Time to Celebrate!

I've reached my 2011 Christmas goal early! I set out to get 100 sales by the end of the Holiday season in 2011 (or Christmas) and I was blessed with sale #100 last night.

There is so much going on, I'll try to remember everything I want to say.

First- THANK YOU! I started out making small pieces for friends and family and didn't think I'd be where I am so early.

(Found this Noahs Ark themed Thank You at RoseMaryCompany.com)

Second- Check out the totally kick butt giveaway from Beaducation on their blog(<--click the word BLOG)

Third- There are some big changes coming, everything will switch to either silver plated or copper with sterling being an optional upgrade. There will also be two new chain options thrown into the mix. I'm doing this because the cost of the sterling chains have more than doubled and I doubt your wallet likes the unnecessary expense without it being optional. Silver plated is just as beautiful!

Fourth- For MY celebration........A GIVEAWAY AND A SALE!!! First thing's first. The sale. Use the code NUM100 for 15% off of your order! This code will be posted in the announcement, twitter, Facebook and here for EVERYONE to see and use.

Want to win one of these unreleased designs for FREE?




*don't worry, they'll be personalized for you* ;-)

Comment below for one entry. Earn extra chances of winning this great prize, post a link to this blog post (not just my blog as a whole) on your blog, Facebook (be sure you're a fan so you can link to my Fan Page) page, or your Twitter feed (use #Made_by_NAC on Twitter so I can see it).

Make every social post a new comment here. All bundled in one will be one entry. For example, one comment to enter, one comment to let me know you posted on FB, one comment for Twitter, etc.

Comments can be taken up until the evening of the April 4th. The morning of April 5th I will announce the winner that is drawn at random!

I'm a learnin!

I'm so happy to say that I am practicing some awesome wire-work. I've also been working on some custom pieces and I want to show them off!





I also cut a butterfly in half and made a best friends necklace. Silly me forgot to take pictures. Maybe I can talk them into sending me some. Haha.

Anywho, I'm working on practicing with copper and colored aluminum for other nests and getting some birthstone color pearls.

I'm also working on a 'square line' of necklaces, bracelets and key-chains. Here's a preview!



There will be some big changes coming up! More on that tomorrow. I'm pretty wiped. Take care!

Waiting and waiting

I'm very excited to get the newest design stamps. I'm also very excited for "Mothers Day Season" to start. I'm getting antsy from not stamping as much!

Right now I'm working on a butterfly necklace, a best friends necklace set and a cuff. Other than that, there's only one more order and I'm waiting on supplies!

In two more sales, my Christmas goal will have been reached. Last Christmas I decided that 100 sales would be this Christmas's goal. So, once that beautiful number is reached, there will be a celebration! There will be a giveaway AND a special Mothers Day sale will start. Yay for happiness and free stuff!!!

Here's a peak at the stamps I'm expecting any day now!




I also just ordered this puppy paw for a special memorial piece!


Well, I'm off to the post office! Take care

Wow, that's a lot of options!

As I work to build up the options and variety offered in my shop, I worry that it might become confusing. There are different sizes, different metals and what seems like endless mixtures that can be used.

The Stamps:

Right now, these are my most current stamps. I say that because I just ordered an adorable bird and elephant! Anyway, back to the point.

As you can see there are three different sizes with six different fonts. Basically my sizes are, big, regular, tiny. The top that says Big is obviously the big one. It's 1/4" and all upper case. "Upper", "lower fancy" and "Upper fancy" are all 1/8". This is a common size used anywhere you find stamped metals. Tiny, is of course the smallest at 1/16" and all uppercase. A good diagram can be found at Beaducation.



The same goes with the design stamps. The majority are 1/8" sized, but the larger ones, like the top row, wings and angel pictured above, are larger, nearly 1/4".


There's also a very large variety of things you can stamp on. Discs, squares, washers, rectangles, cuffs, earrings, dog tags, keyrings, and the list goes on. There is also a variety of metals; sterling, nickel silver, aluminum, brass, bronze, and copper. I currently use all the metals I just listed. Sterling might get toned down more or even phased out because right now, it's at $40 an ounce.

Well, what does that mean for you as a customer?
With the price of sterling going up over 80% in the last year, so does your price you pay. The market may fluctuate, but it has not and will not go down for some time.

Why consider other metals?
Nickel silver and aluminum are fantastic options. Not only are they the same silver color you love, but they also do not tarnish as easily, show scratches as well and are thicker allowing for less damage to happen. They are easy to keep clean and show off beautifully.

What about copper? I turn green!
There is a small percentage of people who have an allergic reaction to copper. What you, or I, can do to prevent the ring of green, is to put a layer of clear nail polish or a product, called Jewelry Shield, onto your item. This gives a protective coating preventing you or your item to be bothered by any allergic reaction!

I'm off to change a bunch of pictures and stamp some things! Have a great weekend. Take care.

I am a busy wise woman!

Well, this is spring break week for us and it's also a busy week. My cousin came to town and Aaron is home for the week, so it's been rather busy. Running here and there, getting car work done, dinner with family, having to get summer clothes, the list goes on.

Also, yesterday I noticed that my gum irritation, was actually teething pain! Yes, I am a teething 21 year old. Haha. My lower right wisdom tooth is popping through.

I was under the impression I only had one, turns out, I have 3. Thankfully I have enough room to allow for all three to come in before removal. Them coming in will also make it easier, quicker and less painful for them to be taken out.

Now that cousin is gone, surgery is postponed and husband is working on school work, I can focus more on the shop and the upcoming Mothers Day!

The to-do list is growing, the house is getting cleaned and laundry is being done! Woohoo! Things are getting back to normal!

More designs and pictures to come. Until then, take care and stay safe.

Avery and Casey

A member of the online group at I'm in posted this article. Now, I'll start by saying I have no definition of faith. I was born into a Catholic family, baptized, went through communion and then visited various other churches and stayed in a Mormon church for several years. I was also baptized Mormon. At some point, not one that can be definied, I stopped believing what I was told to believe, but rather followed my heart. I will not say I do or do not believe in God. I will not say for sure there is or is not a heaven, hell, ghosts, or any other non-physical entities. But I do believe my heart. And my heart told me my babies need names.

After I gave birth to Noah, I have been terrified of pregnancy. Due to my Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and family history of Endometriosis, it's really never certain if I can carry a child to term. But I have my Noah. I also have two angel babies. On Christmas Eve of 2009, I lost my first angel, now named Avery. I carried my little one for 9 and a half weeks. I knew from the beginning I'd never hold my baby, but I do think about them every day. April 19th, I lost my second angel, now Casey. I had done everything right, been poked and prodded, but nothing could keep my sweetheart in me. Again, my Noah had a baby brother/sister he'll never meet. If there is a heaven, I know they'll all play together there. But until then, he'll keep calling the ultrasound picture "baby" and I'll tell him about them.

A good friend of mine made this beautiful photo for me:

I think I'll print and frame it.

Final day!!!

Today is the final day for preparations. I still need to go get the gift bags and tissue, create the info packets, get featured seller info together, price items and get it all for movement!

Sadly, we're expecting rain all weekend, so I hope that nothing gets wet! Yesterday I took a butt load of photos, and today, I'd like to show some off.

These are earrings I created just for the party:


There are some cuffs too!


I also did a small set-up of the new displays. The trays came bare, so I cut up some scrapbook paper to add some colorful pop to them.




Well. I am off! Too much to do and too little time to do it! Take care

Down to the wire!

Well, it's just two days to the party and I have no clue how I'm going to be ready in time! Haha

What I still need to do:

Price items
Create order form for each piece of jewelry (ex. necklace, bracelet earrings)
create a packing list
Make a few more "free" earrings
Prepare the gift bags
Create information bits about the featured Etsy Sellers
Make a mock layout so I make sure it all flows well

Tomorrow night everything will get packed up and ready to go. We're expecting rain all weekend, so we'll see how transport and my shoes/dress hold up with the rain. Eek!

I also am excited/nervous for the earrings. Hopefully they don't close around the hoops that are in. The hoops have a smaller gauge than the earrings from LimeGreenModern

There will also be a ton of picture taking and catalog making today as I prepare. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I can update with some really cool pictures!

Take care

That doesn't make me a girly girl....right?

As you all know, I have a strong obsession with LimeGreenMondern's earrings, particularly the mini ones.

Tonight, after wearing the pair I have, I went to put in the standard posts. As I put in the left one, I noticed it was in, but not though the back. I pulled it out and it stung like no other. So, I tried again, this time wiggling it around. Still wouldn't work. Then, I massaged the lump (from 5 or 6 piercings in the same spot) thinking scar tissue blocked it. Still nothing.

I ran out of the bathroom, threw on my jeans, grabbed my purse and earrings and bolted to the mall where I got them done. They weren't legally allowed to help with my ear, but she looked at it and told me there was a bubble of infection covering the back hole. OW! I grabbed a pack of sterling silver hoops so that I have less anxiety with the posts.

My mom was nice enough to pop the bubble, force the hoop in and latch it. I must say, it was painful.

Anywho. Still working on getting product made for the party!

Here are a couple more pieces from the memorial group I've made up recently.



I've also used my new uppercase fancy font (Lucida actually)!



Well. I'm very tired from my traumatic earring experience ;-)

Until tomorrow. Take care and stay safe.

5 days!

There are 5 days until the party!

I'm working my tushie off to get some beautiful pieces made in time, especially earrings!

Here are some new items that were just added to the shop!



I'll update more tomorrow when I have a bit of time, until then, I want to share this AMAZING giveaway Beaducation is doing!

They're giving away one of their Original stamping sets!!!!! Be sure to enter on their blog or find them on Facebook!

Good Monday Morning!

Good Monday morning everyone! We're now 6 days away from the party and I'm working harder than ever!

New designs are being created and new ideas are being sketched. Over the weekend, I went to get a piece of scrapbook paper for new photos. While I was at Michaels, I wandered to the jewelry section and saw the large uppercase font I've been wanting! And, it turns out it was on sale! Yippee! These will be perfect for the scrabble tile necklaces/bracelets and monogramming.

Look for new pictures on the Facebook page and new items in the Etsy shop! I've made up a good amount of rings and necklaces. Working on bracelets now!

I'm part of a team on Etsy called Homefront Artistry Team that is geared toward the spouses of military members. We all get together on Mondays to talk about different things and answer questions. Todays set is:

1. What song is your personal anthem? If you don't have an anthem a favorite song will do.
2. What is your favorite ride at an amusement park?
3. What was your favorite restaurant at any of your past/present duty stations?
4. Where is your favorite place to go for supplies?

So! Here I go with my first time for answering!

1. The song I Believe will always hit home for me on many levels and inspire me.
2. Any of the water rides. I don't do big roller-coasters
3. Haven't been to our first duty station yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
4. I like touching the supplies at Michaels and Hobby Lobby, but I love looking online!

A wonderful seller on the Homefront Team is LilacAve. She makes lotions, bath salts, lip balms and all sorts of fantastic things. I'm happy to say her items will be used as a door prize this weekend.



All of them will be inside this beautiful handmade small purse from JPATPURSES


Well, I'm off for a fun day of stamping and photographing! Take care and stay safe.

Unique?

I've been thinking a lot lately about what makes my product unique. Why is it that each item is different? Why can I stamp three cuffs with the exact same thing, but they all have subtle differences?

It's because of how it's all made. How it starts, how it's stamped and how it's finished.

Right now, I'm still a very small business. So small, that everything is literally by hand. I have no electronics, no fancy tools and no outside help.

For example: How were these cuffs made?


Well first, I take out my aluminum cuffs and I stamp and color them. They're not all exactly centered or straight, which helps add to their uniqueness.



Then, I hand filed each cuff so the edges and corners would be soft and wouldn't scrape.


To form them, I have a pair of 'bracelet bending pliers'. They're slightly rounded so you have to go through and bend the cuff as you move the pliers down them.


So, the straight cuffs are starting to look like something you could wear.


Then finally, I take my little polish pad and rub the heck out of the cuffs. On the left is a practically new polish pad. On the right, well, that one has been all used up. Each side is used to their max on every single thing that is stamped.


I don't have any help getting them filed or shiny or bent. I do this all with love and with my hands. Yes, some day I do hope to get those fancy electronics to help me, mainly to save my wrist and thumb. For now, however, I take great pride in the fact that every item is made lovingly, carefully, and they're all truly unique.