Crocheted Cuff Crazy

red cotton and smoked natural bone beads

Blog Buddies--A loud call for feedback on a new idea!!

It's all just a wonderful experiment--I added some cotton to my crochet palette this winter (to join silk and linen) and from there, I've just mixed it up. Sometimes it's wondering what certain colors & materials might look like; other times, it's trying new structures out. A couple of the ones here can be found in my Bracelets and Cuffs section and others are still trying to happen.

So I've got a new idea and would love some feedback from all my blog buddies (and any other interested readers, of course!) I was thinking that maybe some of my crocheted cuffs could be sold as KITS that include the fiber, clasp, beads, and instructions etc. to then be crocheted and assembled by the buyer? Below & above are examples of some simple designs that could work this way for beginners.

brown cotton and "mustang magnesite" beads

gray cotton with metallic thread plus Czech fire polished crystal beads and larger seed beads

black silk, white bone beads and black "cat's eye" glass beads

I could sell these for half, or even less than half, of what the finished ones cost. Finished ones can take two or three hours to make, and so this time and labor, of course, shows up in my final prices. But I practiced putting a couple of "kits" together this weekend (I was clueless so just had to try it and see what it looked like!) and it wasn't too bad!! In fact, they can be kind of cute.....

So later, more advanced structures I have in progress are below. These require a little more experience in crochet, but may not be super difficult....

silk and mixed beads with my original ceramic heart and copper clasp
I like the way these heart designs can be worn with the clasp up or down

Silk with amazing Czech glass extra large seed beads in a metallic finish
I have not figured out how to write this pattern in words quite yet--it was kind of difficult but looks cool!

silk with mixed beads including glass, coral and copper with my original ceramic and copper clasp
(similar to the one above.)

I tried some (re)searching on Etsy for DIY, crochet kits, jewelry kits, etc. just to see what was already out there. Check it yourself--offers are all over the map and I was a bit overwhelmed as it was too much to take in all at once. Since I haven't quite seen anything like mine yet, not sure if there's any kind of interest? Besides being my own designs, part of the "pitch" could be to just compare pricing on the kit vs the finished piece?? Of course, that is based on the assumption that folks want to own these cuffs for a cheaper price.....hmmmm......

So everyone, voice your opinions: is this a good idea or not? Who has sold kits before? Who has purchased kits to make something special? I'm very curious about this.....

OK! Everybody YELL at once!! THANKS a million XXOO!

The Power of Orange

Have you heard? Tango Tangerine is officially one of "THE" colors for Spring 2012. It's true, I read a few fashion articles about it and saw some designers' frocks that feature this color. I'm not sure a whole outfit of true ORANGE is a good color for all complexions and hair colors. The full dresses and tunics I saw seemed like a little too much of a good thing. BUT, a little POP of orange? It could be just perfect, depending on your mood....and your outfit.

A few years ago, I found these incredible orange quartz squares and finally, combined with some amazing variegated strands of carnelian and citrine (new acquisitions), they have become a new earring design. And since I added gold filled wire to my studio last year, I decided that for this experiment in orange, the metal used with it had to be warm, as in gold or copper.

And then, still smitten with this palette, I tried this sort of "sunset" mix of faceted roundels as a topping for golden quartz teardrops, too.

Next try, the combination of this simple orange square and a copper circle....bright geometry, anyone?
And on a more subdued note, a collection of tiny 2mm carnelian beads wire wrapped with fine gold-filled wire to gold-filled hoops that are about 1" in diameter. I've been exploring hoops, mostly handmade by me and used in a myriad of different designs. Natural carnelian is usually heat treated to bring more intensity to the red tones in these naturally orangey stones, and these beads are a good example of this. Tiny treasures, for sure, but the gold wire gleaming through the translucence does add a nice glow to these orange gems.

And to think a few years ago, I didn't think I even liked orange....now? I think it's beautiful....in small doses!

Thanks for dropping by!

Actions Speak Louder....

...so although I've not had too much to say the past few months, thankfully, I've been mostly immersed in my studio. OK, I know that sounds lame, but how to explain my tied tongue? I really cannot.

But the work of making things, this has not failed me these days. The Winter holidays were good for my little shop. And then there's Valentine's day. I don't quite know why I'm so enamored with the iconic "heart" shape, but I am, and have been for years and years. A smattering of more recent earring designs is below and there are many more in my shop. A quick list of links to earlier "heart art" is at the bottom of this posting.


Earrings are all mixed up with everything else, and somehow wound up in 3 different sections in my studio--as gifts, as $30 and under, and as Hoops and more.

I just love the color red so find Valentine's day a great excuse to use a little more than usual. It's also a nice color to work with during the cold, gray days of mid winter--sort of lightens up the visuals! Above is a screen shot of my shop at a recent moment in time. I find that I change it around several times a day as I've learned that the average visit is usually to page one--and I've got around 13 pages these days! So moving things from the back to the front in some wacky rotation is a current strategy. Opening other shops or web sites is another idea I'm thinking about, but that's a huge commitment so I'm not exactly rushing into it!

Meanwhile, I've been trying to design new Pearl Bibs at a rate of a couple new ones per week. I find this structure to be challenging in an engineering sort of way. And since pearls come in so many different colors, shapes and sizes, having a general design in mind is only the beginning as it seems each one comes together a little differently, based on the pearls attributes. Click on the image to see the current listing of pearl bibs in the studio.

I just realized it's too tedious to list past posts about hearts and valentines....but using the blog search over on the right------------------------------->
the word heart give 15 posts and the word valentines gives another 3 posts. So if either of these topics, as explored in an art blog, are interesting to you, please have a peek using the tools right here!!

Have a great week and thanks for dropping by!

Holiday Shopping at WillOaks Studio

A fun collection of hoops, narrative and holiday earrings both in my shop or about to be posted over the coming weekend. If you're an earring fan, check these out soon--lots of fun and plenty of bling. And I'm finally adding gold to my mix--14/20 gold filled wire and beads besides the sterling silver I've used forever....

A range of pieces in more traditional forms and colors, for winter and for the holidays, are scattered all through my shop on Etsy. Garnets, rubies, keishi pearls, cut crystals and Czech glass and much more!

And a personal favorite new direction: Pearls for the Holidays. Long metal chains with wire wrapped pearls and gemstones and coordinated earrings. Available individually or save 10% when earrings and necklace are purchased together.

Plenty of time to order gifts for Christmas giving and if you've shopped with me before, watch your e-mail box for a discount code to sweeten the deal!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. Over here, the holiday parties are starting this weekend!!

Still Running Behind....

I guess I could just practice a little gratitude instead of pushing so hard. My biggest problem during this past, extremely challenging, year has not been with creativity or new pieces and ideas, it's been with the administrative follow through. So by the seat of my pants, I've now got all but about 20 of my new pieces posted in my Etsy shop, which has been a huge challenge because all the writing is really hard--even more so with all the new emphasis on search, SEO, tagging and all that jazz. And I'm still plugging away with posting the rest of the new "holiday" work, even as I begin to fill more orders (made to order mostly) as the holiday rush begins.

But have I advertised? created a newsletter? posted on my blog? let ANYBODY know that there's new work to see, that some new series have been posted, new anything etc.?? No, these activities, critical though they may be, are currently at the back of the bus. And I guess, in a nutshell, that pretty much sums up the sort of year it's been for me.

Succinctly stated, grieving definitely leaves me in a productive state, so far as working on new things and finding new ideas in the studio, but also leaves me at a distinct loss when it comes to all the other steps needed to promote and sell artwork, both online or in person. So I thought I'd just post a snapshot of my "front shop window" here for right now. It changes every few hours, actually. And soon, I hope, I can say a few words about new ideas & materials I've been exploring....ha ha, guess I forgot it's Wednesday so, no "Wordless" Wednesday this week! Hope your Wednesday is a good one!

There She Goes Again....

Nothing says "Winter Holidays" to me quite like crystals. The clear icy color reminds me of the weather, but the sparkly "bling" of the hard, crisp surfaces says party sparkles all the way! So every winter, I get out my precious box of German leaded cut crystals....and try to figure out all new ways to use them.
A couple of new designs, above and below, and there are some others that I've not photographed quite yet. The design challenge is to figure out all new and different ways to embellish them.

These dainty faceted lemon quartz marquis cut stones have been staring at me for awhile now and I just wouldn't commit to how to use them. Well, I finished a commission this past week (finally! I was running pretty slow on this job!) where I was designing earrings to work with a customer's pendant, which was also artisan made....to make a long story short, this design evolved and I'm giving it a try in my Etsy shop--my customer liked them very much so we'll see of other women do too!

And finally, I'm working with some very nice Keishi Pearls I've been collecting for awhile now. I love these precious, organic shapes used to evoke little flowers and flower petals, and I find them really challenging to work with because no two pearls are alike. Plus, they are not plentiful and so the choice of colors and sizes is intermittent, at best. But these pale gray (above) and rich, warm brown (below) pearls, paired with Swarovski crystals and little gemstones are a dangle design that I really like, and that have been doing well in the gallery. They are really difficult to photograph well so I'm unsure about how much I want to stress over the photos to offer these in my shop? We'll see, perhaps my time is better spent keeping the display at the gallery stocked up because when seen in "person" these are quite charming and elegant dangle earrings.
...........to be continued!

I just drift away into my creative la-la land.....get lost for days....and you never know when or where I'll pop up next! Sorry, I don't mean to neglect my blog and blogger friends. But the countdown to the openings last weekend became so intense and then, things never did really settle down! I'm feeling the beginnings of the holiday crunch time and already, my house is neglected and I'm falling behind on things NOT about making new pieces....

But the good news is, there are a lot of new pieces here waiting to be photographed so thankfully, I'm getting inspired and have been working very hard. New pieces I'll show here soon include a whole new series that features large pearls and chain and my very first work in gold, what a thrill!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Something about Purple-Wednesday Treasuries

No time to make a new treasury today. I'm in the countdown here to some big deadlines and am a part of 2 local shows opening this weekend (yay!) The weather has really gone bad quickly so not sure when I can try for more photos on nature walks. All by way of presenting a couple of fine treasuries that showed up in my Etsy activity feed today, both incorporating shades of purple (which I just adore, and actually, wear quite a lot, especially in the winter.)

Without further ado....



curated by Jayne of White Oak Room.
I also recommend you take a look at her shop--delicious textiles for your home and who isn't thinking about a bit of nesting when the weather turns on us and the days grow so dark?

And the next one



curated by Christy of Poppy and Purl whose shop features pretty handmade flowers and knitted lovelies.

Have a humpy hump day and thanks for dropping by!

I'm a Shopping Fool...

...but only on paper and in my head. I must admit though that there are a lot of people in my family and so yeah, I'm just starting to think about Christmas presents. So I got this idea, to sort of oil up my old thinking cap, and based on yesterday's treasury fun: I thought I would try a few more of these beautifully illustrated "shopping lists" with different themes, and see what might happen.

So today, my theme is one of my favorite things: Bird Watching. Anyone care to join me? The Audubon annual Christmas bird count is right around the corner--December 14 to January 5! I wonder if we'll have snow by then?