A Sneak Peak

just a sample of some new things coming: more bracelets, more earrings, and a few "just for fun" pieces!

I'm off to the wedding...

I'm off to Austin this am for my nephew's wdding on Saturday. The family is overwhelmingly excited, and love his soon to be bride. I've been teary for days, and I hope I don't go down in history as "Aunt Who Cried for Three Days of Happy Wedding", or what appelation I might have earned were I Native American. This is the first "big" wedding in my family ever! It's just my one brother and I, and both of us had much less fuss and ado, and he only has the two kids (my niece is holding out for the absolute perfect guy). I kept the kids a lot when they were little, and remember considering kidnapping them, fleeing to Mexico, and dying their hair red.....
I'm one very proud aunt.
Here's what I've got lined up for the next couple weeks. Currently, my shops are "on vacation", and purchases can still be made but I won't be shipping till 6/30 or 7/1 (at the latest). I've been working steadily on some new jewelry pieces with which to stock my new etsy shop, RedsArtJewelry (thank you again, Jo-anna! She's received her gift by now, and maybe she'll stop by and let us know what she thinks of the earrings!) and am having the Grand Opening on the weekend of July 4th and 5th. I will be offering free shipping that day, and have been brainstorming to come up with a few giveaways also.
The last month, I've been searching for new suppliers for my current etsy shop. I have been depleting quite a bit of my stock (thanks to all my customers!) and am tired of seeing the same old stuff everywhere. I've got some new cabs coming in (ok, well, they're not new, haha, they're vintage, but at least they will be new stock in my shop), and am getting ready to break into the vintage Swarovski stash I've got (look for some Alexandrite of the very old glass formula when the color change properties were the strongest, in 14 mm crystal beads, some huge rhinestones, 70ss, and more!)
In the meantime, I wish to extend my thanks to all my customers and supportive friends who have helped me get my little shop off the ground, and to welcome new friends and customers of the future.
Oh - one more thing: my old friend Cutter reminded me that this is the anniversary of the massacre at Little Big Horn, a demonstration of the stupidity of war. I could say more, but I'll stop with Hoka Hey Hoka Hey, Cutter, let's just not make it be our day to die.
Hugs all around -
Deb

Deb's Dailies: Birds in Paradise, OOAK Artisan Earrings

Deb's Dailies: Birds in Paradise, OOAK Artisan Earrings

Birds in Paradise, OOAK Artisan Earrings

And here's Jo-anna's gift for sending in the best name: Birds in Paradise. I actually came up with that name myself!
Thanks to Jo-anna and all who sent in names. And it was indeed a tough decision.

My Friends Have Spoken

It's Friday! I'm retired and I still think Friday is my favorite day.
I've gotten some great suggestions for a name for my new etsy shop. And it was a tough choice - I had to extend the competition a few days to mull things over, and I got some late entries to add to the list I was considering.
AND THE WINNER IS JO-ANNA!
And the name shall be: RedsArtJewelry. Jo-anna's comment that by keeping part of my name in it might help people find me again when I move my jewelry over. Good going Jo-anna!
Jo-anna is a fellow Bonanzler. You can find her booth there at this address: http://www.bonanzle/booths/beadaze
although she still sells on ebay with the same id :beadaze.

I am going to be stocking my new store over the coming week, and plan to have a grand opening on Friday next week, June 19, 2009. Be sure to stop by and visit - I'm going to scratch my head during the coming week to come up with some gifts for any purchases during the grand opening PLUS I will be offering free shipping Friday and Friday only!
Looking forward to hearing from everyone and seeing you in my etsy shop on Friday -
Deb

I'M SELECTING THE NEW SHOP NAME!

All righty, then, it's time to close down this contest. I've gotten a few good ideas, and I'm ready to send someone a beautiful pair of my earrings (no, it's still a secret, but I'll post their picture when I announce my selection). We're down to the last 48 hours, meaning I'll make the announcement Friday. If you don't want to leave your comment here, you can still email me privately at deboahrendt@gmail.com, as others have done.
I've been busy coming up with some new jewelry for my new shop, so I'm excited!
Hope the rest of your week is great. Remember our elementary school saying - Wednesday is hump day? Well, it's afternoon here, so that means we're over the hump!
Deb

I NEED A NEW NAME!

Hello to all of you.
I need some help. Sales in my current etsy shop, redartproductions, have been steadily growing, mostly of me collection of vintage cabochons and beads, and I still have a lot more to list. Currently I have over 300 things listed at etsy, and I think my jewelry is getting lost in the crowd. I plan on opening a new sho on etsy, but can't think of a good name.
So, I'm running a contest. Starting today and running for 2 weeks, I invite you to submit names for my new shop, and at the end of the contest, I'll choose one of the names, and the winner will receive a pair of my earrings.
Sound like fun? Let's start now. Submit your name(s) along with your email addy in the comments sectin below.

Another new place to sell... announcing fuzzb.com

Through my new page on creativesouls, I discovered a new online marketplace, FuzzB, AKA fuzzyblueslippers. Why blue, you might ask. I don't know because mine are red (of course!) Funny name or not, it is a marketplace aimed at artists and artisans who are self representing (SRA), and I decided to try a booth there. As opposed to my etsy and bonanzle shops, this one will carry only my jewelry, and I thought I'd list a few things and give it a couple of weeks.
They are also promoting it as another social webring, similar to facebook and myspace, etc etc, but with selling capability built into your page. Here's the add'y:

http://bluefuzzyslippers.com/shop.php?name=RedArtProductions&username=Deborah-Ahrendt&user_id=101903

New Site to Check Out

Discovered this wonderful space earlier this month called creativesouls. It's a wonderful collection of diverse but very creative people. You can check out my page there via the attached link. Courtesy of a feature I found there, I was able to put together the slide show I posted today - no mean feat for someone who still feels frustrated by the computer most of the time. 'Course, I'm not gonna tell you how many tries it took to get it working! And one of my bracelets from my spring line is featured in the photos on the main page this week. I'm delighted to have found creativesouls.

http://creativesouls.ning.com/profile/DeborahAhrendt

Live on Bonanzle

I just went live with my new booth on bonanzle about 24 hours ago. It will be interesting to see how much it is like and how different from etsy.
Stay tuned. Better yet, go see what I've done with both my shops. They're looking pretty spruce these days!

Deb's Dailies: my new avatar on etsy, courtesy of bannerarts

http://bannerarts.etsy.com

my new avatar on etsy, courtesy of bannerarts

One of the features at etsy is the ability to add a minigallery to your blog or website. Just as soon as I figure how to do that, I'll add the minigallery!
And stay tuned; there is more bead info brewing!

redartproductions.etsy.com

Commissioned Work

Last night I finished the revision of the revision of the - well, you get the picture. I've taken this necklace apart so many times I lost count. But I care about the intended recipient as well the one who commissioned the piece, so I want everything to be just right. I like it pretty well, but just in photographing it, I found some things I think I will probably change, that is, if I have any more (or can find any more) of the vintage light sapphire Swarovski art 5000, because the ones I used here are the last I can seem to find in my stash.

A friend of mine gets anxious when she's working on a commissione piece, and, up till now, I hadn't really experienced that. Now I can feel her pain! I have a feeling that there are still more revisions of this necklace left to make. And now of all times, when I've got Valentine's jewelry to make, and some altered art charms coming from Lisa of bostoncharm to work into some more Valentine's jewelry pieces. She does the best of the altered art images I've seen, and has been most helpful explaining the process she uses.

While doing the photography and editing today, I've had youtube going with some of Stevie Ray Vaughan's interviews and AA speeches. Not only is his music the absolute, hands-down, tops in my book, but the man and his words remain inspirational to me. 18 years gone (but who's counting?) and I still can't get enough.

You can see Lisa's work at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5260686 and at http://stores.ebay.com/CraftsCharms-Collectibles

Autumn Leaves Bracelet

E commerce and the economy

I make costume jewelry for sale, and in Nov '08 started selling online at http://justbeads.com/ and http://redartproductions.etsy.com/ - now justbeads website crashed and the economy sucks. Everyone seems unwilling to spend money. Christmas was miserly, at least in my circle. It makes it difficult for those of us who are trying to earn an income as independent artisans difficult. I don't have the answer, and I have friends in the same situation. We are all wondering what to do, where to list, will anyone still be willing to buy our work? etc.
The only thing I can think of to do, at least at a personal level, is to hang in, continue to pursue my dream, and hope that the economy stabilizes sooner rather than later. In some regard, I liken it to dealing with chronic pain. You adjust to a certain level and learn to function; then when the pain becomes worse or something else starts hurting, you initially may be stopped in your tracks, but you adjust, and begin functioning again. The economy is like that chronic pain. Right now, it's worse, but if we keep a good attitude, we'll adjust and go on with our lives, albeit with an understanding of any new limitations.
To get back on point here, I'm looking for new places to list my jewelry and in the meantime, networking more than is really comfortable for me, and uploading pics of my jewelry for sale to my webalbum, which is a public album. http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq
Yes, it has family and friends' photos on it, but nothing that isn't fit for public viewing, so who cares?