Guest Post: Where the Lovely Things Are Part II

Hello, hello!  It's Mallory from Where the Lovely Things Are again, and now I have a whole bunch of handmade finds for you to peruse.  I was craving a cupcake and decided to find some goods that have a bit of a pretty-pastry-ish look to them (or are actually cupcakes! non-edible ones that is). Enjoy!

Earrings from Smashing; cupcake stand from Whitney Smith Pottery, garters from SWANclothing; top from Lirola; bag from Tortillagirl; ring from Jaime Jo Fisher.

Print from Eight Hour Day; bear from Ememem; print from IrenaSophia Art Studio; ceramic cupcake from Arthur & Sylvia; necklace from A.Alicia Handmade Accessories; print from The Black Apple; brooch from Tabitha Emma; card from Lizzy Stewart. 

Belt from Darlingtonia; cupcake container from KG + AB; mug from Sometimes She Does; Stuffed macaron from Handmadelove; shift from Kelsey Genna; earrings from JooJoo Land.

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Artistic Wire Used in Jewelry

There are different wires an Artist can chose from to make links, chains, or jewelry findings. Wires range from sterling silver, 14-18k gold, gold-filled, to copper, brass and now artistic wire in colored or non-tarnish forms. With the price of gold and silver on the rise, I’ve turned to using non-tarnish artistic wire to incorporate into my creations; allowing me to still get that everlasting high gloss of silver, brass or gold without the tarnish.

Artistic wire is created by Artistic Wire Ltd., offering non-tarnish wire and permanent colored copper wire available in 50 colors and 14 gauges. They also offer silver-plated colored copper wire available in 8 sizes and 13 colors. The wire is either vinyl coated copper or silver-plated and dyed wire, but the shiny silver, gold or brass wires usually have an anti-tarnish coating; allow the wire to resist tarnish as long as the coating is intact. It has a harness of soft in the wire world and generally requires ‘hardening’ to keep its shape. Soft wire bends easier and tends to remain in place once it is bent. Soft wire is perfect for making spirals and other rounded shapes, making it easy to mold the wire into any shape one desires.

Depending on the design I’ll use different gauges of wire; for links in necklaces and bracelets I use heavy 16-18g wire and for small findings I’ll use a medium-small 20-22gauge. And when making the coils in rings I turn to even smaller gauges of 24-28g wire over 18-20g wire. All of these are done using the non-tarnish or coated colored wire; which allows me to bring designs to my customers at the same quality of sterling silver or gold, but at a much lower cost. I still work with sterling silver and will note the wire used in every design, though the luster will eventually fade with sterling silver, non-tarnish wire requires a lot less cleaning to keep the color and shiny effect.

Once the jewelry design is complete I need to harden the wire to keep the desired shape. This is done by putting the piece in a tumbler, with water and cleaner for about 15-20 minutes. This hardens the wire and also cleans the jewelry of any grease, minerals or oils that come from naturally working with the wire and stones. The jewelry is then completely ready to be photographed and wrapped for a show or shipped off to a customer.

You can find artistic wire at any local hobby or craft store, or online at any number of wholesale vendors. Visit my website and browse through the selection of wire sculptured designs using the artistic wire.

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The Sky Blue Celestite Crystal

Getting it’s name from the Latin ‘caelestis’, meaning “heavenly”; an allusion to its color, celestite or celstine is a very popular mineral because of its typical sky blue or ‘celestial’ color. Often forming beautiful transparent light to medium-blue tabular crystals, celestite can be colorless, white, light red, green, blue, or brown. It is often found in colorful combinations with minerals such as yellow sulphur. Although celestite can look similar to barite, it is actually strontium sulphate, and has long been used as a source of strontium for fireworks, glazes and metal alloys.

It forms in sedimentary rock such as limestones, dolomites, and sandstones. It can also be derived directly from sea water and commonly occurs in evaporate deposits as a minor constituent; occasionally it forms in hydrothermal deposits. The crystals take a wide variety of forms but are typically tablet, prism, or plate shaped. It can also form crusts, nodules, grains and masses. Celestite may also be found in the cavities of fossils. It is known to form, for example, in fossilized ammonites. It can be found in Madagascar, Mexico, Italy, Canada, England, and the US; lesser known specimens have been found in England, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany.

Legend & Traditional Properties

In ancient Greece it was believed that the stone only worked if it had been given to its owner by a friend or relative. It would then protect the body from all kinds of evil. The ancient Romans were also familiar with the healing properties of celestite, its calming, fortifying influence on the mind and its ability to drive evil out of a person. The stone encourages the healing of wounds and is said to be effective in alleviating pain caused by tension, anxiety and in solving problems with insomnia. It is connected to both Capricorn and Gemini star signs.

Research from various crystal-mineral-rock websites & books.

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Chic Blended Navy Crystals

More and more I’m working with crystals; either in pure crystal designs or a mixture between natural stone and crystals. Crystals are a very versatile bead and I like them because they come in an array of colors, blending easily with just about any jewelry design.

In this particular necklace I did a double strand to get more of a unique look with the pearls, but not charmed. I’ve blended together a graduated strand of metallic navy blue, almost sapphire colored faceted rondelle crystals and add a few light blue crystals at the bottom of the necklace. Pewter star fancy bead caps have been added to the crystals and little clear round crystal spacers are between for a bit more ‘bling’. Between I’ve mixed again are freshwater cultured pearl irregular nuggets in colors of yellow, champagne and cream.


Pearl: Purity, faith, charity, innocence, integrity, focus, wisdom, spirituality, sincerity, fertility.


Browse our collections for to find your chic, trendy uniquely handcrafted jewelry!

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Safety First, Have Some Rules

It occurred to me that in all the blog and forum postings I have yet to see anything on Safety. Then it hit me…..I’ll do a short note on safety. Here are a few simple steps and tips that I learned in jewelry classes and from reading many books.

·Wear Safety Glasses – It is less expensive to replace a pair of safety glasses than it is your own eyes. Safety glasses will protect your eyes from flying objects and wondering wires. Safety glasses come in a variety of styles, colors and prices. Check your local hardwood store for a pair.
·Wear a Mask – If you are working with chemicals or paints of any type, make sure to wear a protective mask. Also, work in a well ventilated area and take breaks to get out of the smell and into fresh air. Check your local hardware store for different kinds.
·Prevent Eye Strain – For those artists working with wire, thread, and small objects, wear or work under a magnifying device to prevent eyestrain. Remember to look away often and rest your eyes, take a break every half hour or so.
·Good Posture – To avoid an aching neck and/or back, use good posture at your workspace. Sit straight, hands resting in an “L” or 90 degrees and feet flat on the floor. This should help with strain to your neck, shoulder and wrists. Also, remember to get up and walk around about every hour to relieve any back and neck tension.
·Stretch – Take time to stretch your hands, fingers, wrists, neck, shoulders, legs, and back every chance you get. Do this every couple of hours to keep circulation flowing and to help from getting cramps or numbness.
·Use Common Sense - Safety is common sense in your workspace. Keep track of what you are doing and don’t work with sharp objects when you are distracted or overly tired.

Stick around for a while, we like you! So make a point to have some safety rules for your workspace.

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My Top 10: Little known quirks

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Dearest Devotees,

Since I had so much fun writing yesterday's post, I decided that I would write a similar one today. This post is about the random things I like to do/ or am interested in that you might never guess was apart of my personality if you didn't know me. I love finding out unusual things about people and I am hoping that sharing my quirks with you will help you find it easier to be quirky, and maybe even help me meet people with similar (random) interests. So without further ado, here are my top 10 quirks.

1. Greek and Roman Mythology: This is why I love books like Percy Jackson. I just love how ancient societies were able to create such amazing stories to explain things that they encountered daily.

2. The Sims, especially the Sims 3. I'm not a big video games person but I really love the Sims.

3. A really odd and wide taste in music ranging from classical, to hip hop, to metal, indie rock and country.

4. Youtube (This is more of an obsession) : particularly watching youtubers like Shane Dawson, Natalie Tran of Community Channel and Charlie McDonell.

5. Avatar -the last Airbender: The cartoon not the movie.

6. Magical beings in novels in general.

7. All types of dance, gymnastics, yoga and other similar activities that involve testing the limits of your flexibility (I have a pretty wide range of movement).

8. I absolutely love singing, am a songwriter and have been told I have a nice voice, but I have no desire to become a performer. Why? Stage fright.

9. Flying does really weird things to me (the air pressure causes splitting headaches akin to those Harry might have felt through his scar) yet I continue to adore flying.

10. Psychology and any study really that helps me understand why people act the way they do.I own so many non-fiction and self help books, its obscene.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. What are your quirks? How do you feel about them ? (I actually happen to like mine :) )Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

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Thoughts of a Starving Business Artist

I was an Artist vendor at a very well known and established craft show over the weekend. I saw new faces and reconnected with good friends. My overall experience was less than mediocre, unsuccessful and leaves me questioning whether to give it all up or continue for the ‘long haul’ to weather the current economic storm. Many of the returning vendors stated that attendance was down about 20%, with sales down some 20-35% compared to previous years, including last year. As I go from show to show this season, I’m seeing some emerging trends and common threads.

Some of the new vendors that are appearing in shows are not always ‘new hobbyists/crafters looking for a quick buck’, but are well established gallery artists coming back to the craft show and festivals because ‘times are tough and they need to make ends meet’. I myself have turned down many shows recently due to the overwhelming number of jewelry vendors. While I’m all for challenging competition, I’m also a business person and know the buying public will be turned off by craft shows and festivals who dominate their shows with one particular industry vendor. In a lot of cases, this has turned off not only the consumer, but also the loyal returning vendors. Many of whom are replaced by hobbyists/crafters and mass producing overseas industry vendors. Time will only tell if this type of constant vendor turn-over will ruin and tarnish the reputation of good-standing, long running shows or not.

The most common comments at shows have ranged from ‘I’m just looking’; ‘Your work is so original and unique’; ‘I’ll come back, I want to see what everyone has’ to ‘Is this the best price you can give me’. Times are tough for the business person just as much as it is for the customer. But asking a business artist “Is this the best price you can give me?” right after stating, “This is such unique and original work” is telling me, the artist and business person, how worthless and ignorant I am. Maybe next to my business sign and cards I need to post my Bachelor’s degree in Business & resume of 20 years experience, the book I’ve been published in and class certifications. Is this enough ‘Creditability’ to the buying public to be taken seriously as a business person and artist?

Handcrafted original work is not cheap by any standard; there are raw materials, tools, time & labor, insurance, taxes, and many other aspects of overhead, too many to list in one post, which goes into the pricing of each and every piece produced. The buying public fails to consider these factors; and has left me with the impression they are more interested in getting the cheapest price they can get on quality handcrafted jewelry pieces. They want the over-seas cheap labor & materials price; not a high quality uniquely handcrafted American made price. So the question is, has the state of the economy caused this ill-mannered effect or has the true nature of the buying public gone unnoticed and overlooked until ‘times got tough’ for everyone? The economy is definitely pinching everyone, including the small business person and enough that many will not weather the storm of the current economic state of this country.

So, back to my original thoughts….do I passionately continue perfecting my craft; get certifications in silversmith, jewelry, teaching and continue to attend advanced classes, conferences and symposiums to better myself and my craft; building the business and artist OR do I try to have faith in the consumer and continue to build that relationship OR do I just give it all up, cut my losses and get out before it’s too late. Again…time will only tell.

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