{Elizabeth Jayne Jewelry} ~ Handcrafted Jewelry Glamorous Enough for Everyday ~

2010-10-10T17:04:00.001-05:00

I've finally been able to return to blogland and I must say, it's been quite a trip. Both fond and melancholy, like fall itself. Some blogs have dried up, some have taken new turns from when I subscribed, some are all grown, and some have really taken off. It's like catching up with old friends and seeing where everyone has gone.

Oh Mandie! is, as she says, living a charmed life. Now the blog's full of cute pictures of her little boy, who's seemingly all grown up!

coffee talk is now a polished focused blog on fashion and collages. I've always adored her use of size and color in her blog and wished I could be more like her. I miss the old "down-homey" feel of her blog; it's somehow less personal and more formal now.

Sweet Figments was the best. I remember waiting for her blog updates: like Christmas every time, but better; it was always something good. I'm sad to hear that due to health issues it won't be written anymore. At least the The Tiny Fig, which always had (and still does) the cutest kawaii stickers and magnets and hair doodads, is still going strong.

Sweet Pirate Betty, who's always had like, the best name ever, has moved to Deer Little Fawn. =/ Still cool and pretty though!

Diamond Bear Brewery, Little Rock's own local brewery, really needs to update. Soon. Please!

You, too, Yellow Goat.

Red Panda is doing great! The Photoshop tip re: fireworks was especially helpful :D

What other blogs should I catch up on?

Letters are such mailbox presents...want one?

2009-05-07T14:01:00.003-05:00

I really, really like getting things in the mail (that aren't bills or other yucky stuff). I also really, really like handwritten letters or postcards - but it's like a lost art anymore. Help me change that! Email your address (or the address of a friend if you want, just let me know it's not to you) to elizabethjayne@gmail.com and I'll write you a letter. I don't promise that it will be the most exhilarating letter ever - we've only just met after all - but I do promise that your address will only be used to send you a letter, just once (more if you want them!), and never sold, rented, or given to anyone else. I also really like privacy - mine and yours!

Plainbananas over at http://plainbananas.wordpress.com is also doing such things, so if you like her blog picture better (and I wouldn't blame you, it's pretty cool) or if you just want two letters (I wouldn't blame you for being letter-greedy either ;) ) hit her up!

Reasons Why I Like Arkansas, Vol. I

2009-05-04T23:13:00.012-05:00

Stately Trees

Gorgeous

Sunsets

Everyday

Roses and Birds

The Dichotomy of Nature

Simplicity

Travelling Rose Bushes!

I'm a self-professed tree hugger...

2009-04-21T09:23:00.009-05:00

So of course I love Earth Day :D A few tidbits about Earth Day: Created in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, approximately 20 million Americans participated in rallies across the nation. Now more than half a billion participate in various activities across the globe. See if you can find something in your community - and bring the whole family!

"Squirt" Sea Turtle Earrings, $12

Of course, as part of my celebration I'm having an ElizabethJayne sale! I'm offering free shipping on your entire order - no minimum purchase required. All of my shipping materials are 100% recycled (but you couldn't tell just by looking - it's all in fabulous shape!)

An Example of Recycled Packaging

This promotion is good in both of my shops:
http://elizabethjayne.etsy.com
http://elizabethjayne.artfire.com

I was trying to add a new widget,

2009-04-12T14:17:00.002-05:00

and it's not going so well. Sometimes the simplest things are so hard for me - I was just trying to add an "add this" button to every post! The irony is not lost on me.

Happy Easter!

03/03/09 is a magick day!

2009-03-03T14:39:00.006-06:00

em Today's square root day - today (03) and the month (03) are the squares of the year (09). So to let my inner math geek out (I swear it's there, hiding under all those liberal arts degrees) I'm having a sale in both my stores!

www.elizabethjayne.etsy.com
www.elizabethjayne.artfire.com

Take 33% off any one item in either store. Just enter "03/03" in notes to seller when checking out :)

"Common Ancestor" Lampwork Beads, Found only on Etsy!

"Sammy the Shark" Earrings, Found only on Artfire

I've been a'travelin..

2009-02-25T21:50:00.006-06:00

To Shreveport, LA for New Year's, as you may recall, and recently to New Orleans for Mardi Gras (though I actually missed the Fat Tuesday finale :( ) I took approximately 2 billion pictures in Shreveport and I'll have those posted on my Flickr soon - but here's a taste:

Downtown, New and Old

Macro of the Nation's Largest Public Arts Mural

One of the many murals throughout Shreveport

As for New Orleans, I decided to keep my camera at home for two reasons: 1) didn't want to have to worry about it all the time and 2) miss things because I was busy taking pictures and not taking in the scenery. This doesn't mean there won't be pictures and blog posts coming, however - all the throws (and memories) deserve their own blog post.

On a more somber note, my sympathies to the families affected in the shooting Tuesday. How tragic.

How deep is your love, how deep is your love...?

2009-02-18T00:25:00.001-06:00

I just thought I'd share what's been stuck in my head for the last 24 hours at least.

I never would have listened to any of the BeeGees stuff if it hadn't have been for this man. Thanks, John Frusciante...I think.

Quick, she's getting away!

2009-02-10T23:32:00.006-06:00

While you might think I've absconded with all the jewels, the truth is much more mundane - I've been focused on something called the LSAT. The LSAT - that's short for "law school admission test" - is a gem of an exam designed to torture anyone who's contemplated studying law. It's long - sometimes up to 7 hours long. It's hard - 5 sections plus a writing sample, each done in 35 minute increments.

The worst part, however, is that results don't come in for 3 weeks. I took mine last Saturday (Feb. 7) so I'll let you know how I did ^_^

Overall, I think I did pretty well...which gives me pause for concern, since generally it's those I feel good about that I didn't do so well on, and those I feel I flunked I did do well! Also, one section that I never got done in time in practice I finished during the real thing...then one section I always did well on kicked my rear royally Saturday. So who knows?

I'm currently busy making tons of new pieces, so be on the lookout in the next couple of weeks for them too :D

Featured Fridays are Back! Check out (La Cometa Lab.)

2008-12-05T16:25:00.009-06:00

Well, I hope I'm not too rusty at this and there aren't mobs with pitchforks and torches waiting for me cause it's been so long. I am looking forward to weekly (ish) features again, though they may not be on Fridays because I am terrible with deadlines sometimes! Forgive meh!

So to get us back into the swing of things, I'm featuring a newbie - her shop on Etsy is just over a month old! (La Cometa Lab.) already has 6 sales though and it's no wonder - her brooches are fabulous, with just the right amount of quirky cuteness and suave trendiness.

Colourful Brooch for Geeks, $30

LaCometa is an art historian who's been living the good life in Paris for the last three years. She's got an awesome job working for a world-renowned photo agency and managing exhibitions along Southern Europe. Somehow she finds time in between phenomenal cuisine and excellent job duties to make these little beauties:

Mondrian Inspired Cube Brooch, $40

She's inspired by music and traveling and has been in love with art and design from childhood. You can find more of her inspirations at her blog http://lacometalab.blogspot.com/ and her photos on Flickr are pretty neat too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonpics . Stop by and tell her hello!

Colourful Brooch Inspired in the 20s, $40

Extensions (not the hairy kind)

2008-12-03T09:19:00.004-06:00

I'm extending the sale to this Friday - editing the listings in Etsy is mindboggling tedious, so you people win out on my laziness!

Congo! Earrings, $12

Here's what I'm thankful for....

2008-11-27T13:32:00.006-06:00

This unseasonably warm beautiful day
The standards: being alive, my friends and family (and my cat!)
Being able to play with beads for fun!

So in honor of today's holiday, I'm participating in Etsyfest! In order to demonstrate my gratitude for the last, I'm running a pretty good sale...if I do say so myself. Remember,

Receive a $10 gift certificate with the purchase of $40 plus
FREE SHIPPING in the US and REDUCED shipping for my international friends :)

Free gift wrap is available too!

What are you thankful for?

When Pigs Fly....

2008-11-25T20:29:00.007-06:00

That'll be the day, eh? Well...today's the day. I just listed these little piggies at my Artfire shop, http://elizabethjayne.artfire.com :

They're adorable. And you can say, "Well I guess that'll happen today, instead of never...Nyah nyah!"

I listed "The Cutest Little Fishies You Ever Did See" (look below) on Artfire late last night, and woke up to a sale. Woot! Thanks, Artfire buyer :D

The Critters are Coming!

2008-11-23T19:46:00.004-06:00

I've had this series of earrings made for a while but was never able to photograph them well. Well, the other day I finally managed to rig together a passable lightbox (that's a blog post in itself) and new photos are on the way! I wanted to introduce y'all to the first Critter:

More Critters are on the way - a pair of sharks, turtles, blowfish, and even little monsters and flying pigs! Now just to decide on their names....help me out please? :D

hay gaiz, I haz salez nxt week tu

2008-11-20T22:33:00.006-06:00

Sorry. I spent too many hours on I Can Haz Cheezburger? last night. So anyway!

There's a big groundswell on Etsy to have an un-official site-wide sale to kick off the holiday shopping season - we're calling it the "Artisans for the Holidays Sale" and it will be happenin' from Nov 27-Dec 1. So from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, Etsy is gonna be havin (I have no idea what is going on with my syntax today) super-cool sales all around.

What does this mean for you, dear reader? Well, since I'm signed up, I'll be having super cool sales too! Here's the scoop:

Purchase $40.00 worth of goods and receive a $10.00 Gift Certificate towards your next visit plus
Get FREE SHIPPING (to US and Canada) and REDUCED shipping to our international friends on your order, no matter the size :D

Nothing to see here.

2008-11-19T21:36:00.002-06:00

Move along now.Well, how about these: one of my favorite cars.
Consolation prize!

Well, it's not a drug cartel...as far I can tell.

2008-11-19T04:32:00.000-06:00

I could be wrong; BigCartel might actually be a drug ring! But I don't think so, see, since they've allowed me to list my jewelry with them. It's hard to see Columbian drug lords wearin my stuff...but hey, you never know!

Okay, so what *is* BigCartel, you might be asking...it's essentially another venue site. It began life oriented towards indie bands and it still is a little, but they've got some really neat tools for sellers and good prices too! I've got five (5!) listings up with them right now, go check it out! Here's the link: http://elizabethjayne.bigcartel.com/

I'm on CNN y'all! Well, Sorta.

2008-11-18T14:40:00.000-06:00

I wrote and published a CNN I-Report Story on my jewelry, check it out! Here's the link.

A couple of useful tools for my fellow Etsiers...

2008-11-18T00:08:00.000-06:00

I've just recently found two new apps for my Etsy shop I had to spread the word about - one is !Etsyhacks and the other one is an RSS feed with pictures.

The latter is a bit more straightforward, so I'll start with it. Written by the husband of an Etsy seller, it's an RSS that's a bit more useful than the one Etsy provides. Simply use this link http://etsyfeeder.appspot.com/?userid= with your Etsy Seller ID at the end, like this: http://etsyfeeder.appspot.com/?userid=5582604. Your Seller ID is easy to find - when you're looking at your storefront, it's automatically displayed up top in the url.

!Etsyhacks is again written by the husband of an Etsy seller, and is a package of tools - not just one! You need two things - A)Firefox as your browser and B) have Greasemonkey installed. Wait, don't run away! It's so much easier than it sounds. If you don't have Firefox yet, get it! There's no reason not to be using it instead of IE. It's free, takes only a little getting used to, and makes for safer, cleaner web browsing. Here's the link for Mozilla Firefox (if you've got it already, I hope you don't mind a little preaching to the choir :D ) Now, on to Greasemonkey. It's another tool that allows such things as !Etsyhacks, and you can get it here.

Phew. So what exactly does !Etsyhacks do? Well, there are 10 applications from which you can pick and choose - or grab them all. Some examples: Adds a 'quote this post' link to each post in the forums; Adds "edit item" and "delete item" links to the View Listing page; or Adds item and shipping subtotals to your receipt pages. To install, you just click the orange button next to the app you want, and voila! Greasemonkey tells you it was successful, and the next time you log into Etsy that feature is there. They're easy to overlook as they just blend right in...and jeez is it nice.

If you've got any questions about installation, feel free to ask me! I'll do my best to help.

I'd like to thank the Academy....

2008-11-16T17:40:00.000-06:00

...and Heather from LonestarVintageClothing for honoring me with her first blog feature! She asks some truly interesting interview questions, and my replies are just as scintillating....and her other posts are pretty fab too!

Direct link here

I've added a new widget - scope it out!

2008-11-15T22:40:00.000-06:00

I've made it a little easier to follow my blog - take a peek over to the left. See the gizmo entitled "Mutual ♥"? There's a link right underneath that lets you "follow" my blog and see updates on your blogger dashboard. And you can do so either publicly or privately, so if you're ashamed to admit your love for me, it's okay...your picture doesn't have to show up over there! <3

Chirp Chirp! A little birdie told me...

2008-11-14T01:39:00.000-06:00

I'm finally aboard the Twitter phenomenon - find me at https://twitter.com/elizabethjayne!

And if you haven't caved in yet either, Twitter is a micro-blogging site where people update what they're doing fairly often. You can respond to other peoples' statuses (that should be stati) though I think that feature is a little clunky. All in all, pretty fun though!

I'm also sussing out a few new commerce sites to put my goods on. Places like Artfire, DaWanda, and eCrater. All of them have their advantages: Artfire is spending a lot of money on advertising; DaWanda advertises as well but sells in Euros, and eCrater uploads your good into Google Product Search automatically. Perhaps I should diversify into multiple sites...What are your thoughts?

p.s. Anyone know why I can't upload a photo? :(

Loads of New Stuff - Check Out those Lovely Lampwork Beads!

2008-11-11T01:52:00.000-06:00

I've got tons of new listings up (well, maybe not 2000 pounds worth, but close!) - go see, y'all! I'm excited about this latest batch, especially because I've got a whole new section up. Remember that post about Mary Foster in all her dichroic glass glory? Well, her lampwork beads have finally hit the shelves and she's excited, and I'm excited, and we're just a bunch of excited people over here!

What are you waiting for? Oskar sez: Click here to see them!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T13:45:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has grand plans for the evening - personally, I'll be kicking off the festivities by going in to work (boo!) and then finishing with pizza, candy and computer games with the family.

Tomorrow is the monthly meeting of the Polly Cat Bead Group, a cool little clan of crafty chicas (celebrate alliteration!). If if you're in the Fort Smith area, you should come...and if you're not, send your best wishes :)

A Farewell (of sorts)

2008-10-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

You may have been wondering where Lisa and I have been of late, and truth be told, we were probably wondering the same thing! Life has overtaken us as we've both been looking for somewhere new to live and in my case, a new job as well - Etsy isn't paying the bills quite yet (ahem!). So after much soul-searching, and focus-setting, and goal-prioritizing, we've decided......

You're not rid of us yet!

Bwahaha! However, both of us will be cutting back to varying degrees. Lisa will be focusing much more on finding a house to purchase and getting those details ironed out; she's not going to be able to contribute as much as she used to. Her work can still be found on my Etsy shoppe, www.elizabethjayne.etsy.com, but due to the fact she's decided "Fat Cats Studio" isn't the moniker she'd like to go by, I'm offering a 10% discount on all her work I currently have listed. If you've had your eyes on a piece of hers, now's the time to get it!

And I'm still around, have no fear. I'm debating on whether to move "Feature Fridays" to another day (but the name is just so catchy!), so let me know if you've got a preference one way or the other.