Marika's handcrafted jewellery

After a few months of abstinence from wire wrapping, here my next piece. My fingers were itching to do something, so I came up with this pendant. It's really beautiful, I couldn't capture it with the camera properly. I guess it's time to get myself a new camera as well...

Gorgeous amethyst briolette hanging from a sterling silver pendant. Size is ~ 3.5x3.5cm (~1.5 inch). Comes with the silver chain in the picture, and of course, free shipping all around.

35 Euros

If you are one of my Twitter followers, as a thank you, you get a 10% discount from my jewelry at Dawanda. All you need to do is enter 'Twitter - your username' in the check-out message to me. (your username is your Twitter username).
Of course, FREE shipping all over the world also applies.

I have setup a Twitter page ages ago but haven't really bothered with it so far - I must have been one of the many who just couldn't get the hang of it. Recently though, I've decided to catch up with everyone else, and give it another go. And whadya think, I actually enjoy twitting. It's really a nice and quick way to keep in touch with friends, and just update the 'followers' with what you've been up to since the last twit.

As you know, one of my side 'hobbies' is internet marketing, and as a specialty, I focus on setting up blogs and selling them at webmaster forums. I was looking for some great headers for the blogs, as content is not everything, the blog also needs to look the part, and I found FionasDesigns (Virginia) who is really good at making headers, ebook covers, etc. Being happy with her, I've sent her way more and more work. And to my surprise she sent me this weekend as a thank you gift my new Twitter background. I didn't even realize she is also doing Twitter backgrounds, but I guess she's a multi-talented lady!

So just to boast a bit, I'm a proud owner of my new Twitter design, made by FionasDesigns. What do you think of it, please let me know in your comments!

If you want a header, or a Twitter design, send her a message, she's incredibly fast to reply!
Now if only Twitter allowed a generic (or dynamic) design size, which doesn't have to look different depending on your monitor resolution!

I did promise that I will not make any more jewelry until I sell at least a large part of the my previous creations. The last 2 years I've been on a race to make jewelry without to stop, and not only I burned out a bit, but I also ended up with a serious amount of silver jewelry. So far so good, I've only made a few pairs of earrings on commission, so I've been a good girl. My fingers are itching to work again, but not just yet.

In the meantime, Dawanda seems to be keeping me busy as I've started selling there more, even without any additional advertising. People seem to just somehow find my jewelry, which is great! Thank you everybody for that!

I've been asked what all I've sold this year, so here are a few pictures of jewelry sold through Dawanda and my blog (no direct and custom orders shown here). Hope you like them.

I'm so excited, I just picked up my new car from the dealership this afternoon. It's a small Ford Fiesta, 2008 model, and I love it! It fits me like a glove. I don't like big cars (at least to drive anyway), so this is just perfect for me. And what more, this is the first car that I buy as NEW. All my previous cars - although some very good - were used cars. However, in keeping with the tradition of buying a European car (instead of the very common Japanese ones that are all over the place in Cyprus), I bought the Fiesta.

I know I shouldn't be excited about material things with all thing spiritual going around me, but I just can't help it, love this little car and I'm all exited about it :)

Easter in Cyprus is this weekend (Orthodox Easter) so I'll have a few days to enjoy my new car and take it for a drive before I go back to work next week Wednesday.

I bought a bunch of Russian beading books in 2007, books that I never used, since I'm working wire wrapping at the moment. No idea why I bought them, so don't ask me! From the time I was doing beadwork, Russian beading books had a hold over me. They're just so different from what we have around here or in the US, and they're all full packed with clear diagrams (I wish ours were like that!). I don't speak Russian at all, but I never had troubles following directions from these types of books. I have in my personal collection the big White Russian Book, you know the famous one that I guess everyone has who is into beading, and it's one book that I used ad nausea to make my beading necklaces and bracelets.

The books I'm selling are all new, hardly flipped through them once. I've listed them at Ebay, so if you're interested, you can get them here.

I've just been musing...back in December I ran a 10% off offer on all my jewelry on my blog and Dawanda shop. I had really hardly any sales, whereby I truly wanted to help people save some money by buying it cheaper.

Interestingly enough, sales started to pick up soon after the prices went up to normal. And what's more interesting, the mid-higher end pieces are going better than the cheaper ones. For example, I've just sold today this Queen's necklace, one of my chainmail pieces, which seems to go nowadays much easier than the Euro 15-18 earrings. I know people like my jewelry, they are buying them, I mean look at the feedback that I'm getting, so it's definitely not that.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to offer cheaper - yet still quality - jewelry so more people can afford it, but it seems that things are turned upside-down. I guess it shows that no woman can say 'no' to a beautiful piece of jewelry, or something to pamper oneself with, and recession has no saying in that at all! Speaking of which, I just got hubby to buy me Dior's J'adore *gulp*. Don't I have a sweet hubby? And boy that perfume smells like heaven...

I guess artistry runs in the family. While I am good at creating handmade silver jewelry, my brother's passion is playing classical guitar.
I got this very short video of him playing classical guitar in a known Berlin cafehaus. I really love the relaxed atmosphere of that place. Nothing like the coffeeshops here in Cyprus.

So may I present, my brother :)

Well after some discussions with friends and some deep thinking, I've decided to keep my jewelry at Dawanda. Any new jewelry I make, I will post directly on my blog, however while existing stock lasts, I leave them at Dawanda. Once I sold out, I will close shop. This will give me the time to open the shop under my own domain, which will feature only jewelry created in 2009.

Now that I came to the decision, I feel relieved :) Sometimes it's not which decision you take, but you take a decision is the important part.

On another note, I've been asked what type of jewelry was my best seller in 2008. On the quick, I'd say herringbone jewelry and border wrapped cabs. But I will check my stats from the database and post back here the results, with some pictures of what has sold.
It's funny because I thought that chainmail jewelry would be the best seller, and border wrapping is a thing of the past. I guess the truth proved me wrong :)

I've just received today a pre-invoice from Dawanda. This is two fold:
1. We are to pay for all sold items starting from June 08 a 5% fee
3. Dawanda is introducing new listing fees (it was free until now), which is depending on the price of the item.

This is the new scheme for the listing fees (separately of the 5% commision on each sold item).

Items up to value 10.00 EUR cost 0.10 EUR per item listed
Items of value 10.01 EUR - 20.00 EUR cost 0.20 EUR per item listed
Items of value 20.01 EUR and above cost 0.30 EUR per item listed
Listings are now running on a limited time of 120 days, starting on the day of listing.

Now I don't mind paying, we all knew it was coming, however I find that being less known than Etsy, and having much less traffic and sales, Dawanda is introducing a very steep pricing structure.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Etsy has 3.5% commision and a flat fee of $0.2 for each listed item.

Dawanda, has a 5% commision, and depending on the item listed, it can cost you up to 0.3 Euros (which is approximately $0.4 - double than the Etsy listing).

Also I think most of us were under the impression that the fees will be introduced from 'now on', not going back to mid last year. A couple of us have been just hit with a major fee that we have to pay by Feb. 23, which we didn't count on.

I guess what I've always preached but never really put into place, I will have to actually do: start my own shop under my own name and domain, so I can control exactly what I'm paying and when.

If you have a shop at Dawanda right now, what do you think of these new listing fees? You might just convice me to keep my items there for a bit longer if you have the best argument...or to open my own shop :-)

This post is really not for everybody, but if you are at all interested in what is called Internet Marketing, I've set up a an online diary for my journey in the world of online marketing. It's a quite interesting world out there, and I'm learning lots as we speak. And many of the things I'm learning there I can apply to promoting my jewelry as well. If you're curious, head over to my Internet Marketing Blog and let me know what you think. Beware, it has nothing to do with jewelry, so if jewelry is your only passion, you might get bored there. But if you're interested in the new possibilities of earning money out there (think of stay at home moms, or people who lost their jobs or folks want to start out on their own instead of being stuck at their 9-5 jobs), it's something you can pick up very easily anytime.

I haven't posted in a while about what I've been reading, but as I've just finished my latest read, before choosing a new one (which is a HARD task, I'm telling you!), I thought to post my thoughts on it.

I've been reading a lot of paranormal romances, and I got hungry of my usual 'sick shit' type of books (so labeled in the old bookrelay forums, for those who still remember). Sick shit in our 'language' means gory, scary details, serial killers, FBI agents hunting them down, you get the idea.

So I found at the bottom of one of my many piles of books a hardcover from James Patterson, Double Cross, and decided to read it. It's the 13th in the Alex Cross series.
I found it quite a fast read and actually quite fun. Just checked now the Amazon ratings for the book, and based on the ratings, it seem like it's not one of James Patterson's best book. Not sure why it's rated so low, I really enjoyed reading it.

A while ago I took a decision to not let these user feedbacks, ratings and comments get to me before I read a book, so I stopped searching for them until after I finished the book. I found that this serves me quite well all the time, because I really enjoy books more when I'm not influenced by others. But back to the book.

Alex Cross is retired from his practice, but a series of killings, where he is personally mentioned by the killer, pulls him right back into the game. And the one who pulls him back is no other than his former FBI partner and friend, Kyle Craig, who turned out to be a vicious serial killer and was put in prison (that happened in the book Violets are blue, if you haven't read that one yet).

Without revealing anything else about the book, I will say that if you haven't read it yet, give it a chance. It's really good, and if you like the Alex Cross books, this one doesn't disappoint. Don't let the Amazon ratings turn you off from having a good read. And this point is valid not only for this book. Always make a habit of reading the book first, and google-ing or searching Amazon for the reviews after. You'll enjoy the book that much more.

Let's face it, we are in the middle of recession, no matter how much we want to ignore it. And although it has started in the US, it can be felt all around the world, including in Europe.

Why do I mention this? Because we all know when the money is tight(er), the two things that go first are perfume and jewelry. Many women stop buying jewelry until the situation is better. I mean jewelry and perfumes are still considered luxury items. And they are the first to go.
And if you have been following wire wrapping lately, it has become very complex, complicated and expensive. And no doubt about it, gorgeous as well.

This is why for the next few months I will be focusing on creating very affordable, yet sweet, elegant and beautiful jewelry. Focus will be on those of us who - no matter what situation the economy is in - we do not want to deny ourselves those little secret pleasures, like eating a few dark chocolate pralines, or wearing a cute pair of earrings.

Having this in mind, I am starting the very affordable collection of simplicity and beauty.

The first in this collection is actually an interchangeable pair of earrings - i.e. you buy two pairs for the price of one! Changing the beads on the earwires is extremely easy, just slide them off and put the new on in place. Voila, you have a new pair of earrings for that other outfit.

The stones are orange agate beads and chunky amethyst briolettes on sterling silver fancy earwires.
Everything has been tumbled in my Lortone tumbler for added shine and durability.
Shipping as usual is free. Price is shown both in EUR and USD, use whichever is more appropriate for you, depending on your geo location.

17 Euros

22 USD

As I mentioned in my previous post about herringbone weave, this is the first jewelry piece I made this year, a bracelet for a colleague at work. Green cats-eye in herringbone weave with 0.6 and 1 mm sterling silver wire.


I also made this cute pair of herringbone earrings after watching a free video on youtube, created by Cynthia. It really inspired me to try them and I will do more of these.
Beads are dark blue goldstone (so dark that they could easily pass as black in the proper light), they are really beautiful, and so dainty. If you like shorter earrings, which sit just right in your ear, these are for you :)

I will add the pair to my Dawanda shop, but you can also buy them directly from here via Paypal (with free shipping).

How did this post come about?
I'm working on a simple herringbone weave bracelet for a colleague at work, who placed the order for sending it to her mom as a gift. So this weekend I'm working on my very first piece in 2009. I will post a picture of it as soon as it's ready and my camera is charged.

So in honour of my first piece, which is based on the herringbone technique, I went searching online for the best 5 free herringbone tutorials for wire wrapping. I got loads of question on how to make herringbone pieces whenever I showed some of my jewelry based on this technique on jewelry forums, and I know that this post will fill that void, since each of these tutorials is FREE, and one can learn to make a nice piece of jewelry based on it. Well, I found only 4 free tutorials on the net in the end, not 5, everything else was for a fee, but these 4 more than make up for the missing 5th :)

So here we go.

1. Hands down, the best tutorial is Eni's Herringbone weave, this one is a classic already :)
2. Cynthia's gorgeous herringbone variety - look at these beautiful pair of earrings. The youtube video is embedded at the bottom of this post, worth checking it out!
   
3. Irulan's herringbone tutorial takes place 3. Nice and clear pictures, easy to understand.
   
4. Adelin's herringbone weave is a nice new tutorial, put up late last year - interesting weaving of a bead which usually doesn't lend itself to herringbone.
   
   
   
   

Now that 2008 is over, I've been musing on how I approached the year and what I want to change in 2009 to make the year even better. I've read recently an uplifting report called 'Sticky resolutions', which really stroke a chord with me. Why sticky? Because 'we can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough' (Helen Keller).

So here are 7 sticky mental resolutions to implement this year:

1. Whenever you feel down, think of something that you can honestly be grateful for. Just take a minute of your time and appreciate the good things in your life.
   
   
2. Take the decision. If you're thinking for a long time to do something, don't put it off any longer. Just Do it (like Nike says). You never know until you made the decision whether it was right or wrong, but if you never do it, you'll always wonder 'what if'.
   
   
3. Make a habit to say 'thank you', don't take people for granted. Thank your waiter for bringing your meal. Thank your kids for anything trivial that they did for you, thank your taxi driver for bringing you home. Thank your postman for bringing your letter.
   
   
4. Never assume things. Never assume that you know what the next person is thinking about you, as you don't. If you see that your friend, or your boss is in a bad mood, don't automatically assume it is about you. Most of the times, it isn't. And if it is, let it go. You can't make everyone happy, it would be foolish to even try.
   
   
5. When you notice you have negative thoughts, change them immediately. Think of a song you like, look out the window and see the trees with the branches swinging with the wind, smile at your colleague at work, and your attitude will change.
   
   
6. Don't worry needlessly about tomorrow. Don't try to make several negative outcomes of the upcoming job interview, meeting or presentation. You don't know in advance how it will be, so don't assume it will be bad. And never say 'it will never work out', because usually things have a way of working out for the best for you. Even if at the time it doesn't seem so.
   
   
7. Don't worry about the last choice you made. It was the right one. How do I know that? It's because you took it, you are here. You are always on the right path for you. It took me a while to absorb this particular one, but if I leave out the 'what if's' it's quite easy actually. We are always where we are supposed to be at the time. This doesn't mean that we cannot change where we will go tomorrow. But for today, we are here, exactly where we should be.
   

Thanks for the purchases from my shop, your items have been all sent out.
I have received emails whether the offer is also good for buying directly from the blog, as not everybody wants to register to Dawanda just to buy. Yes, you can buy from here as well.

So until January 11 (Sunday) you can buy 2 or more items from Dawanda, or directly here from my blog, and you get the 10% and free shipping, plus a silver cleaning propolish pad as a gift.
How does this work? Very easy:
Buy each item separately from this thread on my blog, and as I will see at Paypal your email address, I will count the total purchase and refund you 10%. As soon as the items are purchased, I will remove them from the thread right away.

After January 11, prices go back to normal, but you will still get the free shipping, and the gift cleaning pad.

Did you know that as early as in the 1950s jewelry making was already a highly lucrative hobby niche?

Here is the story of a policeman who found himself a new hobby and finally gave up police work in favour of becoming a full time costume jeweler. You can read here the full story. Now that's what I call a change in gears.

The Hawaii based company called Aloha 808 Trading, has just recalled around 12,800 pieces of jewelry due to them containing high levels of lead. All this jewelry was for children and they were made in China. Ouch.
It seems that the jewelry was sold in Honolulu from April to November this year for between $2 and $5 US.

It seriously makes you re-think buying other than artisan, handcrafted jewelry, since there is no such danger of lead and other 'strange' materials entering the piece, except what we manually work with. But of course, there are always people who are prepared to buy pieces worth $2 from their local Wallmart and face the risk of their child getting cancer or whatever else these products might contain.

Just for curiosity's sake, here are some of the pieces recalled in Honolulu...

I need to make space for new stuff, as my drawers are full of jewelry. I promissed myself I won't do more until the old is gone.

So here is my offer, which I have also posted on the Dawanda forum.

Buy 2 items or more from my Dawanda inventory, and qualify for 10% off your total and free shipping all over the world.

How this works? Login to Dawanda if you have an account, or register (it's quick and free!), go to my shop and buy 2 items (or more, if you want). As soon as you paid with Paypal (currently it's my only accepted payment method), I will refund you 10% of your total, and should any of the items be displayed with a shipping price, the shipping for you will be free (shipping will be automatically 0 when I send you the invoice. The 10% refund will happen after the sale, because Dawanda doesn't allow me to alter the listed amount.

This offer is good through Christmas and New Year. Then I will get cracking on new Valentine and Spring Collection.

Long time no post, as it seems. I've been busy lately with my marketing studies, and I had to neglect for a while jewelry. I have plenty of stock as there were some months when I worked like a madman (or woman), so at least I don't have to worry that I will run out of jewelry to sell for Christmas.
It is always good to make more jewelry than just the next piece that you are selling, particularly if you do this for more than just a passing hobby. Jewelry can sit nicely in their ziplock bags, they are usually small pieces and do not take too much space.

Which brings me, though, to my next point: cleaning jewelry.
I got a request from my online friend Mary for two bracelets, Stairway to Heaven and Lattice bright aluminium, and tonight when I took them out from the drawer where I usually keep jewelry for storage, I've noticed that in one of the ziplock bags there were two silver chainmail pieces together. I guess I didn't have enough bags at the time and I tried to save space by adding more than one in a bag. BIG mistake! Those two pieces are darkened and dull from oxidization.

So big tip here: never put two pieces of jewelry together. I am lucky because my trusted tumbler cleans up all pieces in a jiffy, but if you don't have a tumbler, you'll have to reverse to more conventional methods, and might not give you the very same results, unless you really spend some time cleaning...
As I'm about to put Mary's silver piece in the tumbler, I'll add the two 'tainted' ones as well, to be cleaned nicely, and then put each separately in its own bag.

Also another tip. One of the two pieces Mary bought is a bright aluminium chainmail bracelet. It is very easy to clean bright aluminium, simply wash the piece in soapy water to bring back the shine.

I don't recommend putting your bright aluminium with your silver jewelry in the tumbler. Actually based on my personal experience, I don't rcommend putting any two different metals together in the tumbler, to avoid weird (to say the least) results. Some people say they had no problems with them. I did. I used once silver with copper, and don't ask me the color of my 'cleaned' silver piece when it came out from teh tumbler. It took twice cleaning just the stainless steelshot with dishwashing liquid, and then adding the jewelry back in, just to get all cleaned up. What a mess!

I've been talking with somebody about marcasite jewelry, and I had to admit that I didn't know what that is. It seems I've never heard of marcasite before. So I looked it up on Google (I have to say, Google search is one of my best friends, it doesn't hide anything from me and it gives me everything I want!) and here are some interesting tidbits on marcasite.

So what is marcasite?
Marcasite, as a mineral is called irons sulfide, however most of the called marcasite used in jewelry is actually iron pyrite, as real marcasite often crumbles into dust and is thus too delicate and soft to be used in jewelry.
Marcasite was especially fashionable in Victorian times (one of my favourite period times). Jewelers usually describe marcasite as a bronze color, and you can usually see marcasite jewelry shining with a vintage estate look.
In jewellery, marcasite combines very well with sterling silver and other white metals, however it's not used with gold, as marcasite and gold do not blend well together.

It seems that when used in jewelry, it tends to be mostly cut in triangle or oval shape. One of the other stones that combines well with marcasite is the black onyx. Also mother of pearl, pearl and opal are stones that go well with marcasite.

As to what type of jewelry one can make with marcasite? Well, you can make the most common types, like earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, rings and even broches. The example in the picture is a gorgeous oval shaped pendant used as a locket, with a man-made amethyst in the middle.

Marcasite is one type of mineral that is glued mostly with jeweler's cement (I have hypocement at home, that should work well), rather than being prong set. Because of this, water should not really touch the jewelry as the stones will fall out quite fast from their setting. So make sure that you never go swimming, or take a bath or go sauna with your marcasite pendant. Or wash dishes (yes, some of us still wash the dishes by hand) with your marcasite ring on.

Now although I've mentioned sonic cleaner for cleaning sterling silver jewelry, for marcasite this is a no-no. To remove the tarnish, all you need to do with your marcasite jewelry is wipe it gently with a soft cloth, which can be dry or slightly damp. The silver polishing pads that I give for free with my jewelry (sadly no marcasite jewelry in sight yet) should do the job.

Which brings me to one other tip for cleaning your jewelry that I forgot to mention in my previous post. Wear your silver jewelry regularly. Yep, that will keep the tarnish away from your silver jewelry for a much longer time than if it's simply put in a safe place.

As a final note, for those interested in the healing properties of marcasite, here they are:
Marcasite is believed to fend of negative energies, improve one’s communications abilities, and protect those working in dangerous occupations.

I got myself a copy of Rena's latest jewelry online selling and marketing book, and I have to admit, it's a hoot! If you want to read the review, head over there.
If you already have the book, make sure you leave me a comment, I want to know what you thought of it.

If you are like me, you like to wear your silver jewelry pretty much all the time. Eventually after a lot of wear, you will find that the silver jewelry has tarnished. What does this mean? Silver reacts with sulfur or hydrogen sulfide in the air and acquires a dull build up. It turns to a slight yellowish patina, and this robs the silver jewelry and articles of their natural sheen as well.

Pretty much all jewelry designers, jewelry artists have a tumbler (Lortone, or Chicago) which helps keep the silver jewelry shiny all the time. Just put your piece in the tumbler for an hour or so, and when you take it out, it's like new.

What about our customers, those folks that purchase our silver jewelry? They won't have a tumbler available, well, unless they make rock tumbling, in which case they still need another barrel for the stainless steel shot. But that's another story for another day.

So here are a few important tips on how to care for your silver jewelry, whether you buy it from me or any other place.

1. When you are not wearing that gorgeous piece, store it in individual small plastic bags (ziploc bags), as well as separate compartments in your jewelry box. Consider investing in a jewelry box that is lined with a 'tarnish-free' material to keep your silver bright and sparkling. Makes sure that you store it in a cool and dry place to avoid oxidation.
   
   
2. You can also find anti-tarnish paper strips that you can place inside your jewelry box. Just cut the strips into small pieces and place one in each small plastic bag with your jewelry. You'll find these strips at at a craft or hardware store.
   
   
3. Use a non-abrasive polishing cloth to polish your piece regularly.
   When you purchase your silver jewelry from me, I always include a polishing pad that you can use over and over again to wipe your jewelry clean with it. Actually you can use it right until the whole cloth is pitch black :)
   Btw, silver polishing cloths are available at major supermarkets, at hardware stores and at
   jewelry stores if you run out of stock.
   
   
4. You can also use soap and water to clean your jewelry. But do not dry silver off with paper towels or tissues, always use a soft cloth. Paper towels might scratch your piece.
   
   
5. Never dip your silver jewelry in 'dip' solutions or commercial cleaning solutions even
   though it may say that it is for silver jewelry. If you have Bali Silver beads as elements in your jewelry (those beads with some nice dark groves in them), dip cleaners will remove the black accents on them, as well as discolor the silver over time. Gemstones may also be damaged from the dip solution.
   
   
6. Do not use toothpaste to brush your silver jewelry with . Toothpaste and toothbrush will pretty much scratch your jewelry over time.
   
   
7. Another alternative that I've seen recently in action is this ultrasonic cleaner, which can be used not only for jewellery, but also CDs, DVDs, glasses and dentures. A pretty neat gadget if you ask me, and it's not all that expensive either. About one lunch in a medium style restaurant.
   

I love reading how to ebooks on making it online as a jewelry artist, or just making it online, period. I've learned a lot by reading such ebooks, be it for free, or paid for. I did post the other day a small review on one of the free ebooks I've got on online marketing, but then while digesting what I took with me from that ebook, I realised that having a blog that deals online with ebooks for jewelry artists, and for anybody who wants to sell something online, be it a product, or a service, is what I want to do. It will be geared towards another audience than my jewelry blog, which is for customers of my jewelry. While I might not be as proficient in giving the tips out myself, by having read a bunch of books on the subject, and having talked about them with friends on various online forums, I can pretty much offer a good insight of what the book is all about, whether it's worth your time (and money if it's not free), or it will save you some by ignoring it safely.
Thus my new blog, How-to ebook reviews was born. I will add regularly reviews, so keep checking back, as it will be worthwhile.