MyGemStoneBox new Etsy store additions; Blog Award and more!

On the left is a new commissioned piece that I have listed in Etsy tonight. It is a family birthstone family pendant wire sculpted in Sterling Silver. Kristina found me on iCraft.ca and contacted me to make this for her.

The small pendant to the right is for my niece, Jahazala, using a gift from a friend in Greece, Ariadne. She is a teacher of English and an avid sea glass collector. She loves the sea, the beach and making things with her hands. I made contact with her on Ning, at a group called sea glass artists. You can visit my page here: http://seaglassartists.ning.com/profile/Diane

Ariadne and I decided to do an exchange of sea glass I found here in RI for pieces she found at her home in Greece. The necklace is a piece of sea-pottery that I wire-sculpted in sterling silver and used the little star fish charm Ariadne used to adorn my package with! It is sweet for my little sweetie!! We are starting her off young… when she comes to visit she goes right for the jewelry…. girl after my heart!

One of my most favorite artists and jewelry friends, Theresa of Studio618 has presented my blog with this lovely award! Thanks so much Stu!! You can see Theresa’s beautiful creations on ArtFire and on Etsy.

Here are the rules for this “One Lovely Blog Award”:

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

1 Tashina of Dragonflykey

2 Maryanne of Middle Earth Jewels

3 Mads of Maddies Original Designs

4 Klayfriends, Collectible Jewelry AND Clay

5 Liz of Mad Bush Farm in Australia

6 Jane of Handmade-Jewelry-club

7 The Beading Gems Journal

8 Jamie of Creations by JAE

9 Kim of Creative Eye Studio

10 Ken and Barb of Magpiedreams

11 Mei of Wire Bliss Jewelry

12 Kristie-Lou of Sculpted Windows Jewelry

13 Paulette Mixed Media Artist and Mom

14 Sharon of Magnolia Blossom Art

15 Mary Anne of Starlight Blog

I hope you enjoy taking a look at these wonderful blogs and let the artists know what you think!

Don’t forget to post a comment here as that enters you to win my June giveaway

I've just gotten word that I have been accepted to receive and review Wirework: An Illustrated Guide to the Art of Wire Wrapping by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong!! I'm excited to be able to obtain a copy of her new book hot off the press!! If you are interested in taking a look feel free to follow the link.

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!!

Winter in New England, eSMArts Team update and new earrings for Christmas

Ok, I am a life long New Englander..born and raised in Rhode Island. Snow should be no big deal...right? I'm already sick of it.... This pic was taken on Friday afternoon. The storm started out about 2pm and quickly progressed. We really didn't have the howling winds that are usually associated with these storms but none the less it packed a punch. It snowed all day Saturday...tapered of Saturday night and right back at it come Sunday.

Are you cold yet just looking at these... yes, it does look lovely....yes even Christmassy

Try shoveling!

Moving on.... given the seasonal rush is subsiding our attention turns to Valentines Day. Yes... already. We are all working on our creations to get our Etsy stores stocked with those special "I love you" gifts. Keep a look out for them coming soon. During this time as the new year fast approaches, we are also in the midst of reorganizing our team. New minimum requirements are being established... all good stuff that will make us more effective with our Marketing initiatives both on line and off. I'm looking forward to seeing us progress this year and become stronger as a team. I want to extend a sincere congratulations to Jamie Elliot of Creations by JAE who is our new Marketing Manager and Membership Coordinator and Helene Turnbull of Glass0Beads who will be serving as our Editor-in-Chief and our Website Manager. Good luck to you both in your new roles with eSMArts!

What to give a special friend (and hair stylist) yes.... very important person!! Johna is a great friend and I wanted to do something a little different for her. Her birthday is in February so incorporated some lovely amethyst faceted rounds at the center and crocheted from sterling silver the outside of these earrings. I'll have to make a few more for the store! I hope she likes them.

One more pic for you:

Brrrr....