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!

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?

A Day in the Life....

New pieces-Hematite colored glass know and Fire and Ice Prism earrings.

(A little open letter to a friend)

You would have laughed to see me rushing to make the last mail pick up tonight. I had 3 packets prepped and decided that the other 5 orders that were oh-so-close needed to be gone, too. And you know, batch processing, when it comes to packing and shipping actually is more efficient and therefore, faster.

But wow I cut it close. So I missed the 5 p.m. mail box pick-up down on the town square by 7 minutes and was headed across town to the post office proper. And there, pulled over on the side of the road was an unsuspecting mail car. So I illegally pulled into a one-way the wrong way, parked, and went running over there, all disheveled with my pink bag full of plump yellow envelopes.

I knocked on his window and his look was surprised and then kind...I asked pretty please if he'd add my batch to his vehicle and he obliged, just like that. I told him he could keep the pink bag if he liked. He gave it back. Then human nature kicked in. "What are you mailing here?" When I answered art, "Art for Christmas presents," he seemed pleased to be helpful and that made my night.

And I didn't even get a parking ticket because I got out of there quick, and am back home. If all goes right, I'll finish the last 4 orders here, and will only have one last biggy tomorrow--and then I'm caught up. Wowzer!

.....ooops, never mind, my text notice just went off...a new order just came in....
A day in the life.....

Hope your day's going half as good as mine, lol! K

Christmas for Animal Lovers

OK, so I have to hope my family stays true to form and doesn't check into my blog this weekend. Why? Because as an animal lover from a family of animal lovers, I did some really wonderful Christmas shopping for a brother and a sister that I'm sharing with you today. Maybe you're in the same boat as me: needing some new ideas for things to give to loved ones? Well, if they like animals or their pets, have I got some tips for you!

I don't just use Etsy to sell my work, but I'm a shopper there, too. I've found a number of wonderful artists over the past couple of years and this Christmas the pet and animal theme is in focus for some of my gift giving.

I'd like to introduce you to my friend Shella of PapierAngels in upstate New York. Her main medium is papier mache which she sculpts into different creatures, often dogs and cats, but with an imaginative twist in that they are portrayed as angels, santas, clowns and ornaments. The fun doesn't stop there. The folk feeling in her sculptures is further enhanced with a paint job and antique finish for really fun and fresh pet portraits that could pass as antiques.

The border collie, shown above as a guardian angel complete with his little lamb, is especially for my sister who adores her dog Jobe. I think she will really like it because it looks a lot like her dog!

Pet portraits as ornaments, made to order!
Here's the Purrmeister-photos I sent and the piece she made...how cute is this!??

I happened to check into her shop again a few days ago, noted a black and white kitty head made into an ornament as a little angel with wings and a halo. I dropped her a note to ask if she would consider doing a version of this cat but making it a portrait of Purrmeister. Check this out!! It's in the mail to me now & I'm in love with it! I sent along a few photos of his little face to her for guidance so I'm showing her translation together with Purrmeister's mug shots here.

This might be a special idea for a personal gift at a very reasonable price: $13.95 for her ready made ornaments and add an extra $3 for personalized versions of your pet or a friend's pet.

Now my brother is another whole problem for shopping. But we were talking about our childhood fun this summer and reminiscing about a pet chipmunk he kept for awhile when we were little kids. Chippy lived in a hamster cage in my brothers room--he was really cute and pretty lucky because the ones that lived outside had to be very very careful of all the farm cats that ran around.

When I spotted the needle-felted sculptures of artist Tracye Mueller, in particular, this life-sized portrait of a chipmunk, I knew I had his gift nailed. There's a realism in her pieces that makes you do a double take! I'm hoping the NEW Chippy will find a nice home in my brother's study, maybe even on his desk.


Another whole series that Tracye features in her Etsy shop are amazing portraits of all kinds of birds! I fell in love with the chickadee and ordered one in the smaller, ornament size shown here on the right. In time, I'd love to collect many of them. But then, I've admitted before how much I love birds, how I collect portraits of them in all media and forms: photos, paintings, sculptures, carvings, etc. So now, I discovered "needle felting" which, in the hands of an artist, is a really beautiful material to use for portraits of wild life. Maybe one of her pieces would be a perfect gift for the bird lover on your list this year?

So I leave you this weekend with 2 special artists & two different shops online on Etsy. You still have a few weeks to get your very special gifts ordered for very special (lucky) folks!! At least, please take a peek at these wonderful shops!!

Don't just stop here....more observations about Christmas giving is waiting for you via the first "Tribal Blogs" Carnival blog-hop! So from here, please click this link and visit "The White Christmas that Sucked" by Tarheel Rambler

Have a great week!

FREE SHIPPING DAY 12-17-09

FREE SHIPPING DAY
Over 400 participating merchants, including WillOaks Studio on Etsy! Free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve!

Peach Pearls and Moonstones necklace

On Thursday, December 17 at 12:00AM EST the Free Shipping Day promotions for participating merchants will be revealed.

Well I can reveal my Free Shipping Day promotion here: spend $30 or more in my Etsy shop today, and Priority Mail is free (a $5 value!) For example--last minute gifts for BFF, boss, child's teacher, sister, daughter, mom....you get the drift!! (And remember, the Icy Line is 20% off - just use "the code.")
First Class Parcel is free on orders less than $30--and the chances are good that the package will arrive by next Thursday!

All discounts and offers are refunded to the customer after checking out with Paypal, usually within a couple of hours, and refunds are made to either the credit card used or to the Paypal account.

I can't imagine too many folks will need to shop any later than tomorrow....but just in case:
Priority Mail from 12-18 to 12-21, with delivery by 12-24, on all purchases from WillOaks Studio on Etsy.
Express Mail 12-22 or 23, is available by special arrangement for Christmas Eve delivery. And last but not least, gift certificates are available via e-mail until the very last minute!!

Is everyone but me done with their Christmas shopping??