Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Thank you to Krystle of dkjewels!!

Thank you to Krystle of dkjewelsfor featuring our
Aqua Flame Rose Ring in her gorgeous pastel Easter treasury at Etsy!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

How to create, and catch, a Etsy Treasury - For Newbies

I've had several people now ask me how to make, and find, a Treasury. I figured maybe I'd lay out some basic information for those of you who want to make a Treasury but don't know where or how to start.

Start here: the Poster Sketch at Etsy. Bookmark that page. It is where you can lay out the items you want to put in your Treasury and can see just what they'll look like once you catch your Treasury. The easiest way to add items is to go to the page of the item you want to add and copy the last 8 numbers in the listing URL (after "listing_id="), as you see in the photo to the left. Then click "edit" so the item field opens up. Then paste the item number into the field for each item in your Sketch, and then click "edit" again. You should now see the item you want to add to your treasury. Once you have them all added, as well as four alternates, you can drag the items around to arrange and re-arrange until it's just how you like it. Just so you know, you may choose one of your own items, but admin will not use your treasury for the FP if you do -- but if they like your treasury enough to use it for the FP they will usually switch your item out before using it. I never put my own items in my treasuries for that reason. Plus, it just seems like inappropriate self-promotion to me, but YMMV. Also, for the same reason keep in mind that you should not use more than one item from the same shop.

Next, here is a great site, Craftopolis. It's a great resource for us Etsians, and especially those of us who pay attention to, and like to create, treasuries. Go there and type your store name in the field and it will show you if you're in any treasuries. Bookmark it now. That way, it will automatically load showing the treasuries you're in without you having to type it in each time. If you click the Treasury Clock tab near the top it will tell you how long it will be until each treasury opens up, Main and Treasury West (TW for short). If you click the name of the Treasury (Main or TW) it will take you to the main page for that treasury.

The main treasury has to drop below 333 treasuries before you can get one. TW has to drop between 222 in order to get one. You want to be there as soon as it drops -- the second it drops. You want to click on the Expiration arrow until it's pointing up, so you can see when the various treasuries expire, and you want to see the ones that will expire the soonest. The page self-refreshes, so you don't need to refresh it as it counts down. As a matter of fact, if you do try to refresh and it's too close to the time when it's going to open, you might miss it. Just leave the treasury window open. When I know it's going to expire soon I keep it to the left of my monitor, so I can see the numbers as they drop out of the corner of my eye, while I work in another browser page to the right. Be aware that some people delete their treasuries before they expire, so that the treasury can open up earlier than you think, so if it says it opens in 2 hours, say, keep that window open and keep an eye on it, as it will likely open up sooner than that. When it gets close enough (just a few away, if it's only going to be a few minutes, and not like an hour or something), I stop working and have the treasury window front and center. Have the name of your treasury ready and copy it to your clipboard so that the second it drops below 222 or 333, depending upon the treasury, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and click in the box, do a Ctrl+v and paste the name into the box and hit Enter immediately. You want to do this fast, because you can lose out in a few seconds if you're too slow. Then you just go and start pasting your items and your alternates into the new treasury and viola!

You can also add a kind of tag line right under the name, and put a link to your blog, or a cause, or something interesting, if you like.

Now, give your treasury a good start by clicking each active item. You do this for two reasons: first, to make sure that none of them are sold; if they are, replace the item with an alternate or something else you've just found that seems like it would be perfect. Also, you are allowed to give your treasury one view, so you're starting your treasury off with views.

When you click on each item, you can hit the "contact" link on that item and tell the person you have added them to your treasury, and paste in the URL of your treasury so they can go see. This is within Etsy's rules and is not considered to be spamming or a violation. Many people like to know when their item is in a treasury and most will go look, click and comment, which is what you want. Some will even write you back, thanking you. It's all part of being friendly neighbors, promoting each other and maybe even getting to know someone new and wonderful. I've made several friends this way. There are SO many fantastic Etsians that it's heartening and makes it feel like a real community, and not *quite* so small a fish in a big pond.

You can also tweet your treasury, list it on your blog and/or your FB fan page, and the front of your store page if you like. Treasury-making is fun, and looking at them is fun, too. When you look, it's always nice to click the items and leave a comment. It's not compulsory, but is a friendly thing to do. Have fun with it!

Hope this has helps. Happy Treasury making! :c)

Saturday, March 13, 2010

I Heart Handmade's Virtual Spring Craft Fair

Adorn Me Jewelry is I ♥ Handmade's featured shop today. If you've never been there, take a look. You'll find all manner of handmade items there. You can find our page here.

Right now, we're running a special! If you use the code, "I can't wait for Spring!," you'll receive 10% off your entire order. Plus, we still have our low cost worldwide shipping!

I ♥ Handmade is being run by Jessica at Indie Icing, a well-known blog about all life and kinds of things, but she also featured handmade artists, artisans and crafters. If you're any of the above, take a look at I ♥ Handmade and consider participating in their online craft shows.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Why is fit important?

You see the perfect necklace in the display case -- the color, the design -- you can actually feel your pupils expand. It is love at first site. You try it on and it feels as if you're wearing a choke chain. Because of the style, even one of those practical but generally unattractive extenders won't work. Defeat.

Many women who are either much smaller, or larger, than 'normal' have the experience of finding jewelry that either cuts off the blood supply or falls off.

Fit is important for a number of reasons, but the reason I like best is that jewelry is supposed to make us feel better. It glimmers, we lust, then buy and anticipate wearing it. Often it can be a sensual experience when it comes to the feel of various kinds of stones and the smoothness of the metal. It's hard to enjoy oneself or feel good in one's jewelry, if a necklace that was made to rest between the clavicles is actually a choker -- a choker that feels like it's choking us. Likewise, when one is very thin it's difficult to wear a bracelet that just will not stay on and slips off too easily. True that it's sometimes easier to make a thing smaller than to try to enlarge it, but not always.

My experience growing up was one of disappointment in bracelets, rings and necklaces (forget anklets -- lost cause), because I could just never find any that fit, and I've always refused to make myself uncomfortable trying to fit in, literally and figuratively. This is why I started making my own jewelry at the age of ten. This is also why it's so important to me that your jewelry feels good on you, makes you feel good to wear it, and that it fits just as it should.

At Adorn Me Jewelry we take the fit of your jewelry seriously, so please know that unless it says in the shop listing that it's not adjustable or cannot be made to size (a rarity, but it occasionally happens -- like with our The Birds and The Bees bracelet) everything is able to be made in your size, whether you are so petite that you find yourself having to shop in the children and young miss section (like a friend of mine has to do), or whether you are large enough to have no options of brick and mortar stores and have to shop online on through catalogs.

A dear friend had a simply beautiful multi-strand freshwater pearl necklace that her husband had given her years ago, and she had gained weight and hadn't been able to wear it for a number of years. I worked with her to design a new necklace that fit her the way she wanted it to, and we even had enough left over for a bracelet. This sort of thing can be done, and it gives new life to pieces that you either can no longer wear, or that you never really could wear for reasons of fit.

Likewise, if you see something in our shop that you love and you would like it larger or smaller, contact us and we will be more than happy to make sure your jewelry feels good on you and fits like it should.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Shimmer and Shine

Plus a surprise!

Adorn Me Jewelry is staffed by a flock of magpies! We all just love all the pretty sparkles and snatch every bit of sparkle we can find, so you're bound to find a piece of shimmery and shiny jewelry to add to your nest! :c)

With the wedding season quickly approaching, many future brides are starting to wonder what they should wear jewelry-wise and what to get their bridesmaids. AMJ has a wedding and occasion section that might help you out! We carry a lovely Trinity line of necklaces and earrings that come in a wide array of sizes and colors. Our Trinity en Large Necklace, Glimmer and Shine on your special day - bridal and prom focal point is a prismatic 15mm clear Swarovski crystal faceted briolette with the most beautiful AB (aurora borealis) coating ever. It sparkles in ways the camera simply cannot capture. The matching earrings can be found here. The Trinity collection comes in two sizes of flat briolettes: 11mm and 15mm. The first photo is of the en Large (the 15mm) and the second photo montage is of the regular Trinity brios (11mm).

The Trinity line comes in a variety of colors, as you can see in the photo, and although we have the Trinity line in the Wedding and Occasion Jewelry section, these pieces would be beautiful worn with anything! Adorn Me Jewelry's entire Trinity line and other special occasion jewelry can be found here. If you're interested in something custom made for your special day, please contact us and we'll be delighted to work with you!

The next item we'll be featuring is our Femme Mysterieux, Vintage Elements necklace featues a large, vintage, irregularly shaped lucite pinch bead in the most intriguing hue that is a cross between teal and emerald green. In most light it is deepest emerald green, but in the right light, it looks a bit teal, too. The bead has antiqued brass bead caps and little faceted teal Czech glass fire-polished beads with a vitriol coating at each end and is on an antiqued brass chain. More photos and information can be found in the listing here.

The last item we'll be featuring is our Snow Princess, Modern Simplicity - Huge faceted Rock Crystal Quartz Necklace. This necklace features a huge, 2 inch, clear rock crystal quartz that hangs from a sparkling Italian sterling silver Giotto Chain. It is finished off at the end with a Tierra Cast toggle and a smooth, tiny 10x5mm Vintage Czech glass teardrop wrapped in silver wire. More info and photos can be found here.

If you see something you like here and would like to receive a 10% discount, come see our own page here at I Heart Handmade's Seasonally Inspired Market. Right now, we're running a special! If you use the code, "I can't wait for Spring!," you'll receive 10% off your entire order. Plus, we still have our low cost worldwide shipping!

Our next shipping date will be the morning of Saturday March 13, 2010.

Happy shopping!!