The Real Deal... Hawaiian Petroglyphs

I am back from vacation... oh, you didn't know I was gone? Yes, our family took some much needed down time and went to Maui for 10 days. It was the first time since starting my jewelry business that I put my Etsy shop, Beadin By the Sea, in vacation mode, and it was absolutely glorious to do nothing but read books, explore the island and best of all, enjoy swimming in the beautiful warm Pacific Ocean.

It didn't take me long, however, to start thinking about my jewelry. While looking at the rental car map of Maui, I noticed a couple words that caught my attention- Olowalu petroglyphs, and I knew I had to go see them. These are drawings done by the ancient Hawaiians by carving into rock. The word comes from the greek words, "petros" for rock, and "glyphein" to carve.

Some of you may have seen my pendants made from precious metal clay that are engraved with an image of a Hawaiian petroglyph. I began making these when my son requested a necklace of the paddler (photo above) that was on a baseball cap we bought in Kauai. I then listed one in my shop and since then I have had requests for custom pendants- mostly the kukini runner (on right), but I've also done the paddler again and the surfer (below).

The largest concentration of petroglyphs can be found on the Big Island and they are estimated to be about 300 years old. The drawings on Maui have been hand carved into the face of Kilea, a volcanic cinder cone in the v-shaped Olowalu Valley.

Sadly, it looks like this ancient site is suffering from neglect and vandalism. A once helpful staircase in now broken and one must circumnavigate the rocks to get a closer look. There are also signs of amateur graffiti mimicking the genuine petroglyphs so one doesn't know which ones are indeed "ancient" - although it's fairly easy to tell. It's definitely not one of the main attractions of the island but we saw several couples make the 1/2 mile trek each way to view them. It is inland and much hotter without the ocean breezes so we found ourselves at Olowalu General store (at the 15 mile marker) afterward for some refreshment. If you go there you must try their Hawaiian shaved ice done the old fashioned way. My husband and son will testify that they are the best they've ever had!

Aloha, and until I have something else to say...
Have a great day!
Debora

I'M CELEBRATING....

two years on Etsy, which happens to be 2 years from starting my handmade jewelry business. I also have shops on 1000 Markets and ArtFire now, but Etsy holds a special place in my heart, because it was here into which I stumbled, and realized after being creative my whole life, that there was a place that I could sell my wares to a worldwide marketplace. Despite its flaws (which most of you Etsy sellers know about) it brings in the most traffic and generates the most sales for me.

I really got off to a snail's pace start and reached 100 sales by March 2009 when I celebrated my first year. I remember my goal was to reach 300 sales by my 2nd anniversary and I'm so happy to say that it is now well over 400. My greatest wish is that it continues to grow and I am able to channel my creative energy by doing something that I love to do!

Many thanks to all of my customers, new and returning, blog readers, family and friends who have supported and encouraged me. It's been a fun ride and I can't wait to see where it goes in the coming year.

To celebrate, I am offering free shipping to those that write "celebrate2" in the notes to seller when checking out with a purchase over $10 from my Etsy shop from March 28th through March 31, 2010. I will refund the savings promptly through Paypal. This offer is for US and Canadian customers only.


Once again, thanks so much for your support, now I'm going to see if I can find me some cake!

GO FOR SILVER... an Artbeads Product Review

Recently, I was asked by Artbeads.com to review some of their silver products from their website store. Again, I was delighted, as I already purchase many of my silver findings, beads, and chain there to create designs for my jewelry shop Beadin By The Sea.

With the opening ceremonies beginning this evening for the 2010 Winter Olympics, in my hometown Vancouver BC, I know that everyone is focusing on gold, but clearly it is silver that seems to be the metal of choice right now for jewelry wearers.

Here are some of the jewelry pieces that I created using sterling silver from their website:

The following 3 photos show earrings using an 8mm round link sterling silver chain found on Artbeads.com. This is a rather light gauge chain that I felt was a little too delicate for necklaces, but just right to make lightweight earrings. I used ball headpins and wire wrapped silver mirror beads (pic.1), amethyst rondelles (pic.2) and more twist silver beads (pic.3.) in between the links. I was able to make 3 pairs from 1 foot of the silver chain. You can find a large variety of sterling silver beads on Artbeads from plain to very fancy.

The earrings below are made with my own metal clay component and accented with ribbed barrel beads from Artbeads. Another example of the wide variety of silver beads that they carry.


Another chain I received was a foot of oval link sterling silver chain. This one is much heavier and more robust, just perfect to complete a new bracelet with a decorative oval toggle clasp made from metal clay.

Okay are you inspired now? For further inspiration and ideas check out Artbeads.com yourself. And... it looks like they are having a sale this weekend for President's Day! If you are interested in finished jewelry please check out my shops on either Etsy or ArtFire.

FTC disclaimer: I have received these products free of charge from Artbeads.com . I am honestly reviewing the products and have not been paid for this endorsement as it pertains to the products received.

WHAT'S ON YOUR WISHLIST?

Do you have them? Wishlists, I mean? You know the sites where you can save your favorites or make a wishlist?

I don't know about you but the internet has really revolutionized my way of shopping. This year marks the 10 year anniversary since we bought our first computer. I would say that my internet buying has increased exponentially since then! I never would have thought that I'd be selling jewelry via the web and shipping it all over the world either.

I live in a small town with a VERY limited selection of shops and it's exciting to know that the world is my shopping mall! Many of you reading this may have grown up in the era when you knew of no other way, but I remember having to thumb through catalogs and spending hours driving all over town looking for something specific I needed. Most of my purchases arise from careful thought, planning AND necessity. So why am I writing about wishlists?

These earrings that I made for my online shop Beadin By The Sea at the request of a customer... have reinforced something I already knew. That I need a really good pair of flush cutters. By the way I love suggestions from my customers. They have the best ideas! To make 8 nicely formed rings for these earrings I probably had to fuse twice that many. Wire and money wasted because I could not achieve a good cut with my current cutters. I've had these Tronex cutters on my wishlist for about 6 months and I finally coughed up the $60 for them and ordered them this morning. I can't wait to get them and try them out. Liz Jones recommends using them for fine silver wire fusing in her book "Silver Wire Fusing". I'll be sure to write a review when I get them since alot of you who read my blog are jewelry artists.

So, since we are talking about shopping and wishlists I'll share with you some other items on my wishlist. Here we go...

Paragon SC2 Digital Kiln for PMC: Approx. $600

Big ticket item here. This kiln would allow me to fire many PMC pieces at one time. I could also make larger pieces even 3 dimensional ones.

Or perhaps the Ultra Lite Beehive Kiln: Approx $200



A lower price tag makes this more affordable but it does not have a digital thermometer. It's also very small, that plate is about 3 inches across!

And then there is the issue of a new bicycle. I gave away my mountain bike when we moved 2 years ago and I haven't replaced it yet. My wishlist includes getting a "Giant" mountain bike since both my husband and son have one. Which one do you like? I like the price of the Boulder but the color of the Rincon. Oh, what to do!

Rincon Women's: MSRP $540.

Boulder SE W: $350












As you can see, I won't be asking my husband for baubles and clothes this Christmas. Bring on the tools Honey!

CHECKING IN...

I know I've been scarce lately. I can't really explain why except that we have a lot of projects going on around the house inside and out and ,well, the weather has been so nice! I've noticed a few of you have visited and I'm sorry there hasn't been anything new to read. We've been having some landscaping done in our yard, new carpet installed and while I'm not doing the work, of course I need to supervise!

Track season is also winding down so I'm looking forward to seeing more of my son, not driving everywhere for meets and and more importantly not standing out shivering in the rain for 3 hours anymore. We have the finals today and I'm elated to say that it is actually sunny!


The quilted pillow sham project for my son's bed is now finished, you remember the one that I told you about a few weeks ago where I had to rip out all my quilting stitches? Please tell me it looks like Pottery Barn because that was my inspiration. Now I'm feeling motivated to finish a sweater I started knitting last year. When I finish one project I always seem find another one that's incomplete! The disadvantages of being crafty I suppose!

Sales in my shop have been pretty steady this month, and while I won't be paying the mortgage with my profits anytime soon, I'm feeling good about the way it's going. I just added these necklaces to my shop which I've called "Alpha Pendants". The initial is stamped while the Metal clay is in the "wet stage", dried, filed and then fired. I dug through my old scrapbooking supplies for the rubber stamps that I'm using, how fun (and practical) is that? I sold my first pendant within a few days so that's always a plus! Here's a photo of the pendants I've made so far, with the first one being shipped today.

Sorry about my randomness, but that's a little how I'm feeling right now! How have you been in your part of the world? Are you getting out to enjoy the warmer weather, or finishing some projects as well?

PS: Don't you just love my new shoes. I resisted buying Mary Janes for so long but now I think I'm going to live in flats from now on!

THE LUCKY WINNER IS...

Today is the day we find out who is the winner of these handmade fine silver earrings from my shop Beadin' By The Sea. First of all I want to say "Happy Mother's Day" to you all! I also would like to thank all of you who wrote in and bragged about your mothers. I was excited to receive 117 entries in all.

Some of the heartfelt comments really brought tears to my eyes, reminding me that I am not the only one who lost her mom at a young age. There are many of you out there who are also going through a tough time and being a support for Moms who are ill and my heart goes out to you. It was a comfort to me to hear the comments from those whose Moms are still around and how much you appreciate what they do and let them know while you still can.

So now let's see who won! My son drew the lucky number out of this handturned bowl.

It looks like the 72nd comment belongs to Brenda, congratulations! Here is what she wrote,

Again, I like to thank all of those who participated... and I hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day!

NO TIME FOR SLEEP!

Just a reminder that if you haven't entered yet for my Mother's Day Giveaway Contest then click here. The drawing will be tomorrow May 10th, 2009 at 4:00 PM PST.

So brag on your Mother and let me know why she is so special! Your entry just may be drawn to win these beautiful "Forget Me Not" Fine Silver PMC Earrings, available in my shop Beadin By The Sea.

MOTHER'S DAY GIVEAWAY/CONTEST

As promised, I'm excited to announce my latest giveaway for Mother's Day! These beautiful "Forget Me Not Earrings" are a new design for my shop, BeadinByTheSea. I thought these would be an appropriate choice as they were one of my mother's favorite flowers and I think of her everytime I see them bloom in the Spring.

Sadly, when I was in my early twenties, I lost my mom to cancer. It was difficult to be without a mother at such a young age especially as I was just beginning a new career and my adult life. Even though it's been almost 20 years since her death, I often think of how much she has influenced my life. I credit her with giving me a love for creativity. She was always trying something new and encouraged me to explore new crafts often bringing me home craft kits to try. I would sit and watch her sew and be fascinated with how things are put together. She taught me how to knit and crochet and played a huge part in fostering my love of sewing which I further pursued by obtaining a degree in Fashion Design.

I miss her dearly and so I dedicate this giveaway to her loving memory.

And now for the contest rules:

1. Leave your name and email address or a link to your blog along with a comment telling me what you love about your Mom. Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post to see the comment box. Comments without contact information will be discarded.

2. Come back on Mother's Day, May 10th to see if you've won.

3. Entries close at 4:00 PM PST.

4. Open worldwide to anyone age 18+.

5. If you can't wait until Mother's Day, these earrings are available for purchase in my shop.

Meanwhile, if you are blessed to still have your Mother, I encourage you to take the time to express to her how much you love and appreciate her!

ROUND AND ROUND

Round and round she goes, when she stops nobody knows.

These earrings I just made yesterday really represent how I feel this week. Between feeding a large group of teenage boys on Tuesdays for youth group, hosting an adult bible study group on Wednesdays, being a wife and mom and keeping tabs on my jewelry shop (3 online venues) sometimes I feel like I'm running in five directions at once. I know most of it is self inflicted but I want to DO IT ALL! Do you feel ever feel like that?

In order for me to stop, I think I need to go somewhere without a computer so I can't find Twitter, Facebook, Etsy, 1000 Markets, ArtFire, Flickr, and Blogger. I know I would twitch for a while but pretty soon I might find time to relax and even escape into a good book. Well, maybe a good "Learn a New Jewelry Technique" or "How to grow your online business" book. Would that be a good compromise?

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

I am so excited about the response I received to my second "Where in the World Giveaway Contest"! I received 199 comments in all which is an almost fourfold increase over my first contest. I also want to thank those that wrote lovely compliments about my jewelry.

Okay, first the answer. The photo was taken at Kilauea Lighthouse in Kauai, Hawaii. There were quite a few that guessed correctly. I guess the photo is not close-up enough to show the tropical vegetation because many of the entries guessed Ireland and Maine. If you'd like more information on this beautiful place here is the link to the website.

I thought it would be fitting to use this gorgeous hand turned bowl that I received as a gift from our friend Nathan to hold all 199 numbers . My son drew the winning number once again.

And now here is the lucky number:141

After much counting back and forth I've found the 141st entry: joannaonthelake

Congratulations Joanna! Not only will you find out where this picture was taken, but you'll be receiving this lovely necklace!

Again, I like to thank all of those who participated. I'm planning on having another giveaway to be drawn on May 10th, Mother's Day so keep checking back. In the meantime I can make more "Island Girl" necklaces if you'd like to purchase one. You may visit my shop Beadin' By The Sea by clicking here or the picture of the necklace to go directly to the listing.

Have a great Saturday everyone and Happy Easter too!

SWEETNESS OF SMALL...

Or how about itty bitty? I have to admit that lately I've been thinking small, well at least with some of my jewelry designs that is! I've been adding to my collection of clay cutters and I just received some flower shapes. The charms below are PMC pieces before being fired and they range from about 3/16" to 5/8". The larger flowers are going to be made into earrings but the rest will be put on hoops made from Argentium Sterling Silver wire.


And here are the small flowers after being fired, tumbled and oxidized. Sweet!

So now I have hearts, dots and flowers. I think stars may be next. What kind of shapes do you like? Do you tend to wear chunky jewelry or like to keep things small? I'd love to hear your input in the comments below.

THERE IS A WORLD OUT THERE NECKLACE GIVEAWAY CONTEST #2

My first giveaway/contest was so much fun last month, I've finally gathered my thoughts and put together another one. This one will be drawn April 11th, 2009 at 12 noon and it is open worldwide.

"Island Girl"

This fine silver pendant is handmade from Precious Metal Clay. I use a paper pattern I've drawn, roll out the clay and cut around the shape. The piece is left to dry, sanded and then fired to be 99.9% pure silver. I then give it a patina and polish the high spots. Click on the photo for more details in my shop.

Here are the contest rules to win this beautiful "Island Girl" necklace from my shop Beadin By The Sea :
1. Leave your name and email address or a link to your blog along with a wild guess of where the "Where in the world" photo was taken (shown below).

You don't have to be correct to win! Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post to see the comment box.

2. Come back on the day before Easter, April 11th to see if you've won. You will have 3 days to claim your prize.

Keep those guesses coming and don't be afraid to take a stab at it.

WHERE IN THE WORLD PHOTO:

Have fun guessing and try to get outside to enjoy all the beautiful spots in your part of the world!

By the way, if you can't wait for the contest to end, this necklace is available for purchase. Just click on the necklace photo to go to my shop. I'll just have to make another one for the lucky winner!

UPDATE: April 11th
Thanks to everyone for entering my contest. I've picked the lucky winner!
You can read about it by clicking here.

THINKING ABOUT SPRING

As the snow is gently falling outside and we are getting ready for Spring forward on our clocks tonight, something just doesn't seem right! It should feel like Spring! It's time to put our turtleneck and sweaters away and put on some short sleeves already.

In anticipation of warmer days ahead, I was inspired to incorporate leaves and flowery blooms into some new necklace designs. I noticed that I had three times as many earrings in my shop, Beadin By The Sea, as necklaces. I do sell more earrings online and a lot more necklaces in person. I'm still not sure why this is so, but I do know that I wear more necklaces in the spring and summer because I'm not so covered up.

Since I enjoy digital scrapbooking so much, I thought I'd share some new necklace designs I've been working on in a scrapbook page format. I'm still having fun fusing fine silver wire and since I have a fascination with leaves I've stamped them as well. All of these necklaces feature either a petal shape or some sort of leaf in my anticipation of warmer, greener and more flowery days ahead!

Enjoy the longer days, and Spring will be here before we know it!

WHERE IN THE WORLD PHOTO #4...and GIVEAWAY CONTEST

Here's my cat Ace, looking out the window once again wondering where in the world I'm going to take you this week for my giveaway contest! There are only a few days left to enter before I draw a name on Valentines Day February 14th. I guess last week's photo was a little harder than I thought. Bunny B was the closest guess with Parikia, Greece. The windmill threw many of your off, but it was taken on the island of Mykonos in Greece. I took a wonderful cruise around the Mediterranean Sea a number of years ago.
Can you take a wild guess where Where in the World Photo #4 was taken?

Here's the contest rules to win my Argentium Sterling silver "Modern Simplicity" earrings shown to your right from my shop Beadin By The Sea :

1. Leave your name and email address or a link to your blog along with a wild guess of where the "Where in the world" photo was taken. You don't have to be correct to win! Click on "comments" at the bottom of this post to see the comment box.

2. Come back on Valentine's Day, February 14th to see if you've won. You will have 3 days to claim your prize.

Keep those guesses coming and don't be afraid to take a stab at it. I'm enjoying all the comments and speculation and I can't wait to give someone some free earrings!

Click here to go to last weeks Photo #3.

COMPARISON OF RING SIZING CHARTS

Do you know what your ring size is? I hadn't given it much thought since picking out my wedding ring years ago. I don't wear a lot of rings, but lately I've become very interested in making them for my online shops using PMC (precious metal clay) and fine silver. In my effort to make choosing a size as easy as possible for customers, I thought I would come up with a simple chart that I could reference to custom fit their rings.

I had no idea this was going to be such a confusing task. I've looked all over the internet for information and found that many of the charts out there are all over the map! To investigate this further, I also visited a professional jeweller at our local fine jewelry shop to compare the sizes on my rings and see if it matched the ring mandrel I just purchased.

Here is a chart I came up with that represents the most consistent numbers:

Here are the most common methods to determine ring size:

CIRCUMFERENCE METHOD (If you don't have a ring to reference)
1. Cut a narrow strip of paper 1/4" wide by 5" long.
2. Wrap it snugly around your finger. Use a pencil to draw a line where the ends overlap.
3. Find the closest measurement (in MM) on the sizing chart. This is the circumference of your finger.

EXISTING RING DIAMETER METHOD (More accurate)
1. Find a ring that fits your finger comfortably.
2. Take an accurate metal ruler and measure the inside diameter in MM.
3. Compare to the chart above.

SOME POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND:

1. If your knuckle is a lot larger than the base of the finger, measure both sizes and select a size in between.
2. If you're buying a wide band, you will probably need a size larger for a comfortable fit.
3. Your fingers are usually larger on your dominant hand, up to a full size.
4. The average woman's finger is size 6. The average man's finger is size 10.
5. Your fingers change size during the day, depending on your diet and may even be larger in summer when temps are higher or if you live in a humid climate.
6. If you can, get help with measuring for better accuracy.
7. Visit your local jeweller and they will be happy to help you try on ring sizers to get the most accurate reading.

Hopefully this will help you feel more comfortable buying rings online. Make sure to check the chart on each website you may be purchasing from because the numbers do vary. It certainly was a good exercise for me to make sense of all the charts out there and to try to come up with one for my shop.

I have to give credit to these sites for my research: Amazon.com, Bluenile.com and Zales.com.

Each of these sites have a page dedicated to determining your ring size.

SAME TIME, LAST YEAR

I'm in the mood to "muse" this morning. Would you like to "take a walk" with me and my thoughts?

Do you ever stop to think about what you were doing the same time last year? Or two years ago? I think we tend to do this more when we've had significant changes in our lives. As a family, our lives have gone through a few twists and turns the last few years!

It occurred to me yesterday as I was making a new necklace to add to my Etsy shop. Someone suggested to me on the forums that I name it "Hawaiian Sunset" because of the tropical flower pendant I had made, combined with the colors of pink, peach and tangerine orange. I realized that this very day last year we were on our way to the beautiful island of Kauai for a much needed vacation. But that's not all! Last year at this time we had just lost our beloved little kitty named Cleo. We had moved from Washington State to Kansas in March and were just settling into a new house. Well where does that lead to now?

...A total turnaround! It sounds crazy, but we have sold our house and are moving again in a few weeks. Yikes! Talk about twists and turns! There are a lot of things we love about Kansas, but we miss our little town in Northwest Washington more. I will miss the Midwest thunderstorms, the fabulous shopping in Kansas City, the bright sunshine, the many varieties of colorful birds, wide open spaces, the beautiful manicured golf course neighborhood I live in, and mostly being a little closer to my husbands side of the family! I have to say I will not miss the summer heat and humidity, the thunderstorms (I know I said I like them too), the gigantic bugs, the busy traffic, freezing cold winters and a few other things I won't mention, but all in all it has been a great experience for me. I have always lived on the West Coast, either in British Columbia or Washington.

Take a moment and think about where you've been, where you are now and where you'd like to be a year from now. A whole lot can happen in a year. Just ask me, I really, really know!