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!

Spring Craft Show

I am gearing up to participate in a wonderful big Spring arts and craft show in the St. Louis area. I have spent much of my day setting up my tables in the basement, and putting tablecovers and props on them. I am trying to design the best display possible for the show. I am excited about featuring some of my newest brass filigree designs plus some other new things in the works. Here is one of my brass filligree designs. It is available for purchase at my LeAllyson's Creations Etsy shop. Just click on the picture above.

The arts and craft show is sponsored by the Crestwood- Sunset Hills Rotary Club. It will be on April 12 – 13 2008 at Lindbergh High School.

Plum Beadacious on Etsy

I started a new shop on Etsy called Plum Beadacious. It is the same name as my regular website. I also have a shop on Etsy under the name LeAllyson, called LeAllyson's Creations. I started that first about a year and a half ago. When I came up with the name Plum Beadacious for my website, it was too late to change my Etsy name. I finally decided to start a new shop. I am not sure if I will phase out the LeAllyson's Creation shop, or just change the focus of that shop.

Anyhow, I purchased a custom designed banner from an awesome designer on Etsy. She is creative, delivers the product quickly, and very helpful. If you need a banner for a very reasonable price check out henryrabbitdesigns at Etsy.

This is the banner above that she created for me in less than 24 hours. Isn't it absolutely beautiful?

Personal Style in Jewelry Design

How do you decide what your style is for jewelry design? I have had difficulty with this. Do you? I've made lots of jewelry in a somewhat classic style, and most of it uses sterling silver. I find I am partial to Czech glass, Swarovski crystals and freshwater pearls. I also enjoy lampwork beads. Although I like semi-precious gemstones, I don't use them as often as glass. I am trying to decide if it is because I don't enjoy them as much or if the cost of quality gemstones is a factor. I do know that the sparkle and glow of a lovely crystal, especially one that has multiple colors in it or one that has an AB finish that will make it sparkle and reflect colors differently depending upon the light really grabs my attention.

I've noticed the jewelry made in a vintage style with brass findings and find them absolutely charming and delightful. I am enjoying creating jewelry in that style now in addition to the other type of jewelry I've been making. The problem is that I should have a distinct style for marketing my work, and I don't want to decide on one over the other. Does anyone else struggle with this? Please leave a comment with your thoughts and ideas. I'd love to hear from other fellow jewelry artists.

Bead Organization

Hooray! It's Saturday! I can play with my beads today. This is a picture of the place where I work on my designs. I really enjoy this room. I totally reorganized my beads this last week. I used to store them by type of bead. I had all the Swarovski crystals sorted by colors in one plastic organizer box, then the Czech crystals sorted by color in a couple of other boxes, the pearls in another, the semi-precious in another, etc.

I found that I was pulling out box after box of beads to find a perfect match or complement for something in a piece I was designing. I would more often find myself wanting to locate the perfect blue bead rather than just the right pearl bead. So now I organized everything by color. I have several organizers for each color. I have those great Craftmate small organizers for tiny beads, and Darice organizers for larger beads. I hope this helps. I will be trying out using this new system this weekend.

I haven't had time to post lately. My day job has taken up much more of my time lately. Finally I completed some new pieces to sell for Valentine's day. I always enjoy creating jewelry for Valentine's day. See my newest collection at my website Plum Beadacious! I am particularly pleased with this one.

Etsy Shops Directory

I joined the Etsy Shops Directory. What a fun place to browse and shop. Lots of people revew each others shops. Have a look at it. See my link lower right. Look for me under the Jewelry section. You can select the shop you want if you know the name. Just click on the letter of the alphabet for your shop. Mine is L.