Earrings or "How I can still fit into things I wore in high school."

Right now I have in a pair of gold hoops. Little gold hoops that I've probably had since high school.

And hey! They still fit!

I love to make earrings and I love to wear earrings for that exact reason: they always fit.

My Etsy shop is pretty well stocked at the moment:

My favorite earrings tend to be ones I can't make myself. I love these:

Double Dot Stems from Vivian Gaston Designs

and these:

The Larissa by Passions Victorina

and nothing makes my heart beat a little bit faster than turquoise:

from Society Hill Designs

One size fits all.

Spring. The Myth. The Legend.

I love fall. I love winter. Okay, let me qualify that. I love winter in December. And January. And maybe in February. But come March, when the calendar says "SPRING" I expect to see some green stuff peeking its way out of the earth. And I don't even mind the smell of mud, except when I have to wipe the dogs' paws off. Again. But spring doesn't always arrive to Northern Michigan in a timely fashion. Or at all. So I've been wishfully thinking of Spring in the items I've been putting in my Etsy shop.

Flowery beads. Great for anyone who loves flowers but is allergic. Unless you're allergic to glass, then all bets are off:

And my own jewelry that reeks of Spring:

So, it may be wishful thinking. But I'm ready for it.

Or a vacation.

Finding My Niche

Niche is kind of a nice word. One of those words you aren't sure you quite know how to pronounce. And just so you know, it can be pronounced "nich" or "nish," unlike Neanderthal which is pronounced, "knee-ann-der-tall." Didn't know that did you. But now I have saved you a world of embarrassment at your next science convention. "Niche" is from the French, where all the fancy words like "hors d'eourve" (which is 2 words, I know, but since when does anyone say them separately? So I'm counting it as one word) or fondue come from.

Those crazy French! (And I actually didn't look up "fondue" to see if it's French. It could be coined from The Brady Bunch for all I know, but it seems French, don't you think?)

On Etsy it's important to find ones niche, or market, and especially if you sell jewelry because there are millions of people who sell jewelry on Etsy. Millions.

And some are French, too.

So I'm trying out these guys:

I've gotten more views in the last few days from these guys. There aren't many lampwork monster necklaces on Etsy. Which is a total surprise.

Not any more sales, however.

Which might lead me to more questions than answers:

1. Do I want more views even if it doesn't lead to any more sales?

2. Does anyone really even want a cute little monster hanging around her neck?

3. Do I want my niche to be lampwork monster necklaces?

4. Do I need to create a separate shop for my whimsical creations? One for beads? One for my "serious" jewelry?

These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Grey Might Be My New Favorite Color

Mendenhall Glacier, just outside of Juneau, Alaska

Michigan is beautiful. I will be the first to admit that sometimes when I drive into town all along Lake Michigan, I am blown away. The lake can be ragged pewter, eerily calm, strikingly fragile and I'm quite in awe of it. How I don't drive off the side of the road or into a tree is rather a mystery.

But we just returned from Alaska on a 7 day cruise through part, like about an inch, of the Inside Passage. I was sorely disappointed to read the weather report before embarking that the whole week would be rainy and 50 - 60 degrees. We've had a whole summer of that in Northern Michigan. Except while we were away, of course.

And guess what. It rained. Oh, not every day, but on glacier day it rained and it was freezing cold. And the lack of color was misty and mystical and had a depth of soul that isn't apparent in the bright neon of Caribbean color. Not that it was better. It was different. And just as inspiring.

If I could capture this color in glass, I would be quite impressed with myself. And I will brag about it. This glacier ice, part of Dawes Glacier way up the Endicott Arm, is like looking into a beautiful, airy, airless abyss. Ice and glass have much the same look. I'm going to play with blues and clear and texture. Along with the ivory that inspired me and walrus bone that was used by some jewelers whose work I admired.

But I wrestle with being inspired by Alaska versus being inspired by Michigan. Living in a tourist town I know, especially after being a tourist for 10 days, the importance of finding the exact souvenir that will remind me forever of this trip. I'd like to provide that for someone else...does that mean Petoskey stones mixed with glass? Or glass that represents Petoskey stones, the state stone of Michigan? Or does it matter?

Heavens To Betsy, I've Got a Shop Up on Etsy!

These are the beads I made after drooling over the beads made by Kate Sullivan. They're not as good, but in the light, especially, they are a bit spectacular.

And the beads themselves talked me into making them into something wearable:

I have spent, really, all day (except when Jimmie and I went for a 35 minute bike race, The Tour de Lower Shore Drive, which he claims to have won. Don't listen to him, because his chain came off and I stopped to help him put it back on and then he took off without me. It's kind of the stuff movies are made of), I repeat, just in case my little aside got you off track, I have spent all day taking pictures and editing them and loading them on to etsy. The above pictures are some of the worst, but it's 10:30 at night, it's my brother's birthday and I forgot to call him, I still need to take a shower from our bike race, and I just don't care.

The point being... I do have an etsy shop. Finally. And I have filled it with things. Lots and lots of things. From jewelry to beads to personalized charms. There are goodies galore and, even though it's not officially posted, I'm giving away a pair of earrings with each purchase. They look an awful lot like these:

A little bit of sterling silver and silvery-grey, freshwater pearls.

You can preview items over on the right-hand sidebar. Or you can check out my shop right here.

I'd love to hear what you think. Good, bad, or ugly.

But not right now. How about in the morning?