Repurpose your jewelry and save

Austin is a very eco-conscious city and what better way to protect the environment than to recycle? Repurposing your old or broken jewelry can be a great way to reuse existing materials and gemstones to create new styles that you’ll want to wear right now.

One way to recreate designs that are in stores right now is to combine older elements like lace or crystal with newer trends like ribbon or feathers. The necklace pictured is a new piece that is on display at the Austin boutique Blue Elephant located in the North Lamar Central Market shopping center.

Another idea is to use old beads and findings from a single piece and rearrange them on a new chain to give the piece a fresh look. The best thing about reusing old elements is all that money you’ll be saving!

If you are not sure of your ability to design something new, don’t fret, you have options. There are lots of local Austin jewelers that love to take on custom work. If you’re not sure what your options are, you can contact Austin based companies like Creative Chick Designs to find out what your options are. With a free consultation, you’ve got nothing to lose. Some companies will even offer to buy the materials that are unused from your new designs.

Whatever you decide to do with your pieces, you can’t lose by repurposing pieces that are just collecting dust in the bottom of your jewelry box!

Thursday Thoughts - Jewelry Display Ideas

After YEARS of selling at craft fairs and festivals, I think I have finally come up with a display that I not only am proud to say is mine....but is also fairly simple to setup and take down.  For those of you who vend at shows, you know that the beginning and the end of shows are the hardest and most physically taxing. 

My mom always said, try...and if it doesn't work, try again.  So after lots of trying, I'd like to share what I have come up with along with some notions on why I made that particular decision.  My next post will have some tips, tricks, and a checklist for vending at indoor AND outdoor shows.

Here are some photos from my most recent show (sorry about the bad photography).

This display is actually a display case that I purchased from Ikea and then modified.  This case is supposed to be mounted on a wall so there are no feet...which makes it easy to lay on a table.  I bought a few old shoe risers so the case sits at an angle on the table.  I took some regular velvet display pads and cut them to 12" high.  They now fit PERFECTLY inside the little frame in front of the glass.  You can see more pictures of this display here.  My necklaces are pinned to the velvet pads.

I also bought some trays and stands from the new West Elm that just opened here in Austin.  These make great display pieces because they can fit in a tight space AND you can fill them with whatever you desire and then cover them with saran wrap and they are easy to move!

I filled mine with black turtle beans and then set my display on top of those. I used silver and white display pieces and the contrast was gorgeous.  Just remember to saran wrap the handle openings when you are moving them or the beans will spill everywhere!  There are lots more pictures on what I did with the beans and trays here.  I used the beans on several other display tables as well in different ways.  I filled white plastic plates, cups, etc. Use your imagination!

New Retail Store #2!

Just in time for holiday shopping!  The Austin Museum of Art Shop is now carrying our bezel set collection.  I'm very excited to have a large selection of my work for sale in such an established institution.

Make sure to stop by to see not only Creative Chick Designs products, but also all the other cool products they have there as well.  They carry several other Austin area artists so you will definitely find something unique to buy for the holidays.  They have some cool unique gift wrap in sheets that might be showing up in some of my pieces soon!

The Big Blog Dilemma

Last night I posted a question on the Etsy forums (www.etsy.com) asking other artisans and shoppers what they would like to see when they read a blog and what they absolutely do not want to see.  Lots of great feedback from lots of great people.  I just love etsy.  Regardless, here is what some of the posts said (along with my comments of course ;))

Wants

• Varied, interesting topics. (What really got me here was that EVERYONE said they wanted varied topics.  They don't want to read a blog that simply promotes it's items over and over.  Makes complete sense to me!)
• Pictures...but nice ones.  (Lots of comments on how they would like to see pictures that give them a glimpse into the bloggers life...their dogs, studio, etc.  I will definitely post about my dog soon then - that's him over there on the left!)  I love talking about him!
• Discounts for followers/readers. (Done - keep your eyes peeled for the first discount coming soon!)
• Tutorials and how-to's
• An uncomplicated way to comment on a post. (I think mine is uncomplicated - am I right?)
  

Blog No No's

• Music. (This was the number one answer.  They said they couldn't click the "x" fast enough when they heard music - no worries...I won't ever have music on this blog!)
• Promotions for your products only.
• Lots of moving animations.

I think I got some great things to go on here.  I will be taking these suggestions to heart.  Stay tuned for lots more to come!

New Retail Store #1!

For those of you in Austin, you can now find our jewelry at the Sanctuary in Westlake!

Voted "Best Gift Shop" during Austin Fashion Week, this store is a great place to get a gift for a friend or even better...yourself!

Stay tuned for more retailers coming soon!

Happy 1st Anniversary!

The first wedding anniversary is traditionally the "paper" anniversary.  It's pretty difficult to come up with a romantic gift that's actually unique if you're following the "rules".

I looked up gift ideas for this anniversary and was not impressed by what I found.  Toilet paper (funny? yes, romantic? nope), ToDo notepads (ummm...thanks.), stationery (pretty sure you have tons from the wedding no?

So how about some jewelry?  All women love jewelry, and when it's made out of paper, it can kill two proverbial birds with one stone.

Check out http://www.creativechick.net and I'm sure you'll find something you'll love...or that she'll love.  AND she'll be impressed that you knew it was the paper anniversary.

A blank slate is always the hardest! I just found out that I got accepted to be a designer for Austin Fashion Week (July 13-19)! I thought this was as good a time as any to start blogging...

I've been partnered with Spa Reveil at the Domain and will have a booth there all week. I'm sure I'll have lots more info to share in the days to come. Stay tuned! Woohoo!