My first Facebook Sale

I am a maker.  I am great at creating. I make things all the time. 

 What I am not so great at anymore is selling.  I used to do craft shows for 4-5 weekends straight in the fall.  I would work all spring and summer to make my stock and then also frantically work in the fall to make more of what was selling.  This process was good.  I learned a ton about production and practiced many skills.  Then there came a shift.  Most of it was caused by forces I had no control over.  I had to focus on some other things.  And through it, I was still creating, but not large quantities of things.  Single pieces or a series of pieces but not 20-50 of an item. And I narrowed down my shows to only one. I still love that show but the things I am making now are not selling there as much.  And I still have a lot of things.  So I reached out to a Facebook friend that seems to be really good at the selling.  She is helping me through my first Facebook sale.  It is tonight starting at 7pm EST.  Here is a peek at some of the things I will be offering...

There will be a mix of bracelets, necklaces, earrings and components for sale. Some of the pieces were ones that have been in Stampington magazines.

If you are interested, please request to join the group: 

Ravens Meadow Artisan Beads Components and Jewelry

It is only a 24 hour show and I will be listing the pieces tonight starting at 7pm.  Orders will be paid thru Paypal.

I  am even throwing in a couple free pieces here and there...

Hope to see you there...

Thanks for stopping by....

Art Jewelry Elements: Tree Challenge

I am a huge fan of all the Talent gathered over at Art Jewelry Elements.

I am talking Talent with a capital T.

They generally offer a challenge each month and invite others to play along.  

I have on occasion and am doing so again this month.

The challenge this month is trees.

Well, I knew this would be the perfect challenge for me.

A while back I made a tree stamp from polymer clay.

And here are the new, naked beads.

It is one of my all time favorite stamps to use.

I love how the beads and components look.

So I knew I could use some of those for this challenge.

So here you go....

A Fairy Tale Forest necklace...

Here is one of those tree beads all dressed up...

And a little woodland fox too...

The key focal and magic bead are just what this necklace needs.

But then I had to make a fairy forest too.

   Flowers say fairy to me.

So I added some polymer beads and flower focals made from real flowers.

And last but not least, this little tree has a bee friend and a vintage inspired focal.

Join the team for more tree-inspired goodness:

Jennifer Stout Cameron

Lesley Watt

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Laney Mead

Niky Sayors

Cooky Schock

Cathy Spivey Mendola

Caroline Dewison

And the other guests:

Karin Grosset Grange

Merja Sundstrom

Cindy Martin Shaw

Allison L Norfleet Bruenger

Melissa Trudinger

Kathy Lindemer

Gloria Allen

Shai Williams

Tammy Adams

Mona Arnott

Terry Del Signore

Thanks for stopping by....

Metallic Lustres On Polymer Clay

As you know, I love to play with finishes on white clay.  

In some ways it is silly, really.

I could start with a color then play with it, but NOOOOOO!

I will start with white, paint it a color and then mess with it again.

That is what happened with these pieces.

I used white as the base...

Painted them black and then rubbed them with Metallic Lustres paints from DecoArt.

I love the way they turned out.

But i am thinking down the road to make my life a little easier, I will start with black clay, then use the Metallic Lustres.

Work smarter not harder...

In all fairness to me, when I make polymer pieces, I never know how they will be finished down the road.

I do things in stages....

I make beads and components for a week.

Bake them all.

Then I divide them into groups for how they will be finished and start working on them in those groups.

Lastly I seal them.

Once they are sealed,  they wait to become a necklace, bracelet or earrings.

Anyway, Metallic Lustres are one of my favorite ways to finish beads.

I love rubbing them into the pieces.

Have you ever tried them?

Thanks for stopping by....

New Beads on the Work Bench this Wednesday...

I have spent a great deal of this spring creating my own polymer clay beads.

After purchasing Statci Louise Smith's Tutorial, I was bead obsessed.

My beads were everything I always hoped to create....

They are textured and glossy and just the way I wanted them.

Some had a wonderful, primitive, organic look.

But then my friend came for a workshop and brought some of her beads.

They were so different than mine.

  And so very lovely.

So I started playing with different finishing techniques. 

I used one she did but mine did not turn out like hers.

So I tried a few other things.  

I got some neat new looks.

I liked them in the pan.

They sat there for days.

I loved the blingy shine.

Which was so different than my other beads.

I was not sure what they would be.

One afternoon,I sat down and began knotting.

I am a huge fan of waxed linen cord for knotting.

And before I knew it, this sweet beachy wrap bracelet came to be.

Like I said, it is a change from my other beads.

And I am loving it.

I am also loving my hand forged clasps.

I love how substantial they are.

This bracelet is a double wrap.

I have a couple single wrap bracelets that I wear all the time.  

They are actually very comfortable.

What do you make?

Thanks for stopping by....

Polymer Clay Magic- Jewelry from Polymer Clay

Today is just an eye candy post.

Lots of polymer clay goodness and that is all.

Enjoy....

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Thanks for stopping by....

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