Beautiful Jewelry From Scrap Materials, Part 2

First I need to remind you that scrap materials means not only little leftover bits and pieces, but also things I've had lying around for so long that they probably gave up hope of every adorning someone's body!  This one is a 5mm (millimeter) heart-shaped iolite that I got in a batch of other sizes and shapes of iolites about 12 years ago.  Hearts are hard to set, because they're fat and round at one end and skinny and pointy at the other.  They will often want to pop out the fat end, or shift sideways so the heart seems to be lying partway on its side.  A 5mm stone is a bit of an odd size, too.  It's very small to be set in wire without being in a pre-made pop-in setting first, with a wire design around it.  I didn't have any heart-shaped settings, so I modified a round setting.  Then I just added a small bit of leftover scrap sterling silver wire to secure the setting and make a bail.  Now it's a cute, dainty little pendant, perfect for a young girl or a woman who likes her jewelry understated!  I'll be listing it on Etsy soon!

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Tiger Eye Multi-Stone Pendant

There's still a lot of interest in pendants made with more than one stone. This one is three graduating sizes of tiger eye, one of the most all-around-popular gemstones out there! A typical tiger eye stone will have lustrous alternating bands of yellow and brown, with a luminescent "eye" of chatoyancy. Roman soldiers wore tiger eye for protection in battle, and it was sometimes thought to help the wearer "see all", due to its appearance.

This pendant measures just about 3-1/4" long including the round bail that will fit a chain or cord up to about 6 millimeters. Each stone is outlined in continuous strands of 14kt gold filled wire. It's bold, it's eye-catching, and it's one-of-a-kind! Hurry...you can buy it in my Etsy shop right now!

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Multiple-Stone Pendants

I've noticed a trend in multiple-stone pendants lately. Is that happening where you live, too? I've done a couple of special orders where the customer requested more than one stone in the setting, and so far one piece for inventory with 3 tiger eye stones.

This piece is a special order for long time customer Alicia D., who brought me these fabulous watermelon tourmalines to set into a pendant. She hasn't picked it up yet--I can't wait to see the look on her face! I LOVE this pendant! It is SO going to get noticed every time she wears it!

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A Little Productivity

I'm happy that I finally got inspired enough to make some pendants last week. Sea glass! I've got tons of it, the finished pendants are quite affordable (average about $20), and it's always a great seller because each one is a unique work of art.

The good news is that it only took one afternoon to make all 10 of these pendants. The bad news is that it's taken me 4 days to shoot and edit the photos for them, so they're not all posted yet. My goal is to have them all up in my Etsy shop and/or my Artfire studio by the end of the day. (Feel free to click over and check on my progress!)

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Mini Pendant & Earring Sets

I have always offered a variety of earrings in the same beads and/or stones as my pendants. But I haven't really put them together as a specific set. Often I would get requests for matching earrings for certain pendants I had listed on eBay or Etsy, and I would always refer the customer to my regular website to view the Earrings page and pick something they liked. Sometimes they would, but more often they would possibly be overwhelmed by the choices and just not get earrings at all. Or worse, not buy the earrings OR the pendant!

So recently I've started making specific small post earrings to go with my mini-sculpted pendants, and I'm listing them together as a set in my Etsy shop and in my Ruby Lane shop. I've got half a dozen or so made and photographed already, and I plan to keep going until I have all my available stones made into sets in both gold and silver. That should satisfy everyone, right?

What I Made Yesterday -- 3/11/09

I've been helping my son with a report and half-heartedly working on my taxes, so I haven't had much time to make stuff in the last few days. I did, however, put together a couple new dichroic glass pendants. Here's one. This and the others will be posted later today in my Etsy shop. Need a gift, or maybe a little treat for an Easter basket? You might want to take a look at all my items on Etsy!

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What I Made Yesterday -- 2/25/09

This is a special order for a customer. The amethyst and citrine part was a section of a broken bracelet and she wanted it made into a pendant. She also likes hearts.

This one took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do. She wanted the "bracelet section" intact, and I needed to encase at least part of it to make a stable base. I actually went to sleep a couple of nights dreaming about how I could set this! I'm happy with the results. The customer hasn't seen it yet, but I'm betting she will be, too!

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What I Made Yesterday -- 2/15/09

I got some gorgeous labradorite cabochons off eBay recently. This was the first one I set. Glowing blue, green, and gold in a unique freeform shape, this is just a spectacular pendant! The "flash" in this stone will remind you of its metaphysical purpose. Like a "flash of light in the darkness", labradorite will help you find the path of your spiritual destiny. I've carried labradorite jewelry for years, but it seems to be growing in popularity recently. I've got a few more lovely cabs to set. This pendant is available for sale in my Etsy shop!

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Online Venue #2 -- eBay

The place I've been online the second-longest is eBay. I've been a seller there since 1999. Although I have "unloaded" some personal stuff from time-to-time, I mostly sell little mini-sculpted pendants. Some one-of-a-kind, like made with dichroic glass cabochons, and some with semi-precious gemstone cabochons. Sometimes I list matching drop earrings. Yes, it's a limited inventory, but I use eBay as sort of a "loss leader" for my regular website. The mini sculptures and drop earrings are small and quick to make, so I don't have a lot tied up in production costs. I can sell them for lower prices than I can in my store or on my website--after all that's what shoppers on eBay are looking for, right? A bargain. Then when I ship the item, I include a newsletter and a flyer about my full product line on my website. Once in awhile I get a nice order from that, so it's definitely worth it!

Unfortunately, this past year, and especially the last few months, my sales on eBay have been severely declining. In fact, for the last two months--for the first time in almost 10 years--I spent more in eBay fees than I made in sales. Sad. So I've curtailed the number of items I've been listing. I can't bring myself to give it up completely, but it certainly doesn't make sense to spend more than I'm making! Check it out here if you're interested in some super deals!

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What I Made Yesterday, 11-16-08

My "sea glass ladies" are due to start arriving next month. They are a group of women from all over the country who come to Florida with their husbands and families as "snowbirds" to enjoy the winter months in relative warmth. Some of them arrive in December, others in January, and they stay for 3 or 4 months. They first found me two years ago, and I have become a "hot spot" on their lists of activities to enjoy while they're here!

They tend to clean me out of whatever sea glass jewelry I have made, so I spend the late summer and early fall making as much sea glass stuff as I can. I did these six pendants yesterday.

They also go out walking the beach and find sea glass of their own, which they bring to me to set. And one day last spring they invited me down to their little community center to set up for the day and make and sell sea glass pieces. That was fun--they're a great group of ladies! I already have an invitation for the coming spring, but we haven't yet set a date.

In the meantime, I'll keep whipping up a few sea glass pieces whenever I get a chance! Mostly pendants, but also some bracelets and earrings. You can see some of my available pieces in my Etsy shop.

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What I Made Today, 9/29/2008

Sea glass! I've got so many pieces, in an array of beautiful colors. I made about a dozen mini sculpted pendants today...these are just a few of them. And I'm going to make a few pairs of earrings before the day is done.

Even though I live in Florida, almost all my sea glass comes from Michigan. There's some great sea glass in the Great Lakes! My first batch I got off of eBay, several years ago. My latest batch came earlier this year. I had a lovely older gentleman in my store who bought one of my sea glass pendants for his wife. He commented that he had a whole bucketful of sea glass that he'd picked up over the years along the lake, and that he'd like to see something beautiful done with it, so he was going to send it to me. I thanked him, of course, but didn't really expect any follow-up. Well, lo and behold, about two weeks later a big, heavy box shows up. A layer of foam, a layer of sea glass, another layer of foam, another layer of sea glass, and so on... All told it was about 7 or 8 pounds worth! So I've got plenty to work with for many years to come!

Do you have some sea glass in a drawer or a bowl somewhere? Some lovely pieces you've found while on vacation maybe? I'd be delighted to set them for you! Little pendants like this are only $19-$20, depending on the size of the piece of glass.

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Manly Shark's Tooth

This mammoth shark's tooth is the second I've set for this particular customer. The first one was drilled front-to-back at the dip in the center, and all I had to do was make a heavy-duty bail. This one was not drilled, so I had to make the setting more ornate, yet sturdy enough for a man. Not bad, huh?

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What I Made Today, 9/15/08

Today I'm restocking my eBay auctions. I list a variety of little gemstone pendants, some with matching earrings, and I had sold a lot of the more popular colors. Hence the "restocking". These four little guys went up today, all with matching drop earrings. Starting to think about holiday gifts? Want a good deal? Check here.

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