Two Weeks... Just Two Weeks

Am I the only one going just a little crazy getting ready for back to school?  Sometimes it feels like that.

From the sports physicals to shots, to finding the best back to school supply deals, to figuring out when the heck my high-schooler gets on the bus, I am like WHOA!  Stop the world, I want off!

But seriously, it's pretty hairy.  And the bummer is, normally at this time of year there is a late August jewelry show up here in Tacoma or Seattle -- sometimes both.  But this year, it's neither, so I can't even spend a day forgetting about it all.  Of course I would use the excuse with the family:  But, I need to do this for the shop.  Seriously, they buy it every-single-time.

But this year I must wait until November.  So I catch myself often looking longingly at bead shops on Etsy.  Wow -- beautiful small quantities on there.  It's like Christmas whenever I find myself looking. I am just in awe of the perfectly faceted gemstones, and the wire.  There is this one shop in New Orleans that makes fabulous wire -- my mother got me some Rose Gold wire from there, so I have been having a little fun.

You did hear Rose Gold is super big this year? Like amazingly big.  Like, how do I get noticed for having it in my shop big.

These are Emerald Green Onyx (Color of the Year) finished in 14k Rose Gold Filled.

Stunning Mozambique Garnet with a pinkish hue finished in 14k Rose Gold Filled.  My mother adores these.

So you know those "Alina Jolie" Earrings?  The Emerald ones no one can get enough of? These are fashioned after those -- The are  perfect Emerald Quartz finished in 14k Rose Gold Filled.  Oh Wow -- two birds, one stone.

And don't forget there are only a few days left of the wonderful Birthstone "Peridot" -- it's a lovely green, and there are many items in the shop.

Up next month is the amazingly versatile Sapphire.  Ohh La La.

But for now -- it's time to start pulling my hair out again on the couponing blogs to find the best back to school deals.  You know that's right.  I've heard it both ways.

Yeah, I love Psych.  By the Way -- anyone watching "The White Queen?"  Lovely Jewelry ideas.  It's on Starz -- but the books are better.

~Maggie~

Change in Course

Last Spring, I had a few very choice experiences that dominated my personal life. They are generally pretty private -- but I decided to drop my Thesis class and write it this Autumn quarter instead.

In case you don't know, I have to write my thesis for my Master's Degree in Communication and Leadership from Gonzaga University.  Shortly after dropping said course (over half way finished with my thesis I may add) I had come to the conclusion that I just wasn't that into it anymore.

I know, I know -- I decided at my Thesis (the final aspect of finishing the degree fully) that I "just wasn't into it?"  What was I thinking?

Photo Credit: http://pinterest.com/pin/177681147771869239/

Well, I was thinking I had spent so long researching and building a thesis around how the DoD, and especially the Department of the Army communicates impacting hiring decisions -- that I HAD to continue focusing on that. 

Heavy stuff.  Even heavier if you are unemployed from DA (like me) and have been for nearly 2 years (like  me) and you watch personnel get hired for virtues such as being a man, being a 'yes' man, and being a retired service member.  (I didn't retire, I did six years honorably).  It made the final process just untenable for me.  It's a tough situation to realize that even following all the rules they say will help you (such as serving, and getting a degree, then an advanced degree) it just doesn't matter. 

So over the course of the late spring and early summer, I chose to just focus on making the Shop a full time gig -- something that would work for me and the kids.  It's been difficult -- and through it all I have been getting emails and phone calls to sign up for my Thesis class again.   I wasn't going to do it.

But then I ran into something absolutely fascinating -- how the VA communicates.  How they communicate with people like me, the veteran.  How they communicate with the public via blogs and their VA (dot) gov website.  And how the morning reports they put out each Monday on how they are doing with claims adjudicating and the back log doesn't mesh with what they tell congress and me as a caller.

An example:  The VA wrote me in April asking if they wanted me to have them reconsider my claim.  That was a tough day -- so I wire wrapped some necklaces.  It was a touch few weeks -- so I wire wrapped some earrings.  It's been a brutal few months -- so I perfected my timing on FB posts so I wouldn't have to wonder if I needed to "pay" to be seen through Facebook's weird algorithms.  But the issue at hand is this:  when I call the call center, the VA says it takes on average 15 months to decide a claim -- but when I look at the morning reports, it says it takes between 232 and 335 days at my local regional office.

Now, I'm no math wiz, but when I asked my teenage son, he verified that neither 232 or 335 days are 15 months.  Kinda makes you wonder, right?

Photo Credit: http://pinterest.com/pin/177681147771868484/

But under all the designing I was doing to not face what was going on -- I was of course, in my OCD manner, researching what was going on with the VA.  (I know what you're thinking: this has very little to do with jewelry, but trust me -- it's a catalyst that sent me to almost 300 items in the shop). And in a moment of clarity, after the dozenth email and phone call, I decided to change my course and sign up again for the Thesis.

I begin again in September -- and will be heavily structuring my time during autumn and the holiday season.

Credit: http://pinterest.com/pin/177681147771105190/

Mystic Jewelry

I was just going over my facebook posts for today and noticed I have a whole lot of "mystic" this and "mystic" that.  Which leads me to say --  what exactly is Mystic?

Well, I would love to think its one of those stones that actually has mystic properties -- but it doesn't, it's generally a heated finish to create an AB or aurora borealus (that's right, northern lights) finish on a stone, glass or I guess whatever they can get the metal (used in the bonding process) to "bond" to.

So -- the nitty gritty.  What is "Mystic"?

They mystic "coating" is bonded to a stone usually using a metal, and most commonly using a clear stone.  That is how one gets "Mystic Topaz" especially.  I know I know it's all shiny and stuff, and it's unfortunate it doesn't actually happen in nature.  I do personally view the process a little different than say heating a stone to change the color.   See below:

Mystic Labradorite Drop Dangle Earrings in Sterling Silver

 This pair of earrings was created with a labradorite roundel that had been given a "mystic' coating -- normally titanium (the metal) bonded through heat to the stone (labradorite) to make it AB shiny  -- like the northern lights.  I know, I know -- why on earth would one do that with a fledspar that normally has actual AB inclusions that makes it shine and shimmer?

(Feldspards are the family of stones that contain Moonstone, Labradorite and Sunstone -- all naturally sparkly and shiny, even the non 'sparkly' regular moonstone).

But, meh, I guess the person who created these stones decided they just needed 'more' -- it's cool, I get it. Kind of.  But, not really.  It's still got that little extra something, you know?

Emerald Green Quartz Earrings in Sterling Silver

These beautiful earrings were treated with heat -- and only heat to bring out this green color.    They are naturally clear crystal quartz -- but in the heating process (usually using gamma radiation heat to bring out other colors -- which is hysterical if you see this became a big pair of green gemstones, like the Hulk becoming giant and green after his exposure to gamma radiation.  Don't worry, you won't become the Hulk from wearing these, but you will look like a million bucks.)  other colors are brought out, in this case "Emerald Green". 

So, why all the "mystic" in my shop then?  I honestly don't know, but I am pretty certain my daughter has something to do with it.   But it sort of is fun to photograph -- just to see if I can bring out those color scapes added to the gemstones in my photography.   Hint:  I am not so good at it.

Pink Mystic Quartz Ring in 14k Gold Filled

Mystic Pink Quartz Cube Drop Dangle Earrings  -- Sterling Silver

Mystic Pink Quartz Post Earrings in Sterling Silver

Magic Happens -- or so the saying goes.

I am going to come out and say it once and for all-- I do believe Magic Happens.   You're probably wondering where I come to this conclusion from, having had a rough month or two -- mostly personal but partly frustration in the shop.

See, in the shop -- summer months are notoriously slow.   Like snails pace -- or more accurately, it takes time for a caterpillar to become a butterfly.  And honestly, who wants to be online shopping when you can be out in the markets, enjoying the sunshine and that one guy selling "Cadillac peaches" who gives free samples?  The juice just drips from your chins, right?  Delish.  It's what summer is all about.

Photo Courtesy the Very Talented Vermont Photographer at Moonshine Designs and Photography.

I have fought the urge to put my shop on vacation mode -- and just go out to enjoy the sun.  Instead, I have just sharply focused when I do things, so that I can spend the summer with the kids, still clean up a bit around the house -- and keep the shop fruitful.

I also made one slight change in the shop that has done a world of good for my psyche.  Usually I have on my listings:  "Ready to Ship in 1 business day."   But, a few weeks ago, I changed that to "Ready to ship in 1-2 business days."

I know, I know, it doesn't seem like much  -- and generally I still get everything in the mail within a 24 hour period -- even on weekends which are technically not business days.

But, in giving myself that little bit of leeway for the summer -- I am now free to have an item sell at say 2 pm, and get it in the mail the next morning without dropping whatever I am doing for the day, but still be within what I promise.  Just knowing I have that takes a load off, I must say.

Granted, when school starts back up, I will most likely return to the "1 day processing time"  -- but the shipping will remain the same -- free and super fast. (I do first class mail for free -- during the holidays, expedited shipping will have a bit of a fee.  First class generally gets across the country in 2-3 business days).

But the one day has left me with some fun in creating -- which means magic for my poor weary soul. 

This Sapphire Necklace is more about technique for me -- plus it is September Birthstone Jewelry, so I had to add it.  I was perfecting my wire wrapping by doing these rosary style dainty necklaces.  So Much Fun.

I am adding this because in addition to being a rare form of apatite -- I love how much fun I had with the photography.  It's a necklace, and individually wire wrapped in sterling silver and this beautiful Green Apatite.

Simple and elegant -- these are the color of the year, and a little bit like Angelina Jolie's famous emerald earrings.  These are Emerald Quartz -- created by heating the clear quartz to bring out the green.  I am not a scientist, so I don't understand all of the techniques -- but I do know they sure are pretty.

I made these as a process piece.  I wanted to perfect the "all in one piece" earrings that these really are.  They are Natural Peridot and Freshwater Pearl, on a one piece "ear wire".

I have made heart hoops before -- but I have not played much with the precious stones on them -- leaving them to showcase the "hoop" more than  the stone.  With these shaded ruby heart hoops -- I played with both the ear wire and the stones to make something very unique.  And I made them in gold because then I wouldn't steal them for my own jewelry box.

I am adding these pearl earrings because I just can't get enough of the color.  Classic and elegant -- the perfect holly red for holiday events.

Music and it's inspirational merits...

Let me be clear -- I can not sing.  Sure, I often do -- off key and in my own home.   There is something deep and emotional about listening to music. In fact much of my jewelry comes from inspiration found during not-one-second-wasted cleaning marathons, while blasting music.

Also, as a former DJ, I do have a deep love of expression through music -- especially when the music is deeply emotional and full of meaning.  But much of my favorite music has the kind of lyrical connotaion that I can make my own meaning from the words.

Take the odd reality of my two (current) favorite songs -- and their underlying stories, as well as the interesting information about me personally that will follow.

 

This is the original version -- and a full video, which will impart some interesting visuals to go along with the lyrics.  And by the way, the Coldplay version is not my favorite -- it's this one by Weezer: 

They sound pretty similar -- but to me the Coldplay Version seems a little more forced, like trying to force deep meaning out of the lyrics.  Plus, I have a little thing for "Lost"  -- sure it got a little strange those last two seasons and such -- bouncing around through time.  But, I found those last few episodes just beautiful, so well done.

The next song I am deeply in love with, though it is slower, it is also a good song for cleaning:

There is something deep and wonderful about Helleluja --If you close your eyes, you can see the imagry take you away to what the writer is telling you in the song.

Both of these songs have very religious imagery -- and I am not a religious person.   So why are my two currently favorite songs filled with that imagry?  Who knows -- but I will tell you songs to me are about the imagry they create with the lyrics -- which is how I garner inspiration for jewelry from the songs. 

Take Adele's "Set Fire To the Rain" -- imagine the imagery of actually setting Fire to the Rain -- what would this create?  To me in my head, I see Padparadscha Sapphire and London Blue Topaz in a Ring of fire (sapphires)  with the rain (London blue topaz) at the bottom.  It's what that song creates in my mind.

So-- Why am I talking about music here, it's not what this is all about right?   Well a dear old friend of mine once sang a song when we were out one night -- years ago.   I can still hear it in my mind, and the haunt is still as deep as it was then.  Her Voice is just that wonderful and powerful, reaching into the depths of my soul and letting me feel what the original artist meant when she sang this:

So when this old friend said she was raising money to tryout for "The Voice"  I had to support her -- because I can still hear Jewel's words tumbling out of Nastassia's lips.  She is that wonderful a singer. 

Please Consider Donating to her GoFundMe to get her to "The Voice."

Oh Gosh, Not the Creativity Slump!

I am sometimes pretty markedly creative, like so creative I get that wisp of a thought that "This Rainbow Necklace will change the world!"  Then several people favorite it -- and my ego rises. I get happy, go-lucky and so excited that people think the same of that rainbow necklace I thought.

Then I wake up to a dreary Seattle morning with no desire to even edit the photos I took the day before for the shop.

I am not a psych major, so I can't tell you in all honesty where this sudden slump comes from.  It's like: OMGosh, this can not be happening -- just after this massive surge.

I woke up like this on Monday -- after having a fabulous surge of creativity that lasted quite a while actually. Most of those new items are similar in nature however -- so maybe it wasn't as big of a surge as I thought.

When I get here -- to this out of creativity place, I write a lot.  I tool around the interwebs.  I look at other items by other creative people and I try to get sparks of imagination. 

Or, I set everything aside and I take the kids to the pool, or out to a park, or something, and just take the day off from the shop.  (Not really as still throughout the day I edited a few photos here and there to post, and watched my shop so I could ship orders quickly).

It's like lightening really -- so fast and furious. But worth the ebb and flow that it works in.

Maybe I should look at my gemstones once more and see if something "sparks" -- or maybe, just maybe I should walk for a while with the kids, after all -- even though they are older now -- they do still see the world in a very different way from me.

Rainbow Necklace

Christmas in July

When I was a kid, growing up in New England, there were a lot of stores advertising "Christmas in July" sales -- it was always a bit over the top with an air of "Sunday, Sunday SUNDAY" commercials on the local stations.  Always (and still) kind of made me chuckle.

I never understood the concept until this year.  See, it's not just for you, the customer, it's also a fabulous time to reorganize my shop and get some really interesting items in front of you. It's something deep-down about knowing my jewelry is out there in the world, and knowing it makes whoever owns it feel like a million bucks.

Take these fabulous (though a new design for me) Ruby Earrings I recently added to my "clearance section" for "Christmas in July."

Ruby Leaf Earrings

They are kind of a hoop, kind of a dangle, kind of a leaf.  But they are this beautiful variegated ruby -- starting at nearly crystal clear at the top and hitting that deep wonderful clear ruby at the bottom.  Plus, I am a sucker for the photograph --it mixes the rustic favorite "prop" rock outside my studio, and the deep elegance of the fabulous rubies.

It's in the clearance section not because it is an old design -- like some of the other items -- but since it's Christmas in July, why not use something that can be either a gift for a July Birthday Girl -- or a wonderful gift to put under the tree -- or give for Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa.  (These are normally $58, but currently on clearance for 34.80).

Some of the other items in clearance are a bit older -- a classic design that will always work, but still, I want to make room in the shop for the "new" designs I am working on. 

See, I have quite a few items ready to post already -- I just have to have time to do it, really.  But what is happening during this "Christmas in July" season-- is I am really playing with different things.  I am trying some use of glass in order to bring in the gemstone look, but to be budget friendly, and I am also working out my Luxury Line (Like if the sun would ever come out today, I have some darling Rose Quartz and Diamond Oxidized Sterling Silver Hoops I would just love to cue at the beginning of the "I'm behind on posting these" line.)

So until I can get the motivation to post those new items -- I am adding to my clearance section some wonderful old favorites -- great ideas for the holidays this year, and several July Birthstone items.

Check out the Clearance Section when you get a chance -- it's dual purpose, Christmas in July, and Clearance after all.

How I price my items...Or, why I now have a clearance section...

I know, I know, this is kind of considered taboo -- like should I really tell you how I come up with the prices for my items?  Probably not.  But also -- I want you to know that there is a delicate formula that goes into my pricing. 

1) I use the highest quality materials I can get my hands on -- this takes a lot of effort to find great "parts" at reasonable prices.  Also added into this little gem of scouring the globe to find what I need, I spend a hefty amount of time on youtube.
     Why youtube you may ask?  Well, I am a totally visual learner, one must SHOW me so that I can become one with what I am attempting.  I seriously can not learn from a book, unless its a book not on how to produce something in my shop, but rather how to think about things. 

2) When I am learning a new technique, those "samples" go almost directly into my teenage daughter's jewelry box.  She has collected so many things over the years, and really her getting the samples is all about me testing the quality of a product I make.  I perfect it so that it will not break once I put that lovely item up for the world to see. 
     And, her dad buys her a new jewelry box in every country he visits with the Army.  She must have an entire college fund in those boxes.

3) I research what the typical prices would be for my "style," the quality of the products I use and so forth, in order to see if the item is marketable at the price it takes to make it. This may seem boring -- but I can't really market an item that the prices are way low out there in the handmade realm, even if my products I start with are visibly higher quality.  I learned this the hard way with the two items below:

Umba Sapphire, Peridot and Green Garnet Earrings

Massive Ruby Solitaire Earrings

The Sapphire Earrings and Rubies above are extremely high quality stones -- made in specific ways to showcase the true stone personality.  The Sapphires sparkle like there is no tomorrow -- they are also very, very rare.  True Umba Sapphires are found only in the Umba Region of Africa, an area only slightly larger than the small area Tanzanite (from Tanzania) is found.  The rarity of the Umba is what makes these long earrings so much fun -- for while they have the chemical and healing properties of sapphires -- well just look, they are pink and purple, and light gray-blue and ooooh sooo pretty.

The Rubies on the other hand are massive, deep wine rubies -- almost a star ruby with that shine.  While my mother adored these mammoth beauties -- they too, because of their sheer size are expensive, just for the gemstones. But because I purchased the stones without researching how well these items are moving -- I had to place them in the Clearance Section, because I only have so much room in my shop for items.

It's sad -- but I just didn't do my research and instead listened to my mother coo over both sets of stones long enough to say: "I'll take them."  Will research better from now on -- both pairs of earrings are now below cost in the shop :(

4) I work out how long it took me, how much time and effort went into the piece, how high end the gemstones were, and add the amount of 14k gold filled or silver into the product.  I then compare this "raw" amount to what I researched before.

Take the piece below:

Labradorite Necklace on Clearance

Those gemstones are super high-end for a jewelry show.  The necklace itself took time in double knotting it -- and the components are 100% sterling silver.  But it's currently on clearance, for 45% off.  Why?  It's summer time, and I am "clearing out" my shop for new items that will be hitting the shop come July.  So the lucky person who is purchasing this on clearance?  They get it at below cost for me.  I basically had to cut out my "pay" and sell this for parts, because I need to make room.

But this is where I differ from big jewelry stores -- and is a key component to my "philosophy:"  I can produce very beautiful items, still pay myself a living wage, and not mark my items up 10 times what I put into them.   However, the downfall of this process of "pricing" is that I really can not go below this 45% off without basically "paying" the customer to take it out of the store.

But -- I can reduce the prices of older items to these extreme lows -- so that you can enjoy them, and I can see them going out into the world.

Check out the Clearance Section here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/maggiesjewelry?section_id=13687199

It's a delicate balance to price these items so that 1) You are happy with the quality of the product as a customer and 2) I can keep doing it.