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.

Whining's Over, Let's Move On

I've been working on filling up this kiln shelf for almost a month. For some reason I like to have a full shelf before I fire the work, and maybe I'm being over efficient, but that's just how I roll.  And, it's so satisfying to not have any leftover clay in an opened package. It just all worked out perfect this time. Kind of like having just enough chips to finish the jar of salsa, you know? The firing is done now and it's time to tumble, patina, polish, assemble, price, inventory and photograph. All that should keep me busy for the next week or so. I haven't felt like working in my studio for a long time, so this feels kind of new to me. It's nice to feel productive again. It took me a month to fill the shelf because I still can't work for long periods at a  time.

I only have two packages of silver clay left. If my class that starts in September gets enough students enrolled to make I'll have to order more then and I'll get extra for myself. In the meantime I'll just keep my eye on spot prices and hope the government gets its act together before the metal speculators put me out of business. I was freaked out two years ago about $16 silver prices. I never imagined it would ever get over $40 like it was yesterday. Unfortunately, the price of my jewelry has to increase, too.

I've still got a lot of stash in my Etsy Shop. Pieces and parts and things I've made that I'll never use. Go see if there's something that will work in one of your designs. I've listed them for what I paid for the silver, so there are some incredible bargains.

Lola's showing off her jewelry today. See the gold cuff bracelet on her arm?

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.

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.

Sparkly!

Sometimes when you fire metal clay you get the "Sparkly Effect" when it comes out of the kiln. I fired the above pieces today and they're REALLY sparkly. This is an effect of the silver particles fusing together and forming crystals on the surface. It's random and I don't think anyone really knows for sure how and when it will happen. And no one knows how to make this happen on purpose. These were not all the pieces in the kiln. The rest of them came out white, like they usually do. Vickie Hallmark wrote a blog post about this recently and went in to great detail about why this might happen. You can read it here, if you want a scientific hypothesis of why this might be.

My question to you, dear readers, is do I polish these to a  shiny surface and then put on a patina, like I usually do, or leave them rough and sparkly? Polishing esentially flattens down the crystals and light doesn't reflect off of the peaks any more.  I'm not sure I like it and I don't know how it will wear over time. What's your opinion?

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!

Some New Eye Candy

Here's a few pieces that I've recently finished up. They're not listed on Etsy yet, but they might be. If you see something here that you just HAVE to have before then, just contact me and I can make it yours!

This first one is a boulder opal which has been bezel-set into the metal clay. This is a complicated process, where I first make the bezel (the silver part that surrounds the stone) out of fine silver bezel wire by shaping it around the stone and then soldering the seam together. Then I set the bezel into some polymer clay about one-third of the depth of the bezel. I mix up some investment, which is like plaster, and pour it into the space where the stone will be. After the investment sets up, I remove the whole thing from the polymer clay base and press it into the backing piece I've made out of silver clay. When it's fired in the kiln, the investment holds the place and shape of the stone, as the silver clay shrinks 10-12% during firing. After it's fired I set the opal in place.

The one below is a large purple goldstone donut with a fine silver disk. The bail is made from sterling silver wire that has been forged by hand. A rivet in the center holds the whole thing together securely, and it's the same on both sides.

Next, we have a fine silver pendant with a simple but elegant pattern and a black akoya pearl in the center. To make this one, I imbed a post of fine silver wire into the clay and set the half-drilled pearl onto that wire as the last step.

Then, I made a couple more necklaces with the seed bead chains to replace the ones that I left at the Little Art Gallery in Raleigh. They both feature beautiful dichroic glass cabachons, which can be put in place and fired in the kiln along with the silver clay. This first one is a toggle pendant - the pendant IS the clasp and it's designed to be worn in the front.

This last one features a center pendant and has a large sterling silver "S" clasp in the back.

Well, that's some of what I've been up to. I have four shows coming up between now and the end of the year, so I gotta stay busy in the studio. I'll post more about those shows soon. Also, I'm planning a HUGE sale on my Etsy site for the month of November to celebrate my birthday. You won't believe how much I'll be slashing prices on things that have been hanging around in the inventory for a long time. Stay tuned.

A Couple More

Here's a couple more I made using seed beads to hang the fine silver and dichroic glass pendants from. These are crocheted #11 beads. (Thanks, Debbie, for showing me how to do this!)