Popular in the Shop: Stud Earrings

Amethyst Stud Earrings

Peridot Stud Earrings

Every so often, dainty, tiny stud earrings come into fashion again.  This year is one of those years. I have been having a lot of fun perfecting wire wrapped studs in the shop this spring -- and they are turning out adorable and are available in such variety it's hard not to steal many of them for my own jewelry box.   Below, find a super fun variety in multiple gemstones and colors.

Aqua Terra Jasper Stud Earrings

Pearl Stud Earrings (my biggest seller, ever.)

Cherry Creek Jasper Stud Earrings

Woodland Green Pearl Stud Earrings

Oxblood Red Garnet Stud Earrings

Hemlock Green African Opal Stud Earrings

Blue Fire Labradorite Stud Earrings

 

 

Aquamarine Stud Earrings

Hoop Earrings Sale!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/maggiesjewelry?section_id=6770430

All hoop earrings are marked down in the shop by 20%.  No coupon code needed, I manually marked everything down :)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/maggiesjewelry?section_id=6770430

Playing around...

You know that saying -- don't mess with something that works? Yeah, I am not so good at following that saying.

See, my problem is that I want to learn -- even if the process I am using is still working just fine. Which, Etsy seems to be doing pretty well by me. It's simple, I can change how my shop looks whenever I want, and with Etsy changing their coding quite often -- I am always having to learn their process as they tweek.

But, I can't just let things lay around, working. So, for the past few days I have been learning how to make my own shop -- I am sure you have seen me play with the coding on here, but I have chosen to try one more step and create my own website / shop.

Look forward to it in the near future -- I will announce it here when I am ready to share. But, remember, I am a perfectionist, so it may be a bit :)

In the meantime -- it's wildflower and sunshine season here in the Pacific Northwest so I will be out playing and getting sunburned more often than normal for a while.



The photo here is a design I am playing with -- I hope to make hair jewels, headbands and some pretty earrings/ pendants with this branch design. Think Art Deco and The Great Gatsby with where these are going :)

Spring Sale

I just created an "early spring sale" in the shop -- must be my happiness at seeing a bit of sunshine.  It;s pretty simple-- everything is already marked down through etsyonsale, so you don;t even need to use a coupon code. 

I don't know about you -- but coupon codes can sometimes be a drag for me.  In my excitement to purchase the discounted item I often forget to put that pesky code in there and end up paying full retail.  Sign.

Everything is marked down -- and as an added bonus, it's still free domestic 2-5 day shipping.

Here are a few examples for spring ideas:

Tsavorite Garnet Hoops 1.25 inches, Sterling Silver (Spring Color Emerald)

Amethyst Heart Hoops, Sterling Filled Hand Hammered (Spring Color Rhapsody)

Garnet Heart Hoops Sterling Filled (Spring Color Poppy Red)

Brilliant Rose Quartz Dangles, Sterling Silver

Pink Garnet Hoops, 1.25 inches 14k Gold Filled

Emerald Jade Hoops in Copper -- 1.75 inches diameter,  St Patrick's Day, Spring Color Emerald

Tender Shoots -- ahhh spring

Following the previous post, my next color is tender shoots.

A lovely Spring green -- it really is divine for spring, isn't it?  Here are a few items in Tender Shoots...

 Peridot inherantly lends itself to the title "Tender Shoots".  These are a smaller hoop -- 30mm or about 1.25 inches -- wire wrapped with a rustic cut roundelle.  These are smaller hoops -- but still a statement with the rich tender shoots peridot.  Check them out here.

 These beauties -- though you can see the most stark contrast with the preidot (tender shoots) also have a slightly pink "Linen" which is also included in the 2013 colors. These modern cluster earrings are just fabulous, feminine and fun.  Check them out here.

 This is a chunky lime green candy jade necklace that also holds the wonderful title of tender shoots in the sunlight.  The roundelels are 14mm by 6mm making this a statement piece, gemstone and not too heavy.  This is hand knotted on matching silk thread and currently finished in Sterling Silver.  If you want it finished in 14k gold filled instead, you can convo me about any changes.  See more pictures here.

 Ahh, peridot, I have loved you since the moment I started making jewelry.  In fact, the first jewelry set I ever made was peridot chips and rose quartz -- all about the feminine nature of gemstones when I started. These are high end peridot faceted roundelles, perfectly sized and wire wrapped around 45mm sterling silver hoops.  If I could pull off large hoops -- a pair of these would be in my jewelry box already.  Just Lovely.

These Quartz Earrings are one of my favorite so far in the shop.  Elegant, huge, and they have that hint of medieval jewelry appearance with the large facets still bringing out the super shiny.  I love these so much and would rock them all the time if I had a reason too.  But, dont fret, I bought myself some light pinks to make a similar pair to wear.  Must be the love of "Pretty in Pink" and Molly Ringwald's Red hair that rivals my own. These lovelies are here.


You can also search the colors in my shop to find what I have tagged with these colors -- there is a lot more variety than these for extra pop.  Think of these pieces as a way to be trendy -- but not having to sell out a ton of money for a new wardrobe.

New Year -- back to the grind

I've been meaning to post for a while now.  But, I have been luckily bombarded with family stuff, as in my family all lives under one roof now.  Hubby is home again, and getting settled and signed into the local base here -- as we get used to doing things as one household.  It's proven....challenging. 

For one, shopping for one more adult has thrown a wrench in my shopping habits.  Who knew that much more was needed to maintain the cooking.  And for some reason, I didn't anticipate the extra laundry, extra household goods to buy, or even that my jewelry studio may impact hubby's netflix addiction.

See my studio is small, one corner of the master bedroom -- mainly so that I am still available for the kids and not in a separate location.  Also, it's sequestered in the master bedroom, because I don't really want to be searching for inspiration in the dining room while cartoon network plays in the living room.  Or Halo.  Or whatever new XBox game they are into this week. 

But I have been expanding my line -- even before hubby got home -- to include not only bridal jewelry, but also trendy, modern and relevant to the time of year jewelry.

Oh, an example?

14k Gold Filled Heart Hoops

These are hoops, in the shape of an open heart I made sing some 20 gauge 14k gold filled wire.  They are sturdy and dainty all at once.  It took me a while to get the shape perfect -- a lot of hammering, a lot of trial and error.  And several Youtube searches.

Once I got the shape right -- I tried to use a wig jig, but I am not that coordinated, so I had to make them by hand --  I hammered and tempered the metal in order to make the half hard fully hard so they wont bend and get all messed up.  You know, there is a history of young kids in my house testing the jewelry I make -- by accident at first.

Once that was all done, I decided, you know what?  These would look so cute if I added a little something something.

Sapphire Hearts

So I started wire wrapping stones onto the bottom half of the heart.  See, the area where there are no stones serves as the ear wire, and the stone part of the heart dangles.

They were so pretty that I went outside and took a million pictures of several different pairs and styles of these heart hoops.  And bam!  A set sold within minutes of me putting them up on the esty site for Maggie's Jewelry. 

See these in the Shop.

These lovely garnets are the ones that sold. 

But, as I have a touch of OCD, and the pictures sure did look nice, I went through my post shipment quality check -- which includes making sure they would be perfect on by holding them near the ear and checking how they would look, in addition to polishing, sanitizing, and blow drying after the polish and sanitize.   (I know what you;re thinking:  "You blow dry your jewelry?"  Yes I do, to make sure it's fully dry before I package it up to ship -- we don't want oxidation in the shipping time to occur, do we?)

And what do you know?  While the pictures looked divine, and they really did, the earrings were all wrong.  Because I had wrapped both earrings the same direction, I had to take one earring apart and wrap on the other side of the hoop.  Okay, a bit unclear there:  by re-wrapping, the gemstones face out to the world on both ears now -- rather than them facing one direction only -- and inevitably, one earring's gemstones facing the neck rather than the world.

So, live and learn, right?  I will be making sure I take pictures more often of these earrings on from now on -- because then I could know much earlier in the process if something is off, even if the pictures are pretty perfect.

~Maggie~

Check out all my new designs at:  Maggie's Jewelry

The Sun is out, and well, it's pretty hot...

OMG, what a summer it has been -- I mean roller-coaster hot weather,  a shocking minor surgery, job search, job search, job search.  I have barely had time to look at my jewels let alone make the new ones I have had designed in my head for months now.

I have done a lot of soul searching in the midst of my insane couponing to make ends meet this year off (not by choice, mind you) and I keep seeing "if you don't love it, don't chase after it."  That really resonates with me as the summer winds down and I get ready to send the hellions (I mean my wonderful, darling children) back to school.  (Will that day ever really come?  I am one terrible stay-at-home mom.).

I keep thinking about my jobs I have done -- you know, in PR, Marketing, etc.  And while I like it enough to get out of bed with a smile on every morning  there are really two places in those job descriptions I love:

1) Research.   I am really more of a balanced individual when I research almost anything.  The last year I spent a lot of time researching theory of leadership as it relates to the military rank structure and how the federal government hires who they hire and why -- plus the impact those things have on current operations during the pending draw-down.   I know I know, from a stay at home mom/ jewelry designer who is really bad about updating her store and blog.  Makes absolutely no sense, right?  But, it makes my blood really move with passion when I look into not only what is going on, but how to make it better, ya know?

2) Relationship Building.   I love to build community and relationships online and offline.  There can be no real reason for a relationship to form -- for example, one of my neighbors who is also unemployed during the 'recession' (let's be honest, this really is a depression that has been faked to look like a lingering 'recession') is also suddenly into couponing to make ends meet.  So who was the first person I told about the insane deal on Vitamin Water I found (after my mom)...the neighbor lady in the same situation as me.

Now -- what does this have to do with jewelry making?  Absolutely nothing, I just thought maybe I would open up a bit and give a glimpse of my real personality. Which, by the way, is a bit neurotic.

But, the sun is out -- its not as warm today...so finally I got off my but, out of my room, left the fan for a few minutes and didn't break out a single coupon to take some pictures of some new and older jewels.  They are up on the site now, after I showed my kiddos how to take close ups and edit in Picasa, you know so I can pay them to take pictures later on in the year.

Yeah, it's a family thing, this Etsy thing.

Another Jewelry Show

I don't know about you, but this economy is kicking my butt. My mother is at a planning session for her retirement (go Mom!) and we are planning between us if we can get into the fancy jewelry show that is going up here this weekend.

It's this one: International Gem and Jewelry Show . I really love this show, went a few times in Huston and Austin when I lived in Texas, have been to the Portland one, and as often as I can, I go to the Seattle one.

The only trouble is, a few years back they started charging full pop for kids to get in, insane. Granted, I always have the coupon, bringing the price to 6 bucks entrance from 8, which sounds pretty good.  That is, until you realize there are three kids, and my Mom that go with me, bringing my cost up to almost 40$ just to walk through the door.

I know it seems ridiculous, but in order to keep my prices reasonable for the stuff I like to sell, I have to keep the costs of my materials down. It's bad enough how much gold and silver are now, wow!

A decent pair of earrings now costs over 18 bucks at COST when I use the silver and gold-filled, because the ear-wires and wire alone are above 10. Add to that production costs, and keeping these prices down is hard, hard, hard work.  It's like couponing, selling your own stuff.  Which I do do :)

But, I do have a few designs in mind I hope to bring you in the coming weeks--that is, if we decide we can go.  Otherwise, we are hitting up the 'gemfair' at the Tacoma Dome. Which unfortunately has some very pretty beads right as you enter the door, but they guy who runs that booth is so rude I can not bring myself to buy there -- NO MATTER how pretty the gems are.

Well, off to clean off the beading desk and prepare for the future spring ahead--since I took much of winter off trying to maintain my 4.0 in my masters. 

That's right, I did it, mission accomplished!  4.0 for almost an entire academic year at Gonzaga University!  Woot!