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.?

Breast Cancer Survivor

As I mentioned yesterday, one of the reasons I have been away from blogging is due to my health.  In February I discovered a lump in my left breast.  After a visit to the doctor, a mammogram, ultrasounds, biopsies, and breast MRI, it was determined that I had breast cancer in the left breast.  The wisest course of action appeared to be a mastectomy of the left breast.  I had this surgery done on March 30 with reconstruction at the same time.  Two lymph nodes were removed at that time also.

After all pathology reports were done, I am so relieved to know that the cancer did not get to the lymph nodes.  We caught this very early.  There were several cancerous cells in the left breast both DCI and invasive.  Many tests have been done post surgery, and I have been given the good news that chemotherapy and radiation therapy are not needed.  I will take hormonal therapy for five years.  I have a prescription for Arimidex which I will start taking in several weeks.

I am thanking God for this positive outcome.  I am joining the large band of survivors of this disease.  My chance for recurrence is small.

To all women - please take the time to do a breast self-exam each month.  Please do not ignore anything that feels unusual.  It can save your life!

Back to Blogging

I am back to my blog, and thankful to be here.  Since I last wrote here in my electronic journal, my life has changed immensely.  My last post celebrated the birth of my wonderful grandaughter, Maggie.  Her Papa and I dote on her so much, we moved from St. Louis, MO to the Fort Collins, CO area to be near her.

What an adventure and huge undertaking that was.  Papa is retired, but I needed to find full time work in Fort Collins that would approximate my income at the job I had in St. Louis.  We prayed about this, and I asked the Lord to either open the door wide to allow us to make this move, or if it was not the right thing for us to do, I asked that the door be strongly shut, slammed, in my face.  God is so good.  I sent out about three resumes total.  The one position for which I thought I was best qualified was the one for which I interviewed over the phone.  I was offered the job a few weeks later.  I now work for Poudre Valley Health System in Fort Collins, CO.  It is one of the best places to work in Colorado.  It won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award for 2008.  This is a very high honor and is indicative of the commitment they have to provide patients with the best possible care and provide their employees with the best possible work environment.
I have worked there full time since January 11 as the Clinic Compliance Risk Analyst.  This is truly the best place I have worked, and I have been in the workforce for well over 20 years.

Needless to say, the physical move to Colorado and the attention to my new position left me with little to no time to create jewelry or to blog about it.  In addition, a major health issue intervened.  More about that tomorrow.

Here are some photos of Papa and Grandma with Maggie.

A New Life in our Family

We have a new baby in the family.  I am a grandmother of a beautiful baby girl born last Friday. My daughter gave birth to her first child.  That is truly a remarkable experience for a grandmother.  I never would have dreamed how emotional and wonderful this would be.  And think, I live 800 miles from my daughter and have not seen the baby in person yet.

So we got on the internet and used our web cams last night, and I got to see my adorable grandbaby.  She stretched, yawned, cried a little, and fell asleep in Mommy's arms.  I will go out to spend a week with them in a few more weeks.  I am so thankful for modern technology.... webcams, cell phones, digital photography.  It is great!

Getting Re-energized

I need to keep working my jewelry business. I find myself researching how to be successful, but not enough time putting into practice the things I learn. Not only that, I haven't even listed many of my pieces on my websites.

I've made lots of flower earrings, but only have about 6 of them posted for sale on one of my venues. How about other jewelry artists? Do you spend more time trying to figure out how to sell your jewelry, or marketing it than you do designing and creating?

Here are my newest listings of flower earrings.

Yellow Flower Earrings

Green Flower Earrings

Orange Flower Earrings

I Joined 1000 Markets

Are you familiar with the new venue, 1000 Markets? It is one of the most inspiring and professional markets for handcrafted goods that I have seen.

1000 Markets is an exciting place to be. The structure of the sight and the diversity of the artisans contibute to the feeling that you have stepped into a live bustling open air market, and that new experiences that delight the senses wait for you at every corner. Just like in a large open air market, you can spend hours letting your fingers stroll from one shop to another, never sure of when you will have seen everything. Yet you can also use all the technical aspects of the modern day internet, and key in specific searches to find just the item you want.

I am so honored to be accepted as a seller there. I spent a lot of time looking at the various markets and shops there, and studying what made them good. The quality of work, the quality of the photos, and the unique banners all contribute to this high level of professionalism. Please take a few minutes to visit my Plum Beadacious shop at 1000 Markets.

Do You Use Facebook?

I read somewhere the other day the use of Facebook by women over the age of 55 has increased 175% in something like the last six months. Can you believe it? I suppose I am one of those women. I never used it much because I couldn't figure out what to do with it.

Now I am getting into the groove and using it to show my newest jewelry. Another idea I saw for use of Facebook is to provide special discounts to those who visit my page and become a fan. I am going to try that too.

Social Networking is not easy for me. It does not come naturally. Still and all I am determined to get the hang of this because I love making jewelry, and I thoroughly enjoy learning all the new things that I come across on the internet. I am so fortunate to have this opportunity to market my work without having to physically travel all over the country.

Let me know what your experiences are. Do you have some tips? If so, please submit them to me for consideration to post here with a link to your shop.

Oh! By the way, become a fan on my Facebook page. See my newest jewelry there, and I will offer specials there for purchases through my Etsy shops.

Here's my newest posting on my Plum Beadacious Etsy shop.