The River's Edge

I'm precariously close to the edge. I was going to write about the mind as a tool because lately I've been struggling with keeping mine focused. But, then I realized if I don't know how to sharpen my own mind, how can I write about the mind as a tool?

I swear I used to be more focused and organized mentally. I'll have to think about it for a little while longer before I tackle such a complex topic. The bracelet is called River's Edge. It can be found in Matching Sets at RadianTrace.com

Merry Christmas

Men's Jewelry

So at the last craft show I did the number one comment I heard was "You really need to offer men's jewelry." Even my dad was complaining that I didn't have any ready made men's items. I've made quite a few custom men's gemstone & sterling bracelets, but I've never felt the inclination to fully commit to an actual ready made series of men's pieces. Well, that is until now.

The designs are fairly basic for now, but if my sketch book is any indication of where my imagination might go with the men's series people can expect some interesting pieces in the future. I'll be adding some of the pieces in the photo to RadianTrace.com within the next day or two.

Where's Ronnie?

After not blogging for so long there's really no way to grab a handle on it and make much sense to anyone but myself. So, I'll just jump back in right here where I am now.

I've been both busy and lacking focus. Busy with making jewelry and fulfilling graphic orders. The lack of focus stems from desparately wanting to advance my skills and yet not having the tools I'll need to help me do this. I'm working on it though....always working on it. Plodding away slowly the way I tend to do.

Born To Be Wild

This little dude Harley stopped by my table for a visit at a recent yard sale. I've never seen a dog so fixated on his owner. Lil bugger wouldn't take his eyes off his Daddy.


Above picture is of the set up I had for the sale. I met lots of really interesting people with lots of amazing stories to tell. I think I like that part of selling in person almost as much as I like the feedback and the money.

Coffee & Other Buzzes

Coffee anyone? I've indulged far too much lately. I've needed it to keep me 'buzzing' enough to handcut 384 business cards. Yeah, you heard me right. Three.hundred.eighty.four.handcut.cards. Ok, so I didn't do it all in one day. I did 24 a day over several days. I find myself not wanting to give any away. They're like gold to me now.

Speaking of buzzing . . . I've been getting myself ready to sell my jewelry at the HoneyBee Centre on August 16/17. There's going to be live bees there. I'm allergic to bee venom, and for the past few days I've been thinking I must be crazy for agreeing to do this. I'm not only wanting to do it, but I'm starting to feel really excited about it. I've been happily making new packaging and jewelry displays. I found some great photo frames that I gray spackle painted and added black wire to for earrings. I also spackled an old cork board gray and painted the frame black. I think I'll pin anklets and bracelets to it.

This week I'm going to refurbished an old cabinet I have into a display case. It has glass doors so I'm going to take out the glass and replace it with black grid wire. It's dark stained wood with a nice glossy finish. I figure I can stand necklace and bracelet card displays on the shelves and hang chain necklaces on hooks on one door....then hang longer hook earrings from the wire on the other door. Of course it will be displayed with the doors open. I recently went garage saling and picked up a pair of large round black metal candle holders with spiral legs. I'm going to place pretty river rocks in the trays and use the stands to feature a couple of my higher priced bracelets.

I plan on reusing the spackled paint can with the wire circle (shown in my previous post) to display pendant style chain necklaces. The HoneyBee festival might be the last time I use it for shows. It's heavy and it takes a long time to add the necklaces. I have some interesting ideas for future necklace displays involving lazy susans. I think people will like being able to turn the displays. Turning things, and rifling through baskets and bins always enhances my browsing experience at craft shows so I figure there must be other people who also enjoy rifling and spinning.

I'll post photos of my displays as soon as I have them ready.

Home Jewelry Parties

I did a home jewelry party on Sunday June 22nd. The photo to the left shows one of the displays my daughter and I set up for the party. It was in a very pretty setting. I have 4 more upcoming home parties, and a two day festival booked for August 16/17. I'll post the festival information soon.

Wire Wrapped Rings

People often ask me about the wire wrapped rings I make for a local nail salon. I don't post many in my Etsy shop, or on my RT.com website because I tend to conserve my ring making energy for the salon.

But, as a special treat to those who have asked, I added several new rings to my shop tonight along with some other pieces. Seventeen pieces to be exact. The ring shown in this entry is called River Ring. Kinda purty eh? If you'd like, you can check out the others in my Etsy shop.

The Mermaids are Sewing

Imagine mermaids weaving adornments out of gifts from the sea. Shown is one of a few new bracelets I've made recently. I like pearls with warm colored metals such as copper and brass.

If you'd like to purchase a pretty from my Etsy shop, and get yourself a free gift at the same time, my FREE ring coupon has been posted at Etsy Secrets. Go check it out!

On a personal note I went shopping yesterday. For clothes and for bead supplies. Due to illness I've lost quite a bit of weight which means I'm swimming in all my pants, and I look kind of dorky because of it. So Friday being the day I bring new rings to the nail salon that carries some of my wire wrapped rings I figured I'd look in clothing shops while I was there.

After searching for awhile and not finding anything I liked it suddenly dawned on me that I have a plastic bin of 'skinny clothes' from waaaay back when stashed away in my closet. My heart leapt a bit as I remembered there were several pairs of jeans and a few tops in the bin. When I got home I went straight to my closet, and yep, there it was. Some of them actually fit! Are blue denim bootcut Levis still fashionable? Hell, what do I care! I'm just happy to be wearing pants that don't fall down.

What Inspires You?

Inspiration is an interesting topic to me. I've noticed a few patterns to what inspires me. One of them being my inexplicable attraction to the color blue. This is strange to me because my favorite color is green. Yet, many of you will notice a lot of my jewelry pieces are blue. The color pulls me into the mysterious depths of my imagination.

I think of vast deep blue oceans, and velvety midnight blue skies filled with shimmering silver stars. In the oceans I swim. In the skies I fly. Blue helps me feel free. The feeling of freedom makes me feel calm. That's it! Calm. Blue calms me when I'm troubled. I suppose my attraction is no longer inexplicable. What inspires you?

The pendant is called 'True Blue' as in my true blue friend.

Secret Ring Coupon

I've joined a new project. It's called Etsy Secrets. It's a blog that lists 'secret' discount coupons for Etsy shops. Keep your eyes on the look out for a special coupon from me on the Blue Swirl Secret Ring shown in this entry. Details about how to get the ring will be included with the post I make at Etsy Secrets *Ü*

Away Far Too Long

Yes, it's been far too long. Serious health issues with our dog Baer, then health issues with me, then long drawn out dental surgery preparations for me have kept me busy with my offline life. Hopefully, everything will be settled down again before the end of May. I'm itching to get back into a regular work routine. Not only that, but I've been thinking a lot about needing to blog on a regular basis.

Baer had severe pancreatitis. He almost didn't make it. He lost 26lbs! He's now on a diet that consists of only Royal Canin Low Fat dry kibble. He doesn't like the changes, but we refuse to waver no matter how many times he gives us those sad puppy dog eyes. I can't say enough wonderful things about the staff at Can West Critical Care Veterinary Clinic in Vancouver, B.C. They not only saved our dog's life they also saved our sanity. Thank you especially to Dr. Oliviera, Dr. Tallon, and Dr. Lang. Their patience, professionalism, and dedication was outstanding.

As for the bouquet of flowers shown above. They were a birthday gift from my dear online friend Heather =) I have the best online friends ever! Thank you! You all KNOW who you are!

Practice Makes Perfect. Right?

Ok, so maybe not perfect, but I'm trying. I've been studying tips on how to improve my photography skills. There are so many little details to be mindful of when taking pictures, and much to my annoyance I'm not the type of person who can do this very easily. I thought I was edept at noticing life's little details, but it seems that's only true if the details aren't framed within my little view finder. Ack!

Thankfully the weather is warming up and I've been taking advantage of the natural light that pours down on my back porch in the early morning. I think my pictures are getting better. What do you think?

On another topic....a fellow Estian posted a fun poll asking people questions about necklaces. Preferred style, pendant or beaded....what type of clasp you like etc... The results were very informative. It's important to know these things when you make jewelry. I'll see if I can find the link to the poll and when/if I do I'll post it here.

Starting Over

Ok so it's been awhile since I maintained this blog. I have opened a new Etsy shop for my jewelry and figured it was about time to get back to talking about the thing that I spend most of my time doing.

Some of the previous pictures I posted don't show up anymore. I must have deleted them from wherever they were being stored. Sorry about that. I'll try to remember not to do that anymore.