Spring Fling!

Well, its almost time for the Spring Fling show this weekend. Its on Saturday at the Will Rogers Auditorium. Should be great! I'm really looking forward and all my stock will be priced to sell.... Gotta move the merchandise. I'll be concentrating in Metal Clay designs mostly from now on. I'll still be doing some wire wrap as I like doing that but I really want to improve my Metal Clay designs. Wish me luck!

ETC has secrets!

Hey everyone, check out Etsy Texas Crafters secrets. If you look for Tex the Armadillo in the shops listed you get a free gift with purchase. Don't forget to check mine out!

New Items Listed in Etsy

I've been busy listing items the past couple of days and I wanted to share some of them with you. I have been working a lot with copper as well as some of the vintage beads I got from England this fall. The beads in the two pictures are vintage plastic beads. The earrings are copper wire coiled into shape and then hammer finished. Then I use Liver of Sulfur for the patina.

The orange ones look beautiful with the copper rings. The rings are soldered and hammer finished and patina applied with Liver of Sulfur.





These are a pair of bracelets and matching earrings made from vintage plastic beads. The solid light blue beads almost look like cat's eye beads and the striped ones have a striking dot in the center almost like an eye. The bracelets are about 7" and are on stretch cord for easy wearing. The ear wires are sterling silver.


I'll be posting more items as I get them finished, photographed and listed. Stay tuned!

Funky Finds Spring Fling!

I've just signed up for a new craft show. Its sponsored by Funky Finds and will be in Ft. Worth at the Will Rogers Memorial Center on April 25th. I'm really excited about this show as it will be well advertised and should draw a big crowd. Of course I will be expecting my local friends and family to come and see me! I will have a booth to myself this time and will have lots of beautiful things to see. Also you will see some other familiar faces from the Jingle Bash show as I expect several EtsyDallas members to attend this show. Check out the Funky Finds site and see who else will be there, and mark your calendars! See you there!

Merry Christmas!

Well, I did not get lots of new things listed or made but I am getting organized for a big 2009. 2008 didn't seem to be that good but when looking back the events of 2008 led me to where I am now and for that I am very happy. I'll leave you with a picture of our lovely Christmas Tree. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

First Monday Sales

I've begun something new. Etsy Texas Crafters (http://etsytx.ning.com/events) sponsors a Monday event every week. The event for the First Monday of the month is a special sale. It only lasts from 12:01 Monday am to 12:00 Monday night so be sure to check it out. Everyone signed up has sales on their site. I am offering 25% off everything in my shop plus if you spend $50 or more (after discount) I am offering free shipping. This is a standing sale for every First Monday of the month so be sure to check back. I'm getting busy in the design studio and will be posting new items daily from now on. Since this is Cyber Monday I thought it was a good idea to start this month. Hurry up and do your Christmas shopping on Etsy. You can't go wrong. There will be something for everyone on your list. Don't forget to treat yourself also! You can do that at Michele Cook Designs.

Jingle Bash Success!!

My first venture into art/craft shows was a smashing success! We had a great show with non stop crowds the first 2 hours. It was great. I sold quite a few pieces, completely sold out of my Christmas Tree earrings. Will have to make some more for my Etsy site. So its back to the work table, nose to the grindstone and all that. Here are a couple of pictures of my display set up both at home with the full table and at the show where I was sharing the space with another vendor.

Review of two artists

My Etsy site received some new reviews on LinkReferral and I wanted to share two of the artists with you.

The first artist is KuteKlipboardsbyAmy who happens to live near me in Flower Mound. Amy is also a member of EtsyDallas Team as well as EtsyTexasCrafters. As her shop name implies she makes and sells decorated clipboards. But wait, these are no ordinary clipboards. Here is a sample of my favorites from her shop. Not only does she do the clipboard but she also decorates binder clips to be used as gift card holders, photo holders and could also be used as place card holders at a dinner party. Contact her for your special requirements.


The second artist I found is someone I reviewed on LinkReferral and she returned the favor. RioRita is from Haifa, Israel and does some of the most beautiful silver and gold work I have seen. I can't really pick a favorite piece as every one I look at becomes my favorite. Please check out her shop and her alternate sites she has listed in her Etsy announcement.

Preparing for Jingle Bash

I've decided not to list any of the new jewelry I am making since it will all be going to the Jingle Bash next month. It seemed silly to list the stuff and then have to de-list what ever doesn't sell before the show. So,,,, all my new stuff will be only seen at the Jingle Bash in Dallas. Then I will have to start making stuff all over again for Etsy cause I'm sure I am going to sell out!! I may not blog much between now and then since not only am I making jewelry but also helping hubby with a couple of his clients. For those of you who are in the area don't forget to come and for the rest of you, if there is something on Etsy you are interested in you better snatch it up now before it goes to the Jingle Bash.

Finally!!!

Whew! I finally got some pictures done and more jewelry listed on Michele Cook Designs. Go and check it out. I'm still working on a lovely PMC pendant that is made in a similar way to the Wizard's Eye pendant I listed today. It has a beautiful green dichroic glass cab with vines and leaves. The Wizard's Eye pendant is also done with Silver clay and a dichroic glass cab with a textured background and hand formed bezel for the cab. It was finished off with a free form squiggle design that seemed to add energy to the piece. Now it's back to work for me, so much jewelry, so little time...

Texas Treasury!

Hey everyone, check out the latest treasury from my team Etsy Dallas! There are some lovely items there with a pink and black theme. I love the idea of the Strawberry Pomegranate body scrub from Pretty In Green. See the treasury here. You have to hurry though, the treasury is only available for a short time! While you are on Etsy, make sure you check out my stuff! :)

Vintage Jewelry

I never thought I would be interested in vintage jewelry but my Mother-in-law came to visit us from England and brought me several bags of beads and jewelery from England. There are some great beads in the collection as well as several really nice pieces to make molds from for Silver jewelry. I will be posting some really exciting stuff to my Etsy store in the next couple of weeks. I'm also nearly finished with my tables and displays and will post pictures of them soon. Stay tuned everyone.

Also, I had my 2nd sale last week!!!! Yeah!! I sold my As Blue as the Ocean bracelet and earrings. I'm so excited! On my way, watch out!

Here is a little preview of the next few things I will be listing on Michele Cook Designs.

Check out my Treasury!!!

Hey everyone, I got chosen for a Treasury on Etsy by Etsy Texas Crafters of which I am a member! Thanks Liz... I really love the color green. You can see my work as well as 11 of the best that Texas has to offer at http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=10193.

New stock coming up, stay posted!

Grand Opening-Michele Cook Designs

Ok, everyone has to check it out! I bit the bullet and opened a new Etsy store with the name Michele Cook Designs. The link is http://michelecookdesigns.etsy.com. I've got some new stuff listed and lots of pics in the camera waiting for treatment so they can be listed. I'm getting geared up for the Christmas season and a show in Dallas at Hermann Hall on November 22nd. I have added a place on the left margin to list shows I am attending so everyone will know when I will be where. I've been working hard on my display tables and will have pictures to post in a week or so.

I am also signed up with the Indie Collective which is a collection of independent artists. I'll be listed there as a seller also so check it out at Indie Collective.

I am also signed up with ProPay to accept credit cards so if anyone wants to buy something but not use PayPal I can process your credit card with ProPay.

I did actually close the michele38 Etsy store because it was getting confusing so if you have that address bookmarked or had given it out please give out my new store. If you go to Etsy.com just type michelecookdesigns in the search for user names. Be sure to type it as all one word, no spaces. I feel as though I am really officially a full time jewelry seller. Help me spread the word!

Check out my fellow eSMArts team members

Check out this luscious collection of jewelry from my talented fellow jewelry designers in our eSMArts Team!

Etsy eSMArts Team Treasury

Getting Ready for My First Show!!

Ok, I've been reading all the posts about booth and table displays with great interest and I saw these in a catalog today and they seem like a good idea for some decorative accents on my table. I can't decide if I should use the white ones, the colored ones or a mixture. They are very inexpensive.

I also realized that I would be able to change the votive cup for the holidays. The same catalog had some cups shaped like jingle bells in red and white that would be cute. So, I'm taking a vote and I will post a poll on my blog. Everyone needs to vote for white, colored or combination. By the way, the colored ones change colors automatically. The description says they fade in and out of 7 different color combination of red, green and blue. I like the votive cup they show in the picture but I'm not sure if I can buy them also or not. WalMart will have some cheap. JoAnn's will also, and probably many in holiday themes and on sale! My first show isn't until November but I want to be prepared! Ok, don't forget to vote!

Too Much Computer Time

I've been spending so much time on my computer trying to learn the business of running a business I haven't been paying much attention to my business! I have been accepted to the EtsyDallas show Jingle Bash which will be my first show. I will have to get busy making lots and lots of jewelry to take with me. Plus figure out how to take credit cards, get packaging supplies.... on and on. I hope I make enough money in the show just to pay for getting there! Whew! But I have some great ideas for new pieces and I have also been working on getting better pictures of my jewelry. I have a new display thanks to my daughter. As soon as I finish painting it I'll dress it up and show it off!

I will be blogging more regularly now and I'll give everyone sneak peaks of my new creations. I have some great new cabs to wrap and a couple of new wrapping techniques so stay tuned!

My daughter and grandsons were here for Labor Day weekend. We had lovely weather and my daughter and I did some shopping. We checked out a really great shop in Dallas called The Rock Barrel. They have great stuff. A really good place for tools also. If you are like me I prefer to see the tools and hold them in my hand before making a decision. This place was great and the people running it are very helpful. The do have online ordering if you are not in the Dallas area.

Well, back to the workbench to create some more spectacular jewelry items!

Twitter

Ok, I signed up for Twitter. Not sure exactly what I am supposed to do but I've done it. Lets see now how it works. I'm not sure how to search for people if I don't have an email address. But I did send invitations to people in my address book. So far so good. If anyone wants to invite me to follow them please do so. I'm so connected now with LinkReferral, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs, Etsy, etc I can't imagine how I could ever feel alone again. LOL.

New Pendant

I haven't listed this yet in Etsy as I have just a touch more to do with taking better photographs. As a matter of fact, my hubby has been working on a light box for me and I'm trying to figure out the best background for my pictures. Once I'm done with that I'll be posting more to Etsy as well as redoing the existing photos.

The light box is very simple. It is a cardboard box about 18" square. He cut out a square on each side leaving about 1.5" border. The bottom is solid and the top has a square hole about 6" square cut for the camera to look through. This allows me to take pictures from the top looking down on the jewelry. Then I took white tissue paper and covered the cutouts on 2 opposite sides leaving the other 2 opposite sides open. If I want to take a picture straight on I can set up the camera outside the box by one of the open sides. I can use this outside as well as indoors. When using it outside I place one of the covered sides facing the sun. Inside I have 2 lamps with 60 watt bulbs that I place about 4" from the paper. Both ways work well. I also have lined the top with aluminum foil and will probably do the other parts as well to reflect more light. I have taken some pictures to show you what I'm talking about.

The last two pictures are using the light box. The one with the PCM pendant is at night with the 2 lights outside the tissue paper and the bracelet is outside with the sun shining in through the tissue paper. Believe it or not the backgrounds in the two pictures are the same. See what a difference light makes?

I have put together all the advice I've read from the eSMArts Team as well as other groups about photographing jewelry, my hubby made me a light box. Now its just up to taking new pictures. Keep checking my Etsy store for new pictures.

I've been busy!

I have been a busy girl the past few days. I have learned how to do Bubble Share, you can see it above the post, signed up for LinkReferral, got advice on my blog from there, and signed up for Blogflux where I can get stats on how many people visit my site, where they are, what my ranking on Google is and lots of other stuff that I can't quite figure out yet!

I'm also designing a line for Christmas. I'm thinking of doing a show in Dallas called Jingle Bash. I'm a member of the Etsy Dallas team and they are doing it.
Isn't that the cutest picture? I love it.It is an indoor show and I will have lots of people to help me with the set up. I'm really looking forward to it and am working like a mad woman to get enough stock made up. Wish me luck and for those of you who are in this area, come by and see me!