Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Shop Update...

This week I listed several new pieces in my Etsy shop over the weekend including the one shown here called "Sunnyside Up". This bracelet features beads from Desert Bug Designs. She is not an Etsy seller, but her work is so popular, highly sought after and distinctive, that I went a head and listed where the beads came from, even though it is basically my personal policy to only list by name the artist I buy from, if they are Etsy sellers. It is my goal to promote Etsy in general, so if they sell there I will list them. Doesn't matter to me if they sell other places as well, that is up to you to figure out, I'm just only going to list the Etsy connection.

This bracelet got quite a bit of attention this week! It was listed in TWO treasuries on Etsy! I was so excited when I got a message about the first one and completely shocked the next day when I got another message from someone else letting me know they also had used it in a treasury! It's amazing to me with all the volume of stuff on Etsy that someone would find and pick anything of mine! Both treasuries were about things either sunny or pink, both well represented in this piece I suppose! I'd put the links up here, but the treasuries run for such a brief period of time that they will have expired before anyone has a chance to read this.

I love these beads! They are sunny, bright and very detailed to say the least. The artist certainly puts as much as one possibly can into every millimeter of bead. This artists strands of beads routinely sell for well over $100.00. I was fortunate to not have paid anywhere near that much, but this is still the most expensive set of beads I have bought so far. I think they are worth the price, given all the workmanship involved. One only needs to have a basic understanding of lampworking to see how much work is involved in each bead.

I have learned a lot over the past few months of buying lampwork beads and am proud to say I buy only artisan made lampwork beads made by artist who live here in the USA. I have seen some very talented people on Etsy from Canada, Australia and Europe as well, but I am too impatient to order from them! It's not even the cost of shipping, most offer very competitive rates, it's knowing I'll have to wait a couple of weeks to get my beads. I'm not sure how this is any different than waiting for made to order beads, since they can take that long as well. I guess I may have some flawed logic, which may need some reconsideration.

I also posted some fantastic pieces in my shop featuring beads by my friend nikki, of Bastile Bleu on Etsy. Look for bracelets named "Day At The Zoo", "Reflections In Gray", and a piece yet to be listed called "Laughing Heart". She does a fantastic job with her beads and offers a wide variety of styles to chose from. You have to check out her new baby dragon hatchlings! These are adorable! I'm getting one for myself since I am a dragon by the Chinese zodiac, even though no one ever believes I could be a dragon...(she says sarcastically!)

I've got another cupcake bracelet finished and ready to list. This one even has matching earrings... I'm not going to show a picture of it here yet.. it's so cute! I'll unveil it later this week in my Etsy shop!

 
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