Memorial Weekend Sale

Memorial Weekend Sale!!

Spend $50 or more in my Etsy shop and get 25% off using coupon code MEMORIAL!  Expires Monday May 27th.

Round Rabbit Extra Update Today!

 

Don't Miss the Round Rabbit Extra Update

happening 

HERE

today

at Noon, est!

 Be quick on your trigger. There are 

going to be some really really

COOL

pieces today!

Stringing Magazine guidelines for Winter

Thinking of submitting work for the next deadline for the Winter issue of Stringing magazine? I went online and found the new guidelines for this issue. It's nice that they give designers a color palette to work with so I figured I would correlate some new color mixes in the Jewelry Accord store with the new color palettes!

These colors will be Limited Edition and will retire after Submission deadline June 17th! If you'd like to read more about these guidelines, click here. And then click the guidelines link for the PDF.

 Inspired by styles from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s- a fun and colorful pastel palette of Salmon, Yellow, Sage, Fuchsia and Teal!

 Sparkle, Dazzle, and Shine  is a glamorous and playful collection of colors in Rosy pinks, icy blues, and minty green.  Unfortunately I only had one form of the pale pink in my color stash, so this set is just 4 colors.

 Days of Kings and Queens is inpsired by the popular tv shows, Game of Thrones, and the Borgias. Beautiful jewel tones and regal colors in Red, gold, purple, blue and black.

 Chain Meets Fiber is a mix of saturated colors that should inspire you to use fibers such as ribbon, thread, yard, twine, linen, fabric etc. THAT IS RIGHT UP OUR ALLEY, eh!?  Pull out your fibers and mix them with different metals, such as wire, or chain!

All of these new color mixes are now available for sale at Jewelry Accord!

Back to Beading

I really missed my beads!!  It's interesting how much my creative beading mind has been fighting to get out while on this small hiatus. I practically ran to the studio by 8:30am this morning and couldn't wait to get started. The designs poured out of me, fast and furious.

 

This was the first necklace I created.  See that really cool metal Owl shaped piece? It's actually an old whistle that I found while at a local antique shop with my Mom last weekend.   I have been dying to use it! I punched a hole in the center of the hole at the front, and strunk some linen cording through a domed vintage tin disc, through the hole, and layered it atop an enameled butterfly from Gardanne Beads.

Then, I used this new Ceramic hot air balloon pendant that I got recently from Elukka which I attached to some chain, and weaved some different coordinating beads through the chain using some 1mm leather cording.  The Navy Blue suede lace, ties in a bow behind the neck.

On the same trip to that antique shop with my Mom, I also bought this little Talcom Powder tin. It was still FULL of powder, so after emptying it out, I punched some holes in it, put the lid back on and voila! A BEAD! I strung it on beading wire with some matte gold faceted beads, a small Brass Lily of the Valley charm from Green Girl Studios,  a brass leaf charm, white glass rounds, and green seed beads. The toggle is a handmade bronze flower toggle from TheaToo.

 Here's one of the bracelets I made. An asymmetrical design, with an etched copper focal from Nancy Schindler, some mini Lampwork Wing Dings from Genea, and a lampwork egg from Kelleys Beads.
I added a sweet floral domed Vintage disc charm that plays off the yellow and coral colors of the glass beads.

Suffice it to say, I had a good time today! A really really good, soulful, Playful and inspired day in the studio! Ahhhhhhhhh! LOVE MY JOB!

I'll be listing these in my Indiemade webstore later this evening.

Birthday Weekend

 So, yesterday I turned the big THREE NINE. ACK. I hate that number. I know it's just a number and I know I shouldn't sweat it but I am. For one very big reason. I still don't have babies. Not gonna dwell on it here.

In other more exciting news, I was lucky enough to be asked to do a trunk show with my tin jewelry at a shop in Hamilton NY. About a week ago, I emailed the owners at Swank.  [Side note: They have a cute little boutique store specializing in irresistible vintage and modern finds for home, garden and you. They carry clothing, accessories, jewelry, and housewares, PLUS a great line of food stuffs like dips and jams, and OMG. I bought the best jelly ever. Cabernet Wine jelly. It's totally delicious on a hunk of sharp cheddar cheese!]

Anyway, I sent some links to my flickr albums and asked if they'd be interested in setting a consignment or wholesale arrangement selling my jewelry. I initially thought that my tin jewelry would a perfect fit in their shop because they do carry some vintage items and antique pieces. I was asked to bring down a sample to show them, so I eagerly hopped in the car, drove the 40 min. to have them take a look. They definitely agreed, and decided that the tin jewelry over the beaded jewelry would be a better fit.  So we discussed details of the trunk show that was happening on Commencement weekend, May 18. My Birthday.

Last week was spent working my tail off, getting a large enough tin inventory for the show. I have never worked so hard.  I drove down Saturday morning, and set up on a table in the store. What was really great, was the fact that my whole display fit right in to the feel of the shop. If you would like to see more pictures of the store's displays, follow me on Instagram.   I like the fact that they really liked my display and they were talking about possibly modeling their display of my jewelry after my own!

The shop was extremely busy throughout the day. I made a few sales and they decided to keep almost all of the inventory on consignment! That was good news! I came home with the rings, and 1 necklace that didn't really fit into the cohesive grouping, and have listed them on Etsy if you're interested.

If you are interested in shopping your jewelry around to stores for consignment or wholesale arrangements, please take a look at this series of posts that Andrew Thornton blogged last week. There are so really great tips and tricks, and they are especially helpful coming from an actual gallery/shop owner.

Ja Ja Ja JADE SCOTT UPDATE!

Be sure to attend Jade Scott's etsy update today at 4pm Central time!  She's got some really cute new things that I know you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE! Woot!

Guest Tutorial #2 Fortuneteller's Bracelet by Erin Siegel

     Welcome to my second installment of my Guest Tutorial series! Erin Siegel, my friend and Co-Author of Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry has submitted a great tutorial for a bead and Linen cord bracelet with a button clasp. This is a great project that can utilize my color mixes of Linen cording from the Jewelry Accord store!  In this project, Erin used Sage, Fuchsia, Red and Plum cording which I've listed in the shop and called the Fortuneteller's Mix.

Fortuneteller’s Bracelet
Erin Siegel

Sodalite is said to be the stone of “insight”. The bright, colorful threads of waxed linen cord
remind me of a long, flowing gypsy skirt that a fortuneteller might wear.

Materials
72 Sodalite 6mm rounds
1 copper 20mm artisan button by Second Surf Studio
4’feet EACH of 4ply Irish waxed linen cord in the following colors: Plum, Fuchsia, Red and
Sage

Tools
Scissors
Ruler

Finished size: 7 ½”

1: Hold the four pieces of linen cord together at their centers. Tightly twist the centers of the 4
cords together for 2”. Fold the cords in half and form an overhand knot, leaving a ¾” loop of
twisted cord.

2: Separate 2 cords. Use 1 cord to string 1 Sodalite round. Use both cords to form an overhand
knot after the bead. Repeat 17 times. Repeat entire step for remaining cords.

3: Use all 8 cords to form an overhand knot. Separate cords in half and form 3 square knots.

4: Use 4 cords to string one buttonhole. Repeat for the other buttonhole. Form a square knot on
top of the button. Trim cords to ¼”.

Resources:
Sodalite rounds: Fire Mountain Gems. Waxed linen cord: Jewelry Accord. Copper button:
Second Surf Studio on Etsy.

Monday Monday

Gotta love putting in a full weeks worth of work for a show and then have it be a total flop. ACK! I walked away with one sale that didn't even cover my booth costs for the one day show, but I was grateful for at least one sale! I will try not to dwell on it and use it as a learning experience. I think what I am finding is that small shows that are 50 vendors or less don't tend to benefit handmade artists like me who offer one of a kind artisan jewelry.  It probably didn't help that the show took place on the nicest day of the season, sunny and 80 degrees. And I'm sure the fact that there were booths there selling things like sports inspired touch lamps, and t shirts- was a factor too.

Lets focus on the positive outcome. There was LOTS of jewelry to list in the Etsy shop this morning so if you're looking to buy a nice mother's day gift, today would be the day to do it! I will ship items every day this week so there is still time to buy gifts and have them arrive by the weekend!

Some examples of new things....

Show Prep

Have to apologize, as blogging hasn't been my main priority this week. I am busy prepping for a show that I was invited to do this weekend. It was awesome to get a nice email invitation and I'll be anxious to see the turn out.  Been creating  non-stop and now all the not-so-fun things have to happen like pricing, and getting all my display parts together for easy packing early Saturday morning.

Here are some of the things I've been making for the show.  If you are a local fan, come on by to say Hallo!

Round Rabbit Update

They're not just buttons. They can be so much more! I have lots of ideas for these guys. I am totally smitten with the two-tone glazes that Nancy did on this batch!  No two are exactly alike, another huge bonus when buying artisan made beads! You'll know you'll get one that is not like someone else's and that makes creating one-of-a-kind jewelry that much more fun! Be sure to check out Nancy's update today at Noon est. at Round Rabbit Extra.

new techniques

 Playing around today in the studio and discovered a fun new technique using seed beads, linen cording and this cool bicycle chain from Fusionbeads.com. (They also had it at LimaBeads.com at one point)   First I made a necklace and then I couldn't stop and did 2 more bracelets.  Each one showcases art beads from my stash. Above, a ceramic triangular pendant from Round Rabbit Extra that I'd had for a LONG time, it's probably now considered extinct.  I layered a bronze connector from Starry Road Studio on top of it and dangled some seed beaded dangles with some rough cut rubies.

 This bracelet features some brightly colored ceramic coins from Mary Harding, and some lucite beads. I love that bright color color and it goes so nicely with copper chain.

And finally this triple stranded number with a ceramic button from Jean Christen, and an enameled leaf charm from C Koop Beads. I love this blue, green, and rust color combo- I could wear this one every day.

Process

I'm still working through the process of changing my shops. I have cancelled my Shopify store. I bought an extra Domain name from go daddy.com but HELL if I can figure out what to do with it next, and I tried transferring my original website to the new indiemade site and it doesn't work so clearly I am not cut out for the Lorelei Eurto Jewelry IT department.

I haven't made any sales yet on Indiemade so who knows if it works or not. Hopefully me changing shops AGAIN won't deter buyers from buying. I just had to do what's fiscally important in my business right now and paying tons of fees to online sources is not the way.

So to reiterate, the website is gone- the squarespace site which hosted LoreleiEurtoJewelry.com. I really never updated it because I couldn't sell there, so really the whole site was kind of pointless. The Shopify store is gone, and I have replaced it with www.LoreleiEurtoJewelry.indiemade.com.  I am KEEPING the Etsy shops, LoreleiEurtoJewelry.etsy.com and JewelryAccord.etsy.com and am still thinking about possibly moving the tin snippets portion to its' own location, or to the jewelry accord shop. My etsy shop for jewelry will have ONE PAGE of jewelry available for sale, all ready made, ready to ship items and some popular designs like the Chunky Necklace, Long seed beaded necklaces, unique earring designs, and asymmetrical funky bracelets, seed beaded bangles etc. You'll find the MAJORITY of my jewelry at the indiemade site. And when I say webstore, I mean indiemade store.

One interesting thing I am noticing is that I haven't really ever had a "collection" but it's kind of developing itself as we speak. New and never before seen pieces will go into the indiemade webstore, but the FUN and popular designs that I have been continuing to make  on a regular basis, will go into the Etsy shop. I think I might even be able to start developing a wholesale line finally!

Currently you can find TONS of jewelry at the webstore, and my Etsy shop.

  Tassel Earrings- Started making these new tassel earrings, I just love them! The possibilities and color combos are endless and they look super cute dangling from sort of bead! You can find them at the webstore.

 Multi-Strand bracelet featuring some uber cool bead cones from Dorabeth Designs (Antelope Beads) and a Pewter Butterfly connector turned clasp from Green Girl Studios. This is also available at the webstore.

 I recently obtained this adorable Lighthouse pendant from Elukka. I dangled it on 2 different colors of Deerskin Leather lace, and added a couple of cute embellishments. To add some color I wrapped the leather with linen cording in teal and red. This is available at Etsy.

And here's a new set of seed beaded bangles featuring a slider bead from Swoon Dimples, a bird charm from Jade Scott, and a leaf and bronze branch charm. This set is available at Etsy.

 

Lorelei Eurto creates handcrafted, beaded and metal jewelry in her home studio in upstate New York. You can shop for her jewelry designs at Etsy and the webstore. She also offers a nice variety of cording at the Jewelry Accord etsy shop, which correlates with her book, Bohemian Inspired Jewelry: 50 Designs Using Leather, Ribbon and Cords.

Guest Tutorial #1 Home Sweet by Martha Thomas

 I saw my FB friend Martha had posted this gorgeous and whimsical necklace in her Etsy shop recently. Check out the fun way she incorporates waxed linen cording into this piece! I thought this would be a fun way to teach you guys a way to use the waxed linen cording combos that I offer in the Jewelry Accord store.
I have put together a color combo using the colors that Martha used in her necklace, it's available in the store!

Sage, Lavender and Salmon

Martha Thomas is a talented jewelry designer and sells her colorful and fun wares in her Etsy shop, Marthas Ruby Acorn. Be sure to check out her shop, you may even be able to buy this piece if it's still available!

But first, enjoy the tutorial! I hope it will inspire you to use more linen cording in your designs!
 

Home Sweet
Martha Thomas

choker; finished length:  16” 

materials:
12 round 15mm beads in two coordinating colors
4 ceramic beads in assorted shapes and sizes.  The ones for this necklace were created by Diane Hawkey
12 Vintaj 5mm spacers
6 Vintaj 3mm spacers
9” Vintaj 20 gauge wire
1 Vintaj 9.5mm etched jump ring
4 Vintaj 4.75mm jump rings
1 Vintaj 14mm lobster clasp
28” Irish waxed linen cord in three coordinating colors

tools:
two chain nose pliers
round nose pliers
wire cutters
scissors

directions:

1.}  Use 3” of the 20 gauge wire to form a wrapped loop on one end.  String a 3mm spacer, a ceramic cube, a 3mm spacer and close end by forming another wrapped loop at the other end.  Use 3” of 20 gauge wire to form a wrapped loop on one end.  String a 3mm spacer, a ceramic circular bead, and a 3mm spacer.  Close the end by forming another wrapped loop that attaches to the previous wire wrapped bead.  Use the remaining 3” of 20 gauge wire for the remaining ceramic cube forming a wrapped loop at the end that attaches to the circular bead's loop. 

2.} Cut 9” of each color of the Irish waxed linen cord.  Run the lengths of cord through the open loop of one of the ceramic cubes.  Center the loop at the midway point of the cords and form an overhand knot with all three cords.  String color A of the cords through one of the round 15mm beads.  Arrange colors B and C around the bead before stringing a 5mm spacer through all the cords.  Repeat this step three times alternating between the three colors of cord.  String the three cords through the loop at the bottom of the ceramic house link.  Form an overhand knot and trim the excess ends of the cords.

3.}  Close the 9.5mm etched jump ring around the loop at the top of the house link.  Use the four 4.75mm jump rings to form a chain by connecting one after the other.  Close the final jump ring around the lobster clasp.  (The etched jump ring forms the other half of the clasp.)  Run the remaining lengths of cord through the first 4.75mm jump ring.  Center the jump ring at the midway point of the cords and form an overhand knot with all three cords. 

String color A of the cords through one of the round 15mm beads.  Arrange Colors B and C around the bead before stringing a 5mm spacer through all the cords.  Repeat this step for the remaining 15mm beads alternating between the three colors of cord.  String the three cords through the open loop of the ceramic cube.  Form an overhand knot and trim the excess ends of the cords.