New Heart-o-Matic

Since it IS Valentine's Day, this particular post seemed somewhat appropriate. I don't know about you, but I love to see how many people mark my Etsy shop as a favorite (or heart it, in Etsy terms). It's also interesting to see which items get "hearted" the most. At one time, there was a tool that showed exactly this information. Alas, it was lost when the Etsy administrators changed some programming on their side and the heart finder no longer worked.

Good news! The Heart-O-Matic is back, thank to Juln from the Etsy Tools site. If you are interested in finding out how many hearts each of your works has earned, check out the Heart-o-Matic! Very easy to use and a fun way to gather some interesting market information about your store.

Thanks Juln! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

New Hoop Earrings

Another style - entirely handformed! - hoop earrings with a post. Made of sterling silver wire, lightly hammered and then tumbled in my new tumbler for a beautiful sheen. Did I mention how much fun I am having with my new tumbler? Lots of new things on the way!

I finally did it!

At last! After thinking about this for several months, I took the plunge and decided to make more of my own components. My first attempt using sterling wire was to make some paddle earrings. Since I love the look of the denim lapis so much, I decided to use some of my spare beads and a couple of oxidized sterling saucers to make a fun, yet casual, pair of earrings.

I hand forged the earwires, then lightly hammered them for texture and finally tumbled them in my new tumbler. What do you think? Is it worth the extra effort?

Super Bowl Sunday

I'm not a sports fan superfan by any stretch of the imagination. My husband has always followed basketball - both college and pro - and I admit that I enjoy a good game every now and then. We are from New England and even I, with my very limited knowledge of the game, knew that the New England Patriots were headed for the Big Game against the NY Giants. So when Super Bowl Sunday rolled around this year, I figured we'd be checking the score every now and then but certainly didn't expect to be caught up in the hoopla.

Well ... big surprise! We turned the channel at the beginning of the fourth quarter just to see what the score was at the time. It seems to me that the score was 7-3 with the Pats leading. Hmmm, closer than expected so we tuned in to watch the rest of the game. I think I learned more about football in that quarter than I ever have before! The fourth quarter had a touchdown from the Giants, a responding touchdown from the Pats, and then an amazing game-winning pass from quarterback Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress - leaving only 35 seconds for the beloved Patriots to get back down the field to score. They failed to do so - and the rest is Super Bowl history.

There were, as always, lot of commercials posted. I obviously didn't see them all since we really only tuned in for the last part of the game but I thought this one was hysterical (child of the 80s that I am!) - hope you get a laugh out of it also!

And the winner is ...

Smilesandsunshine - the winner of my earrings from the Etsy Bloggers Treasure Hunt! Congrats - your earrings have been shipped!

On a different note, I have decided to move forward with learning a new jewelry skill, in keeping with my resolutions for 2008. Today I placed an order for a tumbler and some basic tools so that I can learn how to make my own jewelry components. I love the look of handmade earwires (especially those that have been hammered down a bit and oxidized), as well as the unique clasps that I see out there while shopping online.

While I know the tools are considered an investment, I must admit that I was a little freaked out when pressing the "Place your order" now button. Even using moderately priced items, the bill was a bit more than I expected. However, the expense will *hopefully* be outweighed by the fact that I will never run out of earwires again! Since I was in the ordering mode, I also decided to splurge and purchased some sterling wire in various gauges (obviously some of this is for the upcoming earwire project) so I could play around with some designs that have been sifting through my head for some time now. Now comes the hard part - waiting for everything to arrive! In the meantime, some copper colored craft wire has been purchased so I can experiment with different shapes.

As soon as the goodies arrive, I'll post a picture so that all those interested can take a look. Hope I didn't forget anything important!

Just a reminder

The Etsy Bloggers Street Team's Treasure Hunt begins tonight at midnight. If you like to peruse various shops and would like to get a free item just for shopping around (which we know you LOVE to do anyway!), this is the event for you! Details can be found in the Etsy forum post for the treasure hunt.

And it would be remiss of me not to post some new items that I have in my store - hope you enjoy!

" Misty Glade"
Sesame jasper, prehinite

and sterling silver
<-----

"Fall Feelings"
Autumn jasper with
sterling silver accents
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Cloudy Skies Necklace

I was wandering through one of my favorite little bead shops and discovered these delicious denim lapis beads. Now, what to make with them?

Floating along a serene blue sky on fluffy white clouds ...