Apples Hangin' from Your Ears?

Apple Love Earrings

It's apple time!  Pick them, eat them, cook with them, and wear them from your ears or on your wrists.  I found some cute silver apple charms and have combined them with red beads, green leaf beads and silver to make some fun jewelry for this autumn.  Check them out at Plum Beadacious!

Apples for You Earrings

Apples for You Bracelet

Copper Glow - Summer to Fall

Most of us are looking for accessories that we can wear for multiple occasions and across the seasons.  I am so pleased with this necklace and earring set.  The copper is great with clothes in summery yellows, oranges, pinks and reds.  Then the copper is equally good for fall browns, golds, rust and plum colors. It all hinges on these warm glowing shimmery square Czech glass beads.  These are square and backed with a bright copper metallic color.  The top of these beads are glass so the copper shines through and just glows.

I chose soft white shimmery freshwater coin pearls to compliment the coppery glass beads, and then added champagne and amethyst color faceted Czech crystals to give a touch of color.  Wear this necklace with a dress or shirt with a scoop neck, or place it over a sweater in the fall.  The earrings can go with just about anything.

I must admit, I am not always thinking about this type of versatility when creating a new design.  If you are a jewelry designer, do you try to create items that are versatile either regarding colors or transitioning seasons? From a marketing perspective, do you prefer to create lots of neutral pieces or do you design mostly with colors that are trendy, fashionable, etc.?

We're Walking for Health this New Year

It's that time of year when we all resolve to eat right and exercise to lose weight and get fit. I am finding that I enjoy walking. My daughter gave me an IPod Shuffle for Christmas, and what a fabulous gift that is for me. Now I walk down the road or on the tread mill and listen to my favorite music. It's great!

I'm looking forwards to the spring when the landscape starts to get green. That is when I really enjoy taking my walks outdoors. I designed these earrings with the colors of the grass and trees in mind. They are called Down the Road.

Big Ball Earrings and Times Square on New Years Eve

They will be dropping the big ball in Times Square in New York City tonight to celebrate the start of 2009. For some reason we always tune into that event on the TV, and I invariably think about how thankful I am that I am here in my nice warm home and not out in the huge crowds of people in the cold waiting for that ball to drop.

No ball in Times Square for me ~ I like the crystal balls in these earrings.

These are called Green on Green and are available for purchase at my Etsy shop, Filigree Romance.

I am enthused about the new year. It is always good to have the opportunity to start over. I don't get hung up on resolutions, but I do ponder what the new year will bring and what I can do to improve myself. My jewelry business did better in 2008 than in 2007. That being said, I have miles to go before I will feel successful. The best thing is that I am learning so much about making jewelry, how to market, and how to use the various internet resources to sell my jewelry. I am thankful for the many people who create blogs and websites with helpful information that they are willing to share. I hope to find things to share with all of you that will help you as you create and market your designs.

Blue Porcelain Earrings

Here is my newest earring creation posted on my Plumbeadacious Etsy site. These are made from porcelain and display lovely small flowers. They are a good size earring, and will look great with jeans. I have these beads in several other colors, white, yellow,and green. If you are interested in another color, contact me.

Voila! Creation of a Favorite Necklace!

I had so much fun creating this necklace and matching earrings. I found these large vintage lucite beads on eBay and fell in love with the scrollwork on them. I used to paint on wood and enjoyed Rosemaling and other types of decorative strokework. This reminded me of that. After I bought the beads and had them in that little plastic bag sitting all alone on my work table, my enthusiasm waned for awhile. All I could see is the brown color, and I did not have the slightest idea of what to do with them. Weeks later I started pulling out my various beads. I knew I didn't want everything to be brown. I thought of moukaite. These natural stones come in a variety of muted colors. They are brown, rusty red, soft rose, cream, gray, soft yellow, and other variations. They complemented my large scrollwork beads perfectly. Now, I needed some sparkle. Gotta grab your attention! So I selected some lovely faceted Czech crystal roundels in soft rose pink and pale green with a hint of pink. Sprinkle in some sterling silver beads , and voila - a wonderful unique necklace! As I say about my favorite pieces - It's just Plum Beadacious!

This necklace and the earrings are for sale in my shop. I named them Soft Earth.

Have You eBayed Today?

Lime Green Swirl Lampwork Earrings for sale - eBay- plumbeadacious2

Red & Pink Lampwork Earrings - on sale at eBay - plumbeadacious2

I am trying eBay again to market my jewelry. I've tried before and almost gave my jewelry away by starting with $.01 auctions and $.99 auctions. Bidding frenzies just did not happen for me. My bidders are cool and collected. They sit back and watch.

For the last three weeks I have posted earrings on eBay after doing some serious studying of keywords and categories. I priced my earrings at $6.49 per pair, the rock bottom I could take without actually losing the money I put into them. I've got about a 30% sales success, which for eBay is just fine. Unfortunately, I have yet to work up a bidding frenzy with my customers, but I have had a few small bidding tussles between bidders. Here are some of my most recent sold items.

Monday, Monday!

Ooph! It's Monday, and it's been a long one today. As you may know I work at an office during the day, and then come home in the evening to try and spend some time beading or working on my websites. I don't know about you, but I often wake up full of inspiration and ideas for my little business, Plum Beadacious. Then by the time I get home, I either have forgotten what some of my good ideas were or I am too pooped to try them. Tonight is one of those nights. I have some good ideas for a newsletter to publish and ideas for my craft show display. I will try to briefly jot down those thoughts for a time when I am more refreshed and energetic.

Meanwhile I sold a pair of earrings at my Etsy shop, LeAllyson's Creations. Hooray! Here is what sold today. They are called Azure Glow and are made from round glass beads that have a blue green and purple color, blue zircon Swarovski crystals, and filigree brass beadcaps. It's just Plum Beadacious!

Fashion Trend Purple

After I wrote on Wednesday about the color purple, I could hardly believe it when I looked at the lifestyle section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this morning and saw on the cover of that section that all shades of purple are the new fashion and home decorating colors. I guess I am now riding the wave. HOORAY!

So in honor of Valentine's day which is fast approaching, take a look at my purple heart earrings.

Lavender Sparkle

I like the color purple and its many variations. Have you ever noticed how some people kind of giggle or snicker when you say you like purple? I am not sure why. I think the color has gotten a bad rap. I painted a bedroom a beautiful shade of violet several years ago, and I still like it. (I should say my husband painted the bedroom. I just did a tiny amount of trim.) I have a plum colored shirt, a lavendar sweater, a periwinkle jacket, and a deep purple sweatsuit.

My newest purple treasure is this bracelet and earrings set. I call it 'Lavendar Sparkle'. I made this with Czech glass cathedral beads and bright silver filigree tube beads. Then on the end of the extender chain there is a tanzanite Swaroski crystal. There is not a bit of sterling silver in this set, and I think that is just fine. It is a fun item to be worn whenever the whim hits.