Beadaciously Yours

A New Life in our Family

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:00:00 +0000

We have a new baby in the family. I am a grandmother of a beautiful baby girl born last Friday. My daughter gave birth to her first child. That is truly a remarkable experience for a grandmother. I never would have dreamed how emotional and wonderful this would be. And think, I live 800 miles from my daughter and have not seen the baby in person yet.

So we got on the internet and used our web cams last night, and I got to see my adorable grandbaby. She stretched, yawned, cried a little, and fell asleep in Mommy's arms. I will go out to spend a week with them in a few more weeks. I am so thankful for modern technology.... webcams, cell phones, digital photography. It is great!

Getting Re-energized

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:38:00 +0000

I need to keep working my jewelry business. I find myself researching how to be successful, but not enough time putting into practice the things I learn. Not only that, I haven't even listed many of my pieces on my websites.

I've made lots of flower earrings, but only have about 6 of them posted for sale on one of my venues. How about other jewelry artists? Do you spend more time trying to figure out how to sell your jewelry, or marketing it than you do designing and creating?

Here are my newest listings of flower earrings.

Yellow Flower Earrings

Green Flower Earrings

Orange Flower Earrings

I Joined 1000 Markets

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Are you familiar with the new venue, 1000 Markets? It is one of the most inspiring and professional markets for handcrafted goods that I have seen.

1000 Markets is an exciting place to be. The structure of the sight and the diversity of the artisans contibute to the feeling that you have stepped into a live bustling open air market, and that new experiences that delight the senses wait for you at every corner. Just like in a large open air market, you can spend hours letting your fingers stroll from one shop to another, never sure of when you will have seen everything. Yet you can also use all the technical aspects of the modern day internet, and key in specific searches to find just the item you want.

I am so honored to be accepted as a seller there. I spent a lot of time looking at the various markets and shops there, and studying what made them good. The quality of work, the quality of the photos, and the unique banners all contribute to this high level of professionalism. Please take a few minutes to visit my Plum Beadacious shop at 1000 Markets.

Do You Use Facebook?

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:22:00 +0000

I read somewhere the other day the use of Facebook by women over the age of 55 has increased 175% in something like the last six months. Can you believe it? I suppose I am one of those women. I never used it much because I couldn't figure out what to do with it.

Now I am getting into the groove and using it to show my newest jewelry. Another idea I saw for use of Facebook is to provide special discounts to those who visit my page and become a fan. I am going to try that too.

Social Networking is not easy for me. It does not come naturally. Still and all I am determined to get the hang of this because I love making jewelry, and I thoroughly enjoy learning all the new things that I come across on the internet. I am so fortunate to have this opportunity to market my work without having to physically travel all over the country.

Let me know what your experiences are. Do you have some tips? If so, please submit them to me for consideration to post here with a link to your shop.

Oh! By the way, become a fan on my Facebook page. See my newest jewelry there, and I will offer specials there for purchases through my Etsy shops.

Here's my newest posting on my Plum Beadacious Etsy shop.

Purple-Blue Czech Glass and Pearl Bracelet

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:17:00 +0000

This exquisite bracelet features Czech glass beads that blend from a dark blue-purple to a light green. These beads are faceted on the sides and flat on the top and bottom and they reflect the light beautifully. Oval freshwater pearls in shades of purple and green are interspersed among the Czech glass beads. Tiny clear Swarovski crystals, sterling silver spacers and a gorgeous sterling silver clasp complete this wonderful rich looking bracelet.

Length of bracelet: 8"

Matching earrings are also available at my shop, Plumbeadacious.

Beads and Bow Necklace with Copper Chain

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:53:00 +0000

When I first saw this sweet copper pendant featuring a bow on a heart shape, I just knew I had to make something with it. The bow is engraved to look like it is a gingham check fabric, and there is a sweet daisy where the knot of the bow would be. I added five dangles of purple Czech glass flower beads, teal colored faceted Czech glass beads, and tiny purple Swarovski crystals to the pendant. The warm copper is complemented by the cool purples.

The copper chain from which the pendant hangs is 17” long. The pendant itself with the beaded dangles adds an additional 2” drop to the necklace.

Rosebud Czech Glass Crystal Necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:26:00 +0000

In keeping with spring and Mother's Day, I am featuring this soft feminine design.

Roses are a classic favorite flower and the rosebud Czech glass crystals in this necklace will make this one of your favorites. This is a classically elegant necklace with just a touch of whimsy. The glass crystals are cut in the shape of a rosebud and are a firepolished luster pink. The pink goes through part of the glass and the rest of the glass is clear with a hint of soft green. These unique crystals are separated from one another with small smooth sterling silver beads and small freshwater potato pearls in a complementary rose color. I chose very smooth beads to enhance the carved look of the rosebud beads. It is entrancing to watch the light play off of the rosebud beads.

Flower Earrings for Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:39:00 +0000

Girlie flower earrings are fabulous! I bought lots of lucite flower beads on Etsy, and have been creating flowers for the ears. It is quite uplifting and makes me feel like spring is here. Not only that, but the St. Louis weather has cooperated with the spring theme. Temperatures have gotten up into the seventies, and the sun has been shining! What more could a jewelry making girl ask for? Here are the newest flower earrings that I posted on my Filigree Romance Etsy site.

Valentine's Day Jewelry Live Event

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:16:00 +0000

I am so pleased that I have been invited to submit photos of some of my Filigree Romance jewelry to Mona Hair for her Live Event broadcast on NowLive. This is an internet based video broadcast, and you can listen to it at http://www.nowlive.com/showid/63074. Please join her on January 18 at 12 pm PST, 2 pm CST or 3 pm EST. She will be featuring a number of jewelry designers on this show. You will need a userid to join the broadcast. Go to www.nowlive.com/support to sign up. You can also call into the show to comment by clicking on the Call Show button and following the system instructions.

Mona may be featuring some of the following pieces from my Filigree Romance shop.

Jewelry Marketing Successes

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:56:00 +0000

Sometimes I have trouble seeing how far I've come because I can see how far I still have to go to meet my goals. Does that ever happen to you? If you are creating handcrafted jewelry and selling it, do you feel like you are succeeding at what you want to accomplish?

When I look at the numbers and all the time I put into trying to sell my jewelry, I sometimes get discouraged. So I decided to stop and look back over 2008 to see what I did in the last year. I was pretty surprised!

I doubled my overall jewelry sales last year from the year before. This was combined online, craft show and word of mouth sales.
I started this blog.
I redesigned my website, www.plumbeadacious.com and now publish it via a different web host.
I redesigned one of my Etsy shops, www.leallyson.etsy.com to focus on Filigree Romance jewelry
I joined ShowMeEtsy, an Etsy street team, and participated in one of their craft sales.
I've tried a little bit of social networking.

What are your successes? Please leave comments to share them. Celebrate your successes!

A few items I sold this last year:

We're Walking for Health this New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:19:00 +0000

It's that time of year when we all resolve to eat right and exercise to lose weight and get fit. I am finding that I enjoy walking. My daughter gave me an IPod Shuffle for Christmas, and what a fabulous gift that is for me. Now I walk down the road or on the tread mill and listen to my favorite music. It's great!

I'm looking forwards to the spring when the landscape starts to get green. That is when I really enjoy taking my walks outdoors. I designed these earrings with the colors of the grass and trees in mind. They are called Down the Road.

Big Ball Earrings and Times Square on New Years Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:23:00 +0000

They will be dropping the big ball in Times Square in New York City tonight to celebrate the start of 2009. For some reason we always tune into that event on the TV, and I invariably think about how thankful I am that I am here in my nice warm home and not out in the huge crowds of people in the cold waiting for that ball to drop.

No ball in Times Square for me ~ I like the crystal balls in these earrings.

These are called Green on Green and are available for purchase at my Etsy shop, Filigree Romance.

I am enthused about the new year. It is always good to have the opportunity to start over. I don't get hung up on resolutions, but I do ponder what the new year will bring and what I can do to improve myself. My jewelry business did better in 2008 than in 2007. That being said, I have miles to go before I will feel successful. The best thing is that I am learning so much about making jewelry, how to market, and how to use the various internet resources to sell my jewelry. I am thankful for the many people who create blogs and websites with helpful information that they are willing to share. I hope to find things to share with all of you that will help you as you create and market your designs.

Filigree Romance - Vintage Inspired Jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 01:25:00 +0000

I decided to update my Etsy shop that I called LeAllyson's Creations. It is now called Filigree Romance. I really enjoy the feminine look of Victorian vintage inspired pieces made with gorgeous Czech glass and Swaroski crystals, and then decorated with antique brass, antique silver or copper filigree beadcaps and beads. Have a look at the designs I posted at Filigree Romance. Several of my favorite pieces of jewelry are pictured here.

Blue Porcelain Earrings

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 02:30:00 +0000

Here is my newest earring creation posted on my Plumbeadacious Etsy site. These are made from porcelain and display lovely small flowers. They are a good size earring, and will look great with jeans. I have these beads in several other colors, white, yellow,and green. If you are interested in another color, contact me.

Fasten Your Shawl with a Brooch Pin!

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:44:00 +0000

I have been making some brooch pins that can be used to fasten shawls or scarves, or perhaps worn as a decorative accessory on a coat or jacket. I was inspired by a scarf pin in the December 2008 edition of Simply Beads. After searching online for awhile, I found a source for the pins and bought some in silver plate and some in gold plate. It is fun and easy to place about 2 1/2" of beads on the pins, and after some practice I was able to bend the pins to form them into a pin that looks like a kilt pin. I sold several at a recent craft show. Here are some pictures. See the fuschia pink and cobalt blue pin at my Etsy shop, Plum Beadacious!

Beaded Lanyards to Delight the Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:18:00 +0000

I have found the most delightful eBayer who creates stunning lanyards for id badges. They are incredibly beautiful. Her name is Emmie, and her shop is Emmie's Gems. Here is my favorite lanyard that she sold at auction.

Emmie's jewelry is full of gorgeous beads. She uses lots of handmade polymer clay beads that she purchases from various polymer clay artists. Then she accents these beautiful beads with all kinds of unique and wonderful silver beadcaps and spacers. All of her lanyards are yummy eye candy.

Emmie not only creates beautiful handcrafted items, her marketing of them is superior. She has oodles of excellent photos, and she carefully describes each of the beads she uses in the product. She explains her high quality in a way that is convincing to the customer.

I am inspired by Emmie's artistry and her dedication to presenting her work on eBay in a delightful way. She has lots of Christmas designs too. Here are a few more. Click on the pictures to link to them in her eBay shop.

Rescued Treasures

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:13:00 +0000

Most of us are looking for creative ways to economize and save our hard earned dollars. None of us know what will happen next with our jobs, our investments, and our futures. We never really did know those things; we just felt more secure prior to this international economic crisis.

First and foremost I have faith that God is in control, and that he has a plan for each of us. From that perspective I try to look at the adventure and the good in all of this. As I have expressed before, I enjoy searching for quality old jewelry at estate sales and garage sales. I am beginning to create new pieces from the best of the old pieces. These are my "Rescued Treasures". Beads are rescued from a boring life at the bottom of a box or drawer, go through the pain of resuscitation via soap and water, are introduced to brand new youthful beads and findings, and take their places side by side with those new beads and findings, and take on new life in a brand new jewelry creation.

I have only posted a couple of "Rescued Treasures" on my website at this point. Check back often for more.

Reminders of Summer - Carribean Blue Jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:39:00 +0000

I wistfully wish summer had not rushed by so quickly. This jewelry reminds me of summer vacation at a beach by the ocean or swimming pools or ponds with aqua blue water.

I like to wire wrap loops and attach one bead at a time to chain. I enjoy watching my creation start out with a piece of chain, a spool of wire, headpins, Czech glass beads and a toggle clasp. As I use my pliers and cutters, one step at a time a fun necklace appears. I made matching earrings, too.

These Czech glass beads are lots of fun because they are a little different. They are fat fluted beads that are elliptical in shape.

Go to my Etsy shop to add these pieces of fashion jewelry to your personal collection.

New Website on GoDaddy

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:46:00 +0000

After two years of hosting my website with CityMax, I decided to start over and create a website using GoDaddy's Website Tonight. I am so pleased with this site builder. It is very user friendly, and I can preview my updates prior to publishing them. That was not possible with CityMax unless I created a whole new page and kept it hidden, and then replaced the old page with the new. See my new PlumBeadacious site hosted by GoDaddy.

I also decided not to have my own shopping cart on my site. Everything is listed on my Etsy shop, and the new website will link customers through to Etsy. When I tried to list jewelry on my own website and on Etsy, it became difficult to track what was for sale where. Sometimes I had things posted both places, and sometimes I found that I didn't have certain items listed at all.

Watercolor Blues Necklace and Earrings Set

Dueling Pianos

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 04:02:00 +0000

My husband and I had a night out on the town tonight. I am usually a stay at home type person, but my cousin reserved a table for a bunch of us to celebrate the fact that my son has been hired to work at Google, and will be leaving us here in St. Louis next week to move to California. We are all excited for him, and we celebrated at Jive & Wail, a piano bar, here in the community of Maplewood,MO.

What fun it was! There were two pianos on the stage with two guys playing and singing. It was crazy, fast paced and loud. It took me out of my normal comfort zone, and I had a blast!

Now, had I thought ahead, I would have worn some funky earrings like these Pumpkin Aglow earrings that I created last week. These were made from rich fluted orange cubic zirconium beads that look a lot like pumpkins. Then I selected yellow orange Swarovski crystals to cap off each end of the "pumpkins". The black of the gunmetal used for chains that dangle from the beads and the leverback earwires are the perfect contrast to the orange. Great to wear from now through Halloween and Thanksgiving! Take a look at them at Plum Beadacious.

Leaves of Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:33:00 +0000

Fall is coming up very fast here in St. Louis. Normally we have very hot weather well into September, but this year not so. We have had temperatures at night in the 50s with highs in the 70s during the day. I guess that is to be expected after the unseasonably cool spring and summer we have had.

So in keeping with the season, I made this delightful golden necklace that I call "Leaves of Gold". I was looking at color design in a quilt book and decided to try a three color scheme from alternating colors on the color wheel. With this type of color scheme you start with one color on the color wheel, skip a color, use the next color, skip a color and use the next color. I started with the tertiary color yellow-orange for my main color. This is the color of the leaves. Then I selected small beads to complement these leaves in the tertiary colors of yellow-green and blue-green. The design is very symmetrical and is finished with goldplated brass chain.

Color is lots of fun to play with, and I am hoping to come up with more combos that are vibrant like this one is. This necklace is available for purchase through my Plum Beadacious shop on Etsy.

Stylin' As We Work

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:08:00 +0000

As school is started and vacations are over, we all start thinking about supplies and needs to make our everyday work a bit easier and more convenient. Many of us, including myself, are required to wear or carry an ID badge to work or school. These have absolutely no style or fashion sense at all, and are a necessary item in today's world. Many crafters make beaded ID badge holders to wear around the neck as a fashion accessory. They are called lanyards, and some are remarkably beautiful.

I tried my hand at making a few of these and will be selling them at my Plum Beadacious shop on Etsy. They are comfortable to wear, and add a touch of fun to every day attire. I made mine without magnetic break away clasps. I did this because whenever I wear a piece of jewelry with a magnetic clasp, I am constantly watching to make sure it has not fallen off. I have had problems with that, and so don't want to be losing my ID badge because of this. However, I do know that for safety reasons, many schools and employers require break away lanyards. So I will do them if customers would like me to. I plan to go ahead and make some with break away clasps so that customers have a choice.

I would love to hear your comments about these. Do you wear an ID badge? Would you wear a beaded one? Would you need a break away clasp? Please let me know.

Charming Brass Filigree Flower Necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:51:00 +0000

This was another fun project for me. I purchased several of these charming brass filigree flowers and as usual had no idea how I would use them. I just thought they were delightful! So once my creative juices got in gear, I decided flower upon flower would be a great idea. So I took a brass headpin and placed a small blue catseye bead and a green Czech glass flower on it. Green and blue color combinations are one of my favorite color combinations. Then I glued this into the center of the brass filigree flower. After that I took a small brass chain and cut it into smaller segments so I could wire beads between the segments. I used the blue catseye beads there again to coordinate with the one in the flower, then added a few white glass beads, and to pull it all together added some green glass cone shaped beads in a tone similar to the green glass flower in the pendant.

You will see that I added a couple of catseye beads near the clasp at the back of the neck. I have seen other jewelry artists adding small beads at the back, and just love the effect. Hope you do too.

Voila! Creation of a Favorite Necklace!

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:36:00 +0000

I had so much fun creating this necklace and matching earrings. I found these large vintage lucite beads on eBay and fell in love with the scrollwork on them. I used to paint on wood and enjoyed Rosemaling and other types of decorative strokework. This reminded me of that. After I bought the beads and had them in that little plastic bag sitting all alone on my work table, my enthusiasm waned for awhile. All I could see is the brown color, and I did not have the slightest idea of what to do with them. Weeks later I started pulling out my various beads. I knew I didn't want everything to be brown. I thought of moukaite. These natural stones come in a variety of muted colors. They are brown, rusty red, soft rose, cream, gray, soft yellow, and other variations. They complemented my large scrollwork beads perfectly. Now, I needed some sparkle. Gotta grab your attention! So I selected some lovely faceted Czech crystal roundels in soft rose pink and pale green with a hint of pink. Sprinkle in some sterling silver beads , and voila - a wonderful unique necklace! As I say about my favorite pieces - It's just Plum Beadacious!

This necklace and the earrings are for sale in my shop. I named them Soft Earth.

Show Me Etsy - St. Louis Artisans

noreply@blogger.com (Beadaciously Yours) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:20:00 +0000

I am so pleased to be a member of the up and coming Etsy team, ShowMe Etsy! We are an energetic group of artistic entrepreneurs who have banded together to support one another's endeavors and to have some fun. Last night we met at a local Starbucks and talked non-stop for two hours, yet managed to make plans, yes, even important decisions, for upcoming events. We have a blog, a webjam site, and a flickr site.

Some people will participate in some arts and craft shows this week-end and others will participate at shows in August and into the fall. Come on over to our web page to learn more about all we are doing. We're looking for other Etsy artisans from the greater St. Louis area. We do cross that big old Mississippi, and have members from Illinois too. So check us out!

I will be displaying my jewelry at the Cool Art Hot Jazz Festival with this group on August 15, 16 and 17 at Queeny Park. Come see us!

Summer's End Necklace