eBay treasures

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with eBay. While there are surely many lovely things and good deals to be found, I get frustrated by the amount of time I inevitably spend browsing for things that I ultimately may or may not 'win'. I'd rather just buy it if I want it, you know? But every once in a while I find a real treasure...

8mm square cushion tourmaline cabs
(You can see one in action in the stacking ring in my previous post.)

More Loot...

From my favorite local stone cutters... (Can you tell I had a fun/successful shopping trip this morning?)

I couldn't resist buying more of this incredible rhodolite garnet, even though I haven't yet used what I bought the last time around.

Tsavorite garnet - the first time I've ever bought any!

California green tourmaline

Mexican fire opal

California pink tourmaline

More California pink tourmaline

Brazilian pink tourmaline

Afghan blue tourmaline

More Afghan blue tourmaline

Afghan pink tourmaline

Aquamarine cabs, assorted shapes

Best quality aquamarine of the bunch

Holey moley... 12.77 carat California pink tourmaline...

... and more of the same ...

... and still more.

All of these stones are available for custom order jewelry pieces. If you see something you love, please email me for more information!

Beads, Glorious Beads...

I'm going to have to split this into a couple of posts because I have so much to share! First, here's what arrived today from my supplier in India... all will be listed in my Etsy bead shop as time permits.

Aqua chalcedony briolettes

Carnelian rondelles

Labradorite briolettes

Tiny rhodolite garnet rondelles

Smoky quartz rondelles

Now on to the cabs, which will also go up in my bead shop soon (except for the kyanite), and are also available for custom ring orders.

Amethyst cabochons

Carnelian cabochons

Kyanite cabochons

Labradorite cabochons

Lemon quartz cabochons

Faceted melanite garnet cabs

Ode to Tourmaline

I was scrolling back through some of my older posts and I realized that I used to write about a much wider variety of things. Lately it seems like all I have time to do is post my latest designs, and I miss my old posts full of Etsy goodness and other rants and raves. I thought I'd try to get back into the swing of it by putting together a little tribute to tourmaline, which you may have noticed is one of my very favorite stones!

First let's start with some tourmaline creations by other Etsy artists that I really admire...

'Watermelon' by anneliese

'A Little Slice of Heaven' by beaucoupdebijoux

Cuff bracelet by enso

l'Arc-en-ciel bracelet by JLeeOhioDesigns

Tourmaline necklace by sannadesigns

Next, here are some of the tourmaline creations from my own Etsy shop (click on the photos to go to the listings) -







And of course I have tons of tourmaline beads for sale in my Etsy bead shop! (again, click on the pics for details)








Don't you just love tourmaline??? :-)

As a follow-up to my tutorial post, I thought I'd share a picture of my workspace in action. If you click on the photo, it will take you to a Flickr page that has notes of what a lot of the things in the picture are.

Tutorial Update / Soldering, Part 1 - Bezel Set Ring Overview

I know I promised a long time ago to put together a soldering tutorial, but I kept getting overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task, so I've decided to break it up into smaller bits. Many of you expressed interest in just seeing a general overview of how the process works, so I've started with that and put together a short introductory section.

Next, I'm going to work on compiling various resources, pictures, written instructions, and perhaps even some video clips to provide more detailed information for those of you who are interested. I'm thinking it will go something like this...

Soldering, Part 1: Bezel Set Ring Overview (download pdf version)
Soldering, Part 2: Tools & Equipment
Soldering, Part 3: Soldering Fundamentals
Soldering, Part 4: Ring Fabrication
Soldering, Part 5: Metal Finishing Techniques

I think I'll probably publish each mini-tutorial here on the blog, and also provide a link to a pdf version so that you can easily save it to your own computer for later use. Sound okay? Let's get to it then!

Soldering, Part 1 - Bezel Set Ring Overview
copyright 2008, Tamara McFarland / McFarland Designs

This segment provides an overview of my process for making bezel set rings. Future tutorials will go into greater detail on soldering and ring fabrication techniques.

Materials needed: sheet metal, bezel wire, ring stock, and cabochon (not pictured)

A section of sheet metal is cut slightly larger than the cabochon; a piece of bezel wire is cut to fit snugly around the cabochon, and ring stock is cut to the appropriate size.

The bezel wire is soldered shut and shaped to fit the stone.

The bezel wire is soldered to the sheet metal to form a bezel cup.

The excess sheet metal is filed off from around the outside of the bezel cup, the ring band is soldered closed and formed into the desired shape, and then soldered to the back of the bezel cup.

The cabochon is placed into the bezel cup.

The bezel is pushed closed tightly around the stone.

The metal is finished as desired, either with a shiny finish or, in this case, a satin finish.

That's it! Feel free to download the pdf version of this tutorial for future reference.

Gem Show, Part 3

A couple of new creations made last night using beads purchased at the gem show on Friday...

Labradorite pendant on necklace of smooth, glossy, tumbled aquamarine nuggets. Yum.

{another view}

Prehnite & Bali silver pendant on necklace of luscious multicolored tourmaline beads

{another view}

SALE!!!

I decided I need to get rid of some of my older beads to make room for the new, so I've just marked down a bunch of stuff in my bead shop. Clicking on the photos will take you directly to my 'sale' section.

A few new designs

I still haven't had a chance to do any metal work in my new studio, but I did tide myself over by making a couple of new beaded pieces, which I will attempt to list in my shop in the next day or two.

Labradorite & aquamarine necklace with Hill Tribe silver flower

Sunstone, kyanite, & Bali silver necklace

Custom order dangly Swarovski pearl & Swarovski crystal earrings

I'm looking forward to spending a long day tomorrow soldering, sanding, and polishing, and hopefully getting some rings finished for the first time in a too long!

I'm Back... Kind Of.

Well, as you probably already know, I haven't been online much this past week due to the move to my new studio. First there was painting (walls and ceiling, then trim and doors), then furniture assembly (enormous new desk and three large workbenches), and finally the endless work of moving, moving, and moving some more. I can't say that I'm totally settled in and organized yet, but I'm getting close. The studio walls look a little stark; I definitely need some artwork or something in here at some point, but for now I'm enjoying the beautiful purple paint and the gorgeous sight of more-than-adequate workbench and desk space!

I'll post more pictures when I get further settled in and organized, but I couldn't wait to at least show you something.

The Command Center

Metal Heaven

Oh, and even though I might not be feeling 100% settled, it seems that Hazel and Otis are feeling quite relaxed and comfortable on their new studio dog beds...



I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have all this - I feel like I went from totally inadequate/cramped/disorganized work space to the most amazing space I could ever dream of. I'm grateful to all of you who have helped me grow my business, and to my awesome hubby for all the time he put in on this project.

I'll be out of town this Sunday through Tuesday (headed to Animal Place to adopt four hens and a rooster!) so I won't be able to dive into the long list of custom orders I have waiting for me for a while still... although I'm itching to create. Soon enough...

(PS - if you're interested, check out my Flickr photos to see notes about specific elements of the studio shots.)

Okay, time to spill.

Obviously this will not come as a huge surprise, but yes, Willy is building me a NEW STUDIO!!!!!! Eek! I am so excited. Thanks to everyone who guessed. And this month's winner is - Lotta! Yay Lotta! Email me to let me know what you'd like to use your $25 towards.

I was kind of surprised at how unanimous the guesses were - I don't know what I was expecting - I guess maybe I thought more of you would guess that we were adopting again or something. {We're not.} But then I realized that all of you who guessed probably don't know how small our house is, so you wouldn't necessarily know that enlarging the family would require enlarging the house... :-)

Anyways, construction is coming along fabulously. The sheetrockers are delivering their supplies as we speak and if all goes according to schedule, I could possibly be painting the interior walls by next weekend! And I haven't chosen colors yet so if anyone knows of any good inspiration sites for that kind of thing, please share. I want to do something colorful and pretty. It's the only place in the house that's 100% *mine* so if I want to get all girly-girl, this is the place.

A couple of days ago, we went and bought some super sexy workbenches for the studio at Costco, and today or tomorrow I'm going to order my new desk. We'll be moving our current computer out to the studio and getting a laptop for the house. One corner of the studio will be devoted to office space and processing bead orders (my current setup is woefully inadequate) and there will be separate work areas for beading and metalwork. There will be a sink, a heater, an exhaust fan over my soldering area, and as you already saw, a window with a nice view. Heaven!!!

Trying Something New

Ever since I learned how to solder and bezel set last year and my rings began to sell well, I've had a bit of an ongoing problem - balancing my need/desire to work in my metal studio with my need to keep up with my indoor tasks (making beaded jewelry, filling orders for ready-made pieces, filling bead orders, maintaining my Etsy shops, blogging, Flickr, etc. etc. etc.). And of course, all of these things must be balanced with time spent with my family and doing other things that are meaningful to me - volunteering, exercising, cooking, reading... I'm sure you can all relate - life is hectic.

Well, things have been getting especially intense lately. I'm so grateful for the increased sales; I don't know how to express how happy it makes me to know that people are enjoying my designs. I don't mean to whine. But something's gotta give! So for the next few days, I'm going to try something a little different and see how it feels.

For the next several days, I'm planning my time more carefully. I'll either be spending full days in my metal studio getting caught up on custom orders, and perhaps even making some new pieces for my shop, or full days devoted to family time and household projects. I've put notices up in both my shops to let people know that they won't be hearing from me during that time. I'm going to unplug (as completely as possible, although I doubt that I'll manage to stay totally off-line) and not worry about filling bead orders or any of those other things that suck my time up like a big sponge. Any orders (for either jewelry or beads) that I receive between now and Tuesday (3/11) will be shipped on Wednesday (3/12). Any Etsy convos or emails will be answered around that time as well. I feel the need to really devote some intense energy to my work - my actual work - the pieces I create - not all the other stuff. I know it's all important, and I'll get back to it soon, but for now, if you need me, you can come find me in the garage with my torch. I'll talk to you all soon.

xoxoxoxo

SALE!

I just went through both of my Etsy shops and marked down a bunch of stuff! Be sure to check out my sale beads and sale jewelry; there's still plenty of time to order in time for the holidays.

Catching up a bit

Well, I survived my little craft show. It was fairly busy on Friday but totally dead today, which sucked. Still, it was fun to hang out with my fellow crafter friends and have girl talk and cookies. Here's a picture of my booth setup; the house where we had the show is so cute... everything looked really nice.


I have been thinking a lot about the role veganism plays in my life and how I can better integrate it into the other aspects of my personality, my family, social networks, etc., so I decided to try a few things at the craft show. First, I made a ton of yummy vegan cookies to serve to our customers, and printed out the recipes (clearly marked 'vegan' - gasp!) to set out next to the plates of cookies. And second, I put out a couple of stacks of 'Try Vegetarian' brochures with my jewelry, like so:


The results were fantastic! Without being pushy about it (I hope), I was able to help spread the word about the benefits of a vegan diet, and hopefully made the word VEGAN itself, and the concept, a little less foreign and scary to at least a few dozen people. I saw a lot of people take the recipe cards, and many thanked me for them and complimented me on how tasty the cookies were. And better yet, a fair number of people took a brochure, and a couple of them even struck up conversations with me about veganism.

My cookies and brochures (as well as the fact that I brought 'Slaughterhouse' to read during the slow times) even sparked some lively conversation with my friends who were doing the show with me. They may never decide to go vegan themselves, but it was cool to at least talk to them more about it than I probably ever have before, and to introduce some facts and ideas that they clearly hadn't considered in the past. Hopefully I didn't overwhelm them with my, um, enthusiasm for the subject matter.

Oh, and I probably should post about Thanksgiving! Carlos and I had a lovely vegan meal with my dear friend Kristina and my mom and step dad (Matt had to work). I neglected to photograph dessert (such a shame), which was chocolate peanut butter pie and pumpkin cream cheese pie (all vegan, of course). I'll try to remember to find links or post those recipes soon.

My dinner plate - clockwise from top: mashed potatoes with gravy, homemade white whole wheat rolls, neat loaf from 'The Peaceful Palate', yams with apples, cider, and ginger cookie crumbles, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and green bean casserole (center). And to think some people out there still think of veganism as deprivation!

A tragically blurry picture of Carlos chowing down on a roll...

...then working off said roll...

...then relaxing with a good book and a belly laugh with Grandpa Joe.

For all of you wire wrapping fanatics out there...

I found this gorgeous tutorial on Etsy recently and felt the need to share it with you. Iza is an incredibly gifted artist, and I'm excited to see her selling this awesome looking tutorial!

Ethnic Ring - Step by Step tutorial by IzaMalczyk, $10

...and another variation from the same tutorial.

I can't vouch for the instructions themselves, since I haven't bought it yet (but plan to do so after the holiday madness has passed), but based on Iza's obvious talent, I'm sure it's great. I love the versatility of the design - be sure to click on the link to see even more possibilities. If any of you try it out, let me know how it goes!

Twice in Three Days - So Exciting!

Another of my pieces made it to the Etsy front page today - hooray! It gives me such a thrill to log on and see one of my things there. Thanks, SpaTherapy, for the honors!

(Those are my earrings, second row, far right.)

Front Page - Woo-Hoo!!!

I was so happy this morning to find this beautiful collection on Etsy's front page, and what an awesome surprise to see one of my rings included! (Bottom row, middle.) Thanks to YetiTracks for creating a Treasury worthy of the front page, and for including my ring!

New Stuff

Here are a few rings I finished yesterday, which I just listed in my Etsy shop...

Labradorite & sterling silver ring, size 7.5

Labradorite & sterling silver ring, size 8.25

Garnet & sterling silver ring, size 4.75

Rose quartz & sterling silver ring, size 6.25

Prasiolite & sterling silver ring, size 8

Catching Up

Here are a few odds and ends I've neglected to post about this week...

I got a new shipment of labradorite cabochons for making this style of ring:

(sample pic only; this one has sold)

Here they are:

This is great news because prior to these, I was having a heck of a time keeping these in stock! Now I just have to find time to make some rings... easier said than done!

I also made a couple of simple pairs of earrings the other day combining some nice gemstone briolettes with Bali silver cones.

Labradorite & Bali Silver earrings with handmade earwires

Prasiolite (green amethyst) & Bali silver earrings with lever back earwires

And I finally got more of these carved lotus flower beads in stock again, after months without. This has been a good seller for me and I'm happy to be able to stock it again!

Lotus Flower Necklace

That's all folks... nighty night.

More Rings, once again

Here are a couple more I just finished, to be listed soon in my Etsy shop...

Round amethyst ring (the stone is SOOO beautiful, I'm tepmted to keep it...)

Pietersite ring (aren't these stones amazing? I have a bunch of them... can't wait to make more!)