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!

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!