Gypsy Moon Designs

Turquoise jewelry Southwest and Bohemian designs

2011-10-27T19:23:00.001-06:00

Getting ready for the holiday season here at Gypsy Moon Designs. I love the colors turquoise blue and royal blue together: very watery. So, I have been in my studio working on designs in my favorite colors.

Loved making this beauty! It's a multi strand necklace with a real bohemian vibe. I've become addicted to antiquing metal. I hand patinaed the dragonfly charm and the copper chains. You can see close up photos in my shop. Multi strand turquoise necklace. Soon I will be working on more layered necklace.

Chunky and yummy is this southwest turquoise necklace. I really like disk shaped Turquoise stones. Large oval stones of Lapis Lazuli look great with the rich sky blue color of this natural quality Turquoise. chunky turquoise necklace I also created a limited run of turquoise earrings with some of these stones.

Every autumn I like to create earthy jewelry with Ammonite fossils. Ammonite fossil necklaces are very popular in my shop. This week I am busy creating more. This one is my current one with stunning green Turquoise. Red Tiger Eye stones are my favorite to combine with green Turquoise.Ammonite necklace

So that is what I have been designing the last few days. I have some new patina earring designs being patina-ed at the moment. (On my windowsill!) They should be in my shop in a few days.

Julie : )

Patina Jewelry

2011-10-04T18:34:00.000-06:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I discovered this fun site Animoto where you can create short videos for free. : )

Magazine Feature ~ Bohemian jewelry

2011-08-02T17:16:00.001-06:00

Exciting news for Gypsy Moon Designs! I am going to have my jewelry featured in a magazine called Meets Obsession.

They are a online magazine that is having their inaugural print issue come out this fall. Check out their online mag here.

I sent a dozen pieces of jewelry and am eager to see if they all will be featured. When I get my copy I will share with you all.

What is so cool is the editor contacted me via my online shop Gypsy Moon Designs. If you love art and fashion magazines you may want to order their first issue like I did. You can order their magazine here.

Locks of Love

2011-06-27T09:09:00.002-06:00

Two years ago my then 7 year old niece Loni decided to start growing out her hair for the organization Locks of Love. If you're not familiar with Locks of Love they are a non profit that provide hairpieces to disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

Now at 9 years old, Loni was ready to donate her silky long hair. When they cut her hair it was 12 1/2 inches that she donated.

Of course it doesn't stop there. My sweet and very special niece announced she is going to grow it long again so she can come back in a few years and donate again to Locks of love.

I am so proud of Loni and amazed at her giving spirit at such a young age. (She is as cute as can be with her new hair style too!)

Greenough Park, Missoula

2011-06-14T21:12:00.002-06:00

A magical place right in the heart of Missoula.

Greenough Park on a rainy spring day.

Rattlesnake Creek runs thru the park making it a perfect place to cool off on a hot summer evening. Today it threatens to flood.

Watch your step!

The Park is 42 acres of pristine beauty.

Earthy Ammonite necklaces and Ravens

2011-06-09T10:35:00.001-06:00

Ammonite necklace

I love the organic, earthiness of fossil jewelry. Last night I photographed a few necklaces and got them online this morning.

Ammonite necklace

This bold chunky necklace is one of best sellers at all the craft shows I do. The bone pendant dangles from black leather cord.

Spiral leather cord necklace

It had poured down rain all day yesterday. As soon as the rain broke I went outside to shoot photos. All these ravens swooped in and were hanging out!

The whole driveway was full of them. But, I guess they are camera shy! When I started photographing them they flew up to the top pf this old Cottonwood tree.

With a few hanging around watching me as I worked!

Hope everyone is having a great week. : )

Summer shows

2011-05-16T16:41:00.003-06:00

If you are in Missoula this summer you can find Gypsy Moon Designs at the Missoula Saturday Market every Saturday, May through mid October.

I will also be at the best show in town, the Missoula Made fair on Sunday, June 26th.

To see a list of vendors for the Missoula Made fair, check out their website.

Hope to see you this summer!

Bohemian Copper and paper earrings

2011-05-12T13:41:00.000-06:00

feather and copper earrings

In the summertime I make these fun earrings. I make them in the summer because I use my torch on the front porch. Just to cold in the winter to torch!

Tribal Copper earrings African mudcloth

I hand shape copper wire to make funky frames for interesting paper. I love the pattern of these African inspired earrings.

paisley apple blossom earrings

What I like about these earrings is that they very unique, funky and super light to wear. They take around 4 to 5 days to create. I really enjoy mixing paper and copper together.

I have more styles in my shop:
Gypsy Moon Designs

Bohemian wedding jewelry

2011-05-01T18:46:00.003-06:00

First, let me say Happy May! I love the month of May with all it's newness.

You are a casual, earthy kind of woman and you are getting married. Congrats! Now, what jewelry will your bridesmaids and you wear? Diamonds and pearls just don't express your bohemian personality.

Over the years I am seeing more brides turning to unconventional jewelry designs. Why not, it is your day after all!

bohemian shoulder duster chandelier earrings

round summer white earrings

white bellflower wedding earrings

These are some of the earrings I have sold recently to brides. There is just something special knowing that my designs will be worn by a bride. Makes me feel good! : ) Thank you lovely brides for expressing yourself with bohemian jewelry!

Songbird's Branch: Get Real: Montana Woman Moves Confidently away from Etsy.com in Business Website Launch

2011-04-20T12:28:00.000-06:00

I was interviewed on a wonderful blog. Go check it out. It is full of wonderful info and I am tickled to have been interviewed!

Songbird's Branch: Get Real: Montana Woman Moves Confidently away from Etsy.com in Business Website Launch

I am hooked on patina jewelry

2011-04-20T12:13:00.000-06:00

large patina hoop earrings

Last year I started experimenting with patina and I have become addicted to the process. So far I am using the cold process with Verdigris (turquoise blue) and Ocean Blue.

arabesque patina earrings

I find myself constantly looking for copper and raw brass charms to patina. It takes a good five or more days of applying the patina to metal to get the results I want.

orange bohemian chandelier earrings

When I was young I was a painter and I find patina a fun way to add color and texture to my jewelry. It fulfills the painter in me!

verdigris patina necklace

If you are like me and just love the rustic look of patina jewelry then please keep an eye on my shop Gypsy Moon Designs

Featured Etsy Artist: The Green Groovy

2011-04-13T10:05:00.001-06:00

Love the bright colors and patterns that The Green Groovy paints with! I keep going back to this Etsy shop and admiring her work, so I thought I would share her bohemian style with my readers.

Henna design jute clutch

Los Angeles artist Sowmya is the designer of these wonderful hand painted jute purses, wine bags and lots of other cool items. Her style is exotic, colorful and dreamy just like the Pisces she is.

jute burlap wine bag

You can follow The Green Groovy on FaceBook as she follows her bliss.

Indian Design Clutch

Big Cartel and ArtFire experiment

2011-03-30T19:40:00.007-06:00

Three weeks ago I set up a shop on ArtFire and Big Cartel. When I set up these two stores I told myself I would watch and see which preformed best by April 1st.

ArtFire is a community based handcraft site and BigCartel is a shopping cart for indie artist. So, one would think you would have more traffic on ArtFire. I have 31 items listed on ArtFire and have had 900 views in three weeks. BigCartel has 25 items listed and has had 1400 views.

Chunky yellow necklace

Also, tonight I made my first sale on Big Cartel. I believe the customer found me via my Facebook page. I don't promote my ArtFire shop on Facebook, just my Etsy and BigCartel shop.

So, my experiment is over. Tomorrow I will deactive my ArtFire shop and add more to BigCartel. The ArtFire owner is very friendly and the forums are helpful. It's easy to set up shop there too. I find that BigCartel visually looks better if you buy a theme to install or know how to code.

Thought I would share for those considering one of the platforms.

Big Cartel theme

2011-03-25T10:49:00.014-06:00

I feel like a little kid today!

Artwork courtesy of Ireland Brady, Happy Little Girl Hooray.

I have my Big Cartel website theme completed. Me so happy! At first I did some CSS coding to enlarge the tiny 10 px font that for some reason Big Cartel uses. After searching around I found this clean theme called "Sunday Drive" by Tonka Park.

So far the whole experience with Big cartel and Tonka Park has been great. Customer support answers emails within hours. With a bit of easy coding you can track where views are coming from with Google Analytics.

If you are using Big Cartel as your shopping cart check out my shop theme to see if you too want to upgrade your theme.! Gypsy Moon Designs

Big Cartel and ArtFire

2011-03-18T13:21:00.006-06:00

Last week I signed up with the handcraft website ArtFire and listed 30 items for sales. I also joined Big Cartel with 25 items listed so far.

Well, after a week I can say that Big Cartel has had many more views than ArtFire.
That actually surprised me a bit. Big Cartel is a shopping cart and not a shopping mall like Etsy or Art Fire. I expected more views from ArtFire.

Chunky ammonite and turquoise necklace

I will watch both sites traffic for a few weeks. But, I think I will be focusing on Big Cartel.

I can't say enough good things about Big Cartel! They have excellent customer service. I have emailed them twice with a question. They respond back in a very timely manner and always have the answer you are looking for.

Gypsy Moon Designs is now on BigCartel

2011-03-16T12:45:00.010-06:00

I'm expanding my online venues this month. After researching venues and playing with site-builders on sites such as Homestead.com and Big Commerce I found Big Cartel to be the easiest to launch.

So many sites claimed they were easy to set up. I think if I was a 12 year old in this day and age I could have done it! But, after days of playing with these so called easy site builders I still find BigCartel the easiest to work with.

BigCartel even gives you links on there site for easy CSS codes and uploading background images.

My first site design was going to have a earthy look to it. I liked it but it lacked a polished finished look. I used the banner and background you see above.

Last night I woke up and thought I really should keep the same branding as my Etsy shop. So, I redesigned it in minutes. Once you learn a little code it isn't to difficult.

I would love for you to come check out my new shop; even shoot me a email thru the "contact" form if you like!
Gypsy Moon Designs

Happy Spring!

Artist Kevin Gadomski and his Manitou totems

2011-01-19T08:26:00.010-07:00

Last week on Etsy I found myself in a shop that amazed me with such unique talent. Having been raised in Michigan and being proud of my Potawatomi heritage I was thrilled to discover the Manitou carved sculptures by artist Kevin Gadomski.

The Algonquian people, Ojibwe/Chippewa,Ottawa,Potawatomi,Cree, believe that everything has its own spirit or manitou that is inseparable from the Great Spirit or Kitche Manitou.

"What is a sacred place, I wondered, except one that makes you feel humble and insignificant in the face of nature? And what is a manitou but the power of a place to move you to those thoughts?" — Greg Breining; The Power of Rock

Inspired by the Ojibway heritage of his children, Kevin began creating the Manitou pieces many years ago. His interest in all things esoteric has led him to explore shamanism, totemism, mysticism, Taoism, Zen, Sufism, Animism, nature, reality, dreaming, metaphysics, Kevinism as a life path which are all more or less reflected in his work.

You can explore more of Kevin's amazing work on his website freedom gallery

Kevin can also be found on FaceBook Kevin Gadomski

Off the beaten path...Artist Bill Ohrmann

2011-01-15T17:23:00.014-07:00

Today the temperatures rose above freezing so we jumped in the car, popped in a Grateful Dead tape and drove to a small town called Drummond in western Montana. We headed to Bill Ohrmann's gallery just south of Drummond in the Flint Creek Valley.

Bill is 91 years old and still a working artist. When he retired from ranching at the age of 71 yrs. old he took up painting and sculpting.

Bill is a self taught artists and considers his work as Outsider art. When looking at his work you know how he feels about nature and mankind's affect on nature.

I enjoyed how he has quotes from Buddha, Kipling, Thoreau...above his paintings. Some of his work even has the quotes painted right on the canvas.

Bill said "What is in my heart when I paint a picture, is as simple as hoping we can save part of the natural world."

Bill is such an inspiration! It shows you are never to old to be creative.

If you are ever in western Montana make a point to find your way to Drummond and Bill Ohrmann's gallery.

Taking a holiday break

2010-12-17T18:06:00.009-07:00

Happy Holidays everyone!

Back in 1998 I spent the summer in northern Michigan with my family. I was making jewelry on my aunties dining room table at the time when my young cousins started calling my cousin jewelry. I taught them that a female cousin is "prima" in the Spanish language. That year for Christmas they made me this precious ornament. I hung it off the mirror this year at my holiday craft show.

The photos aren't the best but I thought I would share my displays from the holiday show "Missoula Made Fair". My studio mate Molly painted this room divider with a western theme of horses. When she moved away she gave it to me. It made a wonderful earring display. Thanks Molly!

The Missoula Made Fair was such a huge success. Between doing so well there and online with my Etsy shop Gypsy Moon Designs I am going to allow myself a 5 day break. I can't believe I am saying this, but I am looking forward to cleaning my house and work studio! It will be good to recharge my creative batteries.

On the winter solstice me and Mitchell are going to go check out an artist gallery about an hour from here. The artist is a man in his 90's who started painting in his 70's. His art is surreal and I am excited to meet him. I will share more about him on a later date.

My shop will be closed between 12/20 and 12/25. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday and Happy Winter! : )

Gypsy Moon Designs on Big Cartel

2010-10-29T10:02:00.008-06:00

I'm giving my stand alone website another try. Big Cartel is a shopping cart and easy to use. It's kind of addicting changing the background colors!

Hot Pink Chandelier earrings

This summer I gave out 1000 business cards with my .com address. Right now my .com is directed towards my Etsy shop. Local customers tell me all the time that they go to my Etsy shop. So glad to hear that! I love my Missoulian customers.

My dilemma is that most of my necklaces are one of a kind. With mostly earrings in my Big Cartel shop it doesn't seem well rounded. But, I am not a big risk taker when it comes to my business reputation. I would be so embarrassed to double sell an item.

Stunning silver filigree earrings

The smart thing to do is redirect my .com to my stand alone site. Smart for many reasons... but, if my cards are bringing shoppers they will not see my one of a kind pieces.

My Big Cartel shop is not so busy that the risk of double listing is big though. What to do?

So, readers, I am interested in hearing if you double list your one of a kind pieces? Should I take the risk and do it in order to re direct my .com? While I am asking, do you like the shops color background verses my blog color background?

Merci

Sunday drive in western Montana

2010-10-25T08:49:00.009-06:00

Summer markets have ended and I have my weekends back! Don't get me wrong, I love market season. I also love spending time with my honey. So, the last few weeks we have been taking these beautiful Sunday drives to places I have never explored.

We keep hoping to see a bear or mountain lion. Not yet!

As a kid my parents would take us on Sunday drives. We always found our way to the apple orchid. Oh the memories of that place. You could take a little tour and drink fresh apple juice. They also sold the best unpopped popcorn I have ever had.
It never failed that Dad would take a road never taken and Mom would ask "Are we lost?" and he would say "Nah, we aren't lost the teepee is." That would crack up us kids every-time. It also taught me that I am never lost, I'm right here.

I didn't hold the camera very still, but I wanted to show off some lovely fall scenes. The first few are Huson, Montana and the Clark Fork River.

I have a dream of living in an old yellow house. I couldn't believe it when we saw this house. Isn't the gate incredible! It is a compound, perfect for a couple of creative types like me and my man! There is a main house and a second smaller house along with other smaller buildings. Hey, it's for sale too!

We then made our way through some back roads to the Flathead Indian Reservation. That is where these other two photos were taken. On the rez I thought I saw a bear! We backed up and it was a dead tree trunk with wild turkeys hanging around it. At least I did see something.

SeaWeb's campaign against Red Coral misleading

2010-10-18T08:46:00.015-06:00

As a seller, on the e-commerce site Etsy, I am shocked and angered that Etsy posted a blog article repeating SeaWeb's campaign against coral. I was going to keep my mouth shut about Etsy's part in this ; not wanting to bite the hand that feeds me. My Etsy shop is my livelihood!

But, Etsy, I feed you too! I pay listing fees, I pay commissions, I bring new sellers to you. This is what I get in return?

The spokesperson for this issue is not a seller on Etsy but was given a platform there. The spokeswoman is a big time jewelry designer and Etsy linked her FaceBook and Twitter pages to the article which in return lead you to her business. This was free advertising for a non handmade, manufactured company.

What the hell is going on over there in the Etsy offices?

SeaWeb, is an international, nonprofit, communications organization dedicated to creating a culture of ocean conservation. Remember the boycott campaign against Swordfish? That was a SeaWeb campaign. I did some internet searching and from what I gather the North Atlantic Swordfish was feeling stressed but not in danger of extinction. The campaign against eating Swordfish never made a distinction between North Atlantic, South Atlantic and Pacific Swordfish.

My intend is to blog about coral. So if you are interested in reading more about the swordfish boycott here are some links: The truth about Swordfish, Activist Cash, and fishingnj.org

As a jewelry designer I feel SeaWeb is at it again, misleading the public with their "Too Precious to Wear" campaign against Coral. Deep water red and pink coral populations are dwindling. We need to clean up our planet, our air and oceans.

The international Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has listed 2000 species of coral to be regulated and monitored. It is illegal to bring CITES-listed coral, or coral artifacts such as jewelery, into any of the 158 countries which have signed the convention, without a CITES permit. This includes the US, the UK, other countries in the European Community, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

SeaWeb has a youtube video about their Coral boycott. In it you see a bead shop with strands of coral. They also show necklaces that have a similar flare to my photos of my necklaces. Obviously artisan created handmade jewelry.

When I walk into my local bead shop to buy coral I am purchase Bamboo Coral. It is a legal coral and not on the endangered CITES list.

Endangered red and pink coral grows very slowly in deep sea waters. Bamboo coral is fast growing and in shallow waters. Bamboo coral is dyed red to achieve the "look" of deep sea red coral.

Coral is a living being. As a consumer you choose to either wear furs, feather, coral...or not. But, if you love coral please know what artisans are currently using is legal and not endangered.

So, again we have SeaWeb leaving out pertinent information, hurting the small business person, be they a fisherman or a jewelry designer.

And Etsy...why are you putting your sellers up against the wall, having to defend ourselves????

Pierced ear mannequin

2010-09-01T10:39:00.004-06:00

Yippy! My mannequin arrived yesterday. I am going to start shooting my earrings being worn. It should increase sales.

It's funny, she is sitting in the living room right now and when I walked in from the kitchen I jumped 10 feet! I thought someone was in my living room...LOL.

I was thinking of naming her Luna. Though my cat is Luna. I would love to hear any suggestions? Like we have nothing better to do than name a mannequin head!!

Changes...but all is Honky Dory

2010-08-30T21:10:00.005-06:00

It's been months since I last blogged.
I experienced some "stuff" and it's my nature to go within when dealing. But, I am back and ready to be consistent with blogging again.

This summer has been a summer of making so many decisions. My cancer scare in December turned into a hysterectomy. And the timing sucked! It was scheduled 5 days before opening season of my market. I cried like a baby! LOL

I thought I could be super woman and hire some help and show up on opening day. Ha ha, that was a fantasy! But, I did make myself go back into production 7 days post op and with help made it for the second weekend of the season. That's all behind me now and I feel much better.

I am curious how others handle their online stores when life throws something at you. I closed it for 10 days and then reopened. I had requests for custom orders and did manage to fill them. But, I never told anyone I was, well, exhausted! It seemed like it may have been unprofessional to explain that I was in recovery and could not do something. So, I kept plugging away. The best thing about surgery is you get to nap. I have never been a napper and man oh man did I LOVE my naps!

I share studio space with two other artisans. Well, lots of changes there. Molly got married and moved away a few weeks ago. CarolLynn is having a fantastic year. She had baby Cora late winter and her husband just graduated from Law school. He found a job a few hours from here, so they bought a house closer to work and are moving.

Aren't mom and daughter so pretty! Baby Cora is at the studio everyday. I am getting a kick out of watching her develop. She is a genius!!! Just ask her parents, they will agree! She is a very smiley baby and is so fun to be around.

So, I again am moving my studio. I am going to bring it back to the house. I think my kitty, Luna, will be happy for the company. As I write she is laying across my neck...such a lovey dovey.

Summer shows have been great. They started out slow this year but picked up nicely. Etsy became busier this summer than the prior years. So, I ended up dropping my Sunday show. Being a one woman act here I just could not keep up. As Martha Stewart would say "That's a good thing".

Hope all of you are having a good summer!

BeBe wearing my designs

2010-05-26T18:39:00.004-06:00

Last week I sold my favorite necklace to beautiful BeBe Bellamont. She also bought a pair of my funky earrings to go with it. BeBe was sweet and sent me a photo of her wearing her new jewels. If you click on the photo it will enlarge it.

BeBe is an artist and you can find her on Etsy at gemtwink Her paintings are sexy and whimsical just like her.

I like the feel of this painting with glow in the dark paint.

The French Alley