Cranial Meltdown Revived

When Chuck Norris handcrafts an item, he *really* handcrafts it. He grows, harvests, processes, weaves, and dyes his own cotton. He mines and refines his own ore to make metal ingots. And he crafts all of the tools to do it.

Chuck Norris has more than 10 categories in his Etsy shop.

Chuck Norris has more than 14 tags. But he doesn’t need to use *any* of them.

Chuck Norris doesn’t wait for a Treasury. The Treasury waits for Chuck Norris.

You don’t need to find Chuck Norris on the Geolocator. Chuck Norris will find you.

Chuck Norris handcrafts everything on Etsy. Even the commercial supplies.

Chuck Norris never needs to use Alchemy.

Every featured seller is actually Chuck Norris.

It’s time for the Spring Beading Challenge!

The Spring Beading Challenge web site can be found at lava-jewelry.com/spring08.

The Rules

Each contestant will have the same set of beads to work with. The bead set may be purchased for $10 from Lava Jewelry’s Etsy shop. Each contestant is welcome to make absolutely anything with these beads - jewelry, clothing, sculpture, be creative! The contestants must provide their own findings.

There are three categories the contestants may enter: “Only the Beads,” “Anything Goes,” and “Under 16.” Submissions to the “Only the Beads” category must use only the beads provided (one bead set), and simple findings such as headpins, beading wire, small chain, clasps, ear wires. Submissions to the “Anything Goes” category can use absolutely anything, including multiple bead sets. “Under 16″ is a new category this spring. Artists under the age of 16 are encouraged to enter this category to showcase their work.

Each contestant can upload up to 3 photos of their work to the Spring Beading Challenge Flickr group. If you do not already have a Flickr account, you will need to create one - it’s easy and free. Please submit high-quality photos with a simple background. This will aid our judge in determining the winning pieces.

Judging will be based on overall aesthetic, originality, skill exhibited, and attention paid to detail, especially finishing.

The Judge

Linda Chandler, author of Getting Started Making Wire Jewelry and More, Woven Wire Jewelry: Contemporary Designs and Creative Techniques, and Jewelry Studio: Wire Wrapping (coming out soon!), has graciously agreed to judge our contest this spring. See Linda Chandler’s web site to view a gallery of her amazing work. She also has downloadable wire wrapping tutorials available on her site.

The Prizes

Etsy seller Baggavond has donated one of her wonderful handcrafted beading mats as a prize. Please visit her shop to show your appreciation for her generosity. I’ll be announcing other prizes soon!

The Deadline

Contestants must have their photos posted to Flickr by MAY 1, 2008.

Above: Aquamarine earrings. Click on the photo to go to the listing for these earrings.

Lava Jewelry is prepared for those March birthdays, with pretty light blue aquamarine jewelry in stock.

Aquamarine is the light blue variety of the mineral beryl. It is closely related to emerald, which is the green variety of beryl. The blue color is caused by iron impurities in the mineral. Beryl forms in granitic pegmatites. Now for the definition of granitic pegmatites - these are bodies of silica-rich magma that cool very slowly deep in the earth, and form large crystals.

From mineralminers.com:

“Traditionally, aquamarine has been used as a charm by sailors for protection while at sea. It also is believed to preserve and enhance mutual love and to maintain a good marriage, and to ensure truth in relationships and business dealings.”

“Aquamarine is said to release anger and negativity replacing them with mental peace and clarity, providing emotional and mental balance. It is also said to aid in meditation, and to give courage and to assist in self-expression.

Aquamarine is said to help reduce dependence on drugs, to aid in digestion, as a remedy for swollen glands and to maintain the health of the jaws and teeth. ”

Above: Necklace with fancy sterling silver pendant and aquamarine stones. Click on photo to go to the listing for this necklace.

Question of the Day: Kirk or Picard?

Gold-filled seems to be one of the metals that most people know little about. It is gaining in popularity with the ever-increasing price of metal, so I would like to shed a little light on this useful and attractive metal.

Gold-filled is different from gold-plated, both in the way it is produced, and in its gold content. Gold-filled is made by heat bonding/fusing a layer of gold to a base metal (such as brass). Gold-plating, on the other hand, is made by electroplating a very thin layer of gold ions onto a base metal. The layer of gold in gold-filled metal is 50 to 10000 times thicker than the layer of gold on plated metals.

Gold-filled metal has its own special notation. A common gold-filled is called 12/20. This indicates that the metal is 1/20 12kt gold by weight. (I’ll save the discussion of gold karats for another time.)

The primary advantage of using gold-filled instead of solid gold is cost. Gold-filled usually only costs a bit more than sterling silver. The advantage of using gold-filled over gold-plated is that gold plating tends to wear off quickly. Gold-plated metals are not regulated in the United States, and they have no minimum required gold content, so the quality of gold-plated metals varies widely. Gold-filled is an affordable, quality, alternative to using solid gold.

Although I don’t have any gold-filled pieces currently listed in my shop, I do have some available for customers who prefer it.

A few links:
Increasing gold prices
Gold-filled on Wikipedia

I’m thrilled to be able to announce the winners of the Winter Beading Challenge…

Anything Goes - Dew on a Petal

Only the Beads - Tango K Design

Honorable Mention - GalleriaLinda

Special thanks to our judge Christine Dhein of the Revere Academy for Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, and to everyone who participated!

The Spring Beading Challenge will be announced soon; please contact me if you wish to be notified of the Spring Beading Challenge.

Today’s featured Etsy seller is PhotosbyFoosa, one of Etsy’s many talented photographers.

How would you describe your photography?
As unique and interesting

What are your favorite subjects to photograph?
Animals are definitely my favorite thing to photograph as you can see from my shop.

How did you get started in photography?
I had been taking photos as an amateur when a friend of mine who is a pro. offered to sell me his used pro camera because I had taken mine as far as I it could technically go..it wasn’t doing what I needed it to and I accepted his offer and he has taught me everything I know.

What inspires you in your work?
The beauty in the things around me really inspires my work.

How did you name your shop?
I named my shop PhotosBYFoosa after the foosa from Madagascar, the movie because that is my dogs nick name instead of Randi we usually call her Foosa cause she acts wild like a foosa from Madagascar.

What is your day job?
I am currently employed as a bus aide for a 12 year old autistic boy.

What other types of jobs have you worked?
I have been a pet sitter,a drywall, Hanger and taper and a day care aide

Where is your work available for sale?
Currently only on Etsy

Today’s featured Etsy shop is Katrin Lerman Jewelry, a shop featuring handmade jewelry.

Each piece is created entirely by using sterling silver wire and high quality genuine gemstones. First, I create the desired shape/shell for a piece out of thick sterling silver wire. Then I string on the gemstones and wrap the entire piece with feet upon feet of thin sterling silver wire to give it a finished look. I add tiny sterling silver beads to the frame during wrapping to give it more dimension.

How did you get started making your art?

I have been making jewelry for a long time now. I started with friendship bracelets and then went on to beading. Then, when I moved here from Germany, I took metalsmithing classes in and really thought I found my art. But after becoming pregnant, I felt it was too dangerous to work with the torch and everything that was needed in a jeweler’s workroom. So I started with wire wrapping because it gives you lot’s of flexibility in the type of forms to create and also the solid sterling silver feel of traditional metalsmithing pieces. I love how I can work on it anywhere and I’m not confined to a studio. In fact, I do it with my baby playing right next to me.

What inspires you in your work?

Everything around me! I can be inspired by the movies I watch, my childhood or even by the gemstones I buy. Often I also think about possible design while sitting in the dark holding my baby girl until she falls asleep. That is the best time for me to work on some designs and shapes in my mind without caring about time.

What other types of art do you make for fun?

I have so many ideas for other crafts but no time that I try to stop myself before I get started. Nonetheless, supplies for the most random things are collecting in my home. Just recently I did actually start to make embroidered felt accessories with my sister as a balance to creating silver jewelry. It is so much fun creating those colorful pieces and working with my sister that we ended up opening another shop on Etsy to sell those items. It’s www.kaleidoscopestyle.etsy.com. So when I’m out with my baby girl I wear them because they are child friendly so that I don’t have to worry when she pulls on them. I’m always scared when she is trying to touch my silver and gemstone jewelry. Too many breakable parts!

The husband of an Etsy seller (Christine Francisco of bellastyleboutique and rinnovibodyspa) went missing earlier this week. He disappeared on Wednesday night (2/13) on his way home from work in the Seattle area.

Please pass the word along to people in the Seattle area. We would like to see this family reunited. Updates on the situation can be found at mailpen.net

I have a new free spreadsheet (not specific to Etsy sellers) available for download now. It includes all sales information that a small e-business owner should need come tax time. Please note that it does not include all expenses information. I might possibly create an expenses spreadsheet for download at some point too. But for now, just sales. This is also not intended for keeping inventory. I do plan to make an inventory sheet available soon.

Each row on the spreadsheet is a single order (not an individual item). You need to manually input all fields (I did not include a PayPal calculator this time because of the difficulty in determining domestic vs international fees). I still think this can be a handy place to keep track of your monthly sales - it’s all of the information that I personally needed for doing my sales tax, and some of the information I needed for my income tax.

You are quite welcome to share and to modify this spreadsheet for your own needs. However, I ask that if you want to share the spreadsheet from your web site or blog, link back to my blog (http://www.cheldodge.net/blog/2008/02/16/free-sales-spreadsheet/) rather than directly to the spreadsheet file. Thank you! I’d love to hear if anyone modifies it, especially if you modify for a country other than the US.

Oh, and while you’re here, please take a moment to vote for your favorite Etsy photographer (below). Thanks!

I have chosen six very talented Etsy photographers for you to consider. It was extremely difficult to choose only six; the talent in photography on Etsy is just incredible. The photographer with the most votes by next Wednesday (Feb. 20) will be interviewed and featured in my blog in the near future. Please look at all six photographers’ shops before voting. Thank you!