The Old Becomes New - Rediscovering Beading Supplies

Many artists seem to have a studio full of supplies, many of which have been around for a long time and are no longer looked at or used. I am no exception and recently have been trying to go through beading and jewelry supplies that I have had for a while as I have a lot of supplies.

I was sitting on the floor of my studio surrounded by containers and containers of beads. There is nothing wrong with any of these supplies, I just seem to have forgotten about many of them and moved on to other designs and styles. As I sat there surrounded I became so revived and inspired by the supplies. I made 4 new necklaces that are not like designs that I have ever made before but they are using supplies that have moved across the country and from to so many different apartments that I have lost count.

Some times the old can help you to create the new. These are the result of that inspiration:

Glass bead and sterling silver necklaces.

Beautiful Place...Dubrovnik, Croatia

Looking for somewhere to go on your next holiday that is full of beautiful views, history, great food, great wine and warm weather all rolled into one place...I have the place for you...Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is also less expensive than many other places in Europe which also adds to it's appeal. I was lucky enough to go there for 7 nights recently and I just loved every second of it.

The view of the Old Town from near by Fort Lovrijenac

Roof Tops of the Old Town

Shrapnel damage of an old church called Church Sveti Spaso from the war in Croatia in 1991 - this city is full of both old and new history which was such an eye opener for me.

Amazing local Croatian wine that can't be bought outside Croatia

Fresh homemade bread sandwiches from a place called Cafe Skola

I can't say enough good things about the people and city of Dubrovnik. It far exceeded my expectations and I am so excited to one day go back and see other parts of Croatia in all it's diverse landscape.

Best Sellers - Top 5 Earrings

Here are the Top 5 Earrings:

#1
Bird on a Wire Earrings - Brass
#2
Bird on a Wire Earrings - Sterling Silver
#3
Wood Square on Hoop - Tiger Ebony
#4
Single Pearl Earring - White
#5
Simple Briolette Earrings - Ruby

Best Sellers - Top 5 Necklaces

Life has been busy and there was a big event recently that took over most of this year to plan. Now that is done, I can get back to the business of creating. While trying to get inspired I got curious about what jewelry caught people's eye the most in the last year. That lead to going through my sales and seeing what the top 5 best selling necklaces were.

Here are the Top 5 Necklaces:

#1
It Fell From a Tree Necklace - Copper
#2
It Fell From a Tree Necklace - White
#3
Sparkly Starfish Necklace - Golden
#4
Tree of Life Necklace
#5
It Fell From a Tree Necklace - Brown

New Buddy Knitted Dolls

Much of my creative skills and need to be crafty came from my mum's influence and all the craft projects that I did with her while growing up. As I have mentioned in previous posts she also has an etsy shop called grannyknits where she sells her knitted dolls and knitted baby clothes.

She recently created four dolls that I had to write about because I think they are so cute! They are all wearing hoodies and pants. Introducing Madison, Fern, Ruby and Ash.

Etsy Sale - Christmas In July

Everything in my etsy shop ships for free from July 15th to 25th and I will also be adding more items to my blow out sale section. I only have free shipping sales a few times a year so take advantage while you can.

Look out for special extra sales for fans only on my facebook fan page during this time!

Cowboys in the City

I just got back from a really quick trip to Calgary and at the moment the city is are getting ready for the Stampede which starts this week-end. There were cowboy decorations all over the place! As I have not spent much time in Calgary before, I am not sure if there was more decorations because of Stampede or if that is the norm for the city. As a nod to my trip to Calgary and the upcoming Stampede her is a great collection of cowboy inspired pieces that I found on etsy.

Red Boots Photograph by f2images

Urban Cowboy Party Cupcake Toppers by ScrapYourStory

Wild West Charm Bracelet by lulidesigns

Masking Lines Buckle by bykali

Cowgirl Booties by TwentySecondStreet

All That's Gold - New Gold Jewelry Designs for Summer

The warmer weather approaching and lots of craft shows coming up over the summer has been incredibly inspiring and I am really geared up for making new designs. I am really get back into designing mode after not creating very many new pieces for the first half of 2010.

One thing I have been meaning to add more of to my shop is gold jewelry. There are three different types of gold findings that I work with; gold plated, vermeil and gold filled. Gold filled is the best quality and can be worn by people who have allergies to other metals but are ok with wearing gold jewelry. The different names can be confusing so here are some simple descriptions to make it more clear.

Gold Plated: Base metal that has a thin layer of gold plating.
Vermeil: Sterling silver that has a thin layer of gold plating.
Gold Filled: Base metal with a thick layer of permanently bonded gold

Here are the new gold designs that I have come up with recently. There will be many more to come as I have just ordered more gold filled supplies which will be arriving in the coming weeks!

Moraccan Drop Necklace - Gold Plated

Green Twist Earrings - Gold Filled

Gold Ceramic Heart Necklace - Gold Filled

Pair of Swallows Necklace - Gold Plated

Display Changes

Every once in a while I really need a change for my business and sometimes a simple updating of my craft show display will do the trick. Recently I had the need to refresh my display both to make it more exciting for me and more importantly for my customers. A new display can make your jewelry look totally different and even though all your jewelry might not be new designs it can make it seem like it is because it keeps things fresh.

Since I started my business in 2005 there have been a few evolutions of my display. Here are a few examples of how it has changed with the last photo being my new display. I can guarantee that this will not be the last time it changes!

2005

2009

2010

Wedding Season - Custom sets

Here are some more custom sets that I created for a July wedding's bridesmaids. The colors for the wedding are yellow and lavendar so I was able to take the color theme and use it to create these 4 sets of custom design necklaces and earrings. Please contact me if you are someone you know would like custom bridesmaid jewelry.

Summer Inspired Jewelry

Summer is finally here...well in Vancouver it is here by the day and month but not quite there as far as the weather goes. The pending good weather has inspired me to create a few new pieces and appreciate some oldies but goodies. There is nothing better to me than warm weather and a walk on the beach so this collection of jewelry is all inspired by warm weather, sandy beaches and deep blue ocean. Here are some summer inspired pieces that can be found in my etsy shop.

Week-end Sale - Free World Wide Shipping

I don't often put my work on sale but this week-end I have decided to offer free shipping on everything in my etsy shop from May 28th to 31st! So if you have been eyeing up one of the pieces in my shop now is the time to go and purchase it with free shipping any where in the world.

Luli Designs etsy shop

Summer is Coming - Denim and Turquoise

There is something about turquoise stones and denim that just shouts summer to me, maybe because it hints at the freedom and spirited hippie styles of the 70s. Here is a little tribute to summer coming soon.

Denim Bag by milloo

Key Chain by Artspell

Brooch by Denimdays

Necklace by Lulidesigns

Coasters by YourGreenHome

Bobby Pins by BellaMiaDesign

Custom Jewelry - Lime Green & Silver Wedding

I met a woman at a show I was participating in that wanted jewelry for her wedding party that would match her lime and silver wedding colors. I didn't have anything ready made that suited what she wanted so it became a custom order in which I created these for her:

The clear briolette necklace usually comes with white pearls on the side and I switched them out for peridot crystals and shortened the necklace to 14" long for her flower girl. The olive briolette set dark green pearls were switched to dark and light silver grey pearls for her maid of honor. Even when small changes are done to a design it can make all the difference to making it really the customers own. This was another successful custom order and another happy bride.

Passion for Earrings

My really passion for making jewelry stems from design earrings. Lately I have been preoccupied with making necklaces and have discovered that I have almost twice as many necklaces as earrings currently listed in my shop. For the next little while I am going to make an effort to get back to my passion and start designing and listing more earrings again. Here are a couple of new listings in my etsy shop:

Large Pearl Earrings in Ivory

Hoop Glass Cluster in Clear

Date Night Earrings in Purple