Etsy Treasuries

We had a busy weekend here and on Etsy too. The Earring Lady had items featured in two Etsy Treasuries.

On Thursday WhoaItsMe put up her Earth and Sea Treasury and featured Jane's Turquoise Crystal and Pearl Earrings:



On Friday JNpottery put up her Payback is Fun Treasury and featured Jane's Copper Disk Earrings. Her treasury featured sellers who had featured her pieces in their treasuries.



Both of these ladies are members of the Wild, Wise, Witty Grandmothers team. We thank both WhoaItsMe and JNpottery as well as the rest of the team for their continued support.

Click on the Treasury Photos to see the full size treasury and the comments.

Little Italy Farmer's Market

Today was our first day at the Farmer's Market in Little Italy (in Wilmington, Delaware). We weren't quite sure what to expect or if people shopping at a Farmer's Market would be interested in jewelry at all. BUT... we were pleasantly surprised.

We had a good day - sold some nice pieces - and even got an invitation to a art/craft show in September. Getting the invitation was kind of an affirming moment. Why, you say? Well! Let me tell you!

We had two tables set up and the lady from the craft show (which we didn't know at the time. She didn't have on a "craft show lady" sign) started at at the beginning of the tables.

"Pretty jewelry" she said, smiling. "I'm running a craft show at Carousel Farms in September and I'd ask you to come, but I already have 9 people selling jewelry."

We chatted as she continued down the tables. She picked up several pieces along the way and commented favorably on each one. By the time she got to the end of the tables, we had an invitation. :)

"I just LOVE your stuff", she said. "You have to come to Carousel Farms."

Pretty cool, eh? We were definitely excited!

In addition to selling some jewelry and getting an invitation to a craft show, we met some really nice people - both vendors and customers.

And a nice dog - a huge golden retriever named Luke, who is apparently almost a mascot and who spent most of the day lieing on my foot. Luke is a "toucher". He's happiest when he's touching you in some way.

We were situated between a man (Bill) who sharpens anything that can be sharpened, and on the other side, a representative from a local bakery. Luke (the dog - but don't call him a dog - it hurts his feelings) belongs to Bill.

Luke was tethered to Bill's truck, but he was able to roam quite a distance and he seemed to have adopted us for the day. It was a little awkward for people looking at jewelry to have this huge hulk of a dog in front of the table - or I should say the front end of a huge hulk of a dog. Luke spent most of the day lieing on his side, half of him under the table lieing on my foot, the other half stretched out in front of the table, watching the people. Anyone stopping at our tables just stepped over him, though, as if that was how they always looked at jewelry.

We had a couple of scares when other people with dogs passed by and Luke decided to go and be the official greeter. Twice, I thought he was going to take the table with him, but Bill came to the rescue both times.

All in all, we had a great day! I can hardly wait to go back next week! If you're anywhere near Wilmington, Delaware - come see us!

Lesson learned

So! Off to Sparkles this afternoon to take the wire class that was cancelled last week. I learned a BUNCH of stuff, but haven't mastered any of it yet. I promised I'd post my first effort here. Be kind!
I bought some German wire to practice. It's not as soft as silver, so when I switch to silver (or copper) it should be easier. But for now, I'll practice with the German wire (which is soooo pretty). When I get a little better, I'll put something up here again. The next one will be more colorful - I promise!

Speaking of sparkles...

Oh! Do these SPARKLE!!! (Note... that was a statement, not a question!)

Kind of a dreary day the other day so I decided I'd go for a little "bling"! I bought these crystals at the last bead show we went to in King of Prussia. I'd looked at them off and on all day, but hesitated because I was really looking for gemstones.

BUT... I didn't find what I wanted in gemstones, so these beauties found their way to our house. Earrings to match of course. I just love working with crystals. They can brighten up the darkest day.

The only thing better than working with crystals is wearing them. Bad day? Wear some crystals. Rainy day? Wear some crystals. Tough time at work? Wear some crystals. Watch them catch the light - and then watch them lighten your mood. Try it! It works!

Have a "crystal" kind of day!

When is a bead shop more than a bead shop?

Well... when it's Sparkles, of course!



And then it becomes a great place to spend time with friends, work on projects, "hang out", and share tips and techniques. Oh right! AND a great place to buy beads!

Michael and I spent the better part of this afternoon and this evening at Sparkles, sitting around the table talking with Connie (owner and friend to all) and the "Friday night bead club".

(I don't know who had to get up and get out of the picture the day this was taken, but I don't think I've ever been to Sparkles when there wasn't a class at that table (see it in the back?) or someone working on a project.)

Around the table tonight were Connie and her son Carl (who wants Michael to teach him some wire-wrapping techniques), Lisa (working on several projects), Kathy (ALMOST working on a project), Michael (the helper) and me (the talker). We had SUCH a good time!!! What a great place to spend a few (or more) hours. (And who could possibly leave Sparkles without some great beads!)

I was supposed to take a class there this evening, but the instructor was ill - class cancelled until next week. But that didn't stop us! We went anyway! :)

We are so fortunate to have Connie and her shop! She has the most beautiful beads, a fanstastic selection, and she makes us all feel welcome and special.

Even if you're not "local", if there's something you need - something you're looking for, call Connie. I'll betcha she can help!

Support your local bead shop!

Okay, we give up

Time to cry, "Uncle." We give up. You can only try to resist these things so long.

What am I talking about? Twitter of course. We are not officially the last ones on Twitter - it just feels like it. We have actually been set up on Twitter for awhile now. I made the accounts, but basically ignored them. Every now and then I would get an email that said we had a new follower and I would feel the guilt from neglecting Twitter, but neglected it anyway.

But, when Jane said that it appeared that many of the grandmothers from the "Wild, Wise, Witty Grandmothers Team" on Etsy were on Twitter, I officially gave in. More accurately, Jane and I both gave in.

So we are now following, being followed, reading tweets and tweeting ourselves.


So now between us we have two blogs, two Etsy accounts, two Facebook accounts, two Facebook Fan pages and even our own website - Oh, and now the two Twitter Accounts. Perhaps you can see why we went reluctantly into the land of Tweets.

And let us not forget that you also need to use TinyURL if you wish to share sites in your tweets.

Anyway, you can also find us at:
http://twitter.com/ThunderMoonEtsy
http://twitter.com/EarringLadyEtsy

So lets all follow and tweet together.

It's Curtains For You!

Oh my! I thought that was SO funny, but it occurs to me that you have to be old to even remember what that means. I can still hear the "baddies" in the gangster movies (does anyone remember gangster movies? *sigh*) pointing their guns and growling - with furrowed brows, feet spread apart, and between gritted teeth - "Ya' shoulda done what the boss said. It's curtains for ya'." *KABOOM* I'm sure you get the idea - it's not a good thing.

ANYWAY... I finished the curtains yesterday and Michael hung the new rod! Life is good!


Okay... so they're not perfect and I still need to add some curtain weights and move the picture that's partly hidden on the side. BUT... they're WAY better than the ones that were there. We have a red Lazy Boy reclining sofa, so the curtains look pretty with the sofa - or maybe the sofa looks better since we changed the curtains. I'm not sure which, but no matter how you look at it, it's better!

Incidentally, the picture(s) that you see beside the curtains are two prints of pen and ink drawings of a mother panda and her baby and a mother giraffe and her baby - "Mothers and Babies" by Louise Brevoort that were given to me as a gift from Ms. Brevoort when I was expecting my youngest son, Scott (who is now 39 *sigh*).

What did I do to deserve a gift from such a wonderful artist? Well... I was the "room mother" for her son, Doug, who was student teaching when the teacher quit in the middle of the year and Doug inherited the class. My oldest son (Richard, now 37) was in that 4th-grade class and it turned out to be one of his most FAVORABLY memorable school years. Mr. Brevoort did an outstanding job under less than outstanding circumstances. I was a staunch support and general "fan" - and or course, helped when I could.

There were LOTS of complaints from parents - a lot of controversy because he didn't have his degree yet, but really, student teaching was the last thing he needed to complete for his degree. He was creative and more than competent.

I knew the teacher who quit in the middle of the year. (On the weekend, I helped her sell baseball cards at card shows) When I asked her why she quit, she answered, "Because I realized that I really don't like children." Well, alrighty then! "Nuff said!

ANYWAY... to make a long story... well... just a little longer, I'll ask Michael to take a picture of the prints to put here. They're just sooo nice.

Oh! I DO ramble! (and ramble... and ramble... and ramble... and... )

Life Learner

I could spend my life taking classes - in fact, I hope to. There's always something new to learn. I had hoped to take a jewelry class of some kind while I'm off and I think I found one. It's a wire working class - kind of basic, but there are some things in the class that I neeeeeeeeed to know and some things I can do, but I'd like to do better.

The class is June 19th, so for better or worse, I'll post my project here when the class is over. I'm excited!!!!

AND... my sewing machine has been unhappy for quite a while now - some kind of tension problem (that tension thing seems to affect us all at times). Yesterday, Michael fixed it!!!!!! Hooooooray! I've had fabric to make new curtains for our den for... well... seems like forever. I can't even remember when I bought it. BUT... today I'm going to start (and maybe finish) those curtains. I can hardly wait!

We've been sooooo busy! Last Wednesday Michael and I took my oldest two grandchildren (Gregory, almost 11 and Alex, 8 1/2) to Wildwood, NJ for the day - their favorite place in the world.

We ended the day with a ferry ride from Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE - and then home from there.

We had a fantastic day and managed to get sunburned in spite of the incredible fog!

(There are a couple more pictures and more about our trip on my family blog - Doorway of Time - also here at Blogspot.)

Treasury List

Once I figured out how to make and put up Treasuries on Etsy, I found that I really enjoyed it. It is like making a collage from thousands of possible images.

We have posted some here. It was Jane's idea to make a place for the treasuries on our Thunder Moon site. This way you can see the treasury in actual size, see the sellers names and read the comments. This all depends on how well I do keeping the images current, but I try.

There are sites on the web that are designed to make thumbnail images of web pages, but they seem to have trouble reading the flash app that makes the treasuries.

I figured that I would put up a list that links to all the treasuries that we have done or that we have been featured in.

What gave me the push to join in with Treasury Mania was when one of our items was featured in a Treasury that was done by someone else. We have been featured twice in others' Treasuries and are grateful for the inclusion. Here are those two treasuries:

5-6-09 This Treasury was posted by: Besiktas:
1001 Nights

6-10-09 This Treasury was posted by: HandJStarCreations:
Tangled Up in Blue

Below are the Treasuries that Jane and I have put together.

Treasuries posted by The Earring Lady:
5-16-09 It's the Raspberries
5-21-09 The Color of New
5-25-09 Purple and Green
5-30-09 A Touch of Gray
6-6-09 Wild, Wise, Witty Grandmothers

Treasuries posted by Thunder Moon Creations:
5-12-09 Handmade in Delaware
5-17-09 We Love Etsy
5-27-09 Killing the Blues
6-4-09 Black and White with a Touch of Red
6-9-09 WWWG Team - Red Treasury

There will be more to come, I am sure.

Oooooh! How I love these flush cutters!

We sold our first pair of flush cutters today (They were only $10!) and I'm SO excited for the person who bought them. These cutters are my absolute favorites!!!!



We have some Lindstroms, which are terrific, and a couple other reallly nice cutters but THESE cutters are my "go to" cutters when I'm wrapping anything. The ends are long and thin and can get into places that the other cutters can't get into.

After several years, I wore one pair out and I was totally lost until I got another pair. Totally! I love mine so much that we decided to offer a pair on our site. They're just FANTASTIC!

I can hardly wait to hear back from the lady who bought them!!!

Black and White and Red Treasury

First time poster, Michael here. Jane finally gave me the key to the blog, so here I am. She is more social, wittier and generally more fun than I am - I am not sure what I bring to the party. I guess time will tell.

Anyway, let's talk about Treasuries on Etsy.

Treasuries mystified me initially. I didn't understand how to post them or when you could. Seems that every time I looked at the treasuries, they were full, and indeed they were. Like getting a showcase, timing is everything. You have to know when is the time, and then sit and watch. Once I figured it out it is fun. There is plenty of info in The Storque and the Forums on how to do it, I just had to go read it.

There were a few days when it seemed that most of the treasuries were uninspiring visually. The items and colors all seemed so random. I wanted to do something that was visually striking. I went to the photography section and searched for "black and white and red" and the result is below.

I put this one in Treasury West to see what that is all about. It seems that because Treasury West is experiemental and has no direct link, that there is just less traffic there. Although I was pleased with the look of the treasury, it seems that fewer people actually saw it.



I have another one waiting, but this one will go in the Main Treasury.

Heeeeeeeeeere comes Michael

Until now, I've been hogging all of the blog posts. BUT... I've been encouraging Michael to add his perspective (really... I have!) - and I think I've convinced him.

We haven't decided if we'll change the way we log in so that the "posted by" thingy on the blog will know which one of us is posting OR if we'll just stick our names at the end of the blog post. I guess we'll see what works best! For now, check at the bottom of the post to see who posted.

Thanks!!!!

So.... WELCOME, Michael!

::::applause applause::::

Twilight

Thanks to a loan from my grandson, I finished the Twilight series last week - all four books! I fought this like crazy! My step-daughter, 2 daughters-in-law and finally my grandson told me that I HAD to read the books. I finally caved! "Okay" I sighed to my grandson. "Lend me the books and I'll read them."

WOW! I went from Twilight to New Moon with barely a couple hours of sleep. I was SO hooked! I decided for the 3rd and 4th books to pace myself and reclaim my life. I was only semi-successful!

THEN on Thursday night, my step-daughter gave us the movie to watch. I wasn't sure Michael would watch, but he did and I think he enjoyed it more than I did. I thought the books were SO good! The movie was good, too, but it didn't have the same humor and I guess it's hard to compress 400+ pages into a 2 hour movie.

So... today I told Michael, jokingly, that we ought to make some Twilight-inspired jewelry. I mean really. I was joking. BUT... I did a search in Etsy for "Esme" and wow! I found a woman whose entire shop is Twilight stuff! Amazing! AND... she has like 2,200 sales! I just might have to watch that movie again! :)

Live Long And Prosper!

Well! We just got back from seeing Star Trek! Soooooooo good!

At the risk of being drummed out of the human race, I totally missed Star Trek the first time around. Not that I'm not "of the age" to remember. I'm plenty "of the age". It just wasn't my thing. So, I was afraid that I'd be lost in this movie, but I wasn't lost at all.

The movie was done so that kids of this generation who aren't very familiar with Star Trek (is there such a thing?) or oldies but goodies who didn't get it the first time (raising my hand) could follow the story from the very beginning. Well done!

I'm only sorry I didn't wait until next week and take my grandsons to see it! I think they would have really liked it. Michael wasn't thrilled about going, but he enjoyed it,too. 2 hours just FLEW by!


If you're considering seeing this movie... do it!

Etsy small world!

It's a small world = Etsy small world. Get it? Oh! Sometimes I DO crack myself up!

ANYWAY... let me tell you about my experience with the small world we call Etsy! I sold several pairs of earrings (with a couple of modifications) to a lovely young lady in Pennsylvania for her bridesmaids.

When I wrote to her to let her know that the earrings had been shipped, I told her that I had a cousin who lives within miles of where she lives - like the next town over.

She told me that it was a small community and asked me for my cousin's name. After names were exchanged, it turns out that my cousin was her fiance's first grade teacher. AND the fiance's mother worked for years with my cousin's husband!

I mean... really! With all of the thousands of buyers and sellers on Etsy, how much fun it is when a connection like this happens!

It seems that in the end, we are all connected in some way!

Cancel the goats! We have a tractor!

Oh yes, we do! And it's green (everyone knows that the fastest tractors are green)!

We've been looking for a lawn tractor. Michael's allergies almost kill him (okay... a little dramatic maybe) when he mows the lawn - not to mention the "old age" factor (I'd better be careful. I'm 4 years older than he is). Mowing the lawn is AT LEAST a 3 day project. But... not any more!

My oldest son found a nice tractor for us on Craig's list, did all the bartering, and then went and picked it up for us. Pretty sweet! He DID expect us to pay for it, but all in all, I didn't think that was totally unreasonable!

We haven't named it yet, but we should. Any ideas?