Help Liz Decide on a New Banner

Hey everybody,

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas weekend! and got everything you wanted :D

As the new year approach's, like everything else I am always trying to upgrade ElizabethMD Jewelry!
So with that said! I have two banner designs, and I would like your opinions on them! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

When your done lettig me know what you think, come by ElizabethMD Jewelry and check out the boxing day sale going on for the remaining Christmas earrings.

Join us for some after Christmas Clearance

Jewelry Supply Haul and Opinion

Tell me what you think!

ElizabethMD Jewelry Featured on Mama Naturals

The best news is always late news when it comes to the holiday season.

ElizabethMD Jewelry was featured on Mama Naturals this past Thursday, and I thought I would bring the video over for everyone to see here :D



Check out the rest of her channel HERE and her blog will also be hosting the giveaway as well HERE

Hey guys!!

Today I wanted to show you something I have been meaning to get done for quite some time. As a bit of a night owl, I tend to sleep in during the best lighting hours of the day. So I have went ahead and set up a light box so that no matter what time of day it is, I can take photo's of my new jewelry to show you anytime. In the process of making the light box I decided to show you a bit of what I have done.

Materials

<3 X-ACTO knife/scissors
<3 Masking tape ( the really wide stuff is the best!)
<3 Cardboard Box
<3 White thin or shear cotton fabric

(Generally all of these item's we already have!, Making this an easy go to project)

1)Start off by cutting out a square on the 2 sides and the top, leaving a 1-2" frame around each cut out.
2)Reinforces ALL edges and sides with masking tape to give them more strength.
3)Take your fabric and start running it around the box (making sure there are no wrinkles and it is tight), and tape all sides down.
4)Now all you need to do is cut out a runner fabric to go down the back wall, and to the front of the bottom of the box. This will act as your backdrop for your photo's, so make sure it isn't wrinkled.

Nosferatu and I hope everyone had a wickedly fun Halloween!!

Where Have I been for the Last TWO Months!???

It's been about a month since I posted last, let me first apologize to you for this. I Have had quite a whirlwind few months.

My Grandfather Ambroise  Duquette passed away August 19th at the age of 90. Although it was expected due to ill health, it hit hard knowing that he was the last of a generation. I can't put into words how difficult it is to fathom the thought of the most important people in your life no longer around. Not a guest at my wedding next year or at the birth of our children in yrs to come. To say it isn't fair is, is not justified. We all know how temporary ones life is, and his end I would never wish on anyone. Not even being able to say goodbye, because he didn't recognize or know who anyone was. I can only imagine the huge smile on my Grandmothers face when she went to meet him at the gate.

As I was talking to one of my favourite people in the whole wide world last night, she reminded me of my Grandmothers favourite prayer.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

It really hits home every time I read it. In these moments, now I know why it was her favourite.

The trials didn't end there though. After spending that week at home with my parents and family I came back to what is now my home in Forest Ontario, to start a month long move. I had two storage units going that I was planning to empty. The first one was emptied and moved in over the course of September and October first we went all the way back to London to move my uber unit. It was quite "interesting" to say the least LOL. Thankfully once we got back, we had wonderful neighbors that helped move my stuff in!  Now all of October has been taken getting things set up and ready to go. It's absolutely exhausting making a home out of a bunch of walls, but I wouldn't have it any other way.




This was filmed at the beginning of the month but after that I wasn't able to get back to set up till now! I will be all finished in about a day and will re film a nosey of my new studio :D

Fall 2011 Jewelry Trends

With Fall just over a week away..... thought what a better way to start the season then by showing you some trends coming to us from the runway.

Now I'm not one for 100 % running with the trends ( a little here and there for me is nice though), but this season is really impressing me so far.  We have trend of both chunky and dainty fine jewelry, with the trend still leaning towards chunky (my favourite). We are mixing metals which I have always loved, earthtones and tassels and wide cuffs and bangles still going strong. 

With all of these options you really can't go wrong with anything you wear. 

 

BESTeam Feature:: Las Flores del Sur

Where would you like to be in ten years?

Doing what I love: Handmade and colorful accessories for making people happy.


Where would you like your shop to be in ten years?

Working full, 100 sales a day! (Why not? :)

.
How did you originally get into the business of making things?

I always loved to make things, since I was a little kid. And I always dreamed of making and make a living of it. That dream is now closer than ever!

What's been your most popular item or line to date?

Beaded Xmas Ornaments tutorials you could find at my Crafts & Pixels shop, and the Fabric Poppy Pins in different colors.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I am a freelance graphic and web designer. I also teach all about Adobe programs and I am the official interior designer at my husband´s hostel here in Montevideo (Uruguay), where we live.

BESTeam Feature:: Creativitybugs

 If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or crafts man (dead or alive), who would it be?

Marion Smith from Prima Flowers would be the artist/designer of choice. She creates beautiful embellishments such as flowers, butterflies, and accent elements that can easily be used for any paper crafting design. Sandy and Sue agree that a day spent in Marion's studio watching her create would be a dream come true.

How did you originally get into the business of making things?

Our mom has always been a huge crafter and DIY gal, so growing up we learned how to make creative projects such as doll furniture out of Kleenex boxes at a very early age. As we got older, our crafting moved into scrapbooking, cardmaking, sewing, paper crafting, and then making trash to treasure items. As our talents grew, so did our collection of craft supplies. Since we were already making crafts as gifts for teachers, friends, etc. we decided to try our hand at a small business.



What handmade possession do you most cherish?

Sandy cherishes everything handmade she receives including the handmade baby blanket her mother crocheted for her daughter, the handmade quilts by her Mother in Law made for her daughter, and all the scrapbook pages her sister (Sue) has made for her.

Sue cherishes the Thanksgiving plate that she and her now 8 year old niece made together. They created turkeys using their hands and finger tips. The plate comes out every year and they serve desserts on it.

How would you describe your creative process?

Sandy loves to see other projects that people create and try to recreate them with her own special twist. Sometimes an idea will be sparked out of a crafting magazine. Other times, she will see an item at a thrift store and come up with an unusual way to reuse the item or even how to trash to treasure it up. Some ideas come right from her daughter Catie "mom, why can’t you make that clothes pin that holds the chips closed pretty?".

Sue finds ideas from blogs and magazines, researches how they are made, does a few trial and error run throughs, and then finally completes a project. Being a true Virgo, everything must be perfect!

What does handmade mean to you?

Lovingly creating something with your own hands to share with others. Being that it is handmade, no two items are the same and the artists originality and personality shines through.

Friday Favs:A Walk Around the interweb!

 An obviously unharmed owl got a wee bit to close to the house!

 Don't we all feel like this somedays!? Well this has kinda been what my week has felt like.

 This beautiful statuesque stone woman, makes me think of the chakras, karma, enlightenment and peace.

 There has never been a truer statement then this!

Can ANYONE tell me where to get this!? LOL I want one for my front door!

OWL INFO

BESTeam Feature:: Msformaldehyde

I would like to introduce you to Kelly of msformaldehyde on Etsy, A wonderful designer making fun feather and flower accessories (among other things).

What decade or style inspires you?

1920s and 1930s

How do you get out of your creative ruts?

Luckily, I have a plethora of ideas in my head!

How did you originally get into the business of making things?

Love being creative

Is there anything else you would like to share?

15%off coupon ETSY15

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I am a research associate at a pharmaceutical company

What does handmade mean to you?

One of a kind special creation from the heart

How would you describe your creative process?

Trial and error

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

My bride of Frankenstein necklace my gf made

For more information about being apart of the BESTeam go HERE

BESTeam Feature:: JBling

Lets all give a nice big warm welcome to Jane of JBling. One of the newest members of the BESTeam .






Tell us a bit about yourself.

I have always enjoyed working with my hands - with a variety of materials. I've returned to my love of images, print ephemera, photography and the many forms that images can take. I love the intersection between vintage and contemporary - although most recently I've been leaning toward vintage.

What decade or style inspires you?

My soul belongs in the 1930s - I love the vibe, fashion, demeanor and joie de vivre of that time. I am currently obsessed with the 1960s - it,too,has a distinctive vibe, fashion and joie de vivre.

What's been your most popular item or line to date?

I have a series of prints and cards based on 1930s images that I've found, restored and repurposed. Its very gratifying to find a match between my interests and Etsy buyers.

How do you get out of your creative ruts?

I have several idea boards in my home office. I pin up all manner of things that I'm inspired by or intrigued by: fans, tassels, photos, stickers, pages from the newspaper, fabric and momentos from my travels. I try to glance up every now and then to get some inspiration from these beloved objects.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

I love found objects. My most recent find was a length of rusty chain. The chain links are nearly 2 inches long. The rust is encrusted over a period of months or years. The red rusty color, the texture and the discovery all spark my imagination. I don't know what I'll do with the chain, but I'm inspired by its possibilities.

My Week So Far

It yet another week said and done. I've got to admit I have had a hard time keeping up with everything :(.


I did however get some new photo's done for new jewelry to go up in the ElizabethMD Jewelry (click the link to see whats there so far!)

We are back on track to planning our wedding next year which is very exciting. Our date had to be changed by 2 weeks due to conflict. I have to say being new to the whole church thing with the priest and all is making things very interesting. It's a lot more involved then I thought originally.  So now we have a minister/church. working on getting answers and booking the legion, photographers are crazy expensive for our little 5K wedding (so were still looking there). Not to mention all of the little things that are being collected, like flowers for the arbours. I won't go into anymore detail but let me know if your interested in me making this a weekly thing of showing you what is going on with our wedding for Sept 29th of 2012. We have so little done but over a year to do it!

Other then wedding prep I did a fair amount of photo editing in the studio and will be getting to some more jewelry soon as well as taking more ring photo's this week. There are so many cute new rings coming into the shop, and I'm really getting into colour, especially BRIGHT colour.

This coming week in the shop is going to be very simple.......SO........MUCH..........STUFF!!

I will be posting something new every day now. So keep an eye out and pop into the shop everyday. Or if it's easier for you fan the shop PAGE on Facebook or Follow me on TWITTER

Tutorial Wednesday:: African Net Necklace

African Net Necklace

Taking the steps individually is the key to making this African Net beading project work. Before you start, make sure you have all of your supplies on hand including the thread of your choice, a beading needle and few grams of either Delica or size 11/0 seed beads.

Step 1: To begin, pick up one bead and go through it twice to secure it. Then pick up 11 more beads and go back through the 7th from the end.







Step 2: Now pick up 4 more beads and go down through your start bead (the very first one you picked up).



Step 3: Pick up 9 more beads and go up through the 7th from the end.



Step 4: Pick up 5 beads and go up through the 6th bead up from where your thread is coming out.



Step 5: Pick up 3 beads and go up through the 4th bead up from your thread.



Step 6: Pick up 4 beads and go down through the 2nd of the 3 beads you just added.



Step 7: Pick up another 4 beads and go down through the 5th bead down from the bead your thread is coming out of.



Step 8: Pick up 5 beads and go down through the 6th bead down from your thread.



Step 9: Pick up 6 beads and go back through the 4th from the end.



Step 10: Pick up 5 beads and go up through the 6th bead up from your thread. (Note that except for the turns at the top and bottom, you always skip the same number of beads as you are adding.)


Step 11: Again, pick up 5 beads and go up through the 6th bead up from the bead your thread is coming out of.







Step 12: Now pick up 3 beads and go up through the 4th bead up.



Step 13: Pick up 4 beads and go down through the 2nd of the 3 beads you just added.



Step 14: Pick up 4 beads and go down through the 5th bead down from the bead your thread is coming out of.



Step 15: Pick up 5 beads and go down through the 6th down from your thread.



Step 16: Pick up 3 beads and go up through the 3rd bead of the 5 you just added.



Step 17: Pick up 5 beads and go up through the 6th bead up from your thread.



Step 18: Pick up 3 beads and go through the 4th bead up.



Step 19: Pick up 4 beads and go down through the 2nd of the 3 beads you just added.



Step 20: Pick up 4 beads and go down through the 5th bead down.



Step 21: Pick up 5 beads and go up through the 2nd bead from the top of the 4 you just added.



Step 22: Pick up 3 beads and go up through the 4th bead up from your thread.



Step 23: Pick up 4 beads and go down through the 2nd of the 3 beads you just added.



From here, continue from step 2 on. For the purposes of step two, treat the bead marked with a white dot in the above illustration as though it were the start bead.


This is by far the best tutorial I have ever found. It was done by a woman named Emily Hackbarth