Shopping, shopping, shopping

I love to shop for new products to use in my crafting.  I have recently begun working with polymer clay which my brother and sister in law introduced me to last Christmas when they bought me every imaginable color of the clay and a great book which shows possible projects made of the polymer clay.  My brother in law, like my husband, is a great supporter of my beading talents.  I have made several bracelets out of the clay, but wanted to make flat, square beads to use on the bracelets.  In order to bake these, they need to probably lie flat plus they need smaller holes for threading than the round beads do.  So today I shopped for a different kind of skewer.  A co-worker suggested I try the wire floral stems that they use for flowers, but we weren't sure if they woukld react with the clay while they bake.  I think I will just have to try it and see how it goes on a few tester beads.  For bigger beads I just use a regular wooden skewer that you would use for cooking.

I also found some beautiful new beads.  I normally order my beads from an online shop, but I was very pleased to see the new beads at the store which first gave me the bug to bead bracelets and earrings. 

All in all it was a very prosperous morning.  Later today I'll be posting some new items on my Etsy store so come visit it any time.

My new Etsy shop

I'm so excited, my new Etsy shop is open and I've got seven or eight nice pieces of jewelry, very reasonably priced!!.  There are anklets and chilren's bracelets as well as bangles for adults.  As time goes by, I will design more jewlery and am planning on expanding into a full service store so that you can buy your gift as well as an appropriate card, to go along with your gift. 

I have been focusing on jewelry for so long now that I haven't designed any cards for quite a while.  But this weekend my husband, who is my biggest supporter and my personal hero, and I, went to the craft supply store and I stocked up on some card making materials so that I can get started on the cards soon. 

I'm not that bright when it comes to computer skills and I want to thank my husband Richard for helping me to set up my store as well as all his encouragement.  Also, a shout out to my friend Karen (kwdesigns2 on Etsy), for giving me tips and recommending a good book to get me started on Etsy.

Please visit my shop frequently to see new listings as well as my expanding product line!  The shop is located at:  www.etsy.com/shop/awristocrats

Thank You!

My Etsy shop....soon to be

I've been working on getting my Etsy shop up and running.  My friend Karen (Karen Waterbury designs), has been giving me great tips and ideas on how to set up a shop that is interesting and will be well received.  There's a lot of work to be done, but I'm excited.  Much of my jewelry will be geared toward young ladies/teenagers, but I'll have some other items as well.  I'm thinking about putting some of my newer cards on the site too.  That way if you want to give the jewelry as a gift, you can add a simple gift card or an actual greeting card.  Still much to do, but I'm getting there.  :)  Thanks for all your advice Karen!  Be sure to visit Karen's Etsy shop a see all her lovely pieces! 

Greeting cards are GREAT!

I've been creating greeting cards for many, many years.  I always made them and gave them away to friends and family.  Then three years ago after many positive comments from everyone who has ever gotten one of these cards from me, I decided to start selling them at craft fairs.  Imagine my huge shock when many people stopped at my tent, and though they told me the cards are beautiful, they either don't send greeting cards anymore, or, they buy one card, right before they need to send it!!!  I was shocked. I usually have a good stock of cards on hand for every occasion!  I had a set of children's birthday cards on Etsy, but no one bought them.  So I stopped producing the cards and did some further research.  It was true.  Even my husband's aunt who is from the older generation, almost exclusively sends e-cards!!!!

I've been wanting to get back to making cards and thought I'd start a line of faith based cards and see how that goes.  I love making the cards even more than creating jewelry.  There's just something so refined about it for me.  I feel more creative when I design my cards. 

Recently I went to a local card shop to find a "bon voyage" card for my mom and sister who were going on vacation in Europe.  After searching the shelves and seeing none, I went to ask the check-out clerk if they had any.  This girl was maybe 20 years old.  She told me where she thought they'd be, but then told me that really cards are just a big waste of paper.  She can send a text much faster. 

Ho hum...I miss the good, old days! 

Beading and more beading

I've been creating all kinds of different jewelry for several years now.  I started out by buying all my beads and findings at Michael's or JoAnne Fabrics, until my brother-in-law told me about an online bead shop.  So then I started ordering from them, but it was hard beacuse I could never see the product up close, before I bought it.  One day my husband and I were at Barnes and Noble where I picked up a jewelry making magazine.  In the back they had advertisements for bead shops.  I found one in my state that was just a few miles from my house!  The very same day, we went to find the shop and I was in heaven!  The place had so many beads.  It was not a big shop, but every square inch of it was used for beads and anything else that goes with beading. 

Imagine my shock when I got an email about two months ago telling me that the shop was closing for business.  I had just found it and now they were closing!  At the month worth of "going out of businesss" sales, I found a lot of little beading gems.  I even bought some ready made jewelry for Christmas gifts.  

I'll miss that store, but I hope another one opens up close by, soon!