Devine Designs Jewelry

Ah, fall! My favorite time of the year. We finally get a break from the heat and humidity here in Florida. It has been nice in the mornings and evenings. Although the slight change in weather, does not mean a change in the way things look here. It still looks like this in our neighborhood. And this: And this: This is the time of the year to do arts and crafts shows. This is when the "snow birds" come to Florida for the winter. This is also the time of year when I start walking outside again. We do have beautiful paths to walk. And this is the best time of year to visit Walt Disney World !

And my first show, that is! So that's what I was involved in over this past weekend. Preparing for the show. Which means, checking all my jewelry, cleaning and polishing, tagging, pricing and descriptions on every single piece of jewelry I have in stock. This took me 4 1/2 hours straight. I can't believe it takes that much time just to prepare my already created jewelry! Then, on to the mock set-up. It is always a good idea to set up your table and display as you would the day of the show. This way you can see what works, what doesn't, try out new display pieces, and just see how the jewelry will all look ahead of time. Believe me, you do not want to do this on the morning of the show! It's better to be prepared. So my crates and boxes are all packed and ready to go. A leaf bug has inhabited the outside window where I create for the last week. I remember seeing one last year around this time too. I don't know the real name of this bug, but it looks like a leaf! I th...

It's just one week away from my first show of the season. This weekend I will be tagging all my jewelry, polishing, doing a mock display set up, and making any new pieces that I can. I have a few new display pieces that I want to work with, mainly risers, so I have to plan the set up in advance. Basically, the idea is to elevate everything so it is eye level with the customer. Have you ever gone to a show only to be looking down and bending over for hours? Not fun. I believe customers will stay longer and look more when it is comfortable for them. This is an indoor event, which is nice for me as I don't have to set up a tent. Just my table and displays. Lot's of details to finish up. This is also a fund raiser to support the Children's Dream Fund. So my set up fee has gone to a good cause. You can learn more about the Children's Dream Fund, here . Anyway, if you'll be in town next Sunday, please stop by, say hi, and check out the other vendors!

Many of us who create handmade, artisan items have put our thoughts together to give our readers and customers an idea about just what goes into creating individual unique items. First I think you must understand just what you're getting with a handmade item. What I recently added to my bio on Etsy is this: What you will NOT find in my jewelry shop is mass produced, cookie cutter, or poorly made, low quality items. We are not large conglomerate chain stores, buying the cheapest qualities of gems and metals, sending them to a factory in some third world country to be mass produced on a production line by workers making pennies a day. Now I may be over-exaggerating a bit, but I hope you get the point. Here is a chart which shows the daily spot price of precious metals. I used the silver chart, as this is a popular metal that we jewelry artists work with. As you can see, the spot price for silver, today is $21.79 per ounce!(as of the writing of this post) And this price seems to be on...

Good Monday morning all! Over the weekend I managed to list 5 new items in my Etsy shop. Rock of ages This is a simply stated copper pendant necklace, rich with fall colors and patina. The focal is an organic artisan handmade lampwork glass bead. I used faceted carnelian gemstones to accent. Carnelian and vesuvianite drop earrings This pair of earrings matches the pendant necklace. Vesuvianite, a new gemstone to me. I purchased these stones because of the rich green color. I found out, while searching info on this stone that it is also known as Idocrase, vesuvianite is named for Mount Vesuvius in Italy where it was initially discovered. You can read more about the "healing powers" of this stone here . Funky bangle-mixed metals Another one of my funky bangles, this one is mainly sterling silver and copper, with a few brass beads and a hand forged brass spiral charm accent. This look could be called, industrial, steampunk, rocker. A good layering piece as well. Lapis, coils, a...

It seems to be getting harder and harder to actually want to sit down and write about... well, anything! I've been a little frustrated, especially in the last couple of weeks. Feeling isolated, or am I isolating? Now more changes are on the move. Well, first of all, one of the selling venues that many of us crafts people use has been sold, and people are scattering. 1000 Markets is no more. They have been sold to another venue, and to me personally, it does not look appealing. Next: networking with others about this: I've come up with 3 or more venues to look into so I can spread out all over the worldwide web! Let's face it, if I want more exposure and new customers I must begin to look for other venues to promote and sell my jewelry. And yes, Etsy is my number one shop and I have built up a following there, so there I stay, even though there are a few things over there that "bug" me. All I can say for now. I'm even considering (again) building my own websit...

It seems circles are quite popular, especially in jewelry design these days. They can represent wholeness, unity, the earth, the circle of life. You choose what you want to represent. So I've added these new items to my Etsy shop ; 2 works in copper; a great rich color for fall. Sedona A choker style necklace with multi-textured O rings and coil wrapped artisan glass lampwork beads. The beads were made by LT Designs . You can find her shop on Etsy too. I used a ready made oval link chain for this necklace. It's rich in patina from the oxidation process. Copper washer bracelet with tiger eye coins A mixed metal bracelet with wire wrapped tiger's eye coins in the center of textured copper O rings and sterling silver figure 8 connectors. I really like the way my clasp turned out on this one. It has light texture. A kind of rustic look. I also have a new sterling silver and Bali bead anklet available. All handcrafted by me except for the addition of the lobster claw clasp. Simp...