Getting ready for my Open House!!

I am having one of the busiest weeks of my life! My last chemo is on Friday and I also have my appointment with my surgeon to determine when I will have my surgery. Those are pretty important, but not as much fun as getting ready for my Open House on Saturday!!

 I have been making things like crazy! I have a bunch in my Etsy Shop if you are looking for a gift and I have even more that I have not had time to take pictures of and post anywhere! 

 I know I won't get to all of the things I have to do, you won't get to see all the jewelry unless you are able to attend the Open House either, but I am sure there will be some things left after the big day that I will be able to list on Etsy.

 I made more Breast Cancer necklaces, the others went so fast I was surprised, so now you can get one for yourself since there are two in my shop right now!

This is also a fun "pink" piece that is available in my shop. 

 Listed this one this morning. I love this huge wing! It's my last one so you know you won't be able to find another necklace like this in my shop. The colours are very french to me. 

 So for now, this is it for an update. The Open House is here in Calgary, email me for the address, my email is on the sidebar. I will be open from 2pm-8pm but since I am setup on Friday night, feel free to contact me and make an appointment if you need to come early. I would be more than happy to see you then :)
I will be serving a few Christmas treats and warm drinks, and you can enjoy some Christmas music and wonderful company!

See you then!!

Marie  

Artisan Whimsy 2012 Holiday Collection

Shop the finest Jewelry Designers For the 2012 Holiday Season

Many of our artists have published work & sell their beautiful pieces nationally and internationally.

See something you like?
Please click on the picture to browse their giveaway and view all their 
Fabulous Handmade Jewelry Pieces.

The largest Artisan shopping event
for Cyber Week...Ever!! 
It starts this Friday, Nov. 23rd thru Friday Nov 30th.

All participating jewelry designers will be offering a discount on their stores &

will be promoting a giveaway.  
Winners will be chosen individually by the blog owners.

For event wide discount code use: AWHOLIDAY

Skye Jewels is offering 20% off in the Supply Shop

and 

15% off in the Jewelry Shop 

We will be hiding
Three Exciting Giveaways 
throughout our participants blogs.  
When you find them, follow the directions to be entered! 

AND! Bookmark ArtisanWhimsy.com for Future Artisan Jewelry Shopping Opportunities!

Thanks for stopping by and don't miss out on any of our wonderful Artisans!!

Check out the complete list here! 

My Favorite New Pieces!!

 I was working hard last week to get ready for my Christmas market in Okotoks. I made a lot of new pieces and good thing too, because the show was very busy and I did very well! This top piece was admired a lot but is still available. I will be listing it in my Etsy shop this week.

 This piece I had make a few days before, and it sold at the show! I love how this piece looked and I hope to make more with the same feel. How nice to see so many pieces sell.

I made this one the same day as the one above and it also sold at the market. It was one of the first pieces to go. So that tells me I am on to something and I should keep going in this direction!!

 This was not only inspired by all of Heather Powers wonderful nature themed jewelry, it also contains one of her wonderful Humblebeads. This one is still available and will also be listed this week. I hope you will visit my shop to see everything!

This new piece is also still available. It is made with a lovely bird gifted to me by the lovely Gardanne. She sent me a handful of beautiful pink enameled components to cheer me up during my fight with breast cancer. What a sweet thoughtful soul.

I love this one with my Spirited Earth Owl and Jubilee house bead. This one sold. It was admired by many! Another piece I may be revisiting since it did so well. I am really excited about the new pieces I made. They just "felt" good :)

Another one that sold really fast for me! I am really loving the feel this one evoked. Whimsy and nature combined. Might have to revisit this design as well, maybe in some purples and blues...

I have to say that this Market was my best Christmas market ever!! The girls that do the advertising for Market Square do a fantastic job and promote us to the point that we are starting to have a serious following! I have several repeat customers, including men buying for their wives, and this makes me smile! I even have a new shop that came and bought several pieces to sell and put in a large order for more! I couldn't be more thrilled!

Now for the rest of the week I will be trying to fill this order as well as another one for hooks. I will also be trying to heal from what seems to be the beginnings of pneumonia! All this and another round of Chemo scheduled for Friday! I think it's going to be a long week!

Thanks for coming by!

Marie
 

Suburban Girl Design Team Autumn Reveal!

Today is the reveal for the Suburban Girl Design team! I am a late addition, but so please to have been invited to join. I was sent this gorgeous pendant and the hand forged clasp and had to think for a bit what I wanted to create with it. I decided I wanted it to really focus on the simple and elegant pendant. I wanted it to really be the focus and stay uncluttered.

 I made a simple two strand design with the pendant and three linked Faceted Picasso Jasper beads. I took earthy tones of these beads to keep it very neutral and natural.

 I have failed to capture the clasp in the photographs! I was not focused when I took the pictures. It was created by Shel Buettner, a talented and sweet lady! It is so pretty and delicate but surprisingly strong and durable! You can see it better in Diana's post, so make sure you have a good look. 

I created the whole piece out of solid copper and added the vintage patina with LOS. I am really happy with how it turned out and hope to wear it to my first and only Christmas show on Saturday.

Please visit the other member's blogs and leave us all a note!!
Diana Ptaszynski http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com/
Jenny Davies-Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/
Jan Onipenco http://moltenmayhem.typepad.com/ (currently out of power from the storm)
Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp  http://skyejewels.blogspot.com/  You are here!
Sandra Basara Miller http://www.sandra5461.blogspot.com/ (currently out of power from the storm)
Michelle Buettner http://misheldesigns.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!!  

Marie

Using what you have

It's amazing the beads we accumulate in little piles as we create our projects. Leftovers as some might call them and sometimes they just sit there...
Well it was my turn to just sit there the other day and I decided there had to be be something I could make out of of a few of the beads just sitting there. So I decided to take out a couple things I have had for a long time and use them.

 Now I am a longtime fan of Summers Studio. LeAnn Weih is an incredible woman and artist and also one of the first two artists I have ever bought from on Etsy. These focals are from her. She has not made them in awhile, so it was fun to take a couple out and make something special. It's simple really, I just found whatever I thought would compliment the focals out of the little piles of beads sitting on plates and added them together. I think the necklaces were a hit and they make me smile, so I guess that is all a girl can ask for!

This one is so rich and earthy. I love the tribal feel and the browns that come out in so many shades. All these beads came out of the little dishes of treasures I had sitting there. I may have to try this technique again, I think it worked well :)

I am glad to still be able to work and create. My fingers are starting to hurt from the treatment again today, so I don't know how much I will get done this week. I just may push through and just suck it up. It seems to be the one thing that makes me happy right now, and who would want to give that up!!

Thanks for always stopping by and saying hello! I would love to read your comments today!

Marie

A little Colour and those goals...

After all that dark and almost Gothic steampunk I wanted to give you a little colour! Just earrings today, but they are fun and have some spunk! I did add some more steampunk pieces in my shop though, just in case you loved that style ;) New Earrings, so have a look see.

I love my copper! I have been using it more and more and love the way it takes patina and looks so vintage. Depending on where you get your wire and findings though, they can sometimes give you surprises. That's OK, I take it in stride and leave them for fun!

 I am still a huge fan of Vintaj brass of course, and since I had long ago run out of their ear wires I stocked up at the last sale. I should have enough to last me about a year! Unless my earrings start to sell out faster than intended, which would be OK too.

 I have made some fun eclectic earrings, some more rustic ones and I have tried to have a good amount of colour for every taste!

 I used beautiful beads and charms from some of my favorite bead creators. I mixed polymer and clay, lampwork and whatever your heart desires! I added some of the absolutely Fabulous new bead caps by Vintaj!! Way to go on those! They are fantastic!!

I am filling up my Etsy Shop, to try to achieve those big goals I made for myself. I am still very far away and getting a little nervous I won't be able to get there. Facebook is getting closer, about 80 likes to go. My blog is getting close to the right number too, so keep following! lol

 I need to focus on sales. It is hard to get everything done when I feel so crummy, but I am really trying! Just so much to do! I had an assistant/apprentice but she moved to New Zealand early Nov, so she will be very missed. Not that I had been able to teach her much the last few months. Sweet girl.
So for my Jewelry shop I am still trying to get to 300 sales by the end of the year. I am 63 sales away! Yikes! It seems so far off...
For my Supply shop, I want to get to 2000 so I am 426 away... might not be very realistic. I don't know. I have more product to add, things that are ready to take pics of. I also have a few things I am hoping to work on but can't seem to get the get up and go to start! I need a serious burst of energy and motivation!

So come help me out! Pick up a few things with coupon code GOALS which will save you 20% in both shops. You MUST enter it at check out. Enjoy it while it lasts. Not sure how long I will leave it up.

Thanks for all the support!!

Marie

Steampunk!!

I had a lovely lady ask for a couple of steampunk pieces for her husband and herself to go with their Halloween costumes. I had an idea to put together a funky key and some Angel wings mixed with different tones of chain. I could not be more pleased with the results! When I posted the pics on Facebook, the results were so well liked I just had to make more! The top picture is the first I made after the special orders :)

 This is the one I made for the special order. I also made the pocket watch in the next picture. I really hope they will send me pictures of the finished costumes! I am really excited to see them!!

 I was on a roll and made 5 total necklaces not including the order. I also made a pair of earrings that sold in less than two minutes! A new record I think! I might have to make more today...

 These awesome Tim Holtz wings are a favorite of mine. I have used them a few times before and will keep using them in the future. They are a real hit!

This one was much more difficult to assemble. Getting the wings to stay in place in this particular position was quite a challenge. The results are awesome! It looks amazing on!

 I actually made this one before the previous one, bigger key slightly smaller wings, but the little dangle makes it awesome! These are making smile. I love the feeling I got creating them!

 I had to use a few different styles of keys. These are just funky and have a great Vintage feel for a great price! Just don't ask me where I got them ;) my little secret...
These ornate wings are from Fallen Angel Brass, that I don't mind sharing! lol 

 The final necklace I made I used some Verdigris wings and a pewter colored key. I had a little trouble making the holes in the wings without chipping the finish, but I kind of like the rustic edge it added to it. If I didn't I would have discarded them. 

All these pieces are an array of mixed metals and funky steampunk pieces! I am hoping to make more, just need to order more supplies! I have listed all of these in my Jewelry shop on Etsy. I hope you will hop on over and add one to your cart ;)

Marie

Positives and Negatives!

I have been working on trying to keep my life positive. Sometimes it's hard especially when you are sick and suffer from strange side effects of medication. So I tried to start with the easiest things...

 I needed to add to my earring inventory since I sent so many of mine to the Deer Valley Florist close to my house. They are hopefully selling well and I will need to make even more :)

 So some simple wire wrapping was in order to test out my very numb and sore fingers. Some of the side effects of this second medication in my rounds of chemo include numb and tingly fingertips. Mine are mostly painful, but I needed to create! 

 Well, it was worth the pain :) I feel like a huge positive has come back to my life! The pain may be a negative, but it is worth the final creations that flourished from those sore fingers! I feel more alive! Huge positive! right?

 I am very pleased with what I created. I think it will help get things going again on the creative horizons!! I even included my new Skye Jewels tag on the last bracelet! Another positive! I think they add something special to my jewelry! I am afraid to run out too fast or I would add one to all my pieces! We will see where that goes.

I have some pretty big goals right now that I am trying to accomplish. These are meant to be positives, but I am worried so it's partially a negative I want to change for the better!
I want to reach 500 followers on my blog, I want to reach 2000 likes on Facebook, I want to reach 300 sales in my jewelry shop and I want to reach 2000 sales in my supply shop! ALL before the the end of the year! BIG goals! I know! So of course I hope you will all help me reach these! lol I know, huge undertaking, but what is life without goals?

So until next time...

Marie