A very productive day!

I can't believe how much I got done today, considering the amount of sleep that I got last night. One of my kids was up and I only got a few hours. Not to mention that I spent the evening in agonizing pain after the workout I attempted to do with my husband. The "AB Ripper" is ridiculous! LOL! It's SO HARD! Oh my god, I can't even walk today... my legs are so sore, my abs hurt so much and my back is killing me. But no pain, no gain right? ;)

New jewelry is coming! Not boutique jewelry, NEW jewelry!! I made 5 bracelets today...one of which is a very intense charm bracelet. In addition, I made 2 pairs of earrings. I'll photo tomorrow and post the pics up! It's Thursday night, so I am writing this quickly during a Grey's commercial so I'm off.. Have a great night! 

My clock grew wings...

I can't believe how fast I let the day get away from me!! Time really does fly, whether you are having fun or not. Today was a catch up on my cleaning day since I didn't do much of that over the weekend, opting for enjoying the warm sunshine while it lasted. I will be working on those Etsy listing's tonight with some new jewelry. 

Oh, and I got some beads in today... Seriously? I had to pick my jaw up from the ground. They were a completely unexpected find, I went on the recommendation of Kelly from Silver Parrot and grabbed some disks and a focal from this shop on Etsy. I'll give the info tomorrow when I take my own photo of the stash I got (simply because that would require me opening an entirely new window to look it up and I am on a roll). 

I love disks, I love NAVY blue... not all blues compare, but there is something about Navy blue that makes me weak in the knees, and I love shiny things. This pile of beads I got is a good mix of everything I love. 

I promise a picture tomorrow! I hope you had a good Monday! Dancing with the Stars is on tonight... maybe I'll watch while I list... I have it set to record in case I get carried away on the computer. :)

A little Spring Cleaning...

Changing things up a bit! I sometimes get very bored with looking at the same things every day. Which is why I am so addicted to Lampwork Glass beads, because every SINGLE one of them is different. I never get bored with them. But other things, not so much. I tire of seeing the same colors and pictures. Which is why for the past few days I have been working on changing things again here on my Blog, in addition to my Etsy store banner and my business cards. It took me a long time to find just the right piece of jewelry when I switched from my original business card design two years ago. Now, I have so many favorites that I wish I could just print each one differently to have a variety. Now that's not very cost effective, however, changing your blog background and banner is easy! And free, since I design them myself. 

Here's my new layout:

When I change the business cards, I also have to change my earring cards, post cards and banners, brochures, posters, etc.

I wont do them all at once, I'll use up my supply (which is rapidly dwindling) and then reorder. But I am happy with the new look. It's Springy, happy and represents who I am as a designer. I hope you like it!

Have a great weekend!

Monday will be the day for new Etsy Listings!

The weather has been so nice this week....I think Monday is going to start the downward spiral again. Temps will be up, but there is rain in the forecast. I can't possibly tie myself to this computer when there is SUNSHINE outside! Please bear with me, and enjoy your weekend...I plan to! :)

Happy Shamrock Day!

I love St. Patrick's Day! It's a great day to celebrate the Irish! I broke out my green sweater, and the kids all wore green to school with their flashing buttons! I think everyone is Irish on St. Patty's Day!

The other day I mentioned that I was taking my jewelry out of Newburyport, and sometimes you just know when the decisions you make are the right ones. I already have a bracelet and earring set on reserve that came out of that shop, just from briefly posting photo's of them. It just wasn't the right venue for me. The jewelry was not being seen. I hope that now that more eyes will be on it, it will be enjoyed rather than sitting in a drawer somewhere. 

Here's a preview of what will be listed in Etsy this week:

 I have so many more pieces, but I have to find photo's of the rest of them. I have some beautiful bangle bracelets, and a couple of handmade chain necklaces with lampwork glass beads. Tons of earrings. It's just crazy the amount of jewelry. This will keep me busy for a while! 

To see the other photo's of these pieces, visit my Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/mjmjewelrydesigns

And don't forget to sign up to become a fan while you're there! 

More pictures coming tomorrow. 

Enjoy your St. Patricks Day!

Road Trip!

I wish the sun was out, but it's not. It's pouring rain and that will make this 3 hour drive even longer today. Ann and I are headed up to Newburyport. I have decided to take my jewelry out of the Boutique up there. There are several reasons, but the main one is that it's too far away for me to get there on a regular basis. I have a lot, let me restate that...A LOT of jewelry up there. Unfortunately, I'll be coming home with it as it didn't sell. They are very nice people and they have a beautiful shop but I think that they have way too much jewelry for sale. They have some beautiful artwork, paintings and such but the majority of it is jewelry. And although it is all different, it's very overwhelming and my pieces are just not selling enough. I've had some really pretty ones go, but all in all I am taking home quite a bit of inventory that I really thought, based on what they told me, would have sold by now. So, I will have some beautiful new things listed on Etsy throughout the week next week and I hope you'll stop by and look around! Have a great Saturday!

What a beautiful day!

It was 56 degrees here today! I put on my flip flops, went outside with the kids and got them situated in the backyard playing. Then Clay and I vacuumed out all of our cars, washed and waxed them and they are SO shiny now! It was the perfect Spring day! I hope it lasts, I really needed this! I even opened up the windows in the house and let in some fresh air. I'm sure I'll have to do a ladybug roundup later on, because we are infested with them over here, but it was so worth it to have that nice breeze going through the house. 

I did not do much in the way of designing today, because I've been cooped up for too long but tomorrow is another day. I enjoyed the OUTDOORS today. 

I hope you were able to enjoy your day, and I hope it was sunny where you are!

By the way.. Emerald Isle is SOLD. :) I knew that wouldn't take long!

Emerald Isle is up!

UPDATE: 3-6-10
The sun was shining today! With the exception of the top one, I have replaced the photo's with the ones I like better! Just look at that SPARKLE!! What a difference!

I have not had an opportunity to retake photo's of this gorgeous bracelet due to the fact that it snowed all day yesterday. We are expecting lots of sunshine this weekend so I will replace these pictures then. However, in an effort to give people time to shop for one of my favorite holiday's, St. Patty's Day, I have just listed this bracelet on Etsy! Click the link to be brought right to the listing.

"EMERALD ISLE"

I will get some better photographs and replace these in the next couple of days but if you trust me... it's really beautiful in person! The Green is gorgeous, the glass beads sparkle in the sunlight and even though it's really pretty just the way it is, there is something special about natural lighting that draws me into the spectacular beauty of the glass beads. You know what I mean. 

OK, have a wonderful Thursday! I am off to work!

I need more daylight!

Time got away from me today as I was visiting with a friend and working at the same time. I love designing with company! It makes the time go by faster and it's like my hands just do their thing!

I was not able to photograph the beautiful bracelet I made before the sun went down and my pictures are not the best with the artificial lighting. Even with a daylight bulb, I find that the tint is a little too blue for my taste. I can correct that but the lack of sparkle in the glass just makes me hate them. Can you tell I hate indoor photography? I'll find any excuse to get the glass into the sunlight where it show's off it's true beauty!

Anyway, I have to retake them tomorrow but I thought I would give you a sneak peak of 

"EMERALD ISLE"...

 

The full bracelet in all it's glory will be shown tomorrow and listed on Etsy!

I also made these earrings for my friend who loved the ones I made the other day. She can't wear the heavy but loved the cascading crystals so I made her these...

I love these Bali Silver beads I got and they were the perfect addition to the Black and White color scheme I used. She wanted to be able to wear them with anything, and she left here with them in her ears and her sweats on! LOL! I guess that means she was happy! :)

More photo's tomorrow~

Signs of Spring

I'm so looking forward to it, that maybe I'm hallucinating! I can feel the sun today. It's actually supposed to be in the low 40's...can you believe that I'm actually excited about that?

It's the little things. And the opposite of little is big, and that's what I was thinking the other day when I made these...

I have been hearing that the look for this year is BIG, BOLD, and CHUNKY.

I believe these fit the bill.

 

I got the lampwork glass beads from Jenelle, and used some beautiful silver scrolled cones to accent the top, while adding a cascade of Swarovski Crystals below. 

These suckers are heavier than I normally would do for an earring, and would not suit everyone, but if you can handle a heavy, long flowing dangling earring...then these are for you! I know there are some of you out there, like me, who can carry the long look!

More to come! Enjoy your Tuesday!

Oh by the way...

Trying to give people easier access to when I update the Etsy shop. If you want to keep up to date, subscribe to my RSS Feed:

http://www.etsy.com/rss_shop.php?user_id=5134204

That will keep you in the loop! 

There are many new things to come in the next couple of weeks so you wont want to miss out!

A whirlwind weekend!

There was so much to be done this weekend, and I think I have managed to do most of it. And the good news is that I took some time today to clean my office. It was a disaster area!! I had gotten in some new things, silver and glass and all sorts of cool goodies! I had beads everywhere... no grasp of what my mind wanted to do first. So the best thing to do at that point, is just clean up and start fresh. So that is what I did this afternoon! I cleaned, dusted, put all my glass beads away, all my new silver pieces have a new home safe and sound and I even had time to make a pair of earrings!

It's dark out now, so I'll have to photograph tomorrow morning. I'll post the pics as soon as I can. I think I may even have some time to keep going after dinner! I hope you all got some things on your "to-do" list done this weekend. I'm feeling really good about going into a new week tomorrow. No where to go but up! 

Have a great Sunday!

Tapping my fingers...still waiting!!!

What am I waiting for? For the UPS man, of course!! I can't stand that he is not here yet. It's 6pm, and I'm starting to wind down the day. I missed him on Friday, as I had to attend a wake and instead of leaving my goodies for me to play with over the weekend, I came home to find a sticker on the door.

Man, that really DISPLEASES me! :)

So I sit, tapping my fingers on the desk... peering out the window almost hopeless at this point. Where is he??  Why can't the things that should have been delivered THREE days ago come first thing in the morning to make up for lost time?

*sigh*

I know he'll be here, but I want my stuff. I have things to do! 

I have been fighting this head cold for 2 weeks now... it's now a chest cold. I feel lousy, so I hope you'll all bear with me for just a little while longer! I have new pieces in my mind, I just need to see that big brown truck pull up outside so I can play! 

Have a great night everyone, and cross your fingers that he comes soon or there will be one very unhappy camper on my corner.
UPDATE: He arrived at 6:20pm! That's a big sigh of relief and now I wear a smile on my face! 

29 Degrees? Bring it....

It's all good, I'm thinking a little more tropical... like maybe about tropical flowers, perhaps?

When Clay and I got married, we got this beautiful Hibiscus Tree. We had it for about 10 years. The two little tree trunks wrapped around each other and grew together and then grew "up". It was very tall, close to 7 feet at one point. We had it in our living room every winter, and put it outside in the springtime. It had these beautiful orange flowers on it, and they smelled really nice. The bad news is it died two years ago, we are not sure what happened. But it got some kind of "bug" on it and it didn't stand a chance. I'm actually surprised we had it for as long as we did, living in cold CT and being relocated inside and out twice a year. 

 I put together this color scheme which reminds me of the colors that were found in our beautiful Hibiscus tree! My hubby loves this one! 

I hope you do too! 

 

 

Powdered Almond colored Swarovski Pearls. Crystal "Chili Pepper" and Smoked Topaz Swarovski Crystals. Opaque Green Seed beads to simulate the leaves and orange seed beads for side accents. 

 

  

  

This will be going up on Etsy later tonight or tomorrow morning. 

This color scheme will be added to the list of choices that can be custom ordered!

If you have another color scheme in mind, please share it! I'm always looking to try new ones! 

Have a great Saturday!

I was dreaming of the beach...

Really, this weather has GOT to go! 

I'm ready for spring to be here. But alas, we are expecting a Winter Storm tomorrow! Gosh O' Golly, What FUN that will be! Oh Joy, I can't wait for the messy commute, the 10-16" of snow we should be getting, the kids out of school and whining about how bored they are... I seriously cannot wait for all that fun, snowy goodness! 

Can you tell I'm being sarcastic? LOL! I really am not looking forward to it at all, but I know some people have it worse! I was talking to Carey today, and she already got 30 " over the weekend in MD and is expecting another foot or so tonight she said! Nope, I don't envy her there! I'll take our 10-16" and LIKE it! 

Anyway, I digress...

 

I got these beads about a month ago from Catalina Glass. I was in love with them and I couldn't wait until summertime to make this. I figure I'm ahead of the game now, right?

I absolutely wish that I was laying on the beach somewhere warm, minus this wretched head cold that has got me sniffling and sneezing all day!

 

Doesn't this just make you want to make reservations and go jump on a plane? I know I do!

Hopefully this will "Warm" up your day!

More to come tomorrow!