Thank you Michele!

Ok folks, I have spent the day talking to a GREAT friend and phenominal glass artist, Michele Nesworthy of Moonfairy Glass! I asked her a couple of questions and I got some of the most generous and best advice I have ever had in my jewelry making career. She is very talented and since I make a great majority of my designs with her glass beads, I thought I would just take a few minutes and express my gratitude! Your talent astounds me!

Among the changes I have made, as I'm sure you will notice, is on both my blog and Etsy banners! I have "beefed" them up a bit to make them stand out and draw your attention and I am really happy with them. Great advice, I hope you like the change!

I have a link to Moonfairy Glass in My Favorite Places, and I visit there daily to see what's up, what's new and to get inspired! Oh, and of course - to BUY BEADS! (Check me out, I'm in her Designer's Gallery!)

So thank you again Michele, for taking the time to help me today. I look forward to your newsletter, glad I could help you as you certainly have helped me!

New Jewelry up!

I sat for three and a half hours the other day with my music on and made jewelry! I am so excited with the pieces that I came up with. I have listed three items on Etsy this morning, shown above, so swing on over and check them out. The other's I made I am still photographing. I have also came up with a new idea for a bangle and I made a couple for me and Ann to wear and try out before I offer them up for sale. I am already loving them and have gotten the kudos from a few of my trusted fans so maybe I'll get them ready for sale soon. Other than that, we're just plugging along here. Had a nice holiday, now just waiting for the warmer weather! It was 29 degrees when I brought Meg to school today, so I am not happy about that! Oh well, the Robin's have eaten all the berries off our holly tree so I know that Spring is right around the corner! Hope you all have a nice day!

March News!

Hi Everyone!
It's been a while since I have posted, and yes, I am STILL editing wedding pictures. Long process but they are coming out great! I just attended the annual Gem Show in Hartford on Sunday and got some really pretty beads to create pieces with including some Tourmaline and some really pretty natural gemstones (not sure of the "real" name) in great shades of blues and browns. Really nice stuff!! I am hoping to get to use them soon, I'm already envisioning what I can do with them.

I have no shows booked yet this year, although I am planning to have a booth at the Farmer's Market in Waterbury this summer. So, I am calling on all of my friends, and previous show hostesses to check your calendars and call me with a date for a repeat engagement! ha ha I have some wonderful new pieces and lots of ideas so I would love to come and present them to you with all the bells and whistles! The picture above is of a piece that I recently transformed from a bracelet into a necklace and I love it so much more this way! It's on Sterling wire, and the beads are anchored in the center so it sits so nicely right on your collar bone.

That's all for now, be back soon with more news/updates, and hopefully more JEWELRY!

Flower girls...

So in addition to making jewelry, I also love photography and I do a couple of weddings a year. I just did a wedding for a very good friend of mine and I have decided that I am in love with this picture I took of the flower girls. This is also my favorite picture of the bride thus far. I'll be editing pictures for a while, and putting jewelry on the back burner for about a week. I may try to sneak in a piece or two while letting my eyes rest! Congratulations Marybeth and Jeff! It was an honor to share your special day with you!

Oasis...

Originally I thought that this set was going to have a lot more dark blue in it from the photograph by the glass artist. While I understand that there are always variations in custom made beads, these truly came to me with a multitude of colors other than blue. And you know what??? I LOVE them! The perfect blend of purples, blues and aqua. A great set to wear with Jeans. I am a huge fan of hammered silver pieces and have finished this one with an oval toggle. Jennelle, you have done it again! Lovely glass beads to enhance my designs.

Claiming the title...

Claiming the title of my new favorite piece of jewelry is this beautiful piece that I made last night from beads that I have been hoarding in my secret stash. They were made by the very talented Carrie Berry of Hardwood Trail Glass. I have had this design in my head for so long and knowing how long it would take me to actually sit down and do it, it ended up on the back burner for longer than I wanted it to. The kids were playing nicely together, so I ran up to my office, turned on my "walking" music (which consists of some really great heart pumping songs) and went to town! I love how it turned out and will be wearing it today, tomorrow and maybe for the rest of my life! ha ha Hope you all have a great day!

Wine Country!

Oh my goodness, I had to post a picture of my new watch! I was in need of a new watch and wasn't sure what beads I wanted to use. So one day I was browsing my favorite sites and I ordered beads from two different glass artists, Sorta Flowering Designs, and Susan Sheehan. Green and Purple are my favorite colors and when I saw that these two artists had beads that I imagined would compliment each other well, I decided to go for it! After fighting with the post office (since they lost one of my packages) I sent a note to Susan to ask her to remake my Wine Country Set of beads. She did a fabulous job, and I will now be a faithful follower of hers! Great quality beads, and Jennelle of SFD is also a wonderful and talented glass artist. I sat last night and made my watch, and I was not stopping until it was done! American Idol or not! Needless to say I missed the show, but look what I have in place of it! LOVE it!! Thanks to my new friends, for these beautiful beads. I'll be talking to you again soon, I'm sure!

February already?

Wow, I can hardly believe that it is February already! It's been a busy month, although unfortunately it has not been with jewelry designing. I have been going back and forth to the chiropractor so he can try to help me with my back problems my husband has been building a beautiful ceiling at my parents home. So needless to say there has been much too little time for me to sit and design jewelry.

I have a few pieces on display at Evinda Kasper & Associates in Middlebury. She is graciously letting me bring in new items from time to time and has had a great response to them so far! Gearing up for Valentines Day, I tried to send in pieces with a couple of the favorite colors that represent the holiday, red and pink. Although I did break the mold and created a killer necklace on sterling wire with metallic blue's featuring a silver wrapped heart made by Deb Rosely of Littlecrow Glass Art. I really wanted to keep this necklace and if it does not sell, then I just might! The other necklace above features a gorgeous red glass pendant made by Julian Leviano and I strung it on poppy colored leather cord. I accented it with hand wrapped coils (gold colored wire over silver) and made earrings to match! This one looks so pretty on, it's truly unique!

Be back soon with more updates!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone is having a great 2008 so far! It's been a while since I have been on and I thought I would just say hi and tell you what's been going on. The holiday's were good. Our trip to Sanibel was AWESOME! Loved it and I took some great pictures. I have lots of new beads to start designing with so I'm hoping to have some new things up on Etsy soon! Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week, and I'll be back soon with some pictures!

Ah, Success!

What a great feeling to have two back to back shows where everyone loves your jewelry! It's been busy with Thanksgiving and getting ready for my open house this weekend. I leave for Sanibel Island next Friday, and I can't wait for that! It is a long overdue time away from home with my best friend, no kids, no stress nothing to do but relax! WOW do I need this vacation! Thanks Ann Marie, you are the best friend a girl could ever ask for.

Coming up

I had a great show on Friday night! What a beautiful home and I got to set up on a HUGE dining room table, so I had a great display all spread out and just sparkling in the well lit room. I got spoiled and now I want everyone to have a nice big spot for me! ha ha I'll take whatever I can get and am just appreciative of being welcomed into people's homes. There was a great turnout, and the response to the swirly earrings was better than I thought. I received a couple orders for them and will have to make more for next time! I have another show this coming Friday at the home of a good friend. We did one last November also and it was such fun! Wonderful people, good friends, and a great opportunity for christmas shopping! After that it's open house time! Lot's of work to do, but it's fun and I am really loving every minute of it!

Swirly...

Here is a new style that I played with today, what do you think?

New stuff

Well I had a chance to sit down a bit this week and work with some beautiful beads, and here is what I came up with. I love these Curved Beads made by Melissa Rediger, they are truly works of art of their own, and I love making necklaces with them. This one is made on sterling wire, and sits perfectly on your collar bone. It's got such pretty colors, and is yet another piece I am having a hard time parting with.

Open House

As promised, below is the information on the Open House that I will be having at the end of the month.

MJM Jewelry Designs
OPEN HOUSE
38 Barbara Road Bristol, CT 06010

Friday, November 30 - 4pm – 8pm
Saturday, December 1 - 10am-2pm

Stop in to see my collection of handmade Earrings, Bracelets and Necklaces.

Many one-of-a-kind pieces of art!

Just in time for the Holiday shopping season!

Perfect for teacher’s gifts, babysitter’s, daycare providers, support staff, etc.

Custom orders are welcome!

All purchases are gift boxed!

Bring a friend! (Bring your husbands!)

News

Well, the Craft Fair this past weekend was a total bust. I don't want to insult anyone, so all I will say is that I do appreciate everyone's compliments on how lovely everything was. I wish that more people were there to shop, rather than just browse. I encourage people to touch, feel and try on my pieces, but that clearly was not happening at this fair. I always tell my kids to "Look with your eyes, not with your hands"... I wish I could have said the opposite to everyone this weekend. But it was a good experience none the less. Now I know what to expect from a craft fair, it's actually not what I thought. It was more like a flea market than a craft fair. People looking for bargains, and definately not looking for jewelry! At least not my jewelry.

I make beautiful one of a kind jewelry with artisan crafted glass beads and quality silver and Swarovski Crystal. It's made for people who can appreciate wearing a finely handcrafted work of art. That being said, I am proud of my display, as you can see from the pictures, and it was nice to see people that I run into at the school and put names with the faces. I have two shows coming up in the next two weekends so that will keep me busy. I am also going to be hosting an open house at the end of the month here at my home so that the people that expressed an interest in my work that could not make it to the fair can come and do some holiday shopping. Stay tuned for more information coming on that soon!