Countdown to Crazy and a GIVEAWAY

The holiday rush will soon be on... it's going to be a short season for my business since Thanksgiving comes later this year.  In anticipation of this, I'd like to get back to doing a featured item for a few days at a special price.  I'm going to start with one of my most popular items, this sweet hand stamped keychain:

My regular price on this is $22.  As an early holiday shopping offer, it will be $14 through Thursday October 17, 2013.  That gives you a few days to decide who to buy it for!  I can customize with any wording.  Get one for a teacher, friend, grandmas, grandpas, whoever!  Click here to purchase :)  

Take a look in my ETSY shop for more items!  

AND, I have a $75 gift certificate giveaway going on on my FACEBOOK page.  Click on the green and blue giveaway tab to enter.  It's really quick and easy :)  

Have a great day...xxoo

Andie

Silver and Copper and Gold Fill, OH MY!

Hi Friends!  This will be the first in a series of posts about the different types of metal that are offered in my shop.  I plan to do a summary at the end with bullet points on the pros and cons of each :)

If you've checked out my Etsy shop at all, you may notice that I offer a lot of different choices in metals.  I thought I might take some time and explain why.  First of all, I love sterling silver.  I love how it looks, I like that I can polish it to a high shine, or give it a brushed satiny finish.  I love the bright whitish color it has.  As for working with, it's a dream.  It's generally kind of soft, so stamping and finishing is pretty easy to do.  The downside to sterling is that the cost has gone up tremendously in the last few years.  When I first started beading jewelry, I could buy sterling beads at around $3 a oz.  Yeah, now it's up to around $30 a oz.  Luckily, there are alternatives which I will discuss later.  For now, here is a bit about sterling...

Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver.  Pure silver is quite soft and marks very easily.  It is used in some jewelry applications, like metal clay (which I hope to add eventually), but most often when you see silver jewelry, it is sterling silver.  Sterling silver is 92.5% pure silver mixed with other alloys, mostly copper, in order to make it strong.  Because of the copper content, the downside to sterling is that it will tarnish.  Don't mistake tarnish for a jewelry piece being of low quality!  It's actually quite the contrary.  Fortunately, silver jewelry is easy to clean using a soft jewelry cloth or polish pad.  Polish pads are small white squares that have a micro abrasive that helps to remove tarnish.  It also shines it up beautifully!  I don't recommend using silver cleaner to clean your pieces from my shop, because in the stamping process, one of the steps is oxidation to darken the letters.  If you use jewelry cleaner, it could remove the oxidation.  To store your piece when not wearing, you should keep it in a small ziplock bag and keep it as airtight as possible to keep the tarnishing to a minimum.

Another newer type of silver on the market is Argentium silver.  It is alloyed with germanium.  Because of this, it does not tarnish at all.  It stays beautiful and shiny and it is every bit silver as sterling is!  I use argentium wire for many of my earrings, so that you don't get that blackish look on your earlobe that sterling can sometimes cause, yuck!  However, I don't use Argentium silver in my jewelry creations (as pretty as it is) because I need to oxidize it for the letters to stand out.  Also, I often give my pieces a rustic, oxidized look and that doesn't work with Argentium.

So, there's a little about silver.  Beware when buying on websites.  I so often see items marked as "Silver" when they are clearly NOT sterling.  You do get what you pay for!

Here is a recent silver item from my shop:

Thanks for reading, and I will have more info soon on other types of metal and silver alternatives!

Andrea :)

Holiday Craziness!

Hi friends!  I'm back :)  I took a break from blogging for a bit to deal with my holiday rush.  It was crazy!  From the beginning of November until Christmas, I shipped 540 packages, many of those with multiple items.  I am so blessed in this business!  But, it was crazy.  I would wake up, get the kids ready for school, work for a bit, take my toddler to daycare, keep working, pick the kids up, go back to work...make dinner, work till midnight or 1am.  It was exhausting!  But I'm so glad I didn't have to leave my home to work, and that I can work around my family!  Now that things are back to normal, I'm getting a bit of time to play with some new tools, namely some new fonts.  This necklace was created with a font that I had custom made.

I'm really excited to create more pieces using this custom font.  I have some new fonts on the way as well!  This particular necklace was created for a teacher, but it could be stamped with names or dates, lat/long coordinates... whatever you would like to see.  It's only $28 in my shop :)

Thanks for reading!  Andrea

Introducing... the first piece in my new collection!

I am so excited to introduce the first piece in a new collection that is currently in the works... This truly an artisan crafted, high quality, heirloom necklace. I have done extensive research in order to provide what I believe to be the highest quality stamped pieces in the marketplace. 

The sterling silver used to create the square is thick, 18 gauge sterling silver. You can have up to 3 names or words stamped around the edges using my brand new font, exclusive to my shop. There is an asymmetrical heart soldered in the center. The circle is stamped with a couples name and est. date, but this can be stamped with pretty much anything you choose... a monogram would be another beautiful option. The frame surrounding it is oxidized sterling silver. The thickness on the disc is slightly thinner to accommodate the frame surrounding it. An accent of natural stones completes the charmed look of this necklace. Shown in the first picture is a labradorite and moonstone accent. The third picture shows a wire wrapped amethyst briolette. I have available amethyst, kelly green chalcedony, aqua chalcedony, or cornflower blue chalcedony. More options will soon be available.

Now for the chain... this is a gorgeous 32 inch, long and short oval style chain. You can wear this long as shown in the 4th picture, or my favorite thing is to thread the end back through the charms and wear it doubled as a choker or short necklace (as shown in the last picture).

I have had the opportunity to see the quality of other companies' name brand stamped pieces and I have strived to create something that is totally unique and of the highest quality. My goal is that your necklace will be come a cherished heirloom that you are proud to pass on to your daughter or loved one :)

I am very excited about the designs I am currently working on. There will be more items in this collection coming soon, including pieces in gold.

To see the item listed in my shop, click HERE
Thanks for looking!
Andrea

Copper and Silver Heart Necklace

I gotta be quick today... I'm doing a holiday boutique tonight at my nephew's school and as usual, I have left much to the last minute! LOL!  Today's featured item...

This rustic textured copper and silver tone necklace is normally $22... today it is $15!  It can be personalized just about any way... think teacher gifts?  Mrs. Smith on the top heart and Teach & Believe along the bottom?  For more item in my shop, click here :)

See ya tomorrow!

Andie

Gold Initial Pendant

Whoa, it was a busy weekend for me! I didn't realize that it's been since Thursday that I posted a special.  Today I have a deal going on a great site called Very Jane.  I love these deal sites!  I also do GroopDealz occasionally.  These sites feature independent artists like me, who might have a hard time getting the word out about our businesses.  So, we offer a great deal on a single item (like half-off), and count on volume to make a little bit of money.  It also doubles as advertising for our shops :)  I'm able to pay for my children's Catholic school tuition from doing these deal sites.  It's truly a blessing.  So, with that in mind, check out the super cute necklace I have on Very Jane today!

This sweet necklace is usually $29.95, but today on Very Jane, it is 15.95.  It's under $20 for a quality hand crafted jewelry piece, delivered to your door in gift packaging.  Can't beat that ;)

For more items that I create, check out my ETSY shop!

Andrea

Featured Item-Skinny Cuff Bracelet

With all of the different designs I create, I have one of just about everything :) But I find that this sweet skinny cuff that bears my children's names on it is my go-to every day bracelet.  It is sleek and modern, yet has a traditional feel to it as well.  It's narrow enough that you can layer it up with other bracelets... I like to layer it with my Pandora bracelet.

This cuff is usually $16.95 in my shop.  Today I will offer it for $8.50.  It would make a great gift for a young lady... you could have a favorite phrase, word, or Bible verse stamped on it instead of names :)

Thanks for checking out my blog.  Please feel free to share!  

Andrea

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