Times They Are A'Changin'

German cut crystals that are true prisms
paired with a tiny abstract charm (a snowflake or a flower?)

Swarovski crystals in dark gray with a special finish

Swarovski crystals in a translucent white "opal" glass

Small black onyx beads wire wrapped to hand formed "stick" ear wires,
with free form hearts added to the ends
all silver is sterling silver

At the same time I've been designing quite a range of colorful earrings, the urge for black and white, for neutrals, also strikes. None of these are listed online quite yet. Posting new pieces is going a bit slowly right now except for the big push I had to get a nice collection of RED posted last week.

Things are in transition for selling my pieces right now. There are more "brick and mortar" outlets becoming available, some pieces are going to become "exclusive" in collections outside of my own shops (I'll be announcing them here when they launch), and I'm beginning to seriously restock my ArtFire shop again, where I can offer special deals, coupons and so on!

Etsy has gone through a lot of changes recently, not all good ones, in my opinion. There's this big internal push to connect the artists with each other via this feature called "circles." Now I don't mind getting to know more artists...but the reason I post my things on Etsy is to sell them, not to socialize about them, so I'm not clear about the changes and direction this huge monstrosity is going yet. It just keeps getting larger and larger even as the opportunities to get attention from buyers and new customers get smaller and smaller...so it's really just prudent to figure out ways to branch out, to spread things around a bit wider. In fact, that is what the company is pushing everyone to do--go out and promote themselves--except for that minuscule collection of Etsy favorites who grace the so called 'front page' ad nauseum (having nearly 200,000 shops means you just stick with your favorite 40 or 50, using them over and over, right?)

So as I roll with changes, my blog will remain my primary touchstone for all these kinds of things--new ideas and inspirations, new creations, and new places to exhibit my work and more. At least I can't get lost here!! So thanks for dropping by!! Have a wonderful weekend, and do keep warm!

Two in One and Other Notes

Purrmeister sees an exciting batch of goodies here today (well, maybe it's a fly that has him chattering--his new joy in life is hunting flies)

"Two in One" refers to Two Etsy treasuries that include work by WillOaks Studio in one day, that is. That's pretty extraordinary! It's also encouraging because I've probably been working a bit too hard finishing and listing new pieces, so it's really nice to have my work noticed and included. So I want to thank the two curators, and introduce them to you below:

"Happy Birthday Garnet Girl"

The first one I got word about is called "Happy Birthday Garnet Girl" curated by Arona of the Etsy shop Floss Adornments. She hails from Melbourne, Australia and has a line of jewelry with many unique pieces! Plus, it's her birthday and as many of you know, the garnet is a birthstone for January babies. Me? I just plain love garnets because they are such a deep rich color, such a wonderful shade(s) of red, and can be cut so that they can really sparkle. BTW, Garnets also come in other colors including russet or warm brown and green, FYI.

"Peach Cobbler"

The second one I learned about has a really foodie kind of theme. The curator called this treasury "Peach Cobbler" and it's a collection of really delightful pastel peach colors, including references to food (I love peaches) plus my peach pearls with brandy citrine--it all sounds pretty yummy! The curator is Molly of BeadFrenZ, from Amarillo, Texas and her Etsy shop offers a wide range of glass beads and gems. No doubt, many of her customers are folks just like me--looking for cool new supplies to use for our jewelry making.

Please visit these two beautiful treasuries and leave your comments! You can click on the titles or these images to go straight to the real deal--and from there, you can click on any of the items that catch your fancy to take a closer look. Thank you!

I've been watching these buds open right before my eyes this week!

Pretty special to have not just one, but TWO flower stems growing at the same time!

A stem that's just beginning to get some buds.

Finally, something I hope to get a little more into this next week: here at WillOaks, the winter orchid season is beginning in earnest! Nothing is more welcome than a fresh stem of flowers during a gray, dreary day and I have a few pretty promising new stems growing here! Buds are forming and one pink stem is nearly all open. I've talked a little bit about growing orchids here before and maybe I can offer a few more clues and tips as these new stems gain in size. Hopefully, some nice flower photos, too...

Have a lovely Saturday!!

Exhibition Summary

Thanks so very much for all the kind and encouraging remarks and wishes on my "Etsyversary" yesterday. It means a lot to get a pat on the back now and then, for sure, and I'm very happy to get feedback from my readers and fellow bloggers!

To backtrack a couple of days, here are some images from the recent show I was in last Sunday. It was pretty big! And it was all jewelry, which made it pretty darn competitive....I have to wonder, since I'm pretty new at the face to face approach here, if being included in a more mixed group of vendors wouldn't be a better format? It's certainly something to consider, now that I've participated in one of each the past 2 Sundays.

But I did get some fairly decent photos during the show, and I'm happy to include shots of my own set up because I felt I learned a few things from the weekend before and made a few changes and improvements, so that was satisfying. I kept it so simple. The boxes: shoe boxes, file boxes, wine boxes-that I packed all my stuff into got emptied at the show, covered in fabric, and used to set up some staging for the pieces. I did see some pretty elaborate display set ups, and also some even simpler than mine. It was very educational. I also met a number of really nice people both as customers and as vendors...including a fair number of folks who are also using Etsy. The common thread was--everyone was from Chicago and the surrounding area.