Are you online? Are you overwhelmed? I am. I can hardly believe all the sales and specials that are EVERYWHERE!!!
I've been hanging out on Etsy this morning, looking for things tagged with EtsyHolidaySale and EtsyFreeShipping, and there are pages and pages and pages of goodies to look through. I'm offering free shipping on anything in my time2cre8 Etsy shop between now and the end of the year (just in case there are people out there doing their shopping at the last minute). And a bunch of my fellow members of Bead Art Originals are offering free shipping as well as some other great discounts on their bead artistry. You can check those out here. And look for Bead Art Originals items on Etsy -- they're wonderful!
I know you're all busy shopping, so I'll keep this kind of short. My own Black Friday special is:
Buy one item and receive a second item 25% off (excluding patterns).
Discount applies to less expensive item.
Leave "Turkey Day" in the Notes to Seller to receive discount.Time to do some shopping. :-)
Oh, before I forget... Here's my Bead Art Originals Item of the Week
Purchase this brilliant cuff before midnight on December 3 and receive a 10% discount Leave "BAO" in the Notes to Seller to receive the discount.Check out the BAO blog to see the Items of the Week offered by our other members. They're incredible!
And now... Back to SHOPPING!!!
Have you started yet? Finished yet? I wonder what shopping is going to be like this year. We're in a new place, and I honestly don't even know all the stores that are around. There's a Wal-Mart. And a Best Buy. And lots of galleries and shops populated with handmade items. I'm amazed at the talent I see exhibited in the shops around here. It's fun just to walk around and look at all the goodies from local artisans. Maybe someday I'll assemble some of my beadweaving and see about placing it in one or two of those shops.
When it comes to shopping, really shopping, I admit to being supremely lazy. I am so spoiled by being able to shop online these days. If I know what I want and know I can buy it for a good price online, I'm perfectly content to track down what I need and have it brought to my doorstep. I know I'm not the only one either. How long ago did the term "Cyber Monday" come into being?
Well, for all you cyber-shoppers out there (or at least for the ones who read this blog), I've been busy stocking my Etsy shop with some new goodies. I'm going to be listing a lot more over the course of the next few days, and on Cyber Monday I'm going to offer some super specials. I'll post about some specials here on this blog, some on Facebook (become a Fan!), and some on Twitter.
I've added a couple of new peyote cuff patterns to my Etsy shop this past week, so now I have nine of them listed. Check them out here.
In addition to those, I've listed a few new pieces I've made (you know, for all you Cyber-Shoppers out there). I'm really behind in photographing my creations, but I'm hoping to improve on that. I recently bought a photo light box (it just arrived last week, one of those online purchases I mentioned before), so now I'm not stuck with taking pictures just during the daytime. I've already discovered I need more lights, though, so I'm not fully in the swing of things just yet.
And last (but not least), for all you girlie-girls out there, I created this new Oglala bracelet, called Princessa. I'm really a tomboy, but that doesn't keep me from moving outside my boundaries and working with pink and ruffles. :-)
Time to get back to the beads. Have fun shopping!
It doesn't matter that the saying is "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". IT'S NOT. It's stealing.
I know way too many other instances of friends of mine having their designs copied. Apparently there are some people out there who think it's perfectly acceptable to copy something if they see it on the internet.
Such is the case with this blogger:
http://gvendolinyewellery.blogspot.com/
She has, on two separate occasions, posted pictures of one of my original designs. She apparently created the copies from images she found on my blog and/or on my flickr photostream, since I wasn't offering my pattern for purchase until a couple of weeks ago. I have told her that she needs to purchase the pattern, but she has refused to do so. I left a comment on her blog (which required her approval - that never happened) saying that this was my original design and that she didn't have permission to copy it. Now she's blocked me from leaving comments on her blog, and I don't have any other way to contact her.
This is so infuriating.
Here are links to her posts showing off "her" new bracelet. MY design.
http://gvendolinyewellery.blogspot.com/2009/05/little-vine-peyote-cuff.html
http://gvendolinyewellery.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-vine-peyote-cuff-ii.html
Since I can't leave a comment for her with the link for her to purchase a copy of my pattern (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33953679), I thought I'd solicit some help from my beady friends. If any of you have a spare minute or two, could you please leave a comment on her blog? Feel free to post the link to my pattern, so she can click that and purchase it.
And to all my friends who have had their designs copied (sadly, this happens regularly to at least one of my friends), I can empathize. I wish I couldn't.
Thanks for your support.
Yes, another full week has passed. More than a week, actually. I don't think I'm getting my full allotment of 24 hour days. Some of them are going somewhere else.
I'm still catching up on my beadweaving. That month of absence while we moved really affected me, it seems. I have so many ideas for new designs, and I'm beading like crazy. I have a little pile of finished pieces waiting to have their pictures taken, but this new house isn't conducive to picture taking. I'll admit to having been spoiled with a big north-facing window in our previous house. It was great for taking photos, as long as I scheduled picture-taking time for early to mid afternoon. This house is different, though. Even though there are some north-facing windows, the house is surrounded by trees, so there's not that much light coming in the windows. So I've finally broken down and ordered a photo light box. I know I could make one with a cardboard box and some tissue paper, and I have plenty of lights around, but I'm fessing up to being lazy. I checked out several online sites, but I wound up finding a setup on eBay. It should be on its way this week, and I'm anxious to try it out.
I have managed to take photos of a few of the new pieces I've created, including one brand spanking new design (Concentric), which will eventually be listed in my shop as a pattern. It's a really cool design, even if I do say so myself. Of course, I think I'm partial to it because it kind of mimics some of the artwork I create.
The picture to the left is a portion of a drawing I did a few years ago. Lots and lots of spirals. Yes, I know that's not the same thing as concentric shapes, but I don't have a picture of one of my concentric drawings. You get the idea, though. The spirals in this drawing are round and square (square spirals?), and they're tiny. Each one of those little shapes is about 1/4" in diameter. I draw tiny stuff.
Here's the peyote bracelet I created, called (surprise surprise) Concentric!
More recent creations include a new version of my Faux Bois design, this time named Bois Brûlé (French for "burned wood"). Faux Bois is one of the designs I've published as a pattern (available in my Etsy shop), and the idea for the burned wood version of it came to me while I was working on the pattern.
Here are some more new pieces I've created recently:
While I'm not busy beadweaving, I'm working on getting more patterns ready to be published and listed. I have requests for a few of my designs: Windowleaf, Piano Man, and Completely Puzzled are at the top of the list. Eventually I'll work my way through all of them - at least that's my goal!
In the meantime, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my photo light box shows up quickly!
One last thing before I wrap up this post and head back to my beads... Have you checked out the Bead Art Originals Items of the Week this week? There are some wonderful pieces being offered, all with special deals by our members. My offering this week is Lilavati:
Lilavati features a gorgeous clay and glass cabochon made by the talented Kristie Roeder (aka artisanclay), and I'm offering a 10% discount off the regular price if it's purchased/paid for by midnight on November 19. Just mention "BAO" in the notes to seller, and Lilavati can be yours. :-)
Okay, back to beading. And looking out the window at the beautiful North Carolina scenery that surrounds me.
Back with the worst Arnold impression ever. But back, nonetheless.
My last post here was waaaaaaaaaay back in August, and it's been a busy few months. I'm finally getting back into the swing of things after having moved 700 miles across country. Now I have to get back into the swing of keeping this blog updated with cool stuff!!
I can't possibly record everything that went on since August (packing, moving, driving, unpacking, getting our house ready to sell, driving some more, unpacking some more...), so I'm just going to start with some new news. (New news? Is that right?)
I have FINALLY begun listing some of my original peyote cuff patterns on Etsy!!! Yahoooooo!!! It took me months to get my act together, but I have six patterns done so far and a whole bunch more on the list to be done. You can check them out here.
And now that I'm done with all that moving stuff, I'm back to playing with my beads. I still have to take pictures of a bunch of pieces, but here are the newest listings in my Etsy shop:
See? Told you I'd been busy!
By the way, the Coppery Cubes and Curls is my BAO Item of the Week for this week, so if you purchase and pay for it before midnight on November 12, you'll get a free surprise gift!!
I have lots more beadweaving finished, and lots more underway, so my blog is going to be filling up with pictures. :-)
And... I have a whole new line of bracelets I'm going to be introducing next week. Stay tuned.
