It's a total blank ...

... but first things first. Back on track (hopefully) and Creative Bloggers is going around again. Macaroni and Glue is up in the spotlight and I'm seriously liking the banner! I don't recall seeing this, but it has been a while since I paid Kelly a visit. I'll blame the Texas heat and I'm sure she'll understand! Check out her Facebook fan page too!

Another artist being featured is Susy of Earth Expressions. Susy creates exquisite jewelry. But she also is creative with her blog and I loved her post about with packing and shipping tips. I can imagine a new customer of hers receiving a package and thinking: "What a class act!"

If you head over to Facebook, please take a look at my fan page. I set it up a while ago, didn't quite know what to do with it, but I've been learning. There is no documentation from Facebook about how to fully use the application, but there are some giving souls out there who are sharing what they know. It's a learning curve, but learning is great for keeping the gray matter within the skull nimble and functioning!

And I've been slowly building my Twitter following. Twitter is like the wild, wild west of the internet. All sorts of colorful folks. And all sorts of nuts too. All sorts of lazy people amassing huge followings by using automated applications, but it's only about quantity, not quality. So I'm doing it the old fashioned way. One by one with absolutely NO AUTOMATION, not even an automatic welcoming message.

A friend of mine has developed a new application for social media. It just launched so take a look at TipDrop. I signed up, but haven't authored a tip sheet yet. Jon gives us 255 characters which beats Twitter's 140, but 255 is not always enough. My plan is to blog tips here and link to this blog from the tip sheets. Hopefully Jon has programmed the application for follow through links.

I've created some new handcrafted jewelry pieces for the summer, but every single last piece has sold. Sold without pictures too. I'm a dunce. o_O Beautiful pieces, too, using "Candy Jade" which has become a new favorite of mine, and some shell/pearl/crystal pieces. Ooooh, even writing about them is making my fingers itch to make more!

Oh, and another thing, I've been making a ton of paper craft bookmarks and cards for a friend of mine to take to a special international convention (worship related) to pass out as gifts to all she meets. I've so enjoyed my monthly workshops I take from my local StampinUp representative that I've decided to sign up as a demonstrator myself! Since it will be about handcrafted paper goods, I figured it would be a nice fit with my existing creative business and I will keep it under my '57 Design Studio business umbrella.

Now, I must remember to take pictures!

Will the Real Competition Please Stand Up!

I've been asked, time again by many people, why I share my space and hard-learned information with other jewelry designers. Even my Project Wonderful and Entrecard ad spaces are typically occupied by other jewelry artists.

Most people cannot grasp the idea that jewelry designers, while in a black-and-white world are competitors, don't view each other as such because we are first and foremost artists and artists rarely deal in black-and-white. Even using a black/white color palette, there are so many shades of gray.

Artists feel a connection with other artists, even if we are using the same medium ... even when our art is our business. At every event I attend jewelry artists are drawn to each other and we compare and share notes (and wine, too!). At every on-line community I belong, jewelry artists form their own groups to compare and share information.

It is my pleasure to feature another jewelry artist, Jill of Liv'nGood Jewelry, who is also a fellow chainmailler! The latest post on her blog hits a note in me because we both seem to be having trouble getting caught up on the photography that is necessary to get our art listed on our various on-line selling venues.

I have my eye on a pair of her earrings! I need to sell some of mine so I can buy them. Yes, I said "buy them" because copycats are not playing fair, even if one is copying for their own use.

Jill is also a member of Creative Bloggers and I invite every creative type reading this blog who also blogs to come and join us!

So, there is real competition for jewelry artists, but it is not from other jewelry artists. I'll leave it to the reader to figure it out. I've made a promise to myself not to market me by stomping on others. Besides, there is plenty of room in this wide world for everything under the sun.

Pretty Rock

"Opal Fire Agate" is what this pretty is being called. Perhaps because it looks like a merging of Peruvian Opal and Fire Agate? Whatever ... I found it exceptionally intriguing. Between the coloration and the crackling of the stone, it brings to my mind a chrysanthemum captured by stone. I used pewter, brass and just a wee bit of Swarovski crystal to bring it together into a very gorgeous piece.

I haven't listed it yet ... I plan to roll it out at an open house that I'll be showing at in August. I have only one upcoming show scheduled so I must work on getting more dates planned. Summer is very slow around here because it's just plain HOT and very little happens until the shorter days of fall give us a more bearable atmosphere. I'm always open to private home shows so if anyone is living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and would like an opportunity to receive FREE jewelry, much of it one-of-a-kind, drop me a line.

Here's a view of the entire necklace:

Well, hello Dolly!

It fascinates me that the unseasonable clouding, and the humidity that comes along with it, over my little ole spot of Texas is brought to us by what remains of a hurricane many hundreds of miles away! I even got rained yesterday when going into my local grocery store. I came out after the rain stopped into a literal sauna. The temps were in the high 90's yesterday and all the rain did was create a huge bubble of water vapor ... so much that I found it hard to breathe when heading back to my car. Now I think I know what asthmatics are feeling when their air passages close up.

Ron Jackson, Channel Fox4 news weather meteorologist is on right now telling us to expect temps as high as 100F today. Woo hoo!

In keeping with the "rule" that blogs with pictures are appreciated more than text-only blogs, here's a detail photo from my Malachite Splendor necklace, still available at my Etsy shop. This piece gets a lot of attention, both on-line and at my local shows, but I still haven't found the one woman to whom this piece belongs!

I'm still enthralled with making chainmaille pieces and there will be a number of new items coming out for fall. I hope copper and brass are still the "hot" metals of fashion because I personally like the look they add to jewelry pieces. Even if they're not hot for fall, I'll still use them because they should be timeless! In our toughening economy, these "less precious" metals are more appealing than ever. I think they offer a rugged look to elegance ... hopefully that's not too oxymoronic!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday! I'm looking forward to the hubby's bar-b-qued ribs that will be cooked over at Son #1's house. Playtime with the grandbabies!

I should be working on other things

P1010706
Originally uploaded by hiljohnqu

... like ID badge laynards. So I'm forcing myself away from the computer, I'll finish the other project I have on my studio table, then knuckle down and do what I SUPPOSED to be doing.

Or maybe I should hide under a rock.

I did list this on Etsy yesterday and you can find it here at a great price ($16). It worked up easy and fast and the rings are gold plate, not gold fill, so the price is very reasonable.

Amazonite Eggs

Amazonite on Champagne
Originally uploaded by hiljohnqu

This is one of my favorites of all the photos I've taken of my product. The birds seem perplexed. How did they get all those eggs? And what are those funny champagned-colored things littering the nest?

I feel the need for Spring. Actually, I feel the need for consistent weather. It's been a roller coaster here in north central Texas. We were up to 80 degrees less than a week ago. This week, two days of snow/sleet/ice and chilly weather.

My daughter was so hopeful for either a day off from school, or at least a delayed opening. Not this district! They are hardy folks.

I don't mind cold and snow. I grew up in Montana so I'm very familiar with cold and snow. But 50 degree shifts in temperature in a 24-hour period is a little crazy.

At least I have Spring in my studio. I'm working on ID laynards today. Oh, and if you want to see what this necklace looks like when it's displayed more like a necklace, it's in my Etsy shop here.

Amethyst Maille Mudfish

Amethyst Maille Mudfish
Originally uploaded by hiljohnqu

Lookie at what I made this weekend! I had done another Mudfish and sold it to a boutique in west Texas. This one is a different chainmaille weave and I added the amethyst to compliment his purple eyes.

I got this mudfish from Bally Beads in Rockwall, Texas. The owner of Bally's owns the mold and all the midfish are signed on the inside.

I have a new favorite! I may make one to keep myself! And yes, Comptroller of the State of Texas, I will pay sales tax on the materials for the one I keep.

Carnelian and Agate Pendant Necklace

Carnelian_Agate Pendant
Originally uploaded by hiljohnqu

I suppose this piece needs some loving. I need to reshoot this pretty to show it in a more favorable light. It's more of a fall piece because of the coloring, but I find that seasons don't really matter when selling ... if a woman sees something she really likes, she buys regardless of the season.

I found the agate geode in a little shop in Phillipsburg, Montana. Wonderful little town that's been spruced up and well worth the trek if you're in western Montana. There's a sapphire mine nearby to pan for your own sapphires.

The chain is handcrafted from 22 guage gold-fill wire and 4mm faceted carnelian beads. Carnelian is a form of chalcedony.

It's available on my website, and because we're heading into the seasons of spring and summer, I'll give anyone who orders this 20% off if they mention they saw it in this blog when ordering.

My website doesn't have a shopping cart yet. I'm trying to keep the cost of the website to a minimum in order to keep my prices very affordable. Email me and I'll get this out to you right away!

Close View - Cloisonne Bead

Close View - Cloisonne Bead
Originally uploaded by hiljohnqu

Cloisonne is one of my favorite type of bead. Finding nice quality cloisonne isn't hard, but there's a LOT of junk out there. This is one of those things one gets what one pays for. You will not find quality cloisonne beads at $3.00 a strand.

But there are reasonable sources out there. One of my favorite sources is Bally Beads in Rockwall, Texas. If you're in the area, check them out. They used to be wholesale only, but they have now opened a portion of their shop to the public for both beads and finished jewelry. They are not the easiest to find, even with address in hand. They are located in a house near the shore of Lake Ray Hubbard, set back in the property from Ridge Road. It's easy to miss their driveway. But they are worth seeking out!

I like the vintage look of this bead. At the moment, this is in both a bracelet and a pair of earrings paired with the mobius chainmail florette.

Coming soon ...

Amazonite and Coral chain
Originally uploaded by hiljohnqu

... to an Etsy store near you. Ha. Sorry for the droll humor. It's still early, around 4:30 am. I have a show today at an office building so I'm up early to tend to my on-line business duties.

Don't you think this combo is pretty? I saw the InStyle spread a couple months ago with turquoise and red featured together. We'll probably see it in our stores in a month or two. But I lean towards the softer side of life, so this is my version. Salmon-colored coral and pale aqua amazonite.

Amazonite ... another feldspar. Named for the Amazon River even though no deposits are found there. How did that happen? Maybe a speciman reminded the name-giver of the river. Who knows. It's pretty, though.

Well, hope today's show goes well. I've been in this building before. Last time, my handsome young son came to help out. I figured he'd charm the ladies. But 4 out of 5 people who walked by were men. He didn't charm the men, although he politely greeted everyone he saw. A few ladies stopped, some purchased, but one lady warned me that particular building is a dud for jewelry sales. She was right!

Oh well, I'm committed, therefore I go. Call me crazy, I need to be committed.

Mobius MOP of Beautiful Pastels

Mobius MOP Bracelet
Originally uploaded by hiljohnqu

I loved working these bracelets up! The colors of these mother of pearl coin beads are so soft and pretty. For the Etsy listing, I used the pale mauve bracelet and earrings, but I like this photo the best from that shoot. I'm using this photo in both the bracelet and earring listing to show the color choices available.

The soft colors play against the hardness of the chainmaille florettes. I'm having fun with this mobius weave.

Bracelets and earrings available at my Etsy shop.