Sunday, August 30, 2009

Finding Treasures at the 4-H Fairground

There was a gem and rock show at my local 4-H fairgrounds this weekend. It tends to be full of rocks, geodes, and many senior citizens - but if you look hard, you'll find a couple of tables that sell beads. So, I went, and I shopped! I found some beatiful beads...




Such pretty jade, and I think the yellow strand might be dyed coral. I thought I had asked the seller about each strand I picked out, but got home and realized that I missed this one! Crap!!!



Amber... I couldn't decide if I preferred the lighter or darker amber, so I got both!

I picked up a few strands of crystals. It wasn't until I was looking through my stash that I realized...I picked up the same color of crystals from two different vendors! Looks like I love that teal color. I guess it's time for me to start broadening my color palliate.

So this is just a few of my new things...I love getting new beads. It can help inspire me to come up with new designs when my creativity might be slipping. I already have a couple of ideas floating around in my head.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Projects and Half-Baked Ideas


So I have already incorporated the lovely grey Czech crystals that I got a few days ago. I started making little flowers like this:


Then I stopped working, because I realized that I have no idea what I'm making!!! Are they earrings?? No... Maybe charms for a bracelet?? Maybe... I think I'm starting to lean toward some kind of necklace...


Another project that I'm working on began with a very sad event. A friend of mine lost her niece just a few weeks before she was due to be born. She ordered custom gifts from me for the family, to give them keepsakes for the baby's funeral. I made bracelets for the baby, the mother, and a 2 year old daughter that they have. Because I was trying to turn it around fast, before the funeral, I never got any pictures of them. But they were beautiful - simple freshwater pearls with a single pewter cross charm by the clasp.


Here are some of the small cross charms that I've found for my project. My friend has already ordered custom bracelet sets (mother/daughter) for two upcoming baby showers. I'm hoping to get them done this weekend! I'll make sure to snap some pictures of them before they leave me. There's nothing cuter than a bracelet made for a newborn.



The last part of my project for my friend's family is a little something for the men of the family. I picked up these bookmark stick thingies yesterday. The big one is for the father, while the little one is for their two year old boy. They have holes in the end, where I plan to attach a cross, and maybe a single freshwater pearl.

It looks like I have a pretty full weekend ahead of me. I need to be pretty productive. Not to mention that I'm planning on going to a lovely wine-tasting even Saturday night with some friends. So, wine and jewelry making, mixed? I don't know...last time I tried that I ended up with a big container full of seed beads spilled all over my carpet!!!

Monday, August 24, 2009

My Newest Goodies

I came home from work tonight to find a little box waiting for me in my front door. I opened it up and found some fun new bits for me to work with. A couple of my favorites are:




These gorgeous little Czech crystals, in this lovely, smoky grey color. They sparkle so much when you see them with light shining on them!





And these smoky quartz beads are big and wonderful! I can't wait to make a chunky necklace, maybe add some silver... We'll see what I can come up with. I'm always taking suggestions, of course!



And I got some amazingly cool sterling silver pins. Definitely these will be a part of earrings.

I don't think I'll be creating anything new tonight, though. I have piles of new things, packaging, bags, etc. all over my craft room. So cleaning and organizing will have to be at the top of my priority list for tonight. Too bad!

~~Jenny~~

Friday, August 21, 2009

My glorious return

So, I thought I could start a blog, and that was almost a year ago. Little did I realize that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or what to talk about. I was just going to let it die, but I thought I'd give it one last shot. So here it goes...

I've been working hard on my Etsy shop. (http://www.blackrockdesign.etsy.com/)

I started it in June, and have learned so much about photography and writing. There's still a lot of work to be done, but here's an example of what I mean.




One of my first listings in June. Note the horrible photography!:



But I've been working hard, and even though this photo is still on Etsy (*gasp*), I think I've come a long way in improving my photos.




So, here's one that's a bit more recent:


Yeah, I'm not a professional photographer or anything, but I'm doing what I can to improve with what I have to work with. And I do think progress is happening! This necklace here is part of my Autumn Collection, which I'm going to be uploading to Etsy very soon.
Notice how, unlike the previous necklace, you can actually see this one? ;)
Alright, goodnight for now.
Jenny