminders are getting through all the hype and hoopla created by the big chains anyway.

So, y'all know by now that I have an Etsy Shop, right? That's where you can buy my work online. I have a lot of new pieces of jewelry there, as well as a lot of stuff that I've cleaned out of my studio. The "Studio Stash" is listed at incredible prices because I'm selling it for what I paid for it. And silver has gone way up since then. Today only you can get 10% off of anything in the shop by using the code BLOGREADER. After today and until December 15, get free shipping by using EMCFREESHIP. So, if you haven't maxed out your credit card on Amazon.com by now, I would appreciate it of you would consider a piece of hand made silver jewelry to give to someone this holiday season.

Black Friday Foto (Edited)

Click here to go directly to the listing for this necklace.

Jumping on the shopping bandwagon, here. This piece is available in my Etsy Shop and you can get a 10% discount if you enter the coupon code BLOGREADER. Sorry! This one has sold, but there are a lot more new listings! And the coupon code works on any of them.

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving and got to spend time with friends and/or family. Mine was quiet. I went to a buffet restaurant with a friend and ate way too much, but that's part of the holiday experience, right? I'll be nibbling on baby carrots today while I work at Hands Gallery. I hope that people will shop in our small co-op today instead of the big box stores! Happy holiday weekend to you.

Ramping Up!

A tree growing out of the rocks at Kohunlich Maya Ruins, Mexico.

I think I'm back to normal (whatever that is) after my vacation. I'm working at the Main Street Gallery today and it's foggy and dreary and there's not many people here. Good day for a blog post!

The holiday season is approaching fast! Only a few more days until Black Friday and the craziness of holiday shopping after that. I have been and will continue to ramp up my Etsy Shop for Cyber Monday and beyond. Listing lots of new things and renewing old ones, striving to be at the top of search lists. And I still have a lot of Studio Stash listed at some great bargain prices. Here's a couple of new ones recently listed:

Silver Daisy with a CZ Center
Click to go to the Etsy listing

Amethysts and Fine Silver
Click to go to the Etsy Listing

Do yourself a favor this year and try and avoid the malls and the big box stores. If you shop at small, independent retailers you'll have a more relaxing time and more of your money will stay in your community. Or, shop online with your favorite jewelry artist!

If you've read this far, I have a reward for you. Many of the members of the Etsy Metal Clay Team are offering free shipping through December 15. You can use the coupon code EMCFREESHIP to get that in my shop or any of the other EMC Team members' shops. If you order after December 15 your purchase will need faster and more expensive shipping in order to arrive in time for Christmas. And, as a special "thank you" to my blog readers, use the code BLOGREADER to get 10% off in my shop only.

At this time of giving thanks I want to say out loud that I am so grateful for the people who appreciate my work and who take the time to come here and read about what's going on in my life. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

More Miscellaneous Stuff

• I'm continuing to clean out the studio and list things at bargain prices in my Etsy Shop. I have so many things there now that I realize I should have opened a separate shop for this stuff. Oh well. If they don't sell by time to renew the listing I'll take them down. It will be obvious by then that no one wants them. I can always scrap the silver.
• I had to do an emergency house cleaning yesterday morning. I had asked a friend of mine to give me an estimate on pressure washing my house and sealing all the wood and his wife called to say they were coming over so he could look at things. If it was just an ordinary contractor I wouldn't even let him inside the house. But these are friends and I couldn't let them see how I normally live! That's OK - my sister is coming to visit and I would have had to do it eventually anyway. It's not that I live in squalor or anything, but housecleaning is not at the top of my list of things to do. It's usually just me around here, so who cares?
• I've actually spent a little time in my studio over the past week. (Gasp!) I've had a couple of ideas I want to try out and sales in the co-op galleries have finally started to pick up for the season. I realized that I have a "mini show" next month, then rather large ones in September and October. Better crack that whip and get back to work. 
• My garden is getting ready to burst into all it's beautiful awesomeness. Too bad I haven't felt like keeping up with it this spring because the weeds are pretty impressive, too. There's so much that needs to be dug and divided and I just don't have the energy for it. We've had a rain storm nearly every day for the past month, so everything is lush and green and gorgeous. THIS is why I endure the harsh winters here!
• My hives are still around for no reason. They get better, then they get worse. Today they're pretty bad and I feel a little sick. It may be time to check out a local homeopathic practitioner. It's about the only thing I haven't tried yet.
• It seems like I've had to deal with a lot of idiots giving me the run around lately. It makes me feel like an old curmudgeon. I don't have a lot of patience, especially because this is an issue that's been hanging around for several years. Every time I think it's resolved it rears its ugly head again. So frustrating.

Well, that's about all the news from the lane. I hear thunder in the distance so I'd better get this posted and unplug the computer. What have you been up to?

Listed So Far

Here's some of what I've put in the shop so far. (I just realized that the Etsy Mini above will change every time I add a new item! How cool is that?) Click on any item to be taken directly to the listing. I hate that it takes so long to list each one! I have so many more to go. Keep watching!

The Great Studio Clean Out and Stash Purge

I got up early this morning and started going through boxes and drawers in my studio. I'm really excited about this and I found SO MANY things that I'm going to put in my shop to share with you. So far I've found and cataloged nearly 50 items that will be included - some of them individually and some in groups - and I'm not done yet. A small sample is shown above, just to get you started. It was raining this morning and I had to wait for some light before I could take photos. I'll start listing them tonight and continue until they're all up there. I created a new Shop Section called "Components, Studio Stash" and everything will be there. There will be something for everyone - pieces and parts for those that want to make their own jewelry as well as some finished jewelry and pendants that you can put on your own chain or cord. And, you won't believe the bargains! Let's get this party started!

Extra days and the Stash Purge

Pinks from my garden

OK, so my schedule on paper and the one in my head are all out of sync this week. I had written down that I was supposed to work in one of the galleries last Sunday, but it turned out that I was not on the schedule for that day. I have no idea why it was written in my personal calendar, but I was happy that I didn't have to go in and work. Then, I did work on Wednesday of this week (yesterday). I like to sign up for Thursdays if I can, so I went about thinking yesterday was Thursday all day because I was at the gallery, and I woke up this morning to realize that THIS is Thursday, so I've gained another day. It's like that "Groundhog Day" movie, except I'm going to be doing different things today than I did yesterday.

This orchid started blooming last January (see the snow on the ground outside the window?). It STILL has lots of flowers on it!

This has been a strange time for me in that I've not been producing much, if any, new jewelry. The health stuff and the family issues have thrown me for a loop, and I have a pretty good inventory right now. (Mainly because people aren't buying much silver jewelry, but that's a whole nother story.) And, with silver so frikkin high I don't want to be buying any supplies right now. So I tell myself I'm on sort of a sabbatical, but in the meantime I'm not bringing in much money. THEREFORE...


Today I am going to start working on the Great Studio Clean-Out and Stash Purge.  I've been reading Kate McKinnon's and Andrew Thornton's blogs and they're the ones who inspired me to do this. I have so many bits and bobs and pieces and parts that I know I will never use. Some I made and some I bought, but it's all good stuff. I'll start today going through things and photographing them and then I'll list them in my Etsy Shop in the hopes that someone else will put them to good use. I've been hoarding some of these things for a long time and if I list them for what I paid for them you'll be getting some really good deals compared to what they would cost you today. Watch this space for previews - I'll be posting photos here and on my Facebook Fan Page as they're listed.

Ramping Up the Etsy Shop

Just a few of the things that I've added lately to my Etsy Shop so you can start your holiday shopping right now! You can click on the photos above to take you to the listing, or the widget to the right scrolls through all the items and you can click on the ones you like to take you directly to that item in the shop. Let's get this party started! Tell your friends! I'm adding new things every day.

Etsy Sale!!

I just finished uploading the last of the sale items into my Etsy Shop. Lots of goodies, lots of bargains, so check it out.

It's time to let go of some of these and let them find good homes. It's time to make some money so I can buy more metal clay and make new things. These pieces have been a burden on my inventory for too long now and I need to clean house so that I can let my creativity flow without my inner voice saying "you already have enough inventory". Help me out, won't you?

Click here to go directly to my shop, or click on the scrolling widget to the right if you see one that you like.

Etsy Shop Overhaul

I've had Google Analytics going on my Etsy Shop for a couple of weeks, so I can see who, and when people are visiting. And perhaps get a glimpse of why they go there, so I can hopefully keep doing things that will attract customers. I'm a little bit of a data freak, so it's interesting to see all the tidbits of traffic on the site. So far, I've had visitors from the following countries: Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, Austrailia, France, South Korea, Serbia, Slovenia, Finalnd, Romania, Italy, Chile, Russia and, of course, the United States. WOW! That alone makes the geekiness of Google Analytics interesting to me. I check it each day and when a new country lights up on the map I think about world domination... Some of the other data is not too helpful yet, like "Return  Visitors". It makes me wonder how many of those return visitors are ME. I've been tweaking some of the item descriptions and have been on and off the website several times. But they also show me "Absolute Unique Visitors" and that shows a better picture. Pie charts and bar charts and graphs, OH MY!

Knotted necklace of black beads on white thread.

I'm preparing for a complete overhaul of the shop. The necklaces made of glass beads knotted on silk thread will be taken off. I put them up there about a year ago because many of my in-person customers wanted a place to buy them online. Since then I've only sold one, so, sorry folks.  I think they take attention away from my silver jewelry. (And, I'm getting really tired of making them. I make them in 8 colors, 3 sizes, on either black or white thread, so that's 48 different combinations.) If you're a glass beads on silk thread customer you'll just have to get them from me at one of my shows or at Hands Gallery or Main Street Gallery. Or, you can contact me directly to purchase them. (See my contact information to the right.)

As part of this overhaul there will be a big sale going on. Some of the things that are already in the Sale Items secion of my shop will be marked down further and many current listings will be reduced and added to that section.  Starting next month, just in time for Mother's Day and Graduation!

Copper Clay Update

If you read the previous post you'll see that I was soooo happy with my copper clay pieces. Now I'm thinking, not so much.

It appears that many of the pieces did not sinter. When I drilled holes through some of them in order to attach jump rings, there was the dreaded brown powder, meaning that the outside was a nice, solid, shiny copper but the inside was still powdery. And, a couple of them had parts attached with slip (watered down clay used like glue) and these parts popped off. In the first photo above you can see that the bail broke off. When I tried to drill a hole, it just crumbled. Since this was all experimental, I decided to try breaking one with my hands, and sure enough, "snap"! Broke in half like a saltine cracker. In the second photo you can see the one I intentionally broke. The center piece was put on with slip (it came off) and you can see the brown powder very clearly. I can rub it off with my fingers. This is not good. Fully sintered metal clay should be as strong as sheet metal. And, I want to be sure that none of my customers would ever encounter breakage.

I suspected several things that could have caused this. 1) I had too many pieces in the firing pan, causing the heat to be distributed unevenly. 2) I should have done a 2-phase firing. And 3) The kiln did not get hot enough.

So, I went online to my Etsy Metal Clay Team colleagues to see what their experiences were. Kelly Fehr disputed #1. She has fired as many as 60 pieces in a single firing, so I don't think that was it. She also says she has no problem using slip if a little lavender oil is mixed in with it.  Lorena Angulo makes large sculptural pieces out of copper clay and she told me that she has success when firing them at 1770F. I followed package instructions and only fired to 1700F. It now looks like that extra 70 degrees makes a big difference. Lora Hart was the one who originally told me about the 2-phase firing. First you fire the pieces on an open kiln shelf, then transfer them to the stainless steel pan with the activate carbon and fire them again. She was helpful in reminding me that this material is VERY new and that when silver metal clay came out around 15 years ago many artists had failures until the formula was improved. So, we're all esentially experimenting with this stuff.

I'm disappointed that my things didn't come out as planned, but it was a good learning experience for very little money, and Debbie, Torrey and I sure had a lot of fun with it last Sunday. I may try firing the remaining pieces from this first batch again and see if that solves the problem. I still have a little copper clay left in the package to use up and I'll do them all at once.

Here's a some successful copper clay pieces by Kelly and, Lorena. Lora is taking a break from her Etsy shop right now, but here's the link to her wonderful blog: Such and Such

Om Pendant by Kelly Fehr. Click HERE to go to the Etsy listing.

Copper Lines earrings by Lorena Angulo. Click HERE to go to the Etsy listing.

More Etsy Listings

I've listed these pieces in my Etsy Shop over the last few days. I'm trying to freshen it up with some new things, just for YOU! Enjoy.

Off the road for a little while

I went to Charlotte on Friday for the annual Charlotte Trunk Show. It was previously held at my friend Patty's house, but since she moved to Maggie Valley I've been doing it at Hospitality House of Charlotte as a benefit for that wonderful organization. They provide low-cost housing for people who have loved ones in the hospital. A portion of my sales from this event are always donated to their cause. Plus, my good friend Kimberly is their Executive Director and I get to spend quality time with her and her family while I'm there. It was a pretty lousy turnout this year, blamed on the economy as usual, but they'll still get a nice donation from me. We went out for a fantastic dinner last night - I'm still celebrating my birthday!

I designed a charm with the Hospitality House logo on it that we were going to raffle, but since there were only two customers who entered the drawing we decided that it wasn't really fair. I ended up just donating the charm to them to raffle at another time. I decided that I will take orders for this charm and a portion of the price will also be donated. I already have orders for two of them. Here's a picture of it:

I'll be listing it on my Etsy site soon. You can have one of your very own for only $25.00.

I like to listen to audio books while I'm driving. I've had Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo checked out of the library for a long time. It's on a "Playaway" (a book loaded on an MP3 player and you only have to provide your own ear phones). I didn't realize how long this book is, (25 hours, I finally found out) so on the way home today the battery died. I got out my iPod, but it was dead, too. There was a football game on my favorite radio station. So, for the last 45 minutes I drove in complete silence. I can't remember the last time I did that! I let my mind wander and came up with several good ideas. Some about how to re-design my show display and a couple of new jewelry ideas. I'd forgotten how good a little quiet time can be!

I don't have to go out of town again until December 11 - a family thing in Raleigh - and I'm glad to be out of the car. My back is sore and I'm looking forward to a little down time. Maybe I can clean up my house and pay some attention to my poor neglected cat.

Things are going pretty good!

The Big, Big Birthday Sale is going well. I keep finding new pieces to add, things that I know you just need to have for yourself, so check it out: http://www.zoenelson.etsy.com/   Go to the section on the right side of the screen to find all the things that have been marked down.  There have been two people who took advantage of their own November birthdays and received an additional 10% off, and there are some names in the running for the drawing for the free pair of earrings at the end of the month. Here's a few things I've recently added:

Lovely dichroic glass with multi-strand cord and ribbons

Was $98.00, now $75.00

Shield pendant with lots of texture on a snake chain

Was $98.00, now $75.00

Blue and gold dichroic glass on a black cord

Was $90.00, now $65.00

I'm finally over all the dental mess I was in a couple of weeks ago. It took me another week to recover from the ravaging that antibiotics can do to your system and to get my energy back. Whew! That cost me nearly two weeks of lost time and now I'm working on catching up. I have three more days before I have to work in one of the co-op galleries, so now is the time to work on new things for the Benefit Trunk Show for Hospitaly House of Charlotte on November 20.

It's Almost Time

Can you believe that it's alomst time to set our clocks back again? Sunday morning, November 1. I'm sure you all get up at 2:00 a.m. to reset all your clocks. Many people are glad that they get an "extra" hour, but if you think about it, where did that hour really come from? There's still 24 hours in a day, right? Or did I miss something? A friend just sent me this story:

When told the reason for daylight savings time the Old Indian said, "Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket."

It just screws me up. I can't get up in the morning, then I can't get to sleep at night. Takes me weeks and weeks to get straightened out again. I'm not looking forward to it.

BUT, also on Sunday morning (although not at 2:00 a.m.) I'll start listing things for my BIG, BIG BIRTHDAY SALE that will last all of November. (And, I guess I'll have an extra hour to work on it!) I know everyone is poised with their mouse pointer on the link to my Etsy Store, waiting for the bargains to start, but be patient - only a few more days. When you get to the shop, click on the section for the BIG, BIG BIRTHDAY SALE on the right side of your screen to see all the things that are marked down. These are pieces that have slowly sunk to the bottom of the pile. There's nothing wrong with them - they've just been in my inventory too long and need to find a good home and make someone happy.

And, remember that you get an additional 10% off if you also have a birthday in November, or if your birthday falls on the 17th of any month. (You have to be able to prove this somehow.) Everyone who makes a purchase during November will have their name entered into a drawing to win a pair of earrings worth $20.00. Doesn't this sound like fun?

One Month From Today....

I want to announce that on November 1 I'll be starting the BIG BIG BIRTHDAY SALE in my Etsy Store that will last the entire month. My birthday is in November, hence the name. I'm not having a BIG BIRTHDAY this year - this one doesn't have a zero - this is going to be a BIG BIG SALE. I have several pieces of jewelry that have just been hanging around in my inventory for way too long and they need a little nudge so that they'll go home with someone, be worn, and make someone happy. Because of the economy I've been relucant to buy a lot of supplies this year (silver's expensive) and I have a nice cushion of jewelry inventory on hand already. Therefore, I've been jonesing to make more, but haven't been able to do as much as I'd like. Winter is coming and I need something to do to stave off cabin fever, so I decided to sell off some of the ones that have circulated to the bottom of the pile at greatly reduced prices. I'll be adding new things to the store every day and there will be additional discounts available, as well as free shipping. Stay tuned and pass the word!

I had a little frost this morning. I don't think it killed anything, but fall is definitely here. Time to drive around and look at the leaves and buy pumpkins and enjoy the clear, crisp weather.

I'm getting ready to go to the Raleigh-Durham area for the Chatham Hill Winery's Harvest Festival this weekend. I hope they're interested in jewelry as well as wine! Maybe if they drink enough... Send in your requests for me that the weather is nicer this weekend than it was last!

Murano Silver Give Away

"Toth" Limited Edition Fine Silver and Gold Collarette by Murano Silver

Here's a good reason for a new blog post! Nicola Callow of Murano Silver does a monthly give away and this time she's giving away two books - a signed copy of PMC Technic by Tim McCreight and a copy of Fabulous Jewelry From Found Objects. You can enter her contest in several ways and you get one entry for each place you enter. (So, the more places you enter, the better your chances of winning.) This blog post counts as one of my entries.

Nicola is a fellow member of the Etsy Metal Clay team. She lives in Market Deeping, England and is also a member of the British Jewellery Association. Her beautiful work can be found on her Etsy site.

New Items on Etsy

I recently listed these six pieces on my Etsy site. I finished them quite a while ago, but never listed them. Almost all of my pieces are one of a kind, so I assign a number to each one and enter it into a database to keep up with where they are... A piece could be in Hands Gallery, Main Street Gallery, Artist's Alley, or Carlton Gallery. (See links to the right) I try to rotate things out of the galleries that haven't sold for a few months. Or, it could be on Etsy. There are only a few that are in a gallery and also listed on Etsy - that gets really confusing, and, although unlikely, what if it sold at the gallery and I didn't know it and someone wanted it off Etsy? Its a lot of work, and I wonder if it's worth it. How do you keep up with your inventory?

Kelley Livingston Is Trying To Swell My Head

Kelley Livingston gave me the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you so much, Kelley! She also featured me on her blog today and I really appreciate that , too. All this attention on the same day is a little head-swelling. Kelley also lives and works in here in the mountains of NC and has an Etsy shop . She makes the most beautiful Eco Bags out of interior design fabric samples. If I went shopping with one of these, I'd feel very special. She also makes greeting cards and jewelry and she paints. A very talented woman, indeed! She will donate a percentage of her profits to animal-related charities and uses recycled materials where possible, so go shopping in her store.

The One Lovely Blog Award must be passed on. Here's how to do it: To accept the award, post it on your blog and give props to the person who awarded it to you. (Just did that...) Now, pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you have discovered and contact them to let them know they've been chosen. (Doing that now...)

Here's the 15 that I chose:

Quilt Cookie

Such and Such

Taking the Long Way Home

Murano Silver

Clever Endeavor

News & Views From Artist Alley

Moda di Magno Blog for Stylish Living

Lulu Bug Jewelry

Ally's Art

c-lyn Studio

Destiny's Creations

HappyDayArt!

Peculiar Forest

Sue McNenly

Kate McKinnon