June Giveaway, Vintaj! and a much deserved Vacation

Congratulations Liz of Mad Bush Farm ! You will have these lovely pink earrings in the mail to you shortly. Although, not sure how long it will take to get to you in New Zealand! Enjoy them.

My eSMArt friend and teammate, Teri, is a Vintaj representative. These lovely brass pieces mixed with raw copper look fantastic together.

Teri is a great friend and designer. Besides her jewelry on Etsy she authors a blog, Hubpage, and is on Twitter- follow her!

A bit more about Teri: She has a jewelry design business with her best friend and business partner Saundra. They incorporated as a business in 2003 and have been slowly growing their inventory AND their skill sets ever since. In 2008 they began their online webpage and Etsy storefront, and are working on promotions with the eSMarts Etsy Team and a local Louisville group. They have in home shows, hostess jewelry parties, have a booth at fairs and festivals, and offer jewelry trunk shows.

Don’t forget if you see something on Vintaj – Teri is the person to contact to get a great deal for you!

I am on vacation this week! Yaaa! My last week off was a year ago… we usually take a winter holiday but because of Fred’s health issues we skipped Florida this year. Boy, has that caught up to me. We are doing absolutely nothing this week…. it is great to have no plans. Here is what I managed to do with some of my time so far:

Clear faceted quartz, chalcedony, garnet and opalite in silver

Amethyst rounds with opalite and silver

Fluorite, pink candy jade, amethyst done in silver

eSMArts Showcase

Best of the best stars on eSMArts Team

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....

Esmarts Team: Wilma's Blueberry Swirl Bracelet and Earrings by MyGemStoneBox by Diane

Just listed today in my Esty Store are these wire wrapped pieces I've taken these lovely lampwork glass beads created by Wilma Whimsey's , fellow eSMArts team member and mix them with AB Swarovski crystals and silver. I finished off the clasp with a tear drop lavendar faceted chalcedony and 2 amethysts, both teardrop and faceted as well.

Let me tell you a little bit about the artist that created these lovely beads. Wilma Travis of "Wilma Whimsey's" is a single mom of three wonderful children and 2 delightful grandchildren. Her oldest son is engaged to be married and will do so in May of 2009. She has a handicapped young adult (27), her youngest son who still lives with her. She was originally from New York, born and raised there. I moved to MN in 1994 and I love she loves it there.

Wilma has been working with glass for several years. She began her journey with stained glass until begining Lampwork in June of 2005.
Here is how you can see more of her lovely work:
Wilma's Etsy Store
Wilma's Whimsey's Website
Wilma's Blog

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.

Strawberries and cream dangle earrings and Marketing tips!

New to my Etsy shop this week are these lovely dangle earrings. These pink topaz beads are expertly faceted in India, and so sparkly! They are uniform in size, each measuring about 8mm wide and are the centerpiece of these fabulous earrings. Heart shaped and wirewrapped in sterling silver they are suspended from hand-fashioned ear wires that are lightly hammered sterling silver. Finished off with two freshwater pearls one on each side.These are so pretty and versatile they can be worn for any special occasion, including that special wedding day or everyday with jeans and a T.These earrings measure 3 1/8"(8cm) from the top of the ear wire to the bottom of the pink topaz bead.

Marketing tip:
Network with others in your community who are in home business. Find out what events and activities that they participate in. They are usually "in the know" and can help you get started in networking in your community!

Saco Bound part DEUX

I am pleased to report we had a wonderful time on the Saco! We had a total of 13 adults, 14 kids and one puppy. It was wet and wild....literally. Many people camp along the river edge and they do not hesitate to use passers-by as target practice with water balloons and high velocity water rifles. We were well prepared with all the ammo (balloons and water guns) that we could carry...all in good fun. Six canoes made it on the five hour trek unscathed and not one tipped! Before leaving I filled an order that I received through my website and also had time to make these pretty earrings.

These will be coming soon to my Etsy shop. I can make them with any color crystal you like also available in copper and gold by request!