Etsy Front Page Today

So cool to see my bangle bracelet making it to the Etsy Front Page today.  Sweet! It is the third item down on the left column.



A lot of people would ask me the font I use. Well, it's really not any word processing fonts or any other machine generated graphic design. It's actually my handwriting, inscribed onto the object with a sharp tool.

The ingredients? Lots of concentration and a steady hand. The result is personalized scripts that average about 1mm tall for lower case letters. If I need to squeeze many words onto a small area, the inscriptions can be smaller. You might need to use a magnifying device to read them.

Storque Appearance

On Monday, March 15, I was checking my view stats on CraftCult. I was blown away by the number of views and hearts. I thought "What nice artist friend has included me in their treasuries?" LOL

Couldn't believe it, but my silver bangle "But Never Doubt I Love" was featured on a Shakespeare themed Storque article on Etsy. I want to thank all the love I received in the past few days; it is very encouraging, especially for solo artists like me. I've blogged about this bracelet before and you can read more about it here. The bracelet is available at both my Etsy and Artfire stores.

Thank you all, once again.

Friday Finds - 19 Jun 09

So Father’s Day is just 2 days away. Here are some of my favorites that will make dads smile. Click on the links below and enjoy. Don’t forget to browse other items that these wonderful artists created.

Clockwise from top left:
1. Arnold - The Gym Rat Robot by reclaim2fame
2. Two Level table by timothyadamdesigns
3. Dark Chocolate Dream Caramel Apple by doubledippedsweets 4.Music in Rome by starrybluesky
5. Beach Chairs by lauratrevey
6. Diving Eagles by aosleather

Friday Finds - 05 Jun 09

This is the roll-out of Friday Finds here on my blog. Featured items are handmade by artists and artisans that I find on Etsy, Artfire, or other similar venues. For the initial showcase, I picked my favorites from a few of my EtsySecrets teammates' shops. EtsySecrets is a membership-only team created by Tim Adams of Timothy Adam Designs, Handmadeology, and Found Handmade. Tim is a self-taught metal artist and can always be found providing information on social networking and on how to succeed on Etsy.

Take a closer look and read the details on these item by clicking on the links below the photos. Be sure to check out other fantastic creations by these talented artists. Have a fabulous weekend!

Clockwise from top left:

1. Set of 4 Home Sweet Home Ceramic Coasters by tscrapper

2. Light Blue Atomic Dots Tote by apiarydesigns

3. Hoot Owl Scrabble Tile Pendant by jessejanes
4. Chewbacca Mouse by TheHouseOfMouse

Confetti Cuff - The Making

This is my latest bracelet listed in my etsy store. I'm using the photos to send with an application for a show in October. My friend, Jodi, bless her sweet heart, took photographs of the creation process:

Materials I used - bronze sheet, sterling wire

I use my AutoCAD software to plan out my design and figure out the amount of materials I need to cut. This creates a template for tracing onto the metal sheet, as well as keeping a record of my designs. I only use the computer for some of my pieces, not all of them.

Here, I transfer the design from a heavier paper stock template onto the metal sheet.

I saw cut the bronze insert part out from the sheet material.

Filing the edges smooth. Then I cut enough sterling wire to frame around the bronze insert.

Soldering the 2 materials together. Then I release Jodi so she can go home and get ready for work. Sorry, no pictures of me with the hammers, dust mask and eye protection.

The bracelet is bent into an oval shape. Now comes the FUN part (eyes rolling) - sanding and finishing.

The finished product. I could have skip the silver edging, which would save a ton of time. But here with the two-tone look, it seems to add so much to it. What do you think?