Esmarts Team Challenge and BellaOnline

Jamie, our Esmarts Marketing manager has polled our team and asked what we would like to do for a springtime/Easter challenge? Here were our choices:

Butterflies butterflies and more butterflies! Use butterflies in some form in your project! 25%

Pastels! Pink, green, baby blue, yellow, all the great colors of the spring! Base your project on those pastel shades for something beautiful! 66%

Babies. Who doesn't love a baby? Tie babies (human, furry, feathery, whatever) into your chosen project. 8%

When we tallied up the results it was clearly pastels. We could design anything we wanted as long as we used pretty pastel colors. Here is what I came up with. I posted it tonight to my shop. Candy jade in pink and green with pearls and pastel pink and green Swarovski opaque crystals all wrapped up with sterling silver. Thanks Jamie for coordinating this fun team event and I can't wait to see who wins~ all those great entries....It's going to be tough to decide....

Here is an update on my BellaOnline training.... I am set to graduate this Tuesday!! Yes I have managed a 97% on the quizzes and have kept up the required articles even during the Christmas and New Years holidays. I have been given moderator status for the Jewelry Collecting forum and continue to shape the site based on visitor feedback. If you have not already signed up for my newsletter here is the link to do so! http://www.bellaonline.com/about/JewelryCollecting
Scroll all the way to the bottom. You can also find this link on the bottom of any article I have written.

BellaOnline has a very strict policy regarding spam and keeping your email addresses private. The editors can not even see them! They never sell or trade this information and take your privacy seriously. So.... sign up to keep up to date on all the newest information.

Thanks to all those who visit me there!!

BellaOnline, More Seaglass and Another Special Rosary

I have an annoucement... I've been accepted as the Jewelry Collecting Editor for BellaOnline website! This is a great opportunity for me personally- to exercise and improve my writing skills and also to use this interface to promote my work and the work of my eSMArts team-mates. (Don't forget to click the link to see what is new in our team store!!)

I'm thrilled to have been accepted into the one month mandatory training offered by BellaOnline as a free service to their editors.

Here are more links about BellaOnline:

2nd largest woman's online site;

over 400 topics and 300+ editors volunteer their efforts to inform and entertain;

over 20 million pageviews a month!!

I am eager to be an active member in this community founded by women for women and they are not for profit... they run enough adds to cover the cost of the site and donate the rest to charity... click here to see those organizations that BellaOnline has helped.

Another Seaglass Adventure

My husband and I thought we would take advantage of the unseasonable warm weather today (60 deg...and to think my last post was about a snowstorm leaving behind over a foot!!) and head to the beach for more seaglass. WOW did we hit it right! We spent less than an hour beachcombing and have over 50 new pieces to show off! Cobalt blue, green, aqua, yellow, amber, brown, clear, pink all but my elusive red! Oh well, maybe next time!

I'm designing yet another special rosary for Lisa in the UK... this one is for her boyfriend's mum who will be celebrating her 50th birthday. I'm honored she thought of me to make this special treasure. Besides representing the family's birth-months with Swarovski crystals she loves Egyptian motif. I will be using some special scarab beads and an Egyptian Anka all in silver. I will post the finished product when it is ready to ship.

Swarovski, Anna McCabe Craft Fair and eSMArts Team store

I've published another hub on Hubpages with information on Swarovski crystals and the fourth generation family run business that brings us outstanding jewelry findings and collectible figures. Please take a look
http://hubpages.com/hub/Swarovski-Crystal-in-all-its-facets

Here is my "Fruity Bracelet" sporting those lovely Swarovski's all around!

For those who are local, I’m inviting you to visit me at the Jingle-Bell Craft fair on December 6th at Anna McCabe School on 100 Pleasant View Ave. in Smithfield RI. The bazaar will be open from 9-3pm, Santa will be visiting, food and refreshments will be available. Come join the festivities – share the holiday spirit and do some Christmas shopping!
The eSMArts Team Store is celebrating its first sale~~ Last Sunday we sold our first item. Please check out the store and check out the items I have listed and hope to sell to help a worthy cause....








Cobalt and Flowers Earrings &
Nebula Bracelet first in the "Faceted Daydream Collection" by Diane

Wishing you all a blessed THANKSGIVING!

eSMArts Team: Getting ready for the holidays and New to my Etsy store...November birthstone-Citrine earrings

Christmas tree ornament or suncatcher from MyGemStoneBox by Diane available at our eSMArts Team store. This makes a great gift for teachers, friends and family. Made with silver wire and Cathedral crystal and gold beads, amber crackle, amber AB beads and gold bugle beads. Finishing touches are pearls to complete the look. Beads are 4mm, 6mm & 8mm. Approx. size of each snowflake is 5" x 5".

I have others soon to be added! Also, listing at my Etsy shop done in red and crystal!
I am offering free wrapping on all items purchased from now until Christmas! One less gift you have to wrap! Good deal and FREE!

Here is another I have just completed it is all pastel pink and green crackle beads with gold bugle beads and Cathedral crystal beads and a few Czech square beads. I have not listed it yet! Enjoy the preview. If you are interested please feel free to contact MyGemStoneBox by Diane!

Lemon drop slide earrings

These lovely faceted citrine brioletts are suspended using sterling silver wire to sterling silver slide earring chains. Earrings measure approx 3 1/2" long but when inserted into the ear you can choose the length of the dangle. The citrine stones measure 12 x 9 mm each.Citrine is a yellow-to-golden member of the quartz mineral group. A deep golden variety from Madeira Spain can resemble the costly imperial topaz gem stone, which is one reason that citrine is a popular birthstone alternative to those born in November.

Putnam Ct. Art Festival and other happenings....

The Putnam Ct. Fall and French Canadian Festival took place October 25, 2008. There were over 70 Artisans displaying their hand crafted items. This was the first time I took part in this celebration filled with wonderful music and food. French pork pie and pea soup were the highlight of the day~ the line was incredible! I had an opportunity to visit most of the booths and make contact with many new potential clients. Funny, most had never heard of Etsy~~ imagine that!! I had steady traffic most of the day...we only stayed until 2:30, that was all we could bear.... take a look:

Isn't that attractive, quite the hairdo eh??? Most of the day was spent fighting the more than 30 mph wind gusts... I did not put up a tent, and I was glad that I didn't. We spent part of the day chasing items that had been blown right off tables from neighboring vendors and then the tents started to fly! Enough for me...we packed it in early. I will go back again next year. If the weather was better it would have been a great show. Rotary Park is along the river and the evening was to be filled with "water fire" but the weather did not cooperate. All in all, I made more than enough sales to cover the table and had numerous inquiries for where I would be doing Christmas shows. It was a great networking experience. Just wish Mother Nature was more cooperative. During the lulls, I was able to put this together... the first of three commissioned Rosaries that will be traveling to my new friend, Lisa, in the UK.

Lisa wanted something special for her boyfriend who celebrates a December birthday. I used Swarovski crystals in the deep blue and added Turquoise with silver findings. She loved the pictures....hope she loves it even more once she receives it!

Since my last post I have one heck of a week...as an aside, I spent the day at the hospital with DH who was experiencing horrible pain in his abdomen....lucky it was a nasty virus and nothing more. Add to that our "entertaining" the fire department Friday at 2:00 am for a "small" chimney fire.... lucky....no damage! Just scared us to death!! And finally my son is home sick today...fighting the same stomach virus....My life is never boring!!!

Blessings~

D

Etsy a How-To Guide and "The Veil Nebula"

Fellow eSMArt'ers and Estian's, here is a tasty tidbit! The Etsy Seller Handbook: All Our How-Tos about Selling

Here you'll find a handy index of all the useful How-Tos about Selling on Etsy. They are calling it the Seller Handbook. They will be adding all new how-tos for sellers to this index.

Look for sections on Your Shop 101: How-Tos for Getting Started on Etsy, Photography How-Tos, Alchemy and Custom/Reserved Listing How-Tos, Shipping How-Tos, Advertising How-Tos, Business and Pricing How-Tos, Promoting & Marketing How-Tos, Craft Show & Events How-Tos Blogging, Podcasting & Video-making How-Tos, Legal Info for Artists, Tagging How-Tos, Team Tips, All about Etsy & Site Features.

Dig in and enjoy!!!

Veil Nebula Bracelet.... this is what is new at my Etsy shop this week:

This substantial wire wrapped bracelet in copper and sterling silver has all the colors in the nebula. Green faceted quartz briolettes matched with rondelle’s of aquamarine and rose, along side the smooth crackle quartz in purple and aqua are the base of this bracelet. Add a sprinkle of Swarovski crystals in topaz yellow, ruby red and tourmaline pink for sparkle. Finished off with faceted rondelle’s of yellow jade, faceted briolettes of chalcedony and garnet and a lovely faceted yellow citrine gemstone. Finishing touches of silver and copper findings accent this couture look.

Here is what the Veil Nebula looks like from the Hubble telescope:

Astronomy is near and dear to my heart along with meteorology and physiology.