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New life of old earrings

Recently a friend of my friend has brought me a pair of old vintage earrings (Sterling silver, labradorite and pearls) and asked me to create an unusual piece of jewelry using those earrings.

Create a new pair of earrings using the old ones? Oh, no! I decided to keep the old design, and put the earrings together on a blank beadwoven bracelet. I picked up seed beads matching labradorite and pearls for the bracelet, and added a few seed bead branches with amethyst rounds, pearls and some gemstone chips. So, here we are!

Giveaway Feature - Meri Greenleaf

This Giveaway Has Been Closed

Check Back Each Monday for a New Giveaway!

And During the Week for Promotions Ideas,

And Lots of Other Fun Stuff!

I'm very excited about this giveaway! Meri is one of my best friends. We've never met in person, but between a thousand and one e-mails, and a few phone calls, she's been there for me through thick and thin.

Jolly Roger - Pirate Cartilage Ear Cuff

Where can we find your work and what do you create?

I'm on Etsy (http://merigreenleaf.etsy.com) and Artfire (http://merigreenleaf.artfire.com), and I have a shop on Zibbet, too (http://www.zibbet.com/merigreenleaf), but I don't have as much stuff there. I make a random assortment of things, but almost everything is fantasy-inspired: cartilage earrings and ear cuffs, chainmaille, hemp jewelry, geeky keychains and phone charms (multi-sided dice- yay!), elf (and various other creature) ears and dragon horns, fantasy dolls, runestones, and lately I've started making framed fantasy embroidery, too. I have a very short attention span, in case it wasn't obvious. ;)
What's your favorite part about being an independent artist?

Being able to make what I want to make- and being able to earn some money. I have health problems so I can't hold a regular job right now, so my online shops and craft shows are my only form of income at the moment.
Where do you find your inspiration?

Fantasy (especially “The Lord of the Rings”), literature (need to use my BA in English somehow!), mythology (usually Greek and some Celtic), Dungeons and Dragons... I'm a geek and I'm proud of it! I also get inspiration from nature- trees, forests and the ocean in particular. I'm a geeky elf-girl. ;)

What advice would you give to other artists?

Make what you want to make- create to make yourself happy, not to make what you think others will like. There will be people out there interested in what you do, even if you think you're the only person who would want it. And where's the fun in not making what you love? Follow your muse, fickle though it may be. :)

Asian Zen Cartilage Earring

Now for the Giveaway!

Meri is giving you an option to pick any earring from her shop!
Here's what she says:

I'm giving away a chain earring or an ear cuff of your choice from the earring section of my shop:
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&sc_id=56488&seller_id=30196&op=new
For the chain ones, I can replace the pierced post with a slip-on cuff on the top, so don't worry if you don't have your cartilage pierced. I can even make the bottom post a clip-on if you have no piercings, or you can just go with a simple ear cuff earring- anyone can wear those.

So how can you win?

1. Comment on this entry
2. Share your favorite item from her shop (scroll up for link)
3. Plurk or twitter about it and leave a comment with link.
4. Blog about it and leave a comment with link
5. Purchase an item from her shop (for 5 entries) (link above)

Important: All entries must be submitted by comments on this blog post.
I'm keeping track of the entries, so telling Meri about them won't help :P

Interested in doing an artist feature/giveaway on this blog? Just let me know!

And there is still a sale going in my shop! 15% off at Rose Works Jewelry :)

Wordless Wednesday: Red Nose Day earrings

Carnelian beads and sterling silver earwires. Only £5 on Folksy, with a donation of £3 to Comic Relief for every pair sold.

Wordless Wednesday: Red Nose Day earrings

Carnelian beads and sterling silver earwires. Only £5 on Folksy, with a donation of £3 to Comic Relief for every pair sold.

Earring Cards Tutorials

I use these little ones to display my earrings. I buy them in packs, not too expensive, but the cost still adds up to the price of the pieces and I don’t want that. I have to make the earrings more presentable when I offer them to my clients or when I have them in display so I still need to have these earring holders, but the added expense bothers me.

Good thing I was able to find great tutorials on how to make my own earring card holders.

Here goes...

Lazy Daisy Glass' Tutorial - Earring Cards/Display

second surf's Earring Card Tutorial

and Beadin' By The Sea's How to make your own earring cards

Don't they look cool?

Now that I have ideas on how to make an earring card, I can now make my own, less expensive and makes my handmade earrings totally handmade, even with the packaging.

...and to top it off, here's a free video tutorial from Off The Beaded path on how to make Baroque Sparkle Earrings to go with your earring cards.

Rhombus Rumba Crystal Chain Maille Earrings

A full color step-by-step instructions on how to create a lovely pair of Rhombus Rumba Crystal Chain Maille Earrings with simple pliers and cutters from Venus in Chains.

Click here to buy now!

Download lots of free jewelry making tutorials at DiyLessons! Are you a jewelry (jewellery) making teacher/ tutor? You can also list your tutorials here too.Don't miss a post! Subscribe to Handmade Jewelry Club by Email FREE

Featured Design: Daisy Spacers and Crystal Earrings

Beads, some beads and more beads… when it comes to jewelry making, the first thing that comes to our minds are beads. Yup! Surely, beads are the superstar for most handmade jewelers, but let’s not forget about the supporting actresses and actors, the jewelry findings, especially those cute little spacers.

...and here are some of the casts inside my jewelry box production.

I think they are important, too. I often experience that whenever I try to make a piece, I tend to forget about these cute little ones. There are times that I try hard to make a design, focusing only on the beads, but can’t come up with a good design. And then I would try putting on some spacers and voila! I have created an entirely new piece.

Let’s make the spacers the star for today!

Here’s a great design for an earring using daisy spacers from Donna of THIS YEAR’S DOZENblog.

Isn’t it a great idea?

Now, if I am going to make this earring, I wouldn’t think of using the spacers to fill up or cover the string wire. I think what most jewelers would do is fill the strings with seed beads. ButDonna is really creative in coming up with this design.

I bet you want to try it out like I do, so, let’s prepare the materials that we need and follow thefree tutorial that THIS YEAR’S DOZEN has created for us.

Here’s also a free video from Karla of Auntie’s Beads compiled at DiyLessons on

Spacer Bar Bracelet Video.

Big Rose Flowers with Polymer Clay

Learn how to make big statement flowers with polymer clay fromBoopagril1010. The tutorial is suitable for all learning levels.

Click here to buy now!

First Giveaway of the YEAR!!!

Who's Ready for a GIVEAWAY??? I know I am :)

I've decided it's time to start doing regular giveaway's! Everyone like's getting things with out spending money right? And what woman doesn't want more jewelry? So the plan is to do one about every 4 weeks (about once a month) and I'll be giving away a wide variety fun gifts!

What will I be giving away? This round I'm giving away 3 pairs of earrings valued $15 total! In the future - who knows? Just about anything is possible!

So how can you win the above pair of earrings and two more surprise earrings? Simple! The first, and easiest way to enter the contest is to simply leave a comment on this post - just make sure I can reach you either through a follow back link to your blog or by leaving your e-mail address.

But wait, there's more! There are a LOT of ways you can get entries into this contest! Here they are:

1. Leave a comment on this blog = 1 entry

2. Visit my FB page and "like" it. Leave a comment there to let me know your a new or returning fan! = 1 entry

3. Visit my Artfire page or Etsy page, come back and leave a separate comment with your favorite piece = 1 entry

4. Follow this blog or let me know your already following = 1 entry

5. Announce this contest on plurk or twitter, come back and leave a comment with a link = 1entry

6. Blog about it! Since this is means monopolizing your blog space it = 2 entries

7. Make a purchase in either of my stores (Artfire or Etsy) = 5 entries!

That's a total of 12 possible entries! Please remember to leave separate entries for each entry to make my job easier! I'll be keeping track in a spreadsheet and each entry will be given a separate number (based on order received) and I'll pick a winner using the random number generator.

*** Winner will be announced Saturday Morning, February 5th! ***

Have Fun :)

~ Ruthie ~

And I'm Feelin........

Gooooooooood.......

And wearing these FABULOUS earrings made by Mary Jane Dodd ought to do just that!

They could be yours.....

What makes you feel good?

Is it a special friendship?

A kiss from one your children?

Completing a piece of jewelry that came out just like you wanted it?

A big huge piece of chocolate cheesecake?

Leave a comment letting us and everyone else who reads this blog know what makes you feel good!

And as usual.....share those good feelings on your blog, your facebook, your twitter or anywhere else that you might share on the internet and come back to leave multiple comments letting us know each time. Each comment will only be counted once....

Thank-you for...

~creating handmade with handmade~

The winner will be picked at random on February 7th.

Wire Work Tips for Earrings!

Cheers! Just started to play with some extra wires and came up with these two, my big and small version of spiral earrings. I hope you like it, but this is not about me or my earrings.

Today, I’m going to share nice designs and good tips on making an earring with wire work techniques from JEWEL STREET DESIGNS and JUSTATISH DESIGNS.

First, let’s take a look at this one of a kind, Copper Vine Earring from by JEWEL STREET DESIGNS

This piece has been shaped into an “S” form with loops at both ends. The materials used to make the earrings are pliers, cutters and copper wire. You can also create your own different shape; maybe, it would be nice to use the first letter of your name. What do you think?

If you want to make the Copper Vine Earring here’s a step by step free tutorial.

Now, here’s a cute earring design from Tish McDermott of JUSTATISH DESIGN.

Inspired by Beading Daily’s earring swap, in celebration of Denise Peck’s new book, 101 Wire Earrings, Tish was able to make this sterling wire earring. Using a Wig-Jig, she created a perfectly shaped loops embellished with white, yellow and red Swarovski.

Really looks very dainty, isn’t it?

You can visit Tish’s blog, JUSTATISH DESIGN and follow her detailed free tutorial.

To learn more about Denise Peck, here’s a copy of 101 Wire Earrings.

If this is your first time to make earrings, you can try out this free tutorial from Mallory Hoffman with her Easy Peasy Wire Earring Tutorial, a great tutorial for beginners in making an earring finding. You can also practice making spirals big and small.

Now, this earring finding is really simple. It’s what jewelry makers commonly use. You can watch a free video tutorial from My Daily Bead compiled at DiyLessons on how to make ear wire earring hook.

There's nothing like a good ol'

dose of FREE....after the holidays!!! And to bring in the new year, Kelli Pope has donated these beautfiul earrings to do just that. These earrings were handmade by Kelli and they can be yours by just answering the following question....

"What change might you be able to make to your jewelry in terms of handmade? Might you try creating your own clasp as shown in Kelli's post "Happy Endings" or how about creating your own unique beads using seed beads or polymer, or perhaps resin or enamel?"

"If you already create your handmade components, what might you add to what you already do that will make your work more unique?"

and.....

as always....

For a 2nd chance to win, blog about our giveaway (no blog? then facebook or twitter) and come back and leave another post telling us that you did....

~Thanks for creating handmade with handmade~

Happy New Years! What are YOUR plans?

Lovely Crystal Hoops Earrings

Happy New Year! How are you doing? I've been determined for the last month or so to get on track with my business and goals related to that. So what happened? My brother's wedding, holiday's, life. It all adds up sometimes!

I'm hoping that this month I'm going to be able to achieve my goals. For one, my health and energy are both improving practically exponentially. Plus, we're out of the holiday insanity! Lastly, I'm actually writing out my goals, posting them all on the wall, and planning to review them on a monthly basis.

How do I set my goals? How should you set your goals? Well, you need to find something works well for you, but I learned about the SMART goals system years ago and I think it's really helpful!

S = Specific. Don't write down general goals like "lose weight," put down specifics such as "lose 5lbs a month."
M = Measurable. This is one way to make your goals specific. I.e. "Read 20 books this year." "Exercise 3 times a week. This can also include how you are going to keep yourself accountable. "Keep a list of the books I read." "Make an exercise calender."
A = Attainable. It might not be realistic to expect to climb Mt Everest this year (unless your already in condition for it!) but you might be able to take walks around your neighborhood, or plan on going on hikes in your area. And hey, if you plan it out, you might just be able to tackle a big peak before the end of the year! Just make sure you plan to work up to your big goals, don't just jump at them and expect to succeed. Have a plan.
R = Realistic. What's really realistic? I know myself and swearing off chocolate would NOT be realistic. However, promising to eat small portions of desert, and one piece of chocolate at a time (instead of a bag) is something that I can mentally handle.
T = Timely. This portion is one of the reasons I say that is important to revisit your goals. Timely is the concept of putting a time frame on your goals. "I want to lose 15lbs." Well when do you want to lose them by? Eventually? 3 months from now? Setting goals that are time bound also allows you to tackle a bigger goal in smaller chunks. Let's say your goal is to read 24 books this year. You can break that down and say, "Read 2 books a month." Now you know what you need to accomplish now, and not just within the next year.

One of my current goals is to post at least one item 5 times a week (or renew). The picture at the top is one of mine for today! I think it works really well for right now because it would be great for a Valentines Day present! It has red crystals, and it's hard to see from the picture, but the center crystal is a heart!

I'll tell you more about my goals later, but for now, what are your goals right now?

LOTS of CHANGES

Oh goodness! What a day it's been! I can decide where to begin! Wow. I've had a lot of things I've been wanting to get done for a long time and I got so much of it done today! Maybe I should just list it...

Cleaning:
1. Kitchen
2. Bedroom
3. Some of the living room

Design:
1. THE BLOG - I'm going for red and green right now in honor of the upcoming holiday - can you tell? LOL
2. I also created and updated both banners and avatars (and on Artfire the color theme) in both my shops.
3. I made the little section headers I wanted to make! You'll see in a minute ;)

Cooking:
1. Breakfast: pancakes and sausage :D Don't worry I really was behaving! I used sugar-free syrup and they were turkey sausages :P
2. Dinner: (breakfast was at lunch time) BBQ Pork loins, mashed potatoes, and broccoli.

Wow - it was a full day! Now on to the things in my shop and and the crafty stuff I got done yesterday!

Wood and Tubes Spirals

These babies are on CLEARANCE!!!!

Pink Delight Bracelet

Wouldn't this be the perfect Christmas present?

Mexican Peso Necklace

This would be perfect to add a bit of travel flair to your

wardrobe - and perfect to wear at Christmas!

This necklace is a commission for my friend Gypsy :D

If anyone's interested in something similar just let me know!

I made something else yesterday too - but I didn't like how it turned out :P

So it's being scrapped and no picture!

Until tomorrow ~ Ruthie

Latest order and commission

A lovely lady from America contacted me on Etsy asking if I could make one of my silver spiral necklaces for her and a pair of earrings that she wanted to go with it.

She knew exactly what the earrings should look like and this is them. I hope she likes them.

They are being sent out tomorrow for her.

Saturday Night

Isn't that a creative title? I couldn't think of anything else :P Sorry I was gone for a couple of days - went all melty brained (migraine) again! But I'm backkkkk. And here is where I'm at:

What's For Sale

Garden Earrings

Aren't these cute? It may not be the right time of the year to be out in your garden (unless you're in the southern hemisphere!) but that doesn't mean it's not a great time to buy these earrings! Wouldn't they make a great Christmas present? Click on the link above to go check 'em out in my store!

Groovy Nights

Aren't these great to wear to a party? Or even just to add a little jazz to your every day life? I sure think so! Click on the link!

Daily Crafty ADD

Well - being knocked out with a bad migraine makes for no crafting :( BUT I did go shopping!

Aren't they cute? It was hard to take a good picture - but that's red and green folks! I'm going to play with them soon, but I have a couple of other things I need to work on first. I'll show you what I mean tomorrow :D

I'm back! I think....maybe...wait for it....Well we'll see shan't we?

For any of you who missed my last post that proudly proclaimed I was back let me explain this for you. I announced September 5th that I was back and working on my shop again. I even managed to put up a follow up post, (What??), that was it. Flop.

That's alright though isn't it? We all have our flops from time to time, and I didn't truly give up! First I got a horrendous cold that made existing seem like a side benefit, so nothing got done. Then, and it's a long story, I ended up messing up my lower back pretty bad. That's healed now and other than the usual persistent migraines, I'm not doing too bad!

So I'm determined. It might be a slow come back. It might lack some of the flashy wit of my old posts (wait, was that even there?) but I'm going to work on getting into the routine again!

For now the majority of my posts are going to be formatted around two topics: What's for Sale, and Daily Crafty ADD. What's for Sale will be the opener of the posts and you'll get to see anything new I've posted that day all in one place! Since I'm going to be working on reopening my Etsy and My Artfire shops again, this will be great! I will not be duplicating any listings between the two stores, just to keep things simple for myself. Daily Crafty ADD will take the place of my weekly posts about my crafty ADD-ness, I'll just keep you right along with me as I walk my winding road! I hope you enjoy it :)

This post is no different from the others really - this just has a long intro :P So now, without further adieu, may I present my new blog post format!

WHAT'S FOR SALE

Purple and Yellow Crystal Earrings

Aren't these cute?

Just click on the link below the picture for more information and/or to purchase!

Only $5!!!

DAILY CRAFTY ADD

When finished the frogs will be the classic: "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." My Mom bought the pattern for my after Granny died earlier this year. Granny LOVED frogs and had a HUGE collection of them.

Granny also loved to do things with her hands and we have a gorgeous cross-stitch she did at one point!

Granny had a set of frogs in these classic poses as figurines. Well Dad has the figurines, and I'm making my own memory for her.Tonight I worked on the eye and face area on the green frog. Didn't get too much done, but I was chatting :P

*NOTE TO SELF* Make some sort of cute banner for each of the sections in the blog posts? Hmmm...Ideas... That might just be my crafty thing for tomorrow :P Did I mention its way past my bed time?

LMAJ Monday Giveaway...

This week's giveaway have been donated by yours truly, MaryAnn Carroll.

Simply follow the directions below and your name will be included in the giveaway.

The winner will be announced on November 1st (1 week from today).

Question:

This week's theme is 'Color'. What color do you gravitate to when you are designing jewelry, shopping for clothes, or creating your own beads/components?

BLOG, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, ETC. OWNERS:

Leave a comment or post on your own blog, facebook, twitter, etc. about the color give away and then let us know by following us and...

leaving a comment answering the above question AND also letting us know where you posted regarding our color giveaway.

NO BLOG, FACEBOOK OR TWITTER:

If you don't have a blog, etc. please click HERE to get to the website which will direct you further.

A random winner will be chosen from the...

Love My Art Jewelry BLOG POST Comments on Monday, November 1st.

Please make sure to stop back on Monday to see if you are the lucky winner!

Our next Giveaway will be Monday, November 8th.

Thanks for creating handmade with handmade!

Tutorial Combo Sale - Choose Any 6 Tutorials From More Than 35 Choices And Get 20 Percent Discount

Here is the second tutorial combo sale which I have listed in etsy.

Pick any 6 Tutorials from my shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/XQdesigns and you will get them at low cost which is approximately 20% off from the retail price.

I have sold many of these tutorials separately to happy buyers. You need mostly only basic supplies to make these. Please convo me if you have questions prior to purchasing.

I strive for perfection in my creations and pay the utmost attention to detail to offer you a high quality product, one that I would be pleased to use myself. All the tutorials comes with pictorial step by step guides and should be easy to follow even for a beginner.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
How to order:
When ordering through Etsy/ Artfire, you can specify which tutorials you have chosen by quoting the title of the tutorials.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Delivery:
The tutorials are in PDF format and will be sent to your email address registered with Paypal within 24 hours after I received the full payment from you. Please convo me if you do not receive it.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

About the Author:
I am the chief editor for an online jewelry making magazine called www.Handmade-Jewelry-Club.com. I started jewelry making as a hobby few years ago. I have subsequently published my lessons through my 2 websites at www.Handmade-Jewelry-Club.com and www.diylessons.org. I also share lots of free lessons that I found on the internet in these websites. Join me to learn this fun hobby!

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
If you like to purchase the ready-made product, please convo me.

Tutorial Combo Sale - Choose Any 10 Tutorials From More Than 35 Choices And Get 30 Percent Discount

Just to share with you that I have listed a tutorial combo package in Etsy yesterday. You can to choose any 10 tutorials you like from my Etsy shop and enjoy great discount!

Pick any 10 Tutorials from my shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/XQdesigns and you will get them at low cost which is approximately 30% off from the retail price.

I have sold many of these tutorials separately to happy buyers. You need mostly only basic supplies to make these. Please convo me if you have questions prior to purchasing.

I strive for perfection in my creations and pay the utmost attention to detail to offer you a high quality product, one that I would be pleased to use myself. All the tutorials comes with pictorial step by step guides and should be easy to follow even for a beginner.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
How to order:
When ordering through Etsy/ Artfire, you can specify which tutorials you have chosen by quoting the title of the tutorials.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Delivery:
The tutorials are in PDF format and will be sent to your email address registered with Paypal within 24 hours after I received the full payment from you. Please convo me if you do not receive it.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

About the Author:
I am the chief editor for an online jewelry making magazine called www.Handmade-Jewelry-Club.com. I started jewelry making as a hobby few years ago. I have subsequently published my lessons through my 2 websites at www.Handmade-Jewelry-Club.com and www.diylessons.org. I also share lots of free lessons that I found on the internet in these websites. Join me to learn this fun hobby!

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
If you like to purchase the ready-made product, please convo me.