My Friend Wilma keeps me on my toes…

I have a very dear friend Wilma Travis, the very talented artisan

behind Wilma’s Whimsey.

Wilma and I both participate in a very successful Etsy Social Marketing Arts Guild. The eSMArts Guild, is a global collaborative of mixed media artisans intent on further understanding and applying eCommerce advertising and promotion techniques.

I doubt that Wilma even knows that she seems to always keep me on my toes when it comes to the eSMArts team, she seems to always remind me of the social marketing aspects that I’m often neglecting.

Wilma is a self taught, passionate lampwork bead artist, and oh do I wish I lived close to her, she could then teach me the wonderful art of lampwork. I too, dream of learning to melt glass and become a lampwork artist.

Her work is currently evolving in new directions, as she starts dabbling in making jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Chain Maille, and Viking Knit, and the use of Gemstones in her creations.

Please stop by Wilma’s blog, etsy shop and website and see her beautiful lampwork creations, and her progress into new jewelry endeavors.

Experiments with My Tumbler

My Egyptian Necklace really needed some sparkle so today I decided that I would tumble the necklace, and try a new technique. Again used the stainless steel shot, water and a squirt of Dawn, but put the necklace into an organza bag as suggested, and tumbled away for 3 hours. I was disappointed with the results, just didn’t improve the shine like my Springs and Coils Necklace.

So back to square one...

This time I’ll go back to the original technique, stainless steel shot, water, and a squirt of dawn. This necklace will need a lot of tumbling, 14 gauge Gold Parawire, looking to really improve the look of this design. Just had to check to see how the tumbling was going, after two hours really looks great, but have put the necklace back to see if I could see if I could achieve more shine. Just completed another two hours of tumbling, really like the shine…

Rice: Another option...

Another suggestion was to tumble with Uncle Bens Long Grain Converted Rice. So I couldn't wait to try the rice tumbling. If you try this method, do not add water, this is a dry tumbling technique. I decided to tumble two of my Fabula Brooches, one in dry rice, the other in an organza bag.Tumbling for three hours, neither brooch was as shiny as I expected, and

Yet the brooch in the organza bag had even a little less shine. really wasn't happy with the tumbling results, maybe next time I'll tumble longer.

So off to try the popcorn option

Popcorn: Another option

Again another way to tumble your jewelry is with un-popped popcorn, no water, or you’ll have a big mess. I tumbled one of the Fabula Brooches into the tumbler with the popcorn, and deciding this time not to try the organza bag. I again tumbled for a three hours, and compared the rice tumbled brooch with the popcorn tumbled brooch. The brooch tumbled in the popcorn appears to have more shine, but popcorn dust remained on the brooch, so next step was to rinse and dry.

Walnut Shells…

The last tumbling technique will be using ground walnut shells and no water.Two different brooches for this technique, one copper and the other gold Parawire, and again tumbling for three hours. I was pleasantly surprised that the walnut shells created a beautiful shine. I was very impressed with the final results. Yes, I would use this technique again, far superior to the rice and popcorn techniques.

One final tumble…

As I completed my tumbling experience, I decided that I would continue the experiment and tumble four brooches in the stainless steel shot technique. I knew that this technique would improve the appearance of the brooches tumbled in the rice and popcorn, but would it also improve the look of the brooches that were tumbled in the walnut shells. Yes, both dangling drop brooches also improved in.this technique, but the greatest improvement was with the two Fabula brooches. All now have the beautiful shine I desire.

Organza Bag…

The original concept of using the organza bag to tumble your jewelry is to keep your jewelry chains from tangling. My chain was 14 gauge, so I really wouldn’t experience the tangling with this gauge wire as you would with finer gauge wires. I will try this technique again when I have constructed a necklace in a finer gauge wire. But at this point I believe that a chain tumbled in an organza bag would require a longer tumbling time frame.

Final thoughts…

My decision for the future would be not use the organza bag when tumbling with rice, popcorn or walnut shells. Not worth the trouble and time involved. I would use the organza bag for the finer chains with the stainless steel shot, water and squirt of Dawn technique.

I will use the walnut shell tumbling technique in the future to tumble jewelry designs that have more fragile components.

I believe all the different tumbling techniques I’ve tried, have there place in achieving shine and work hardening. But at this point I believe that I’ll stick to stainless steel shot, water and a squirt of Dawn. I like shine….

Please Meet......

My Blogging Buddy – My Friend

I call her my friend, eSmarts teammate, and my blogging buddy. Who is she, but Teri Baskett of S & T Creations!

Teri and her partner, Saundra Brown-Gordon, began there jewelry business in 2005 when they opened S & T Creations in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Both ladies create larger pieces of jewelry, prominently featuring gemstones, glass and crystals in their jewelry designs.

Besides making beautiful bold jewelry designs, Teri handles most of the internet “tech-y” things for S & T Creations. But her heart is in creating beautifully unique jewelry designs. Each design features a bold style and flair, combined with quality components.

Here is how you can see more of Teri’s lovely work

http://www.sandtcreations.com

http://www.sandtcreations.com/wordpress

http://sandtcreations.etsy.com

New Years Resolution

A month of creating daily

In late October my friend Susie Land threw out the challenge and inspiration to do something creative every day for 30 days. Susie is my friend from Artist’s of the Round Table, and very creative, talented group of artisans. I decided at that time this would be a wonderful challenge for my creative endeavors, but the timing just wouldn’t fit into my schedule until the New Year.

During these cold dreary days of January I will challenge myself and create one jewelry piece each day of the month. Come along with me and enjoy my adventure…

I would love to have company. Want to join in on the fun! Just challenge yourself to do a little bit every day for 30 days, pick a theme, any theme, whatever you want, doesn’t even have to be jewelry.

I will be posting my progress on my blog, check back often to see how the challenge is evolving, and see if I can keep my New Years Resolution!

What is a Jewelry Geek?

A Jewelry Geek is someone aspiring to learn various jewelry making techniques.

Jewelry Geeks.Com is a site that promotes and supports the field of jewelry and metal arts. Artists can create and manage their own virtual studio, setup a photo gallery, add videos, subscribe to or create there own group(s), chat with other members, express creativity, find inspiration, learn new techniques, view and post classifieds, all this and SO much more!

Jewelry Geeks is a site for beginners to advanced artists with absolutely no membership fees or restrictions. A social portal created to give people who are interested in learning various techniques of jewelry making, a place to network with many artisans of all skill levels and backgrounds.

A great place to browse around, or sign up and start meeting others who share the same interests.

You'll find the latest in internet trends all rolled into one site! JewelryGeeks is the ONLY Social Network for Jewelry & Metal Artists in the world!

Enjoy!

Kreativ Blogger Award

My friend Jacqui Graham from the Artist of the Round Table (A.R.T.) has presented me the wonderful Kreativ Blogger Award!

Jacqui, I truly treasure our friendship and thank you for your thoughtfulness.


The rules for passing this award on are:
1. The winner may put this award on their blog
2. Put a link to the person who sent this award to you
3. Nominate 5 blogs
4. Put links to their blogs
5. Leave a message for your nominees

I’m honored to give The Kreativ Award to:
Anna Lee Husband
Hilde Van Barel
Janet Burditt
The eSMArts Team Blog
Yvonne Cornelius

My New Etsy Look

It’s been a long time coming, but now my Etsy Shop Jewelry Elegance has a new look. Thanks to my friend ChezChani I have found a wonderful Etsy Shop Dusty Designs to create my new banner. The designer Nicole created exactly what I had envisioned she is a very talented designer. So if you are currently unhappy with your banner, or just need a new look, why not take a look at what Dusty Designs Etsy Shop has to offer.

I Have a New Toy

I have a new toy, well maybe not so new, just never used this wonderful toy. Yes, I purchased a “Rotary Tumbler” sometime ago and never got around to learning to use the tumbler. Well, today I had some extra time, and decided I would finally open the box and see what tumbling jewelry was all about. A pound

of mixed stainless steel shot, a little water, and a squirt of dawn and I was off and running to see what tumbling would do for may copper jewelry.

I was amazed when I finished the first batch, just three copper bracelets, but what a difference the tumbling made. Everything is bright and shiny, with a special glow. So next I tumbled Naga Shell sterling silver earrings, again the tumbling made a beautiful shine.The next tumbling adventure was a Gold Parawire bracelet which included Lampwork beads, again a beautiful shine.I happened to have another similar bracelet,and could compare them side by side, amazing how beautifully the tumbled bracelet out shined it’s sister. My next experiment was my “Springs & Loops” Necklace, this necklace features both Gold Parawire and Silver Parawire, wanted to see how the tumbling would effect two different color wires.Now I’ll experiment with tumbling my favorite copper necklace and some earrings. The necklace has a number of mixed gemstones, and the earrings have copper coils and bead dangles. Really made everything sparkle…

I love my new toy….

My family doesn’t read my blog…

October 13, 2007 to October 13, 2008

My blog is a year old today…

I first started blogging on October 13, 2007, a whole year has passed and my focus has totally changed. My original intent was for my blog to be read by my children and their families, so they could experience what Mom was creating…

My daughter and her family live over 3000 miles away, and I thought this would be a great way for her to see what Mom was creating. Now sons really don’t care about what Mama’s doing, or at least mine doesn’t.He was married in May of 2007, and has a very busy life with his new family, besides he has seen me create stuff, since he was just a baby.

Then there is my un-married daughter, who lives close by, she can’t miss what I’m up too, it’s always sitting around the house. But I gave them all my blogger address, hoping that maybe they would discover something they didn’t know about me.

Well, it didn’t take long before I decided that I would post to see if they had ever visited my blog. Yes, I was bad, I posted all three girls Christmas gifts on my blog, before Christmas. If they just logged into my blog they would have seen their gifts. I also told them all on Christmas day what I had done. Do you think anything has changed….No, they still haven’t made the first visit to my blog.

My focus, hasn’t really changed…I just now blog for myself, my customers and my friends. I love the ability to share what I’m creating and what I’ve learned.

Art Auctions for Charity

Art Auctions for Charity
"Caring Hands & Giving Hearts"
Together we can make a Difference!

Today is the first day....

Welcome to this exciting opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life! All proceeds from the sale of donated works of art will be sent to various charities.

Art Auctions for Charity is a site to conduct on-line auctions. It is a place where you can nominate a favorite charity, donate art, bid on an auction and participate in a fun high energy drive to raise funds for charities that are dear to our hearts.

The proceeds from the first auction will be donated to the account of: Georgia Graham , who is in need of a lifesaving kidney transplant

Georgia is the Mother of my friend Jacqui from the Artist of the RoundTable (A.R.T.)where she has graciously been moderating and teaching on-line workshops to many years. It is our turn to band together and show her how much she is appreciated, by helping to get her Mother on the kidney donor list! This is an exciting event, hosted & sponsored by a loving artist community! Please help spread the word about this endeavor by visiting Art Auctions for Charity

Beginning in January 2009 the auctions will take place every month, once a week, 7 items will be featured for 10 months.

Together we can make a Difference!

Photography props and backgrounds

My thoughts…

I’m practicing again with my photos…

Backgrounds….

Many pictures of jewelry are done with solid background. Typically, a clean slate really focuses the attention on the piece not the background. I personally love black backgrounds, though some designers feel they are visually stale.

If you have a flowery swirly jewelry design, with a paisley, checkerboard or overly textured background the photography is going to seriously distract the viewer. You’ll want to give some serious thought to what are you selling, the fabric or the jewelry. Does the fabric detract or enhance your jewelry design.

Now, if your jewelry designs are going to be in a catalog or a similar publication you will have to follow submission guidelines; most often requiring a solid background. When using stark white background against color; especially dark colors, the contrast is extremely high. When photographing with a white background you have to verify the white actually comes out WHITE and the design colors actually comes out the proper color! Many photographs can be ruined simply because the white background appears greyish, off color, and the piece will often have an unusual color cast.

Props

Props can add character, tell a story; thereby ADDING TO THE VISUAL appeal of the design. The use of different colors and/or props can make a stunningly gorgeous statement. They should be simple and focus attention to the piece. The whole prop does not have to be in the photo to be effective, its shadow or texture can reflect the beauty of the jewelry design.

Some of my favorite props are things found in nature. While my designer friend Lola from Metal Chasers loves using antiques, especially glassware, bronze candlestick holder and similar objects. Lola was the inspiration for this blog and has greatly helped me improve my photography skills. Much of what I’ve learned about photography has been gleaned from Lola.

Recently I received a wonderful suggestion from eSMArts team member, Stacie of Creative Junque, suggesting that I use ceramic tiles as background props. Looking forward to trying this suggestion, I really believe this will add interest without distracting from my designs.

Practice, practice and more practice

I suggest, taking several photographs with several different props, backgrounds, camera angles, and lighting. This will give you a selection of photos, which gives you the ability to choose the photo that shows your design to its fullest potential. What works for one piece may not work for the next. The more photos you take, the more experience you will gain, you will find your style, and hopefully photography will become second hand…

I’m still practicing…

Artists of the Round Table

I belong to a wonderful group "Artists of the Round Table... A.R.T. for short" a mixed media art group.

A.R.T. is a group of mixed media artists, who offer warmth, support, and outstanding artwork. Here are just a few of the workshops A.R.T. has offered in the past; Wire Wrapping, Polymer Clay, Texture Effects, Art Stamping, and many more…
I love their tutorials

Mission statement

We are a group of artists working in different media with experience from beginner to professional. We are cross-cultural in all nuances of the word. Our vision for Artists of the Round Table (A.R.T.) is to have an online community where race, creed, faith, gender and age is not an issue. Where unity is accomplished through our common gifts of creativity. It is our vision to have a rich treasury of information and tutorials available to anyone who inquires, to have many court activities where all may participate in the festivities, to have wonderful and tasty feasts for the imagination and an overflowing of friendship from your goblet! Please stop by the castle at Artists of the Round Table

Artists of the Round Table

Making Wire Jewelry … My A.R.T. online workshop

Two Sizes of Wire - Lesson three

Lesson three combines different wire gauges to create different textures. “The necklace was designed especially for a plain round neckline.” I choose 14 gauge Gold Parawire and 18 gauge non-tarnish Silver Parawire to complete the project. Again the 14 gauge wire proved to be somewhat a challenge, I found that my wire coming off my spool was very wavy, and I was very concerned that I would never be able to form the design correctly. But once I filed and rounded the ends, and made the first loops, the design formed beautifully with no wavy wire. I did change the size of the mandrel after making a few silver coils, and if I had more time, I would even make them smaller. Maybe next time…

The Leaf – Lesson three

This leaf lesson is considered a simple design with the intent to teach you that the process of bending wire, while promoting your growth in bending wire for future lessons. The leaf dangle was not difficult to accomplish, and would make a lovely necklace or bracelet. In a future design I hope to incorporate beads to add some interest to the overall design concept.

In this lesson we were given the option of making a necklace or a pair of earrings.

I choose the leaf earrings as my project. Wish I hadn’t…. making a matching pair of earrings proved challenging, though I finally completed a matching pair.

The earrings are very practical and comfortable to wear. They are designed as a two sided earring, were the back is as pretty as the front. Especially nice for women with short hair or women who love wearing their hair up and off the back of their necks. I was slightly disappointed when I found that my ear lobes were too small to carry off the leaf design successfully. I liked the two sided design concept and will try creating another pair of two sided earrings in a future project, just not in a leaf design.

Moving on to lesson four…