Confessions of a Jewelry Upstart

I LOVE MY LIFE art show last night! How amazing.

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:41:00 +0000

Last night one of my necklaces was featured in a group art show at Eureka Art Gallery, 259 First Street in Hoboken, literally around the corner from our old apartment! Roland Ramos, friend of artists and creativity in North Jersey, brought together a wonderful group of artists in a variety of mediums and asked for pieces that were inspired by the mantra "I LOVE MY LIFE!" There were paintings, sculpture, photography, mixed media, textiles, performance, and interactive art experiences. The show had a great, friendly vibe, and people kept flowing in. Everyone was greeted at the door by Calee Vickerman, offering notes written by school kids on the theme, and she invited us to write our own. What a great night! I'm proud to have been involved.

"Prana"
Wire-crochet necklace with Czech fire-polished glass beads

In the past four years of my life I have seen the death of my mother,
my father, and my grandmother.

I have also found the love of a partner, and married him.

job endings, job beginnings, career issues, creativity conflicts

unwanted responsibility

amazing opportunity

deadlines, bills

applause

appreciation

great stress, great peace

great friends

great blessings

After my mother's death almost a year ago, the only activity that
would take me away from my grief, even for a moment, was creating
jewelry. This piece was born from my feelings that my life has been
so tangled; a confusing, challenging maze. But when I focus, patterns
emerge. Things start to make sense. I find the bright spots, the
gems,my life force, my prana. I am reminded that I have to step back
and see the whole, not just the parts, to truly understand life. My
life, which I love.

Featured on FoundHandmade.com!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:41:00 +0000

One of my spiral pendants has been featured in a Tiger's Eye spotlight at www.foundhandmade.com! Check it out here.

This summer has been full and exciting! I will be appearing at more shows in the fall, more details to come. :)

Ooooh I have a personalized alexladydesigns card wallet!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:21:00 +0000

Etsy's Squarejane has designed and constructed a business card holder featuring my logo-birdie! Her work is super. Thanks so much, I can't wait to see it in person!

Michael Jackson Tributes

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:40:00 +0000

For those times when you just didn't get picked to go to the memorial, but you Wanna Be Starting Something...

Dancing Michael Jackson Wall Art Decal Vinyl Sticker Home Decor Wallpaper from PaulasDecalShop

Ring - King of the Pop-Michael Jackson -His -and hers Rings from manualornaments' shop

Michael Jackson Thriller inspired handspun yarn from craftypuppylover's shop

MICHAEL JACKSON HEADBAND from anythinggoes12's shop

Michael Jackson Business Card Wallet from squarejane's shop

Don't say I never gave you anything.

Pretty for your head

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:02:00 +0000

I'm searching for flower barrettes right now, and finding TONS of awesome hair accessories that i had to share!

I know I'm starting with something other than a flower, but look at this ADORABLE ribbon sculpture mermaid from littleloulee's shop:

cute combo from sugarchicbaby:

Two lovely orchid clips for $10.00 from Daintydivasboutique's!

and PbbFlowers has big poofy flower clips that can also be worn with an attachable hairband. LOVE it.

NEW: personalized metalstamping!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:41:00 +0000

I'm excited to offer a new line of hand-stamped personalized jewelry! Your name or message on stainless steel washers, with your choice of beads and your length of chain. Stainless steel or sterling silver!

Way to Upcycle! I Heart NY Tshirt Bag

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:28:00 +0000

I came across this great tutorial on the NewNew blog and wanted to share it! The NewNew is the NYC etsy team. Check out some Etsians at the Handmade Cavalcade this weekend!

NYC T-Shirt Bag

Reusable bags are all the rage now—and I hope this trend lasts.
Here's a little tutorial that will show you how to turn an iconic NYC T-shirt into a handy little reusuable shopping bag with a sophisticated textured touch. I love looking through this book and I always jump at the opportunity to try her techniques.
So here goes!

You will need:
• NYC T-shirt
• A scrap of red fabric (knit or woven) approximately 5"x9" (the bigger the fabric, the more texture you will get)
• A scrap of interfacing the size of the heart on the T-shirt.
• A needle & thread
• Pins
• An Embroidery hoop
• Access to an iron and a sewing machine

Begin by laying your T-shirt out on your work surface. (And yes, I'm in New York, so the floor is frequently my work surface.) Cut off the sleeves (including the seams) of the T-shirt. Fold the shirt down the middle (lengthwise) and cut off the collar. This will leave you with a sleeveless V-neck T-shirt. Lay the shirt flat again and cut off the bottom 5". (These scraps make excellent dust rags!) Now on to the applique part.

Iron the interfacing over the heart on the wrong side of the T-shirt. Cut your red fabric into a very rough heart shape. It should be considerably larger than the heart on the shirt. Turn the edge of red fabric under approximately 1/4" (iron, if you wish), center it on the heart and pin it down in four places (top/bottom/sides). Center the heart in your embroidery hoop, thread your needle and get ready to sew. Applique the red fabric shape around the edge of the heart using a short running stitch. Because the red shape is bigger than the heart, you will have to gather it slightly as you go by taking bigger stitches through the red shape and shorter stitches along the edge of the heart. You will have a funny puffy shower cap/mushroom shape attached to your shirt when you are finished.

Now the furrowing begins! Start from the back and bring your needle up through the center of the heart and the center of the red shape. Pull the thread taut and then push your needle back down in almost exactly the same spot. You have now tacked down the center of the puffy cap. Move to another area approximately 1" away and repeat the process of sewing up through the shirt and the fabric shape and then down in the same space. Again, move to another area of the heart approximately 1" away and make another stitch. Keep in mind that you are trying to go up through two layers of fabric and then back down through two layers. You will continue to do this across the whole surface of the heart, creating little wrinkles and furrows as you go. I would recommend keeping your stitches far apart initially to help keep the big furrows relatively evenly spaced then work within these smaller sections. Continue to make stitches randomly around the heart until you are happy with the furrowed texture. The back of the heart will be a glorious mess of zig-zagging stitches.
There's no real right or wrong way to. The beauty is in the irregularity of the wrinkles.

Next, turn your shirt inside out and lay it flat again. Pin and sew the bottom edge together. Open the seam flat (and facing up). Measure 3" from each corner of the seam and mark a line that is perpendicular to that bottom seam. Pin and sew along these lines. Trim the seams and turn your new bag right side out.

If you want to make your bag even fancier, you can A) hem the handle edges (doable with a sewing machine & super-easy with a serger), B) applique another heart on the back to cover your stitches, C) cut a cardboard rectangle from an old box to create a flat bottom for your bag.

Now I'm off to the farmer's market to pick up my last minute Thanksgiving supplies!
Tanya
www.luckx4.etsy.com

aaaaaaaaand we're back!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Alexlady Designs is now offering made-to-order Sterling silver rings! More designs to come.

Follow this link for a printable ring-sizer. The beauty of this ring is that, while it's not entirely adjustable, it's very forgiving. Please specify if you'd prefer a toe ring, and I'll adjust the spirals accordingly.

Online Drama-rama

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:01:00 +0000

I'm torn about this blog, because part of me screams "potential buyers read this thing!! Be careful of what you say!" But then, I started this blog with the intention of chronicling my experiences in starting a jewelry business. Therefore, I think it's only fair to include experiences that aren't always so rosy. Also, I need to complain a little.

I recently started posting more frequently in the Etsy forums because my "came-from" stats tell me that forum-goers are very likely to visit the blogs and shops of other posters. I had been posting a couple of topics a day, some not very interesting. In fact, I thought that this particular topic would get two or three comments, and then get buried (like a lot of my other posts), but instead, i started a firestorm.

The Post:

"Lately I've been noticing that, when I'm shopping, if the shop has poorly written descriptions that I'll actually skip looking at the descriptions at all, and sometimes i'll exit the shop and not come back.
Am I anal? Does anyone else find themselves cringing at and backing away from poor grammar and self-deprecating remarks in item summaries?"

Okay, okay. This post was out of character for me, I'm usually very positive and supportive, but i had just read an item description in an Etsy store that went something like:

"Here is a necklace I made that looks good with anything LOL!!! Sorry the foto is blurry but I wanted to post it ASAP I promise it is really nice even though i can't take pics worth a $##&&. Show me some luv!"

i completely made that up, but this is representative of the descriptions that make me click away from a store. I had run into a bunch of listings like this while I was browsing and it's like sandpaper on my butt.

This thread, which started as something silly that stuck in my craw, produced 675 comments. Many of these comments were arguments over spelling, which i had never addressed in the original post. Then there were replies regarding ESL, dyslexia, cystic fibrosis, brain damage, judgement, bias, minding one's own business, harrassment, drunkenness, being lazy, being unkind, and being snotty.

I wound up seriously regretting having written this post.

Interestingly enough, there were plenty of responses from folks that agreed with me, who I have to assume are also not elitist xenophobic bullies with an itch to pick on artists with learning disabilities. I'm hoping that they are only shoppers like me, who appreciate a well-written description of a beautiful item. Alas, now I'm super-paranoid that people will see my shop name in the future, and think i'm a big jerk. This is probably true for the five or six people that got really insulted by my post, but hopefully not for most Etsians. I'm sure it'll all blow over and most folks won't remember it happened at all. But for now, alexlady won't be starting any topics in the forums. Jeez.

New Item: Jewelry tree!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:16:00 +0000

I've had this idea be-bopping around in my mind for quite some time, so to actually see it in action is totally exciting!

This jewelry tree is easily and safely mounted to your wall with two little nails, which are included. This particular model has 18 hooks for necklaces and room for over 18 pairs of earrings! Your tree will be similar, but not identical due to the one-of-a-kind nature of this handmade item. What a snazzy way to keep your jewels organized, yes-no?

"Not your Grandmother's Pearls"

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Yeah, that's right.

Those are indeed Sterling and Pearl panties.

Thank you, Amberraindesigns!

Don't pay someone to obtain your Tax I.D.! EIN info below...

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:37:00 +0000

When i filed to become an LLC, I hired a company to do it for me... but the services were *FREE* for a week, so all I paid were the fees! (I am thrifty.) One of the add-ons was that the company would apply for and obtain your tax I.D. number for you, which enables you to purchase wholesale and without taxes.

This is the biggest rip! The link to the government site is right here, you can do it online and it takes less than five minutes. You're assigned your number right away and can download the official letter in PDF to print right away.

https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/index.jsp

Musings on The Market, or, I need stuff on my table besides jewelry.

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:27:00 +0000

I've only done a few shows now, and I feel fortunate to have had a warm reception wherever I've set up my jewelry. The thing is, I was adamant about paring down the amount of items I'd be bringing with me to a show, so I could easily stick it all in a medium suitcase and be merrily on my way.

While I think I can still figure out how to fit everything in a small, portable space, I really need to work on my table display.

Up until recently, for some reason I felt like this was an incredible burden, and that people should naturally gravitate towards my table, because shoppers are looking at the jewelry, right? not the table. Simple display! Let the items speak for themselves!

Oh, silly Alex. I think it was mostly that I just didn't want to schlep a bunch of stuff around.

However, now I have a ton of ideas as to how I can make my display area more dynamic, wherever I choose to show my jewelry. I feel motivated and excited about working on my table instead of frustrated and annoyed. It's a much better place to be when one is trying to create!

That being said, the vibe at the Market was great. Vendors all seemed to know each other, and people were very warm and friendly to Don and me. Everyone was happy to share information and tips, and another vendor clued me in to a company that will give you a Credit Card terminal for free! Also, although I try to avoid shopping while I'm at shows, there was a lady there named Victoria that had these fabulous feather fascinators and headbands for a steal at $10-$15!

I am weak in the face of feathers.

So we had a great time, saw a lot of friends, learned a lot, and ate some Pinkberry. Thanks to everyone who came by!

Four new items up at alexlady designs!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:52:00 +0000

WWW.alexladydesigns.etsy.com

Come see everything in person this Sunday at The Market in Soho!

In person, at The MarketNYC this Sunday!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Alexlady Designs will be live in person at The Market, 268 Mulberry street this Sunday, Feb 15th!

For those who aren't familiar, The Market is the best venue in New York for indie designers and young artists to sell their wares! Last time I went, I got the best tee shirt I have ever seen. There's a rotating group of designers, but there are always handbags, clever accessories, tees, jewelry, and tons of surprises!

I'm still cash-only for now, alas. But I'll have a sale rack and tons of new designs! Stop by to say hello and check out the market.

Open 11 am-7 pm, 268 Mulberry between Prince and Houston, close to the RWN and BDFV trains. Check out their website for great articles and directions. See you then!

Etsy Hacks! Brilliant add-ons to make Etsy a breeze.

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:50:00 +0000

I feel like I do pretty well at keeping my eyes open for things like this, but this site was new to me.

From the site:

"Greasemonkey is an add-on for the Firefox web browser, that allows you to run "scripts", or little programs that alter the web pages you view. See Installing Greasemonkey for more information."

the most valuable item on this list was the bulk photo uploader... this has been part of the reason why i don't list as often as i should, because it takes forever to load photos one at a time. I'm excited to check out all of my new features!

butt-in-gear

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:06:00 +0000

I've been meaning to go restock at metalliferous in midtown for over a week now, and keep getting waylaid. It's only open until 6 pm which is a leeeetle inconvenient for me (and i imagine i'm not the only one) and of course i could order online, but i want to go into the store and dive in and swim around amongst all of the great stuff. imagine me as scrooge mcduck, only it's silver instead of gold. and none of it belongs to me. oh, and no spats. they make my ankles look fat.

anyway, i'm excited. I feel very stuck without the items i'm looking for, plus i just scored a great set of alphabet metal-stamps, and i am overjoyed about personalizing things! i just... don't have anything to stamp yet. *sad face*

also, I admit I didn't know anything about the movie Twilight except for there's vampires and stars that cute boy who dies in harry potter (oops, spoiler alert? if you think this is a spoiler, you are either way behind, or you think harry potter is of the devil which is ok since you probably won't see the movie anyway). now, however, i want to see the movie just for the lion/lamb quote. sweeet. now, where's some Coraline-inspired rag dolls? Bring it, etsians.

"Twilight" Zone

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:25:00 +0000

I recently posted in the Etsy forums a call for recent and up-and-coming trends, since i'm often a few steps behind.

The answer? Well, see all of the replies at the link above, but "TWILIGHT!!" was one of the most popular noted trends. I love Cedric Diggory as much as the next girl, but I hand never thought of movie-inspired vampire chic accessories and couture! Here are some Twilight Highlights.

BITTEN necklace from Sumner2's shop... TONS of Twilight-inspired items!

Custom Twilight Hoodies from MissJenna's shop

Bella Bracelet by norianesbijoux

Personalized portrait from MyMagicMe, who gave us my favorite Zombie Portrait of yore!

And, the classic scrabble tile necklace.

Vintage dictionary Twilight scrabble tile from rosecreekcottage

Fangs for the memories.

FREE handwriting font? Can it be true?

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:45:00 +0000

I haven't had a chance to check out the whole deal on YOURFONTS.COM, , but it's gotten great reviews, and i cannot wait to play with it!

Make Your Own Handwriting Fonts For Free

YourFonts.com is a FREE online font generator that allows you to create your own TrueType fonts within a couple of minutes. Go make your own handwriting as a font!
100% Free!

* Your own handwriting turned into your very own font for free
* Optionally include your signature
* You'll have your very own font within 15 minutes
* Make as many fonts as you like
* Use your fonts on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux
* Personalize your digital scrapbook pages
* Make your own "family handwriting history"
* Use your fonts in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and every program that you own

Just giving some new favorites some love....

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:16:00 +0000

Etsy
Buy Handmade
alexladydesigns

Yoni for Friday

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:41:00 +0000

Another prototype! This new addition is made of a lower gauge wire than I like to sell. I'll have this item in a sturdy 20 ga soon, just in time for Valentine's Day or V-day. It features a sparkly raspberry briolette, and is sculpted from sterling silver wire.

I'm so proud of this pendant. It just came to me, and after I sketched it I scouted around online for a while to see if there was anything else like it out there. Alas, wire sculpture lady parts are not to be found. Pardon me while I fill this niche market. (I'll fill your niche market.) Who said it? I said it. What?

The Tree is Growing...

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:01:00 +0000

I've decided to work a little more on larger-scale items. This was my first attempt at something so large, and I love it. Not sure if I'm going to sell it or keep it yet...

New Items from Alexlady Designs!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:29:00 +0000

Three New pendants, plus:

NEW ITEM, Spiral nose ring!

I look forward to offering more nose rings in my shop in the future. Any requests?

National "Answer Your Cat's Question" Day!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I don't know about you folks, but all our cats ever ask is "when is the lousy bum gonna get up and feed us?" ...Am I right? Am I right?

Never mind. Maybe this collection of cat-related items will make me listen more closely.

Naughty Kitten Wall Decal from LanaKole (lots of great wall decals here, in fact!!

Print-ready PDF Stationery template from littleTstudio

Guys With Remotes Print from Original Painting by DebHarvey

STerling Silver Cat Earrings by virtuallyblind

Answer your cat's questions. Then comment here and tell me what they asked!

FREE SHIPPING for inauguration day!

noreply@blogger.com (alexlady) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:24:00 +0000

Celebrate regime change with FREE SHIPPING today only!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEE i'm so excited!!! Happy Inauguration Day!