Actually it's my
red and orange hot summer, but that's a clunky title. We are in the midst of a steamy-stormy heat wave, I am going through an odd (for this time of year) but awesome rush of orders, and as I mentioned in my brief update, I recently opened an Etsy shop. My own store! I feel like such a grown-up! I feel like a kid too because I’m having such a blast. Right now the shop features jewelry from my new Climbing Rose Collection (shown above: orange-coral colored vintage Lucite roses, glass, crystal and sterling) and my skull earrings, and I’ll be adding new items weekly. You can get there by clicking
here, or by checking out the “Etsy-mini” in the upper-right hand corner of this blog.
For those of you just now hearing of Etsy.com, it's a "place to buy and sell all things handmade", and artists and crafters from around the world have shops there. Before I opened my store I studied the Etsy forums and FAQs for months, and as part of my…
ahem…research, I felt it was important to buy things to see how the checkout process worked.
Here are my "test results":
I am a huge fan of paper jewelry, and was immediately drawn to the work of
Madison Craft Studio, a mother and daughter team with the most wonderful decoupage pendants. My first Etsy purchase was their
Little Bird on Red pendant shown at right. It's lightweight and feels just like a puzzle piece. I fully intend to make it the focal point of a beaded necklace, but for now I have it on a satin cord. Madison Craft Studio supports the work of other Etsians by using their artwork on some of the items - when you stop by the shop look for those pieces, plus more pretty birds, trees, and colorful marbled papers.
My second fabulous find was the
Cherub-n-Cheetah Tote by
Janine King Designs. It’s a soft cherry color with a Victorian cherub pattern in ivory, beige, tan and taupe, and has a perfectly matched cheetah print lining. I bought it to use on my near-daily cheese, olive, bread and produce runs, but it works dressed up too; I recently wore it to brunch with a taupe linen
Free People dress and macramé wedges and it got a lot of compliments. I can't stop at one of course - I’m now coveting Janine King bags in the
Covington Tile,
Shalimar, and
Asian Cherry Blossom prints. After you take a look at these bags you'll have a big wish-list too.
My third must-have item was a floral print by
Yellena, an artist, graphic designer, and self-described marker addict. Yellena's work is unique, and once you see it you'll remember it. The print I purchased is called
Petals, and my particular copy is #10 in a limited edition of 100. It is colorful and other-worldly, and makes me want to move to wherever it is those flowers grow. Yellena’s work sells quickly, but I’m hoping to score
Garden and
Bliss prints next – look for them when you visit her shop.
My most recent purchase was the
Magical Pegasus Cuff from the leather-smith known as
RADCOW.
Her designs are classic rock chic - if I didn’t know the pieces were new I would swear they were vintage 70’s. After I placed my order RADCOW requested my wrist measurement, and shortly after my custom cuff arrived in packaging I would have paid a separate price to buy. Everything in the shop is cool, but definitely check out the
Holy Cow cuff in black, the
Red Horizon cuff, the
Wrap-Around Buckle cuff in olive, and all of the belts.
So as you can tell the Etsy checkout process worked really well for me, but you should all see for yourselves; to sign up as a buyer all you need is a username and email address. Go have some red (and orange) hot fun!
Gems and Findings
- Daisy Rock Guitars aka The Girl Guitar Company has a new spokeserson! A songwriting contest was held in collaboration with indie-music site Broadjam.com, the winner was handpicked by Lisa Loeb and announced on July 10. The musician who earned the prize is pop-rock artist Casey Desmond. Click here to listen to her winning entry.
- Jane Magazine folded!
- Prince launched his new fragrance line 3121 on the lucky date of 07-07-07. For a look at how the perfume was created and what it's like to work with a virtuoso/enigma, see Mr. Glamorosi's Philadelphia Inquirer piece on Revelations, the company that developed the scent with Prince. You can read it here. Meanwhile, as Mr. Glamorosi and I continue to share an office, now more than ever the jewelry I make has a musical/literary reference point; I designed the Climbing Rose Collection while he interviewed Iggy Pop. To read it go to Magnet Magazine and click "Interviews" - it's currently the 4th Q&A down.
Pearls of Wisdom
Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. ~ Coco Chanel
Credits:Climbing Rose necklace photo by me, Glamorosi, all other photos in this post are the property of and published with the permission of the respective shop owners.
♥ ♥ ♥
My most recent purchase was the Magical Pegasus Cuff from the leather-smith known as RADCOW.
