The ring is the thing

Making metal jewelry I find that I have scraps that are too big to be tossed in the recycle pile, so I try to incorporate them into other pieces of jewelry.  Today's blog shows how I converted those left over pieces into great jewelry.

I made several bracelets using strips of silver with really pretty designs pressed into the metal. I had several pieces that were each 2 or 3 inches long and decided to make some rings.  The results are so good that I'm actually buying the silver just to make rings. 

One day I had on a ring that is similar to the one on the left. On my way to work a woman in the train commented on it, then in the doctor's office I got another complement from one of the nurses.  At work I got some great comments and a couple of orders too.  I call it the cascading crystal ring because the beads are free flowing and every time you put it on the beads fall into a different configuration.  It's a fun ring. 

The ring on the right is the first ring that I made and is a casual ring. Very simple in style with a stable swirly looking bead that reflects the swirl on the side of the ring.  The wire is simple, yet beautiful.

Inside both rings I've stamped a secret message.The purple ring at the top says "Laugh" and the blue ring says "Dream".

Making these rings was so much fun and I will have several on my website, if they aren't purchased before I can post them.

Visit my website at http://www.jewelrybydm.com

52 Week Challenge Wrap Up

Since my 52 week challenge finished last week I decided to ask a favor of all of my readers.  I would love to hear your comments on the challenge and wondered if you help me out.  Would you browse through the posts for the challenge and let me know what your favorite piece of jewelry is?

Your feedback would help me to decide the direction to take for the upcoming holiday season. Should I made more of an item, drop an item?  I can’t decide on one item that is my favorite because I like them all.  What do you think? Let me know.

If you would rather not post to my blog, or have trouble posting, then send an email to me with your thoughts to denise@jewelrybydm.com

Thanks and have a great week.

Denise

Challenge Week 34

Happy New Year!  This post is a little late because of the holidays.  I hope you all had happy holidays and your new year will be the best yet.

My Christmas was very nice, spending it with family.  My brothers did the cooking this year and the food was so good! I would have liked to be able to eat everything on the table, but then I would pay for it with having to buy bigger size clothes. Leave comments, let me know how your holidays were.

Week 32 is a varriation on another pair of hoop earrings that I did.  These earrings (at left) are for a friend for Christmas, to match a bracelet (below/right) that she had ordered from me.  The large center bead is amethyst color and the edges of the bead are copper coated. I accented the center bead by putting a copper and an amethyst bead on either side of it. I think the earrings go well with the bracelet. Don't you?

The bracelet is similar to the one featured in week 33, using different beads.  I really enjoy making these bracelets, it's so much fun and a refreshing change from the work that I usually do.

In the month of January my goal is to add 30 new items to my website, McLachlan Design Studio, with some of the items featured in my challenge and others that I bring to craft shows which have never made it to my website because they sell faster than I can photograph them.

Have a great week!
Denise

Challenge Week 32

Happy Thanksgiving!  This month, well this year has gone so fast, I can't believe that we're just a week away from December and a month away from Christmas.

For my challenge this week I used a wire that has a design in it and made a cuff bracelet.  It was a custom design for a co-worker Beth and I like it so much that I am going to make more.  The design in the wire is difficult to see because I forgot to take the picture at home before I delivered the bracelet, so I used my mobile phone, and taking detailed pictures is not a good use for it.

The wire is about a half inch wide and has a pretty design in the center and on the edges of it.  I can make the bracelet to custom fit your wrist.  Beth has a 6 inch wrist and she can't find bracelets in the store that will fit the way she wanted it, close fitting so it won't move around a lot.  You can see that it fits her well.

I hope you had a great holiday weekend.  If you need gifts you can find them in my store at www.jewelrybydm.com

Challenge Week 29

It has been a while but I am back and on with the challenge.  I thought that it was only going to be a week or 2 that I wouldn't be able to write. The move took longer that I thought, actually it was delayed because of hurricane Irene, then the following 3 weeks I had family obligations.  With the move came the loss of internet connection and on and on.  Finally I'm back, with a great pair of earrings.

 The earrings that I did for this week are hoops. This is my first time making hoops and I am very pleased with how they turned out.  I used sterling plated wires and put Czech glass flowers with silver spacers to create light weight, beautiful earrings. The earrings are easy to put on, just slip one end of the hoop into your ear and then click the end in place.  Simple!

Named after the woman that gave me the idea, I call them Crystal Hoops.  I work with Crystal and she asked me to make hoops for her with clear and silver beads, so I used crystal beads for Crystal. I've also made these earrings in different colors, and you will be able to see them on my website in the near future.

Crystal says that she wears these earrings a lot because they go with everything, so I made a pair for myself and also one for the website. If you have a color that you would like in these earrings let me know and I will custom design a pair just for you.  Contact me at denise@jewelrybydm.com

It's good to be back, I hope you have a great week!

Fall Is Here

Yeah!  Fall is here and the weather has cooled off and the leaves are starting to turn.  It's my second favorite time of year; spring is my favorite.

In honor of fall and my friend Regina's birthday I made the vintage look earrings shown at the left. 

The stone is an amber color Swarovski Rivoli crystal.  The picture makes the metal look different colors but the earring is all one color metal. These earrings can be found at my store, and here is the link to them  My Best Friend's Earrings

I hope you will visit me at one of the craft fairs listed at the right.  The one that I'm doing on October 9th is an all hand made craft fair called BarronFest at Parker Press Park in Woodbridge. This will be my first year doing this fair and I look forward to being there.

Have a great fall and I look forward to meeting you all at one of the craft fairs.

Gearing up for the Holiday Season Ahead

Yes, I know, it's been a while since I've blogged. Life has been a bit overwhelming. February 26th was my official last day at a traditional job, since the company that I worked for closed and put 100 of us out of work. Oh well, it happens, that's life. So I've been spending a lot of time on my jewelry business, trying to get it going so I don't have to go back to work. I've also been looking for a job, my plan B. Or is building my business plan B? At this point I'm making slow progress on both fronts.

I do however have a great plan for this holiday season, and that's doing the craft fair circuit. So far I have 4 shows lined up and I'm very excited about doing them. Last year I started doing craft fairs in November, and had so much fun. I am looking forward to this year and have some great shows to go to. Here is my list so far:

October 9th - Barron Fest in Woodbridge, NJ this is a juried craft fair
November 13th - Sgt John F Basilone Columbiettes craft fair in Raritan, NJ
November 20th - PTSA Holiday Craft Fair in Brick, NJ
December 4th - BRHS Band Parents Association Craft Fair in Bridgewater, NJ

Come out and visit. If you tell me you are a follower of my blog I will give you 10% off of your order total. I'm even including free gift wrap.

There are great new pieces of jewelry for you to get for yourself or for people on your gift list. I'm excited about the new techniques that I've learned using sterling and 14K gold wire and can't wait to show you. I also picked up some new beads at the bead show recently and have been working hard to make some new pieces for you.

September I will be announcing the new name for my business, so if you took my survey, watch to see if your suggestion was the winning name.

Happy crafting, I hope you see you soon.

Winter is Here

For all of my followers that are not in NJ, winter has arrived. We had our first snowfall on Saturday, the 5th. It was rainy and then turned to big wet snowflakes. Having moved here not too long ago from Florida, my blood is still thin and I can't tolerate the cold as well as people that have been here all of their lives and driving in the snow is not very fun for me.

I would have loved to be home, curled up with a book that day, but I was at a craft fair at Bridgewater Middleschool.

The weather kept a lot of the customers away from the craft fair and there were a lot of great crafters there that put in a lot of hard work to prepare for the show. The upside was that the craft fair was run very well, the band parents ran it and I was impressed with how organized they were. Anyone who has done a craft fair will appreciate this. When I pulled up to the front of the school, they told me what my table number was, helped me unload my car and held my boxes on the side while I parked my car. They had a lunch menu in the packet that they gave us and came around to pick up our lunch orders around 11am, then delivered our lunchs to us so we didn't have to leave our tables. Any problems, they had people walking around to help and they had students walking around selling water, so we didn't have to leave our tables. It was a very pleasant experience. And, even with a less than robust amount of buyers and an over abundance of jewelry sellers, I still made a profit. Hopefully they will have a craft fair again next year, if they do, I'm in.

My next craft fair is this Saturday, the 12th, at Hope Hose Humane Company #1 in Bordentown and I am looking forward to it. There will be several Etsy NJ sellers there, who I am looking forward to meeting, and promises to be a good show. I hope to see you there, and remember to tell me you are a reader of my blog so I can give you a 10% discount on your purchases.

If you can't get out to the craft shows you can shop at my Etsy store at http://www.demdesigns.etsy.com/. Remember that I can custom make jewelry to fit your needs. If you don't see it on Etsy please let me know and I will make it for you.

The 12th will be my last craft show for the season, then I'll be able to start my baking and wrapping and all the other holiday preparations. I am really looking forward to Christmas.

I hope you are enjoying the season, keeping the stress low and getting to spend time with your families.

Holiday Season Ahead

This weekend I was supposed to have a booth at the Englishtown Street Party; due to the rain and cold weather it was rescheduled and will be held on May 15 2010. I've been working really hard to get enough to sell, so I have lots in stock. The good news is that I have 2 other craft fairs lined up, one on November 7 and one December 12. This delay has given me a head start on the stock for my other booths.

The picture on the right is a pair of really cute earrings that I made. I thought the poka-dots were really fun and the blue will make them great to pair with jeans.

Look for me at the following craft fairs:
November 7: The Woman's Club of Maplewood Holiday Bazar
60 Woodland Road, Maplewood, NJ
10:00 am to 3:00 pm - there will be over 30 vendors and crafters
50% of the profit will benefit Autism New Jersey

December 12: Hope Hose Humane Vendor Fair
150 West Burlington Street, Bordentown, NJ 08505
9:00 am to 3:00 pm
Part of the profits will benefit the fire company.

The Englishtown Street Party is rescheduled and will be held on May 15, 2010.

I'm disappointed that it has gotten so cold so fast, we didn't really have a fall this year. I went right from summer to winter weather. My friends in Florida are complaining that it's too hot, apparently they are having a heat wave - or should I say they are hogging all the warmth. I was looking forward to a beautiful crisp fall day to be outside showing my jewelry at the street party.

If you can come to either of the upcoming fairs, stop by and see me at the Designs By Denise booth. I have a banner with the store name on it. Meanwhile if I can get into any other craft fairs I'll let you know.

By the way, there is a page on my website that lists the craft fairs that I know of, so check it out if you are looking for something to do on the weekends. My website is www.JewelrybyDM.com