New Chromasome Stacker Rings By Giftbearer

A new twist on stacker rings, the stamped lines on these look like the chromosomes you see on scientific charts. This first set is size 7 1/2.

They look and feel great on your finger;

Alot of people now are wearing stacker rings. They're fun and stylish. If you like these but need another size please contact me on Etsy to place a custom order, let me know how many you want and I'll give you a quote and set up a special listing for you.

Copper is such a warm metal and it is one of the few pure metals that hasn't skyrocketed in price in recent years. I love working with it and have more things in-progress. Be sure to take a look at the other copper jewelry I have in my shop. I'm getting ready to renew my copper flower necklaces over the next several days. For those of you who have not seen them  yet; I have 16" and 18" and they come with a choice of several different gemstones.

Some copper chainmaille pieces are coming too, so stay tuned!

I addition to copper, I'm working on some sterling silver Spring and Easter designs as well.

Bounty of Beads-Selection, Selection, Selection!

Brass Link Chain 6x3 14 Feet Length

If you make jewelry and you're looking for a vast selection and great prices http://BountyofBeads.etsy.com probably has some things you need.

In this Etsy store you'll find everything from acrylic to sterling silver!

I lucked out this past Monday and noticed that she just happened to have something I've had on my list to get that one of my regular suppliers was out of stock on; some copper washers in several different sizes. I bought every last lot she had for only around $15.00 and that will keep me stocked up on those for quite some time! I can hardly wait to get them and see what unique things I can make! I love copper.

As in the picture above she also carries brass for you brass die-hards who make the Vintaj style pieces of jewelry using filligree components and ephemeral and/or victorian type parts.

She carries Trinity Brass findings; (Click below to see her whole selection).

Trinity Brass Vintage Patina Lily Bracelet Link

One of her specialties is her hand-wrapped Dangle Charm Drops

(Click on the picture below to see her whole selection of those).

6 Piece Emerald Green Dangle Drops

The crisp color contrast between the gold-plated beadcaps and the faceted crystal in this particular lot really pops!

What she is selling in a nut-shell is convenience. When your time = money that is very important! With these pre-made handcrafted dangles jewelry artists can cut down on production time and spend more of that time on the overall design and less on such tedious things as wrapping hundreds of links!

I don't make designs with tons of dangles very often because my fingers will ache to the bone afterwards. I don't know how she does so many of these without killing her hands, so my hat is off to her that she does this to save time for other artists!

If you check her shop periodically you will find some great values such as these good-sized 12mm x 8mm x 5mm Faceted Oval Smokey Topaz Beads

10 Pc Oval Faceted Smokey Topaz Beads

10 of these are only $5.80 and the quality is quite fine; no inclusions that I can see with the naked eye, and nice precise facets.

I addition to the above items, she has some very cute glass seahorses in a variety of colors, pearls, a sterling Aligator charm, and other things (I don't want to tell you everything or it will ruin the surprises).

Eye Candy Interlude- Elaborate Artisan Jewelry

Silver, Copper, and genuine gemstone beads, set cabochons, seedbeads, and artisan lampwork used in exciting designs;

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=3855

Warmly Glowing-necklace

18" long; copper, Carnelian, Kyanite slices, and artisan lampwork.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12208920

Fine Silver Blackberry Leaf Necklace with Citrine Cabochon

18" long. Yes, it's made from the impression of a real leaf!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23748009

Cape Cod Jellyfish Earrings

2 1/2" long. Beadweaving, lampwork, sterling silver.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8915861

Tapered Bubbles Sterling Silver Ring With Very Clean Peridot Cab

Size 5 3/4; casted original design.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=495648

Southwestern Cross Necklace and Earring Set

The chain measures 26 1/2" The pendant measures 1 58" The earrings measure 2 3/8" long.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25568168

Raspberry Explosion Independance Day Necklace

Measures 18" Long,(21" including extender)Centerpiece measures 3" long

This piece took approximately 112 hours to complete.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=277912

Fall Berries Turning Wine Earrings

These earrings measure 3 1/8" long X 1 3/8" wide.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10595268

Early Budding Vine Bracelet 3-Northern Lights

This freeform bangle has a circumference of 7" and it measures 2 5/16" in diameter.

Read about this amazing process here;

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10838889

Carmella Collection-Tears of Joy (earrings)

These measure 2 1/8" long. Great for weddings; only 1 pair left; one pair sold earlier this week.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13422448

Strength of The Serpent Bracelet-Gardenia Leaf

Gardenia leaf connected by fine silver jump rings which measures 2 3/8" long from jump ring to tip.

9 1/2" bracelet

One of these bracelets just sold tonight; 2 left in the limited edition line!

Each is one-of-a-kind.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5996298

Eye Candy Interlude - Exciting Bracelets by Giftbearer

Moss Chilled By Autumn - 7 1/2"-8 1/2" with extender.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=15993456
This bracelet includes artisan-made ceramic beads made by a co-op of African women, lampwork beads, bone rondelles, irregular Vintage bone-colored glass disks and a daring combination of brass, copper, and vermeil.

Silver, beads, copper, lampwork, vermeil, you name it I've got it! You don't have to pass up what you really want if you start your holiday shopping early this year. Just set aside some funds from each paycheck and buy a piece here and there between now and December and before you know it everybody on your list will be taken care of. You'd be surprised how well this works rather than rushing at the last minutes to buy everything in that one pay period. Then in December you can sit back and relax because it's all done!

How many of you have had to settle for gifts last year that were cheap and fast but weren't quite right for the people close to you because time got short and you were afraid that you couldn't get shipping before the holidays?

You didn't realize where your money went and where your time went and suddenly there was not enough of either. You were stressed and frantic, trying to finish up your last minute shopping and somehow what should have been an enjoyable experience became instead a dreaded nightmare you just wanted to be done with. Soon you were looking for any gift with your last few dollars and didn't care what it was.

I want your experience to be better this year, so I'll be posting some possible suggestions on this blog, and maybe this can be a win/win for us both. Hopefully I'll gain some repeat customers, and you will thoroughly enjoy your holiday shopping experience, and your friends and family will be thrilled with just how perfect and thoughtful your gifts are.

Opulent Mystery - 6 2/8-7 6/8 with extender.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=12207568

If you like big and bold bracelets this one will strike your fancy! It includes some very luminous lampwork beads, sterling chain, feathers and spacers, and the centerpiece is an impressive tumbled freeform nugget of Turquoise.

Caravan by Moonlight - 8"

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=12903155

Constructed using bead crochet, this bracelet uses an unusual AAA Lapis square with a hole in the middle as a focal and a toggle clasp. I always have fun making innovative features in my jewelry and this is another example of something functional but fun; one of those things that makes you go, "Hmmmm..."

Starting To Catch Up

Today was relatively uneventful. I called the vet in Perry again to see if he'd read my e-mail and it turned out he never got it. It had not come back undeliverable, so either their spam blocker intercepted it or maybe someone printed it out the day I sent it and misfiled it. I re-sent it and the receptionist told me he'd either call me after hours tonight or in the morning. I didn't hear from him tonight so I guess that means tomorrow will be the day I will have some news one way or the other. I am praying that this one will do it.

No response yet from the news reporter so I may have to do some calling tomorrow about that.

I'm now working on the logistics for a new line of jewelry. Since my PMC seems to be what's most popular and most everything else has just been sitting in my shop it occurred to me that I should go back to that and develop some new and exciting designs in that medium. I have had it planned to make some interesting molds for quite awhile but other things kept getting in the way. Now that the silver market is going down again it looks as if I may be able to pick up where I left off. Next I will be developing some pieces made from my artwork. If I can get Carmella's treatment all squared away then I may be back on schedule with my business plan. The original Budding Vine bracelets are unique but recently even they are starting to be copied in one sneaky way or another (and they are trademarked and published which affords them more protection than a copyright). I'm not in the suing mood right now, as I've got enough on my plate with Carmella's situation, but that is not an open invitation to encourage anybody to go on doing this. I probably need to zag in another direction for awhile and give these people a run for their money. If they are following my work trying to come up with cheaper versions of my most popular pieces I'm about to make it alot harder to pull off. I will be incorporating some things into my next line that are not at all easy to copy, and anyone who tries will spend so much time it will eat up whatever profit they hope to make on it.

It rained today for a good bit of the afternoon and Carmella began to get increasingly antsy as time went on. She still cannot be trusted wandering around the house by herself because she'll chew up vital things like electrical cords and clothing, blankets, and other items, but she has been whining to get out of the kitchen alot more often than she needs to go out in the yard to go to the bathroom and she does not want me to leave the room after I go in there to snuggle and pet her. She tugs on my pants leg and even tries to hold on with her front paws.

Tonight when I let her outside her front right leg gave way and she fell down. She got right back up, but I am getting worried about this falling because at first it was mainly stumbling but now she actually ends up on the ground. This is not good and probably means that the demyelination is still getting worse. This could be also why she's so restless and clingy today. She seems to sense when there is disease-progression.

I was pleasantly surprised today when I checked my e-mail and found several donations and another person had bought an ad space on my blog! Thank you! Thank you! Keep it up, everybody. Each bit helps.

Also in the mail I received a Hill Tribes leaf from April of ALJ designs from a blog contest that I won. I will make something very special with it. Check out her shop here: http://aljdesigns.etsy.com/

Slowly but surely I think I'm catching up on my sleep as well.

I spent some time today researching brass and what I found out was very interesting. Apparently there are many different alloys that are considered brass. Brass has mostly Copper and Zinc in it, but it can also have a number of other metals included, and some Brass alloys even have small trace amounts of arsenic or lead in them. One site I was reading on listed 11 different types of brass but they said that this was just the tip of the ice burgh. There are many more. I guess that's why there's no "standard" way to preserve the patina or the shine on brass, because depending on the proportions of metals in it it may respond better to one method and another brass might respond better to another. It seems to me that some standards for manufacturing should be made as they are for copper, silver, and gold as to the composition and purity of the component metals in it. To have such a broad category called brass seems to cheapen it. I've never been a big fan of brass myself, but I must admit I am temped to try some of those lacy antiqued beadcaps and components that dress up a single bead or other focal piece to look really fancy, and I do like the dragonflies that wrap around things. I love Copper but have been unable to find such detailed components in it as I see in the antiqued brass.

Tonight Carmella's jerking is particularly bad. It is making her ears and entire head jerk from the sheer force of it. I hope tomorrow a vet will have mercy on her and go ahead and make a committment.

If you would like to help please go to the donation link on the right, buy a $5.00 ad on my blog, and/or buy some art jewelry from my shop. Thanks to all of you who have been contributing in one way or another to help Carmella get well! With Love and Action All things are possible! http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

The Elements of Style

Dawn Brandt of ElementsbyDawn has been selling her jewelry on Etsy since August 7, 2006, and loves geometric shapes with texture and pattern in them. Looking at her work one can tell that she incorporates circles into a lot of what she does, from Chainmaille to hammered textured cuffs and sterling, copper, and fine silver disks, to using round beads and chain. Experts have said that the round form is a shape humans are naturally drawn to, so if this is any indicator Dawn’s future will be bright.

When asked what techniques she would like to learn she said, “I’d like to be able to add more color, and thus some more dimension to my designs. Enameling, resin, and Prismacolor colored pencil are a few of the materials I’d like to incorporate into my designs. I’ve dabbled with Prismacolor, but haven’t perfected the technique yet.” Dawn describes it as a technique that blends the traditional methods of painting on canvas and coloring/drawing on metal. There are two ways to accomplish the results. One involves sandblasting the metal to give it "tooth" (which is not the method she does), and the other uses gesso; the method she uses. Then to prevent the surface from weathering over time and the color from coming off she uses an acrylic sealer.

Dawn is currently working on a collection due for release in the Summer of 2008. It will feature colorful vintage glass, vintage Swarovski crystal, and vintage Lucite.

Among the trade magazines she subscribes to are The Crafts Report, Art Jewelry, and Art Calendar. The Crafts Report has many useful articles on the business of crafting, Art Jewelry Magazine helps keep her abreast on new techniques and emerging artists, and Art Calendar keeps informed on national and local arts and craft shows.

For anyone just starting out in the jewelry crafting business or even just thinking about transforming a hobby into a bona fide business, she recommends the book Marketing and Selling Your Handmade Jewelry by Viki Lareau. This easy to read book covers many of the basic aspects of starting out in the crafting business.

If metalsmithing is your interest, The Complete Metalsmith – Pro Version by Tim McCreight is invaluable!

The book Dawn is currently reading is, How to Photograph Absolutely Everything by Tom Ang. “I am hoping to improve my photography skills, as product photography can really help or hinder your success in an online environment.”

Dawn belongs to The Art Jewelry Collective, WIST (a local Wisconsin street team), and will be exhibiting at the ART vs CRAFT show on December 8th in Milwaukee.

This artist accepts Checks, Money Orders, and accepts credit cards through both PayPal and ProPay. She also sends out a quarterly newsletter for those customers who would like to be notified when new pieces are available for sale.

Be sure to check out her whole collection at http://elementsbydawn.etsy.com/