What I've Been Up To - April 21-28

Here's an update on what I've been doing at my jewelry desk for the past week...

I got some gold-fill wire and made my popular set of mixed metal stacking rings in sterling silver, yellow and rose gold-fill wire. A bit of a pain to get rid of the copper that comes to the surface when heated (don't want to sand too much because, gold! Intimidating to sand off gold.) But gold fill wire has a nice feel to it and it's nice that it won't tarnish - compared to copper and brass.

Gold Fill and Sterling Mixed Metal Skinny Stacking Ring Set - for sale HERE

I finished a bezel set cab from the stash that I brought home with me from Oregon. I LOVE this pendant. It just calls for being strung on a sterling silver viking knit chain, but I don't know if people would want to pay the money for that, so it's in my shop for sale with a thinner snake chain.

Red Moss Agate and Garnet Pendant in Sterling Silver - for sale HERE

And I literally just finished this necklace as well. I had the setting done earlier in the week but then I decided it needed a matching beaded necklace instead of just chain and went on a bead shop expedition yesterday to find the right beads. I haven't had a chance to get a good set of pictures yet, but here's a quick shot from my phone.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the necklace is dragon blood jasper and garnet to match the teardrop stone and small cabochon. I'm really happy with how this turned out. I also realized how HARD it is for me to do bead stringing. I find it so much easier and faster to whip out a sterling bezel setting (even with having to go to the garage to use my big bead torch) than figuring out what colors and patterns of beads I want on a string. And don't get me started with crimp beads and crimp covers! (Grrr....)

I also experimented a little bit in between finishing those two pendants.

It it the cutest little snake? I'm not totally happy with the placement of the eyes (looks like cute cartoon snake, rather than realistic) but I like the shape and design of it. I haven't taken pictures to put it in the shop yet, but that's on my radar for tomorrow.

I also got confirmation that I will be participating in the Snohomish Gift and Craft Bazaar on May 11th, so I am trying to build up some inventory so that my table doesn't look so bare. That's the problem with offering so many custom items on Etsy - I don't actually keep anything in stock. I've got almost two weeks to go though, so I should have a good quantity by then. This will be my first "real" craft show (I don't really count the fundraiser show I did last year - nobody sold much of anything) and I'm still trying to work out how my table will be arranged. I ordered some displays from a source online - beige and linen instead of black or white. I could only get a black tablecloth, but I also got a chocolate brown organza topper, which will match the my color scheme pretty well. I'm also going to bribe my husband to make me a few risers and an earring display stand out of scrap plywood and I'll paint them the same bronze color as the previous displays he made me.

For next week: I still have some silver pattern wire that I ordered that I want to make bangle bracelets out of. I also have a half dozen stone cabochons that I want to design settings for. Not that I could do all of them in one week!

I also have to get some non jewelry things done as well (shopping for my husband's birthday present, cleaning the house!). But next week I'll probably have some preliminary set-up pictures of my craft fair table to share - and hopefully more shiny things as well! :)