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

Christmas Giveaway

This giveaway is very short term -- and very lovely.

I am giving away a pair of the most favorite item in my Etsy shop:

That's right -- my Christmas colors Garnet Wire Wrapped Hoops.  This is short term -- and in celebration of my husband moving home this holiday season.    This time I opened the giveaway to a variety of entry forms, and I will be drawing a winner this Saturday morning, the 15th, so that I can still get it to the winner (presuming you are stateside) in time for Christmas.    So, enter, enjoy, share at will.  Rafflecopter below.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Working new designs at the 11th hour

So, the holiday season is officially upon us -- and I have gleefully put every item in the shop on sale. The sale is 20% off, taking most items very low indeed -- but hopefully you can get some fabulous gemstone jewelry for those you love.

Or frienemies. You could do that as well.

But, even as I add new items, I am still putting them on sale --and holding true to what larger stores are doing, I will leave this sale open a little longer than cyber Monday.
Here are a few new gemstones I am working with:
These are ametrine -- a mix of amethyst and citrine. And peridot, such a pretty tender shoots green. Very hot colors for spring.

Look for the in the shop tomorrow :)

~Maggie~

Holiday Sale Coupon Codes

I have been putting a lot of thought into the sale for this year -- so that I can include most holidays under the umbrella that will likely become "Black Friday," "Shop Small Saturday" and "Cyber Monday."

Here's the thing -- I have decided to open this sale way earlier than I previously thought for a variety of reasons.

1) I know it's easier to plan things when you know when the sale will be anyhow -- so I am starting it today.

2) I know it's easier to plan when the sale is open for a longer period of time -- and available to my international customers to order early, using the same sale code as my stateside customers.  That's just plain fair play.

3) Hanukkah falls early this year -- While not as early as next year, the festival of lights does begin December 8th -- cutting "Black Friday Sales" a bit too close for my comfort.

4) By opening it now -- and using a coupon code, you can tell how much something is that you will like and plan around pay-days since I know, as a military wife, sometimes the holidays are tight.

5) It's frankly easier for me -- I like to upgrade the speed of the shipping for early orders, and ask personally if you want anything special, i.e., a gift box, a personalized note, do you need me to wrap it for you?  All of these items I do at no extra charge during the holidays...and early orders make it so nothing is rushed on my end.

 I quality check my items 3 times -- once before the photo shoot, once before I place the item into tarnish resistant bags, and one final time before I ship.  I know, it's a bit obsessive, but I need to know the quality I send out is the quality I would expect to arrive -- and I am all about high quality.

So, there you have my stance on the holiday sale this year  -- and why I have opened it today.

Use Coupon Code Holiday2012 for any item in the store, your discount will be 20% off. 

And now for Shameless self-promotion.  Here are some birthstone ideas for holiday gifts -- I have difficulty shopping for some members of my friends and family, and birthstones can be a go-to for difficult to shop for.

You can visit the shop at Maggie's Jewelry for more gift ideas.

Happy Holidays!

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Sometimes, it's just a disappointment

I left the show yesterday with two strands.  That's it.  Often I leave s show with at least 100 strands of gemstones -- and big plans.

But, I was disappointed yesterday.  For a few reasons -- one the quality didn't seem to be there and two the prices certainly were.

I want to get gemstones at reasonable rates because it all goes back to my fundamental goals for this project:  To make jewelry that is affordable to everyone, but still has that absolute quality you expect from a professional.

Maybe it was me -- maybe bringing my kids wasn't the best choice yesterday.  But they are very into this business I run -- often I allow them to chose stones and products they think would work well in the store.  Providing that they give me an honest, well thought out argument as to why.

I know I sound a bit like a Tiger Mom there -- and I guess some would argue I have that in me.  But really, it's about getting them to think about things -- how things in the business are affected by decisions made.  Without that at a young age, how are they going to be fully critical thinkers, right?

Aidan, my youngest, recently went to a "young entrepreneur training" session with Boeing.    He's 10.

I have spent most of their lives fostering this thought process in them: frame the argument, back it up with facts and then explain to me analytically why you made that decision.  I have allowed them to make decisions for themselves their whole lives -- supposing they can argue their point.

Which is why I allowed my oldest to frame his argument that my emotions played to large a role in leaving the show disappointed yesterday.  And, why I allowed him to decide if we go back today.

He won.

Earrings Sale

As we are heading into the holidays -- I am getting ready with this earrings only sale.  Plus, I am excited that I learned how to play with an editor and create this collage.

I am excited this year about the holidays -- there is a lot going on.  This sale will probably be going on for a few days -- so enjoy, favorite and have fun.  Get some early holiday gifts.  Remember if you want it gift wrapped, just convo me when you order, I will gladly make it as special as you wish with no extra cost.

Use code "20Earrings" at checkout.
~Maggie~

Inspiration...or something like it.

Here's the cold, hard truth:  I can not draw to save my life.    No, I mean it, if I had to draw a picture to literally save my life, the consequences would be grave.

There is only one thing I am worse at than drawing, and that is spelling.  Luckily -- there are all kinds of programs for that, to help a girl out.   But, even with all my schooling (You know, just a few classes until I finally get that master's degree), I still can not spell -- and I have to work rally hard at proper grammar.

But back to the main topic -- okay I have my coffee ready, so I can certainly write this, right?

So when you have inspiration, I see that most of my artsy friends see things in their mind's eye, and often, if they design like me, they draw it out.  Huge hindrance for me, since, again, I can not draw.   Literally, I need help with a circle.

This is not to say things do not inspire me -- they do, and I look for inspiration everywhere, the autumn leaves, the winter snow, the many colors of spring and summer.  But, my favorite place to find inspiration for my designs?

The lyrics to songs.

Seriously, I sit there, or am running around the house picking up after my three kids like a mad woman, with crazy red hair and half bleached pants, blasting my iPhone (which is currently charging so that I can do this inspiration thing while cleaning again today) and a lyric, or line from a song will hit me and I will see colors and stones in my head.

Then, since I can't draw, I have to make it.  Then and there.  At least the design elements.  Maybe it's not the stones I saw in my head, because potentially I do not have those on hand -- but something has to be made so that I capture the essence of what my mind saw. 

Then, I will go back to the song, holding the piece and sort of give a yes or no as to whether it works.  Most of the time, however, it doesn't, and I see something else when it's produced -- or even in the middle of production. 

Currently, one of my daughter's favorite song's is "Firework" by Katy Perry.  Listening to that, I saw a fire work earring design in my head -- it was difficult to make it because I wanted it to be perfect, and colorful -- but I am pre-show right now, so my gemstones are a tad limited.

I ended up with these because of my gemstone limitation right now -- I will still have to work out the full "Firework" design.  More stones, more colors, more wire wrapping, but still a hoop earring -- remember watching fireworks as a kid on New Years or the 4th of July?  Yeah, that's what I am going to Evoke there. 

That set above, while beautiful, became "Fire"  without the "Work."

How are you inspired?

~Maggie~

Scorpio Birthstone

There is something absolutely fascinating about looking up alternate birthstones.  Well, mostly because I am not a big fan of my own birthstone for a variety of reasons.  Knowing that when early December arrives I will have alternates to choose from -- you know if I want to trust my hubby with purchasing jewels that is-- I will be able to choose something I will potentially enjoy soothes me.

My mother is a Scorpio, and she was very excited when I started researching all the variety of stones available to her during both her birth month and her Zodiac sun sign.   See, traditionally for October she has opal -- she is not fond of opal and calls it an "emotional stone."  Which is somewhat true metaphysically or mystically.

However, she loves her alternate birthstone: Tourmaline.  And so do I, but I am not born in October, sigh again.  Being under the sun sign Scorpio affords her certain rights to claim Topaz as her own -- I suppose since Topaz is November's birthstone, and Scorpio is mostly November.


Onwards and upwards to Scorpio's alternate birthstone:

Beryl:  This stone I consider the biggest win for my mother, because beryl is chosen as a broad term here, meaning it can also be any of the 4 main beryls.  The four main beryls being Heliodor (Golden), Morganite (Pink), Aquamarine (Need I say more? Blue)  And the one I think she really likes (no doubt due to our mutual coloring, making green stones shine) Emerald.   Decisions, Decisions.

This "Lady Sings the Blues" includes both Topaz and Aquamarine

"Rain" is designed with Moss Aquamarine Briolettes, Moss Aquamarine Roundelles and Sapphire, evoking Seattle Rainy Day Weather.

Amethyst:   Ahh, lovely purple Amethyst.  I am certain they mean the stark purple Amethyst, and not any of the man-made types, such as Green Amethyst. Since Amethyst is in fact a description of the definitive color of said semi-precious quartz crystals, I don't have much doubt is saying:  they probably are going traditional here.

To be honest, I am a bit jealous of my Mommy. Hopefully, I will be able to find out I have some rockingly awesome alternate gemstones in lieu of Turquoise.

~Maggie~