This 'n That

This weeks featured artisan is Cathy – owner of Caty Ann’s Creations. Cathy lives in NW Ohio. She has been creating jewelry for about 6 years for herself and family members. Each of her pieces are unique. Stop by and see them all! You can find Caty Ann’s Creations here:

Artfire Shop – http://catyann.artfire.com
Ecrater Shop – http://.catyanns.ecrater.com
Zibbet Shop – http://.zibbet.com/catyann

Caty Ann’s Blog – http://catyannscreations.blogspot.com

This “Moonlight at Midnight” bracelet is one of my newest designs. I just love glass beads, and for this piece I chose an exquisite black with beige free style Kalera Bead for the focal component. I then looked for some glass and silver beads to compliment the focal bead. I found exactly what I needed with some 8mm Matte Glass Roundel Beads from Artbeads. I chose three different colors – Montana, Topaz and Jet. The blue, black and topaz compliment the colors in the Kalera bead beautifully!

Then on to my choice for the silver beads… I wanted something that I hadn’t tried before, so I browsed through Artbeads selection of Hill Tribe silver beads. Hill Tribe Silver beads from Thailand are made by the Karen Hill Tribe in northern Thailand using traditional tribal methods passed down from generation to generation. Purchasing these silver items helps sustain a traditional craft and provides the Karen people with a reliable source of income. The silver content in Hill Tribes silver beads and pendants is typically 95-99%, even higher than sterling (92.5%).

I found some wonderful Striated leaf beads from Hill Tribe that I thought would look great with the other beads that I used – they are unusual and have a very organic style. I also found a really nice Hill Tribe toggle clasp that I chose – Hill Tribe Silver Rounded Square Toggle. Now all I needed was some little sterling silver beads to use as spacers between the glass roundel beads. I found the perfect ones – 3mm Bright Sterling Silver Roundel Beads. I use these beads often, as they are so versatile and work great to add silver accents to pieces.

Here is a photo of my finished bracelet. I think it turned out great, and hope you like it also! I found everything to make it at Artbeads, my favorite beading vendor!

Kalera Glass Bracelet with Hill Tribe Silver

Kalera Glass Bracelet with Hill Tribe Silver

Disclosure: I have received the components used for this design from Artbeads free of charge. I am posting an honest review of said products and have not been paid to endorse said products.

I’m having another contest!  This time, it’s on my Facebook page – Julia Hutchins Designs.  I’m trying to get to 200 fans by the end of October.  If I do, I’ll give away a $40 gift certificate to a random fan!!  Great chance to win again – just like my blog contest was.   I also offer discounts to my Facebook fans, so it’s a win/win situation!  Join now and please tell your friends and family about the contest.  How easy can it be to enter?  Super easy!  Just become a fan!
Julia Hutchins Designs

A few ArtFire studios are having a “Spooky Deals” promotion today through Sunday (10/2 – 10/4)!  Each studio is offering a special coupon during this sale.  I am participating in the promotion, and am offering a 20% discount on all of my ArtFire items!  Use code “SPOOKY DEALS” at checkout to receive your discount

I decided to try something new last week.  I had a few different components that I wanted to use in a jewelry design, but needed something else for the design.  I had recently received some gorgeous sapphire or teal colored copper wire that I wanted to use in a necklace for myself.  I also had a fun Scrabble tile pendant that had a black cat with a moon – I didn’t want to just hang this handmade pendant on a chain, I wanted to make a special necklace for it.  That’s where Swarovski crystals from Artbeads come in…

I decided to order some gorgeous Swarovski crystals from ArtBeads. They had been featuring Swarovski all month, with some great specials offered.  I chose a variety of crystals in various shapes and colors.  I wanted to try some new types of Swarovski components – some that I don’t use every day and some that I had never used before.  I chose crystals in blues, greens, bronze/gold and black.  Here’s a photo of the crystals that I ordered – look at all the luscious colors!

Some of the new shapes that I ordered were the Triangle Ring and the Keystone Bead.

Swarovski Triangle Ring

Swarovski Keystone Bead

I also ordered some Swarovski asymmetrical crystal pearls in Antique Brass and some Polygon crystals in Olivine, plus some round, bicone and helix shapes.

After I received the crystals, I started playing around with the copper wire and crystals – just letting the design take shape as I worked with the wire and crystals.  I ended up with a very free form necklace that works great with the Scrabble tile cat pendant.  It’s completely different than any of my other pieces, but I think I like it.   I still have some of the crystals left, and I’ll probably use those for some earrings!

It has been a very busy week for me, but also an exciting one!  I’m getting ready for the Whimmydiddle arts & crafts fair in Scott City, Kansas this Saturday.  I’ve made so many new pieces of jewelry this week, but haven’t had time to photograph any of them.   It’s a good thing I’ve been stocking up on gemstones, beads and findings over the summer, because I’m using many new components in my pieces!  I’m really looking forward to the weekend, as this is an event that draws a large crowd every year.  It’s also the first time I’ve ever had my jewelry at an arts & crafts fair.  I set up at the Whimmydiddle 30 years ago, when I was oil painting, but I’ve only sold my jewelry online.  It will be interesting to see how this goes!

More exciting news this week… a pair of my earrings are in a contest over on “Made for me by Oaklie’s” blog on her “Great Finds” contest.   Please visit her site and cast your vote for your favorite “Beeutiful Great Finds” contest.  Contest entries had to be either black, yellow or white, or a combination of any or all.  I didn’t have anything black and yellow, and all of my black jewelry has sold out, so I used a pair of white freshwater pearl earrings.

Another exciting piece of news was the news that I would be featured on a couple of blogs this week, and I’m also the featured artist on another Ning network.  I’ve been asked to  the Foxy Findings “Designer Spotlight interview” on Saturday.  Foxy Findings is a supplier of beads and findings that I’ve just recently started using as one of my suppliers.  They have a great selection and prices, and they offer all kinds of fun contests on Facebook and Twitter.  I won a spool of their Foxy Flex blue sapphire copper beading wire from them last month, and am just getting ready to use this beautiful wire in one of my newest pieces (this piece is going to be fore me!).  I’m very excited to have been asked to be interviewed for their blog, and I’m looking forward to it!

I’m also going to be featured tomorrow (Thursday) on VA Beach Quilters blog.  She does such a great job at promoting fellow handmade arts & crafts people!  Please be sure to check out her blog.

If that wasn’t enough excitement for the week, I’m also the featured artisan of the week on the On Fire for Handmade network on Ning.  Anne also does a wonderful job of promoting shops that sell handmade goods.  If you are an artist or crafts person, I highly recommend joining this Ning network!  Lots of great support and friendship over there.

Well, I’ve gotta go now.  Still need to make several more pieces of jewelry before this weekend!  Have a great Thursday!

I first used Polyvore this week to enter a contest that one of my suppliers is having this month.  Before that, I had never heard of Polyvore.  Have you???

Well let me tell you, I’m having fun over there now!  It’s a fun thing to do when I need a break.  What is Polyvore?  It’s a website where you can pick items (clothes, accessories, backgrounds, music, letters and more) that you like, and then drag the photos of your items to a blank page to create your own “online collage”.  I used to love making collages when I was younger, and this is a fun, less messy way to make them online!  You can mix & match products from your favorite stores and shop for items you like right from Polyvore!

So, as I was saying… I first tried them because I wanted to enter Foxy Findings blog contest this month.   So I created my first Polyvore, using items that I found there,  plus two items from Foxy Findings (requirement of contest).   This was my first set…

Hello Autumn”" Bye Summer” ;( by ♫♥Ale♥♫join my group;) featuring GAP

This one used my Amber Coil Bracelet again…

It’s cold but not too cold out there by EmilyTheStrange28 featuring Rebecca Taylor

Aren’t they beautiful?  Creative people out there!  If you haven’t yet tried Polyvore, you ought to!  It can get addicting, but at least you are creating something of beauty!

Don’t forget my Labor Day sale in my Artfire studio!  25% off everything this weekend only.  Sale ends Monday, September 7th at midnight

Have a safe and fun Labor day weekend!

Just a quick post to announce my Labor Day sale in my ArtFire studio.  No coupon necessary.  Everything is marked down 25%!  GREAT time to do some Christmas shopping!  Sale ends Monday at midnight.

Happy Labor Day!

juhutch

Buy Handmade

I just read a great blog post at Kenneth Cole Shoes, and wanted to share!

“There is nothing better than handcrafted jewelry, which is a form of wearable art..

When you see someone selling handcrafted jewelry, you can be assured that the piece you are buying has been crafted to some pretty high standards. The handmade jewelry might be made with help of various beads and precious stones that a person might have gathered with own hands and by putting in lots of efforts but the credit for its creation has to go to mind and heart of the person, too.“  Read more on the Kenneth Cole Shoes blog here.

UPDATE 10/03/2009: Thank you to all who entered!  Lizzie was the randomly chosen winner for my $40 gift certificate!  Congratulations!  If you would like to participate in my future contests, please sign up for my newsletter!  I offer special coupons and announce my contests to my subscribers.

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To celebrate my first week of blogging, I decided to have a contest!  I’ll be giving away a $40.00 gift certificate to Julia Hutchins Designs – Handcrafted Jewelry.  This certificate can be used to buy pieces that are already made, or for custom orders.

There are several ways to enter my contest.  Each thing that you do from the list below will earn you one entry in the contest.  You may perform each item as many times as you want throughout the contest period.  Contest runs from August 27th through September 30th, 2009.

IMPORTANT: To be entered in the contest, you MUST copy your post or tweet and paste in the comments section of this blog post – be sure to include your Facebook or Twitter name, or the address to your blog or website (a bonus link for you – we can all use more links to our sites!) if you posted a link as your entry.  If you are “fanning” or “following” me, just post your Facebook or Twitter name in the comments section and tell me that you “fanned” or “followed” me.

The ONLY entries that will be counted are ones in the comment section below this post.

To enter, do one or all of the following.  Each counts as one entry.

• Follow me on Twitter, and post a comment about it here in the comments section of this post (be sure to include your twitter user name in the comment section, so that I can identify you as a follower.
• Go to my website – Julia Hutchins Designs or my ArtFire Studio and choose one of my items to “tweet” about.  Tweet about that item on Twitter, with a link to the item in your tweet (you can use a shortened link or the full link), and then come back to my blog and copy your tweet in the comment section of this post.
• Send a tweet promoting my website - http://www.juliahutchins.com – or my ArtFire Studio – http://www.artfire.com/users/juhutchins – in general – no particular item.  Post a copy of your tweet in the comments section of this post.
• Send a tweet promoting this contest, with my blog address included – http://juliahutchins.com/blog1/ (can be shortened), and post a copy of your tweet in the comments section of this post.
• Fan me on Facebook and post a comment about it in the comments section of this post (be sure to include your Facebook name so that I can identify you as a fan).
• After you become a fan on my Facebook page, post a link to any item from my website or my ArtFire Studio on my Facebook page, add a comment to your post about the item and copy your Facebook post in the comment  section of this post.
• After you become a fan of my Facebook page, post a blurb about my blog, with a link to my blog attached to your comment.  Copy your post in the comment section of this post.
• Send a tweet promoting this blog, with the blog address included – http://juliahutchins.com/blog1/ and post a comment about it in the comments section of this post.
• Promote any my website, my Facebook page, my blog or my ArtFire Studio on your blog or your Facebook page, and copy your post about it in the comments section of this post (be sure to include a link to your blog, facebook page or website in the comment section so that I can verify and view your promotion – plus it gives you an extra link back to your site!)
• Subscribe or follow my blog and post a comment about it in the comments section of this post.

It’s very important to copy your post into the comments section of my blog post so that I can make sure to count each and every entry.  I’ll be verifying the tweets and posts as we go through the contest, but I’ll be using the comments section of this post to to randomly choose the winner at the end of the contest.  You must copy your post or tweet here in order to be counted!   Comments that are found to be false will be removed so that only legitimate posts will be included in the contest.

Contest will end on September 30th, and the winner will be posted on my blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts.   Enter as many times as you want, but please avoid spamming.

This is my first contest, and I’m looking forward to seeing who wins!  Good luck!

Baby Freshwater Pearl & Crystal Christening Name Bracelet