Carnival Collection 2011 - Giveaway

First of all, Happy New Year everyone. May 2011 be everything you hope for and even more. May all your wishes be fulfilled and may new great opportunities present themselves to you.

Since I've been slacking a little bit with my blogging (or more correctly, since I've been rather busy studying) I thought it might be a good idea to kick off this new year of blogging with a little give away. Don't we all like that?

The photos in this post come from my new earrings collection: Carnival 2011. They will be available from my Etsy shop after the 15th of January. But before that you have a unique chance to win a pair of black beauties of your choosing. All you have to do is:

1. Go to LifeCreative page on facebook and become a fan (if you aren't one already)

2. "Like" the photo of the earrings from Carnival Collection 2011 you would like to win

3. Check back on January 15th to see if you were lucky

Excuses, excuses...

So, it's been ages since I wrote anything on the blog. Sorry guys but I have a good reason for that. For 2 weeks now I've been attending classes in Multimedia Design and Communication so the amount of my spare time shrunk dramatically.

I will continue to post here and of course I did not abandoned my love for handmade. You'll see more of my projects and I hope to finally write a tutorial or two. However, what you might also expect is some more photography, manipulated photography and maybe a bit of graphic/web design. I hope you don't mind.

And today, have a look at my new crocheted earrings. The pattern is a simple pineapple but they look like a really cool drop shape when on your ears. I made two versions of the earrings. One model (orange and yellow) has a tighter weave, which makes it smaller and stiffer and the other is larger and more airy (pink). The smaller ones measure 6cm and the larger are around 7cm long.

What do you think? Would you wear them? Should I add them to my Etsy store?

Jewelery

Since I was a little girl, I have always loved jewelery. Colorful, traditional, weird, elaborate, simple, ethnic, silver or with stones...I love it all. And I have quite a collection to which I add, as often as possible, new pieces - handmade and not.

Today, I was going to show you a better picture of our wedding rings and when I was taking photos, it came to me that it might be a fun idea to share more of my collection with you.

Below are just a few sets that I have acquired recently and a few words about their history.

First of all, the wedding bands. Handmade to order by Titanium Knights from Etsy, they are made of jewelery quality titanium with thin, silver inlay line. The rings have sandblasted finish, which gives them porous texture. Read more about titanium rings and their qualities here.

Above are four sets/pieces of jewelery. All found their way to me very recently and all make me excited. The wide, wooden bangle and blue earrings are just pieces bought at whimsy because I like the color blue and have many outfits that they will fit nicely.

The amethyst and silver set has an interesting story. The ring was given to me by my mother-in-law on the day of my wedding. It's a family heirloom and I would really like to hear more about it, but so far there wasn't time. The bracelet, despite the fact that it looks as if it were a set with the ring, belonged to my godmother. She was wearing it at my wedding and when she saw the ring, she decided to give me the bracelet to make a match.

The last, "old gold" set I completed myself after browsing through the shops of Warsaw. I do not like real gold but at the same time, I am a big fan of "old looking" jewelery.

Hooked on Earrings

Have a look at a few earring pieces I've been working on. The biggest challenge in this project was the wirework. Turns out it is not at all easy to bend the wire for loops. It has to look aesthetic and be identical for both earrings. Big respect for all the smiths out there and maybe someone would like to take an apprentice?
Meanwhile, have a look at my earrings. I especially love the blue ones, but the pink ones are also cute (only the color is less aggressive and more rosy in reality).

Working on Earrings

The last two days have been really beautiful over here. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and it feels like spring is just around the corner. Of course the weather forecast is telling me to get real and put those sunglasses away...

Anyway, now that the giveaway is finished and the earrings are on their way to Petronella, I can go back to my little den and work on more crochet jewellery and also on the promised blog re-design - in short work in progress as always.

I thought that while I'm working, I can show you a few cute pictures I took yesterday, while working on the earrings. I'm really loving the colors!

Giveaway Winner

And the winner is...(drum roll)...kraplap! Congratulations

Kraplap, please contact me through email (crafty[dot]maria[dot]design[at]gmail[dot]com)
and send me your address, so you can enjoy the earrings as soon as possible.

Once again, thank you all for participating in this giveaway. I lack the heart of a capitalist cause I would now like to give the earrings to all of you... Anyway, stay tuned to hear about more fun to come!

Pre-Launch Earrings Giveaway

Today a special treat for all my blog readers: collection pre-launch giveaway! What you can get is earrings from one of the photos to the left and the rules are very simple:

1. Choose the earrings you like the most (1-green, 2-blue, 3-yellow
and 4-yellow rounds)
2. Post a comment saying which ones you like most and where
would you were it (everyday, party, family functions, circus etc.).
No anonymity comments will be taken under consideration - I need
to know who wins!
3. On Friday (22.01) morning I will draw one name at random and
announce the lucky winner!

Simple, isn't it? So don't wait and post your comments. I can't wait to send one of these babies away :D

Earrings Tested on Animals

I am a very fussy customer. When I buy something, I really want to get high quality and good value for my money. This often leads to swearing off certain brands or shops and arguing with dishonest sellers. So in general a bit of extra stress in my life.

But my fussiness has also positive aspects. For instance it makes me more sensitive to my own products' quality. I dread the idea that my customer would come back and complain about their purchase.

So when I made first earrings from the new 2010 Collection, I knew I had to make damn sure that they were durable. As a crazyhead woman, I know perfectly well that jewellery (especially the fav one) goes through a number of ordeals. It is often tugged at, taken off and put on repeatedly, and stuffed into bags and pockets.

To make sure that my new jewellery is up to the task, I gave my earrings the following treatment:

• I wore them every day for a weak through normal day's chores and to a party
• I wore them in bad, wet weather and heavy rain
• I wore them under a hat
  
• they travelled through 3 European countries stuffed into a pocket
• they survived family Christmas with me
• they were used as a toy for my cat (see picture)
  

And they are still pretty and in exactly the same shape as they were when I finished them. After this treatment, I can, with all honesty, say: approved for women's life!

(Note: no fat and lazy animal was hurt during this photoshoot)

Shop Re-Opened!

Yey! After a few months break my etsy shop is opened again. Very exciting!

I started with relisting my old favourites. You will also find a new line of 80s style earrings.

And the best things is that if this Saturday and Sunday you spend at least $8 in my shop you will get the shipping free!

Space Invaders Earrings

Inspired by my success with the bracelet I sat down yesterday to make earrings to fit. They came out nice and perky. Unfortunately the endings in small objects are even more difficult to make. I did my very best but I will have to continue practicing until I get the trick.

One way or another I still love the technique.

I hope you are having great Sunday!

Earrings on Etsy

Yesterday, I read this great article from Yoola of Etsy's yoola.etsy.com posted on Handmade Marketing. Yoola is writing on how she was wondering what to do to improve her sales. Her exposure was great - blogs, treasuries, hearts, showcases and articles - yet she wasn't selling too many items. She analyzed her shop and came up with three ideas to improve her situation.

So, after reading the article I started wondering what I could do to improve my business. Granted, I do not have as much exposure as Yoola has but still there are quite a few people hearting my items and following my on Twitter and yet I have only sold one set of blue doilies. I looked at my shop long and hard yesterday night and I came up with one idea!

I need cheaper items!

Easier said than done. To keep my shop profitable I cannot lower the prices of my craft. The prices are set due to the high quality materials I'm using and the amount of time it takes to create any of the items. So what to do? I collected my wits about me and decided to work on a line of crocheted jewelery - the new earrings you can now see in my Etsy Shop are smaller than my other creations and therefore require less material and less time to create. This allows me to lower the price considerably and will hopefully attract business.