Worked on a few Fine Silver Pieces this weekend

Worked with Precious Metal Clay (PMC) this weekend and designed a few pieces,all of which are earrings. I had so much fun trying different patina's and I think overall they really came out nice!

Bike Pictures

No riding this weekend, as my boyfriend is away. But I took a few pictures of my new baby..some friends refer to it as my blue smurf!










and a poor little injured birdie sitting near my bike. I hope he/she will be ok :(

I official am owner of a 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250R

Again, not jewelry related but Woohooo, Hurray, Woot!!!!!
I had an honest salesman at Long Island Kawasaki that didn't sell my bike to the highest offer!
I left a deposit about a month ago for my bike which should have been deliverd in two weeks. After some delay it finally arrived at the dealership yesterday, almost a month later.
If I could even describe the frenzy of people wanting this bike..well it's insane.
There are NO more '08's. Kawasaki didn't anticipate the demand for the redesigned Ninja and had to alot a certain number to each dealership. I was fortunate to be able to leave a deposit on the last "blue" one assigned to my dealership. My salesman, "Zeus" told me that some man had offered $1000.00 over what I was going to pay for the bike and although tempted, he shared, he knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Thank God for honest salesman...that's all I can say! Thank you Zeus!!!

Featured Artist Part 2: Cards by Jenna

Being involved with Jewelry on Etsy Team has really allowed me to meet some wonderful shops and designers throughout the Etsy community. Recently, two teams, EtsyGreeting and Jewelry on Etsy Team, have collaborated for the month of July offering cross promotions of team shops. I have been fortunate enough to have been paired with two wonderful shops and today,
I would like to introduce Jenna from CardsbyJenna
Jenna's shop is filled with wonderful OOAK handmade greeting cards for all occasions. Each are meticulously crafted with great attention given to detail and presentation.


Question: Jenna, how did you first become involved with designing greet cards?
One day a long time ago, I had a birthday party to go to and went shopping for the gift and card. I didn't see anything I liked! It was at that point I figured I should just make my own. Since I am also a scrapbooker I had plenty of paper and supplies but just needed to figure out how to create a card. My cards started out very simple in design. After many experimental projects I found that stamping and embellishment type cards are my favorite to make. From then on out I always handmade my greeting cards. Not only was I giving someone a unique greeting card but it was always personalized. It always makes someone feel good to give them something hand made and from the heart.


Question: What sparks you imagination when creating your beautiful cards?
I am a paperholic. My imagination sparks and springs into action when I see something such as a stamp, sticker, paper pattern and so on. I can spend hours on design. I love color and matching papers. I do look at magazines every now and then for ideas however I do not copy the designs just because it takes the fun out of designing something myself.


Question: What do you find to be your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge is probably space. My boyfriend and I currently live in a condo and even though it's a decent size for the two of us my craft supplies and materials are always thrown all over in the living room. I have a small desk and mainly use the coffee table to create my cards.








Question: What inspired your decision to become an Etsy Shop owner?
I found etsy through web surfing. Since I was making more cards than I could use I decided to set up a shop. I have been an etsy member since February of 2007 but didn't list many items. I was mainly trying to figure out if etsy was for me. I have been creating greeting cards for about 2 years now. Currently I work in the real estate industry as an agent. Before I had my license I worked as an admin in a real estate office. I would give the agents in my office their own personalized birthday card. I had much encouragement from my colleagues to sell my cards, and that is what I decided to do. Etsy is awesome and I would recommend anyone to use the site.


http://www.cardsbyjenna.blogspot.com/

Featured Artist Part 1: Captured Time Books

Becoming involved with Jewelry on Etsy Team has really allowed me to meet some wonderful shops and designers throughout the Etsy community. Recently, two teams, EtsyGreeting and Jewelry on Etsy Team, have collaborated for the month of July offering cross promotions of team shops. I have been fortunate enough to have been paired with two wonderful shops and today, I would like to introduce Rachel, shop owner of Captured Time Books, specializing in One of a Kind Paper crafts, including cards, scrapbooking, journeling and altered items, as well as hair clips, magnets, and much much more.
Rachel, so kindly agreed to answer a few questions, in order for you to get to know a little about her and her Etsy Shop.


Question: Your profile mentioned that you began scrapbooking at an early age. What drew you to this, as a little girl?
I went to camp Lakamaga as a Girl scout and my mother insisted I make a scrapbook of my first "big girl" away from home adventure. I still have that scrapbook to this day. Sure it wained as a teen and came back with a vengeance as scrapbooking evolved but I have loved every moment.





Question: What sparks you imagination when creating your cards, scrapbook and journal items?
I am a paperholic. My love of paper is the driving force followed closely by Prima flowers. The textures and dimension that they add to greeting cards is truly unparalleled.









Question: What do you find to be your biggest challenge?
Never enough time in the day! It is always a constant battle I need a clone just like any working mother. Thank goodness I have a fantastic husband who supports my creative workings.







Question: What inspired your decision to become an Etsy Shop owner?
It was a natural offshoot of my Custom Scrapbook Business. It is a nice variety to create little projects in between my large album orders. It gives me a sense of quick accomplishment to to a few cards or clips. And like many artists, at times I can really suffer from creative distraction. Whats that you say? It goes like this. Whoooo Pretty ribbon. Those would make the most lovely little hair clippies. Mind races through four options settles on one that MUST be made RIGHT NOW. Furiously digging through the supply area for the necessary items. (2 hours pass and now 6 sets of clips are made) Whew that was fun! OMG it is 1:45 AM and I have to be up at 5:15.

Another day in paradise.



http://capturedtimebooks.blogspot.com/

Red Coral is Divine!

These lovelies feature beautiful red coral rondelles that just pop against the silver bali beads. I have also added a couple of Swarovski red coral crystal bicones to give a bit of dimension.
Two pairs available, one at Silver Canyons and the other at my Etsy Shop

Leather anyone?

A couple of "summery" leather chokers just listed. I love them so much, I might just keep-em!

Today's Etsy Treasury - "Reminds me of Eggplant

I scored another treasury today - woohoo! This particular one features one of the JET members, ArtMadeByTammy and both my cross-promotion shops, CapturedTimeBooks and CardsbyJenna.
The colors do remind of eggplant :):):)



I have been falling behind a bit in posting new items to my shops. My beauties are waiting to be photographed and uploaded. I hope to get to this tomorrow :)

Oak and Ooak

This was a fun little treasury - I absolutely love the color of oak and I enjoyed choosing from a broad selection of items to include in this collection :)

Screenshots!

I frantically tried to find a program this weekend to replace Thumbalizr, that would take full screen shots, particularly of my treasuries.
I found a plugin for Firefox that works FANTASTIC!
It's called Picnik and here's Mozilla's plugin page where it is listed.
This even sends your screenshots to your email and Flickr!!

Love Aqua!!!

There is something about this color that makes my day always seem a little brighter, a little happier.
Of course, butterflies... I absolutely love butterflies! Combine the two and to me, it's pure heaven.

Very Colorful!

Two new listing in my Etsy shop today :)

Flower Cat's Eye Bracelet
..an assorted array of 7mm Puffy flower - Grade A Glass Fiber optic cat's eye beads with Swarovski Crystals in complimentary colors. More information can be found here.

A perfect matching card can be found at Captured Time books




Dragonfly Cat's Eye Earrings
....I just adore and yes....more cat's eye beads!

A perfect matching card can be found at Cards By Jenna