Made-to-Order Monday

I promise I still exist. I hate that I have only had time to blog once a week. The Hubs and I have been traveling... and traveling... and traveling! But I have had some time to fill some custom orders!


The first is a continuation of my last post of custom graduation gifts for my sorority big, Katie :) In addition to making a coordinating necklace and bracelet set which I blogged about last week, Katie also asked me to make a necklace and bracelet for another cousin of hers who is also graduating soon. Katie instructed that her other cousin has strawberry blonde hair and enjoys wearing earth tones with gold and does like chunky, though not necessarily funky (though not necessarily chunky - opposite of the other necklace set!). I told Katie that I had just purchased some new gemstones in Arizona that I thought would do the trick - some of which were definitely chunky - as they were the shape and near size of a Milano cookie! Here was my layout:

Which, after some wire wrapping, lead to this:

Along with a bracelet to coordinate (NOT match!):

Katie was thrilled: "Oh, Christyn!!  I LOVE THEM!!!  Wow, they turned out nothing like I envisioned, and everything like I wanted, LOL!" Katie is happy = I am happy :)


Next I was asked by a high school classmate to make another necklace as a gift. Lindsay said: "After scouring Etsy for some sort of Confirmation necklace I thought you might be able to help me! My niece is getting confirmed soon and I am her Confirmation sponsor. I want to get her some sort of necklace and was thinking about engraving, but not sure if she would wear that all the time. I was hoping for some sort of silver cross/charm with maybe like a pearl and an initial T charm for "Taylor" -- possibly a dove if it's not too cluttered? I am thinking the simpler the better... because I would like for her to wear it often, but still have some meaning."

Lindsay and I exchanged several e-mails and I ideas before we decided to order a "T" charm from Artbeads and experiment with the necklace. I first added a cross, dove, pearl, and the T-shaped charm and on sterling silver chain and came up with this:

Lindsay and I both agreed that it was a little too much (how I love the word EDIT!) and we narrowed it down to this:

She said Taylor loved it, and was nice enough to send a picture of Taylor wearing her new necklace:

So, that's the latest! I will (hopefully) be back soon with more items from my Summer Line and maybe even more custom orders! Craft on!

Pearls a Plenty!

I love me some pearls. Not only do I love wearing them, but I love creating with them because they are an affordable luxury. A few weeks ago when I was in Quartzsite, AZ I bought more pearls that I usually buy in China (in fact, I bought the kinds of pearls that up until then I had only ever found IN China)! 
This first necklace in particular is inspired by the FIRST pearl necklace I ever made for myself. I bought these green pearls at "The Dirt Market" in Beijing in 2004 and, not knowing any better, strung them on fishing wire and a lame-o twist-it clasp. I love wearing it with another similar green necklace in layers (as seen here in a picture of me back in 2007 right before seeing Phantom on Broadway) :)


So here is the new and improved version, available on Etsy:

Purple Pearl Princess Necklace

I also bought some pearl balls, which I used to make necklaces back when I first opened my Etsy shop in 2008 - they sold so fast but I couldn't get more charms to re-stock them! Should have known I would find them in Quartzsite -- and in different colors!

Cream and Silver Pearl Cluster Necklace

Gold and Salmon Pearl Cluster Necklace

I also had some fun creating custom jewelry with pearls this week. My sorority Big, Katie, e-mailed awhile back asking for some custom jewelry as a gift for her cousin at her graduation. Katie said: "She likes purple and funky, though not really chunky... plus she has dark skin and dark hair, so a deep purple would really flatter her features." I suggested to Katie that I play with some of the deep purple pearls I bought last week, in addition to a stash of purple seed beads I have had sitting around the house. She and I agreed on a long necklace that could be wrapped around the neck and be worn long or short, in addition to a coordinating (not matching!) bracelet (aiming for funky but not chunky). Here is what I came up with:

(bracelet pays homage to one of my favorite bracelets to sell, though most time consuming to make, from when I first opened my shop)

And here is what Katie had to say:
"*MOUTH WIDE OPEN* Man, I love them!!!  You have done an amazing job, Christyn.  Seriously, these are sooooo gorgeous!!!  I am thrilled with them-- I can't wait to give them to my high-style cousin.  I think she is going to love them! I have to show these to my husband.  They are awesome!  Thank you soooooooo much!"

::pats self on back...!::

Katie also asked for a somewhat simple, single pearl necklace to go with the pearl earrings she wearing everyday. She said, "I really want a simple necklace that has a twist to it -- possibly a single pearl with wire wrapped around the top in a cone formation?" I thought and thought about how to go about making this, and finally sat myself down and went to town -- and on the first try came up with this...!

Katie liked it: "Ah!  Score again.... geez, Christyn, you're good!  I really like it a lot!!!  Perfect for what I want-- everyday wear, with something a little special.  I love that it's made by you and not something generic I picked up on sale at Kohls!"

I will be posting more custom creations later this week... in the meantime, I better get back to creating my Summer Line!

Busy Bead Up

It seems appropriate that I post some of the jewelry I have been creating on Mondays since lately it seems like I can only get around to setting time aside to create in the first place over the weekend! Here's what I managed to pump out this weekend: Last Christmas I gifted one of my dearest customers, Nilsa, a thank-you necklace on the house. Nilsa said that she really liked the necklace I custom made for her friend for Christmas (read all about it here!) and that she would like something kind of similar that she could wear to her upcoming beach vacation. For some reason a long, brown toned dangly thing came to mind, something that could go with a dress and a swimsuit :) Nilsa looks great in browns and oranges and especially likes pieces with an unexpected color combination. I knew that I would want to eventually blog about the piece, since the piece itself would be unlike anything I have ever posted on Etsy before, so I asked my artistic brother (the one who is currently -- still -- living with us) to draw a dress form of a person on which I could sketch the necklace concept. After looking at a few pictures of Nilsa, he drew a, uh, rather artsy figure, on top of which I drew my idea of what the necklace could look like (made of shells, pearls, and crystals, knotted by the torso): When I showed Nilsa the sketch, she replied: "Those drawings are awesome. Thank you to your brother, for making me have a banging body. =) I love the idea of the necklace. I love the design. Gorg! Can I make a teensy request for a pop of color. A turquoise or aqua marine???? I think that would seal the deal for me. My oh my. Love" Turquoise it was! After a few hours of conceptualizing and creating, I came up with this: I am really happy with the result and know Nilsa will be, too! I have thought about putting the item on Etsy, but the piece itself pretty much depleted my fall-colored pearl supply and I don't know if I want to reinvest in more (it was kind of nice to feel like I really - and finally - got use out of them!). I can't wait to post pictures of Nilsa in the necklace and on the beach! I recently (and randomly?) got 4 orders for the wire wrapped birds nest necklace I created a few months ago. All of the orders were for mommies-to-be, except an order I got from a loyal client who has a friend who recently had her 4th bebe! At first I thought that making the necklace with 4 pearls would be harder than making it with 2 or 3, but it proved to actually be easier since the pearls formed a circle naturally (I usually have to heavily manipulate the wire to get a line or triangle of pearls into a circle shape). I have since updated my Etsy listing to include a picture of the nest with 4 pearls -- I heart it! I also met with a client who asked me to make her June-wedding jewelry for her bridesmaids. I had a blast with her and can't wait to blog about it after the pieces are finished! I'll keep you updated! :)

Catch Up - Custom Jewelry and Fun Packaging

Though I haven't been actively making new jewelry designs for Etsy since the party, I have been quite busy with some custom orders from the event itself. It was so fun to have people come up to me saying, "I love this, but would like it in another color/size/shape/etc." So far I have made 6 custom pieces, ranging from earrings to match necklaces customers bought at the party to specialty sterling silver and Swarovski pieces. I am also working on a massive Sterling Silver, coral, and turquoise charm bracelet for a co-worker that will incorporate some charms from her "hippie days" and peace beads she has acquired over the years. It will definitely be a test of skill for me since this type of piece is not really in my background! At the party the best friend of Marla, the hostess, came up to me and said that she was looking for a glasses strap. I told her I have made them before with the little plastic loops at the end that hold the glasses. She said that all her co-workers have necklaces with a loop at the middle that comes down to their chest. I sketched an example and she said, "You make it and I will buy it!" We agreed on "black and silver funky beads" and a silver loop. Here's what I came up with... what do you think? Meanwhile, one of my best bud's from high school called me a few months ago asking if I could help her make some earring for her wedding day ensemble to go with her grandma's yellow pearl necklace (which her grandma wore on her own wedding day!). Abbey had already made her bridesmaids earrings out of matching yellow pearls and crystal discs between each pearl and wanted to incorporate the look. Abbey sent me tons of pearls, which gave me the chance to make several types of earrings from which she could choose. At the risk of "copying" Abbey's own design, I made a pair just like the earrings Abbey had made for her bridesmaids but added a pearl to either end to make them a bit longer. I figured Abbey wouldn't want to wear this specific design because she could have just made them herself - turns out they were exactly what she had hoped for! Abbey was kind enough to have her photographer take pictures of her jewelry on her special day! Abbey and Brad were married on October 31st, the same day both her mother and grandmother were married on, all 27 years apart! What an awesome way to continue a very unique tradition! (You can read the Toledo Blade's article about it here). Lastly, a dear friend from seminary recently found out she is having a baby boy. My hubs was back in Berkeley last week and met with the couple, so of course, since I couldn't be there, I sent a little something special as a congratulations gift: a brass "grow" tag necklace with a heart charm and yellow rose, reminding them to "Grow in Love." What I think was better than the necklace was the packaging that I came up with, thanks to some scrap paper and my Cricut machine!

I just love pink, brown, green, and white ;)

Leftovers

So my mom sent me a bag of beads a few weeks ago and asked that I make her a necklace out of it's contents. Usually I wouldn't mind such a challenge, until I saw the beads. Hematite. Now, not to step on any one's toes, but let it be know that I am not a fan of hematite. I actually can't stand the stuff. Something about it just screams rave, or 7th grade magnetic bracelets, or fake and trying too hard, or just plain tacky tacky tacky. I would usually feel inclined to apologize for my coarse opinion, but I won't. I just can't pull myself into liking this stone. And don't think I didn't tell my mother this, either. I was pretty blunt with her as to my opinion of the beads and the centerpiece she provided for a necklace. Her reaction? "If you are really good at your craft, you will make something nice out of this, whether you like it or not. See it as an artistic challenge." Fine, I will. Mom said she liked wire wrapped beads and necklaces that fall at the collarbone. Sunday night I finally locked myself in my craft room (which I rarely use thanks to the card table in the living room) so as not to get distracted and to finally finish this necklace. I came up with this:You can see the matching bracelet in the background. I didn't even like the look of it when I was wire wrapping it, but when I put it on to measure for length and looked in the mirror, the thing looked more sophisticated than I had imagined. Huh. I kind of like it after all. KIND OF. Meanwhile, I made a few other things out of "leftovers" this week. A friend of mine from seminary is pregnant with twins and has been ordered to be on bed rest until December. Worst of all, she already has a 3 year old at home and her husband is in the military and has to spend the summer at base in Colorado Springs. I just had to spread the love with this lovely and very strong gal, so I looked around my supplies and noticed two "leftover" word rings that had never sold.I figured that, together, these two rings represent the two babies in her womb that can't show their appreciation yet! I hope my friend will wear it as a reminder that she is doubly appreciated and that her babies especially appreciate all that she has sacrificed for them! I have renewed several similar items on my Etsy site if you are interested. These rings are available in an assortment of styles and come in the words "Joy," "Faith," "Honesty," "Respect," "Appreciate," and "Harmony."

Joy ring necklace, $15

Honesty ring necklace, $18

Faith ring necklace, $12

Lastly, look who is featured in another treasury?! Check it out today before it expires! Thanks, Ettarose!Note: mine is of the 314 kind!

I made this and this Pi necklace for my sorority sisters and have sold 2 to non-ADPi's, including a customer in Spain! Etsy never ceases to amaze me! And finally, last week's giveaway went really well. So well, in fact, that my friend Karen, who happened to win, wrote a lovely little summary of her giveaway experience on her blog! Check it out here!