Another Entry

I just now submitted another necklace for a new design challenge. The pictures for "Smoke on the Water" have already been posted here, but I did submit a different photo. That photo you'll eventually see on my website. When I get an entry number back, I'll let you know what it is. I mean, you DO want to vote for me, right??

Right now, I have that picture I told you about earlier: the aquamarine bracelet. Well, I got a little aquamarine crazy and I also have some earrings to share. There are two more bracelets that will become a trio and hopefully get matched up with a necklace and earrings. I don't have pictures of those bracelets yet. I'll wait until I get the whole set ready. So, here is "Aqua Bracelet":

And "Raindrops":

Both of these are all sterling silver (well, except the little crosses on the bracelet) and Swarovski crystal. I love the polygon drops on the earrings. I thought about saving them for necklace pendants, but they just seemed so perfect for earrings. The bracelet is on my gallery page http://www.summersunjewelry.com/gallery.html since it was custom made for someone, but the earrings are available here: http://www.summersunjewelry.com/earrings1.html.

I love March. My first daughter's birthday is on March 1st, an aunt has a birthday a week later, then there's St. Patrick's Day and Easter! Well, tornadoes tend to start dropping in that month, but still there's just so much to love about March anyway. And I'm not even a basketball fan (unless a Kansas school tends to make it big).

Mailing List

I finally figured out how to use my website's mailing list feature--woo hoo! So, I decided to commit to a monthly newsletter for all those that subscribe to my site. I've done a newsletter thing in the past (for our Brownie troop) and found it incredibly stressful. I think I am a recovering perfectionist, however. I created a newsletter for March and I'm actually happy with it! I hope its recipients enjoy it...

On that aquamarine project I mentioned last time. I think I may have finished it. I have to show it to my aunt first (since she requested it) to see if it will work. Whatever happens, I will get a picture of it to post.

In unrelated news, I was perusing my archives the other day and realized something awful! Terrible! I had promised to provide you with www.janniefunster.com and I couldn't find it mentioned! I could have sworn I put in a plug for www.janniefunster.com before. Well, my oh-so-funny friend, Jannie, has a website at www.janniefunster.com and you should really go check it out.

In more unrelated news, my older daughter's 9th birthday is next Sunday. I don't know what to do for her birthday. She doesn't either. She's a very princess/fairy-oriented young lady, but she doesn't want a princess/fairy-oriented birthday. We had a bowling party last year and it was great, but we've had such huge expenses come up that we really can't do it again. On top of that, she's discovered the smartmouth that she wasn't expected to develop until her teen years. The charming experience of that certainly put a damper on party planning. Good thing she's cute.

Well, I finished my newsletter over 30 minutes ago so I guess it's time to go to bed. My sweet hubby constantly chides me on not getting to bed at a decent time. That's just silly. It's only 2 AM.

Elemental Design

Thanks for your votes for the last design challenge I participated in, but I got outvoted anyway. Not to be discouraged, I'm going to enter into the current Stringing magazine challenge called "Elemental, My Dear." The deadline for submissions is February 25th and the voting won't start until March sometime. I'm sure I'll be getting into my campaign mode really soon, so beware! I made this necklace and earring set yesterday after I was hit with inspiration from an old Deep Purple song, "Smoke On The Water." You know, smooooke on the waaater...fire in the sky-y.... Is that not perfectly elemental? This necklace is made from blue-dyed nuts (or the nut husks), red agate and glass. This probably won't be the photo I use for my submission, but I really needed something to put on the blog!



I have an aquamarine project in the works right now. It's a special request for a March birthday gift. I have the beginnings of a super-cute cuff bracelet, but I'm afraid it might be too "chunky" for the recipient. I've got to toy with some other ideas unless I fall asleep with my bead tray on my lap again. snxxxxzzz

It's Official!

Saturday was the day I opened SummerSun Jewelry as an official business! Woo-hoo! I think the hard part is over. I've got my fingers crossed on that, though. My super-wonderful MaMa managed to avoid losing hair over hosting the celebration in her house, my fantabulous aunts (V and M) catered incredibly, wonderful treats, and many supportive friends came! Of course, I heard from several very supportive friends who just weren't able to come and I love them too! :) I told my hubby what my ticket sales were and I got a thumbs up. What better sign of support can ya get from a guy??

So, now what? Well, there's all that housework that's been neglected lately in the effort to take the website live. I did get the Christmas yard decorations put away today. They were already down and in hiding but they still needed to make the trek to the basement. The kitchen got cleaned and my huge pot of birthday tulips (thanks, qd!) moved to center stage on the kitchen table. They're so purrrdy! So, I did some of the critical stuff today but there's just sooo much more. Bleh. I know there's an easy answer to house cleaning, but I'm no arsonist!!

After all the mundane rituals of household hygiene are completed, I can go back to making MORE JEWELRY! YEEEAH!

Oh, I (for some dorky reason) didn't remember to bring my camera to the grand opening. Other brilliant people did bring theirs though, so whenever I can swipe their pics, I'll get them posted. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and support!

Save the Date

February 7th, 2009

My website, www.summersunjewelry.com, will be up and running on that date. I chose that day mostly because it's my birthday and what a way to celebrate! My mom has so sweetly volunteered her house for the grand opening party. My house was not designed for entertaining.

So, I bought my website location through Yahoo's small business plan earlier this month and I've been fiddling with it nearly every day since. I ran into a snag trying to set up my merchant account through PayPal though. I have to re-fax them a document and hopefully that will take care of things soon. I have a lot of pictures to upload into my catalog, prices to set, and descriptions to hammer out. Basically, there's a lot to do in the next couple of weeks.

Sunday, February 8th, our church's preschool is having their annual silent auction fundraiser. This will be my first year to participate and I'm so excited! I made a very Valentine's-y necklace and earring set that I hope will attract a lot of attention. Both my girls went to the preschool (youngest is still there) so I feel good about helping out. I'm going to display the set at the celebration the day before to get some interest in the fundraiser. I haven't taken a picture of it, so I can't show it to you just yet.

Today, I finally received one of three books I ordered earlier this week. This one is "Succeeding At Your YAHOO! Business: How to Manage a Successful YAHOO! Store". Glancing through it, it appears to be very helpful. I have some serious reading to do. But not right now. I'm getting ready to go shopping with my mom. :D I need/want a slinky, black dress for my birthday gala!

A Day Late

Moving right along, here are the four projects I promised. First is a strand of garnet chips playing off the darker striations in a dyed shell pendant. I gave this set to my mom.

This set is mostly Czech fire-polished glass in soft, pastel hues. There are some freshwater pearls and silver beads strung in for some texture. The three silver beads at the center-front of the necklace are embossed with little butterflies. The toggle closure has the same butterfly pattern. This went to my Aunt V--along with the one I showed you earlier, "South Pacific Postcard."

Next, is the one I mentioned a while back that had a working title of "Cosmos." Well, it didn't turn out as cosmic as I thought it might. There are a lot of images that come to mind making a name hard to pin down. "Between Earth and Sky" just now came to me, so that's what it shall be.

Finally, I played around with some copper wire having been given some fresh inspiration from a magazine. I hammered the wire to make it less flexible, but decided that I'd love to get a ball peen hammer (versus my tiny rubbery mallet) to add texture to these wire-workings.

That's all I have for now. I have a project that I can't wait to start. I found a Jack Skellington charm (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) that I want to make into a Y-necklace for my sister. I'd love to keep making stuff and more stuff, but I really need to use the time I have left for getting the business end of the business taken care of. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! If I don't get back to you beforehand, have a fantastic New Year!

HO! HO! HO!

Merry Christmas!! I have four new jewelry photos to share with you; two are Christmas presents and two are for my inventory. I won't be able to post the pictures until Friday what with Christmassy goings-on and such. I have to make sure the living room is presentable for a certain (ahem) drop-in guest tonight as well as pictures tomorrow morning! The girls are in bed but I don't know if they've got those rascally sugarplum visions bouncing about in their noggins yet.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!