Time to Catch Up!

Wow, obviously I've been away from my blog for a while...a long while! A lot has happened, some good, some not good. My Mom passed away in August 2011, and it took 3 months to get her house cleaned out and get my Dad into full time care. He has Alzheimer's. Also lots of trips to the lawyer who is probating my parents' estate. I stepped down as Captain of the Etsy Beagles Team, but luckily, another team member has taken over. I still update the Beagles blog (link on sidebar). Then, it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's....Whew! Well, it's Leap Day today, so I'm leaping into the blogging again! I've listed some new things in my Etsy shop; mostly vintage. I have some new necklaces that I made, but no photos yet, except for the one named "Vicious," that is listed in my Etsy shop. I have serious "cabin fever" now, even though our Ohio winter was not bad at all; can't wait to get out in my garden again! I hope everyone's 2012 has been and continues to be a good year!

Yes, I'm blogging

Unbelievable, but true, I'm actually blogging. Of course, it's about my beagle, Flash, wearing his new "Rock Star" dog collar. Since my eldest son's in a band, it's too perfect; has little electric guitars and the words "Rock Star" all the way around it. I got it from Etsy shop and Beagles team member Cody's Creations. Flash believes he is a big celeb now!

On May 7th, I'll be rockin' a show at the Trumbull Art Guild. I love doing the art shows at TAG; there are so many fantastic artists there; not just jewelry artisans, like me, but all kinds of media! If you live in the Youngstown-Warren OH area, stop in and see for yourself. Great time to buy that special OOAK gift for Mom!

Whazitcalled?

I made a necklace with some really pretty stone beads I bought. They were labeled lapis, but I don't think so, unless they're a lower grade. They have a lot of white in them for lapis lazuli, and no gold flecks either. And, the coloring is more blue-grey than a true lapis blue. I'm thinking the beads are either sodalite or even dyed howlite, because of the veining. I really want to list this necklace in my Etsy shop, but I need to have an accurate description. I'm a bead-lady, not really a gemstone expert, so any help would be appreciated! THANKS! Linda

Ready for Fall!

It's been a crazy summer, and it flew by. My son is settled in at college, and this month I've been inspired to start making jewelry again. Making I can do; photographing...not so much. I always seem to get frustrated with my photos. I'm too picky. I did get some new listings in my Etsy shop, and hopefully I can get more listed soon. Meanwhile, we are getting cold nights here in Ohio, and the leaves are falling already. It's been hard getting all my summer garden decorations put away. At first, I didn't want to admit that fall was here. As I packed up my "summer stuff," though, I started getting excited about hauling all my fall decor out and setting up my big front porch for Halloween! I LOVE Halloween, maybe because I'm an October baby myself. Speaking of babies, my beagle, Flash, seems to find the cooler weather much to his liking! He wants longer walks than he did when we had 90 degree temps, and I must agree that it is more pleasant to walk him when we both aren't panting! My Etsy Beagles team is getting ready for our fall challenge, and our theme is "Halloween Treats." We will be holding our blog giveaway (see the Etsy Beagles link on the sidebar to view our Beagles Team blog) Oct. 13th-16th, and one of our team members will be donating the prize again.

Spring! The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I finally got outdoors today to clean out my flower beds. They were still full of leaves from what we couldn't get last autumn. It was sunny and in the 60's! Pure joy for Ohio in March, especially after the tons of snow we had in February! As I worked, I felt the sun on my back. It was heavenly. Flash (my beagle, for those of you who don't know), was content to lie on the front porch in the sun, and watch me work.
It didn't feel like work at all, though. It felt like a cleansing - my flower beds were being cleansed of the remnants of past colder seasons, and my body was getting a much-needed dose of vitamin D, and some exercise. I raked away the leaves gently, hoping against hope that something just might be blooming under them. Suddenly, there they were! Bright yellow, vibrant purple, and sparkling white snow crocuses were smiling up at me! They were good.
I noticed one independant yellow crocus had somehow crept underground, out of the flower bed, and decided to come up through the vintage heater grates that I painted to use as stepping stones to the water faucet. Although I admired the flower's free-spirit, I know it will probably get trampled. That's bad.
Saving the worst till last, I must confess that the ugly tire track in the ugly mud on the side of our driveway is my doing. One negative thing about Spring in Ohio is the mud. It's ugly. The snow is still somewhat piled up to the left-top of the photo. When we have huge piles of the snow after my husband shovels, it acts like a barricade when I back out of the driveway (on the right of the mud-track). Once the "wall" melts, I back out a little faster and less carefully. Every single spring since we've lived here (oh, about 15 years), my poor husband has to smooth out the tire track and plant grass seed there...again. I live dangerously even having this picture. I'm sure it would be solid grounds for divorce. I can just hear my hubby: "And, your honor, she has done this EVERY SPRING for fifteen years!"
Hopefully, the fact that I take care of the house and garden, and actually enjoy yard-work (except for planting grass seed), will save me from appearing in court. :)

Happy spring, everyone!

I'm on Zibbet, too!

I'm still selling on Etsy, and my main shop is there, but I decided to try Zibbet and see what happens. So far, I like some things about Zibbet very much, but also have found some things I dislike. Right now it's "wait and see" with Zibbet. The site still is in Beta. Check out the cute link boxes on the side bar here. They do let you have those for free, and it's sort of like the Etsy Mini. The link to my Zibbet store (box with the clothesline) is right under my Etsy Shop slideshow, and the box with the easel takes you to the Zibbet home page.
I'm MsAnomaly on both sites! :)

Beagle Angel

My Mom loved the Snow Queen beagle so much, she wanted one for herself. I made a Beagle Angel last year, and she requested an angel ornament. I bought another beagle head bead from NanjoDogz, and here is this year's Beagle Angel, and my mother's Christmas gift! ;)

Beagles, Snow Queens, and Kings

This ornament is my entry for the Etsy Beagles Street Team's "Happy Howl-i-days" winter team challenge. The bead is made by Etsy artist NanjoDogz. I've previously used 2 other beagle head beads from Nancy to make other beagle figures. I love the detail in her beads. You can see how beagle-like the little Snow Queen bead is, when compared to my beagle, Flash, aka king of all furniture. He loves to knock the back seat cushion down on this chair in front of our picture window, and lie on it to observe the comings and goings within his kingdom. I hope you enjoyed seeing the Snow Queen ornament, and my spoiled little guy, too!

Shameless promotion: the Beagle Snow Queen ornament is currently for sale in my Etsy shop. I will donate a portion of its sale to the local Animal welfare League of Trumbull Co., OH! :0)

White and Brass

Some more necklaces I made; white and brass .

Skulls that were

I wish my supplier of these carved wood skulls hadn't gone out of business! :( I bought as many of these as I could afford at the time (this was a couple of years ago), but when I went to get more recently, the seller was gone. These skulls are sooooo cool! They are made from carved wood, natural color, unstained. Although the light color of the wood resembles bone, I think the detail is so much better than the carved bone skulls and not as "Halloweenish" (aka cheap looking) as the plastic skull beads. I created these to sell on eBay, before I discovered Etsy, and sold them all really fast! They actually were a lot nicer than these "pre-photoshop days" photos show. I'd love to make some more necklaces like them, but only these skulls will do! If anyone can tell me where to get the carved wood skulls, I would greatly appreciate it! :)

More Colassal Flops Yay

Tried these in my Etsy shop. Didn't sell a single one. The pendants are from Los Angeles, bought at a flea market. They are made from brass bullet shell casings that have been melted down and re-cast. I made the necklaces using vintage beads, jewelry findings, and my 2 hands. The necklace designs are from my itty bitty head. So much for my creativity. Anyway, here are what I call the Ladies from L.A. Meh

Just wondering....

I've been thinking a lot about my jewelry-making ways. I just can't seem to figure out what makes my jewelry so unsellable. I like to do necklaces in different styles, use different materials, and therefore have a wide range of choices in my Etsy shop. Maybe a bad idea? I'm wondering if I should make one "kind" of necklace only, and see if having a certain "style" would help my sales. Maybe I'm confusing people. If they are looking for a certain type of necklace, probably nobody would say," Hey, MsAnomaly makes those. I'll look in her shop!" Nope, probably not. It's because I don't make only "those." I make summa them, fewa that, couple'a this, a buncha these, and of course, those, too.

My biggest problem with sticking to one style of jewelry; boredom. My boredom. When I make the same thing over and over and over, it gets tedious, I get bored (there's no challenge anymore), and then I hate doing it. It's work, not fun. It's production, not art. It's efficiency, not creativity. I was not made to be cranking out identical items like a one-woman jewelry factory.

O.K. , maybe I'm being selfish and unfair to my family. Maybe I should throw all my necklaces to the crowds at the next Mardi Gras parade, be rid of them, and get that "real" job. Maybe not.

Truth is, I have a "passion." I really, really love taking discarded old jewelry and other vintage stuff, trying to fit it all together into an interesting design, and bringing all the pieces back as something new and unique. The necklaces shown here are some of the ones I had the the most fun making. I thought, "Oh, this will sell!" I thought wrong. So, I've kept them, and I wear them, and when I do, people say, "Oh, I love your necklace!" I tell them I made it, and it is for sale. When I tell them the price, I get instant hesitation. So, I give them one of my business cards for my Etsy shop. Doesn't seem to work. Few views; few sales. Are my prices too high? From what I've read in the Etsy forums, the "holy grail" is: Don't underprice your merchandise! Gee, I don't even factor in minimum wage for myself in the cost of the necklaces! I work for nothin'! I just can't figure out where I've gone so terribly wrong.

Another thing, I am recycling. That's supposed to be a big thing right now. Nobody seems to realize that, but I am SERIOUSLY recycling. What can you do with a broken old brooch? an old toy? a lone earring? some strangely ugly yet beautifully interesting beads? a space shuttle? ;) I love that challenge. It's what drives my creativity. Plus, it's a lot more fun than buying packages of new beads and stringing them one, two; bead, spacer; blah, blah; zzzz, zzzz.

Maybe it's me. I'm just not a "dinky pendant on a plain chain," or "plain string of pearls" kinda girl. I like unique (overused word, I know, but it's the best there is for what I make). Am I putting too much of "me" into my jewelry? I don't know if I could put much of anybody else into it...after all, I am the artisan! Sigh. Sigh, sigh, sigh. Well, I guess all frustration aside, I'll just keep doing what I love to do, and know how to do. I'll hold on to the ideology/illusion that I can make interesting jewelry. Maybe when I'm dead it'll sell like hotcakes. Joy.

Etsy Beagle Street Team "Puppy Love" challenge

This nice photo collection of the challenge entries was made by Beagles team member Frumsglassmenagerie. Thanks so much, Sue; it is totally cool! :0)

I am so happy to see the entries for this month's Beagles team challenge! You can visit our team's blog and enter our team's first prize giveaway contest! http://etsybeagles.blogspot.com/2009/02/enter-first-ever-etsy-beagles-team.html

This is our fourth team challenge, and it's been such fun taking part in them! The theme is always different, and each team member must create an item based upon the challenge theme. This month we chose "Puppy Love" as our theme, since Valentine's day is right around the corner! Here is the final list of entries for the Beagles team "Puppy Love" challenge:

dogsrule, Puppy Love Heart Blanket for Dogs:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19645422

MsAnomaly, Puppies in Love Necklace:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19689522

cutiepiecompany, snow day gocco print:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19729603

creativecomforts07, Puppy Love ear warmer for dogs:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19836879

fatbasset, Puppy Love Beagle Paper Ornament:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19868243

kookyhandbags, Scotty/Checky dog plush/pillow:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19997841

pineapplesugar, Beagle Love necklace:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20504442

CodysCloset, Red Heart Dog Bone Placemat:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=1894185

Frumsglassmenagerie, Paw Print Cell Phone Charm:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20847357

New From Old

I've recently decided to dig into my "parts box" and try to combine some of the broken vintage brooches, lone earrings, vintage buttons, and unusual findings into a cohesive necklace. It's been interesting, and I've actually used my pliers a lot more than I do for my beaded necklaces! Honestly, I really am not crazy about head pins, eye pins, jump rings, and wire cutters, but I figure I might as well work on becoming a little more adept at using them. I also get more satisfaction from making these "new" jewelry pieces, because most are compilations of things that would have probably been tossed out as useless. shudder, shudder. That so goes against the grain for me. If it's vintage, and pretty, and most of all unique, it's not useless; it just needs reinvented! So, here are a few of my recent attempts. I've not sold any from my Etsy shop yet, though they are all listed there now. http://www.MsAnomaly.etsy.com I realize many people don't look at vintage the way I do (TREASURE!). The necklaces certainly are unique, though, and creative...I think, and it's also a great way to follow the 3 R's of recycling. I hope you like them. :)

Third Team Challenge and 2 Successes!

Oh, so busy over the holidays! Cleaning, decorating, baking, baking, baking! I was also sick with bronchitis for two weeks before Christmas, though I ignored it until I finally felt so horrible I did go to the Dr. Many meds got me finally feeling better, but not 100%. Good enough to finally get something posted here, though! I would like to share the item I made for the third Etsy Beagle Street Team's challenge. The theme was "Warm Winter Wishes," and I purchased the beagle-head bead on my ornament entry from Etsy bead artist NanjoDogz. It is the second time I have used one of her beagle beads in my designs, and I absolutely love the details and expressive little beagle faces! I named this entry "Angeleagle." Since so many dogs are beagle mixes, the names for them are just adorable: puggles, bagles, poogles....well, my ornament is a beagle and an angel, so Angeleagle! I am happy to report that she was purchased and "flew" to Florida. I think she will enjoy the climate there much more than what she dealt with in Ohio! After the New Year, my autumn challenge necklace, with the Bronze Beagle pendant (see previous post) was also purchased. Bronze Beagle moved to Texas. Looks like my beagle jewelry is seeking warmer climates. I don't blame them! I'd like to thank the two ladies who purchased these challenge entries. I have donated the stated percentage of each sale to our local Animal Welfare League, a non-kill shelter and adoption center for abandoned dogs and cats. I know the Trumbull Co. AWL greatly appreciates all donations, and I am happy to do my part to ensure that all their wards get a fair chance at finding a happy loving home. Paws Up to my 2 customers who made this donation possible in such financially difficult times; Paws Up to the AWL for continuing their good work; Paws Up to NanjoDogz for sharing her talents and allowing me to make my beagle jewelry; Paws Up to my dear Etsy Beagles team; and Paws Up to my sweet beagle Flash, my inspiration! I wish everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year, and thank all of you for taking a little time to read my blog! :0)

Finally Back!

Hello, all! I know I am behind on updating this blog, so here goes! The Etsy Beagle Street team, which I belong to, has had two team challenges. The entries have been really great, and you can see them at our team's blog: http://etsybeagles.blogspot.com/ Here are the two I made for the challenges. The first challenge was in August, and the theme was "Dog Days of Summer." I made this Victorian Summer blue vintage glass and brass findings necklace. I purchased the findings from Etsian amuzemee's shop. An old clip-on earring, sans clip, is the focal piece of this necklace. The earrings colors matched the brass and glass beads "just right!" The second Autumn/Fall challenge had the theme "Hounds and Harvest." I used my stash of vintage carved bone tube beads, vintage bakelite and lucite beads, small vintage "root beer" glass beads, and this wonderful jewelers bronze pendant that I purchased from eBay seller celticmorph. The little beaded dangles above the pendant help transition the large size of the pendant from the necklace strands. Plus, I just kinda liked doing that! :) The team is going to have a winter/holidays challenge with the theme of "Warm Winter Wishes." It will be starting Nov. 1st, and I've already got "my plan" for my entry.

Link to my Bronze Beagle Necklace
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15149760

Link to my Victorian Summer Necklace
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14569650

The Coral Collection

For a while, I was making jewelry with red branch coral. My sister wanted some custom pieces done, and sent me some coral - too much coral! :) It had been sitting around for quite a while, and I wanted to pair it up with something different, but nothing seemed to be "right." A friend of mine gave me some seashells from her vacation at Myrtle Beach. These weren't the kind of shells you buy at tourist shops. They were much better! I instantly fell in love with the texture of these really worn shell pieces. They had been tumbled by nature, and the sand and salt-water had left small holes in them. They screamed "organic," and were a perfect match with my red coral. Great pendants! Stringing them together and getting the coral pieces to "hug" the shells was not as easy as I thought it would be. I use monofilament line for most of my jewelry. I like it because it's strong, lays more softly, like string, and holds a nice tight knot. I ended up trying each pendant combo several times, then found it was best to actually "hand-sew" the shell and coral together. The coral had been machine-drilled, I assume, but not the shells. The little holes drilled by nature did not go straight through,; some were "foolers," and didn't go through the shell completely at all. I finally discovered that holding the shell in front of my work-light would let me see the tiny holes straight through, and also what angle they were. I decided that in starting with a long section of monofilament, I could sew the pendant pieces together, then continue beading small shells, stone chips, or beads up the same strand. It took time! Anyway, here are the end results, and I hope you enjoy them!

Eco-Critters

Here are a few of my new necklaces. I call them Eco-Critters, since the animals have been upcycled to pendants (I have no idea what their original use was). I loved their colors and details. They are good with big beads; the pendants themselves are about 4." Definitely just-for-fun necklaces, and for sale in my Etsy shop!