Voting and Listing Today

I'm sitting at home right now, contemplating on whether I should help myself to a second cup of tea and watching the election coverage on CNN. I did vote today-it allowed me to take a nice stroll down the street to my polling place(it was 70 out today) and I got to pass out a few bussiness cards too.

In my last post I said that I wanted to focus on bridal jewelry for my SCJ Etsy shop.

I realize now that to do this would mean fierce competition in this catagory on Etsy. I came to the conclusion that all I need to do is narrow my niche and really make my items more recognizable and unique. I'm going create a signiture look to my pieces and throughout the months of November to January, I'd like to have my first complete, cohesive collection.

I listed two new items on Etsy today. My Croc bracelet-a sterling silver beaded cuff that allowed me to get back to my "roots". I started making jewelry professionally using this technique but as time went on I started venturing into other techniques. Now I've decided to bring it back with a vengance in both my Etsy and Ecrater shops.

I've also remodified my classic Bohemian Hoop earrings. I used to make these earrings using a basic brass wire. The hoops that I created before are very pretty but I decided that I wanted a design that was more study and artistic in the way they looked. I picked up some pure raw brass low gauge wire from a craft and metal reclamation shop. It came in two long rods taped together. When I got it home, I tested it by bending a small section on one end and snipping it with a pair of old wire cutters. It's resistance was more than I'd anticipated-nothing like the brass wire I'd used before. It took me a while to get used to working with it and when I finally did, I was able to make a bracelet and a beautiful pair of hoop earrings. The earrings I made are not so different from my original hoops but they do have a sculptural element to them in that I've created a tapering effect for the earwires while the rest of the earring is hammered flat and textured.