A Hidden Passion

All items in Eye Desire's etsy shop are made of genuine Swarovski Crystals™, precious and semi-precious stones with sterling silver, fine silver, 24k gold vermeil and goldfill findings. Have fun looking through her Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/EyeDesire where you are sure to find jewelries made with high quality materials in affordable prices.

by Eye Desire
I always enjoyed making something with my hands: making a piece of pottery, drawing something with a pencil, or making a small doily or a large shoal for my mother, etc., but I didn’t realize how much I enjoy making jewelry until I stumbled into it.

Many years ago, one of best friend of mine gave me few pieces of beautiful jewelry she made and I was fascinated by them. I didn’t know anything about jewelries or jewelry making, but I too wanted to create a beautiful piece of art. So one day, I finally went to a local hobby store and picked up a jewelry making kit and few books (yes, I am a self-taught jewelry artist). I had no idea I actually had a hidden passion about jewelry making until then.

Although I enjoy making something with my hands since I was a child, somehow my life took a different routes of profession all those years. My education background is accounting, corporate finance and management in undergraduate and graduate schools and I have been in the accounting/finance field over 20 years. I currently have a full time job as an accounting manager, but here I am exploring and using the other side of my brain to be more creative.

All creations in my shop are made of precious and semi-precious stones, sterling and fine silver, 24k gold vermeil, and 14k gold fill. I sometimes use Swarovski Crystals and mix with other beautiful semi-precious and natural stones. I use my living room/office as my studio. I have my laptop on a desk and all tools and materials are kept in individual boxes so that I can access to them easily.

I live in Texas with a loving family. I’m married to a wonderful man named Mark who supports my dream of creating beautiful jewelry, and have a wonderful son, Bryce, 20 who is in college. My mother who is inspiration of my life also lives with us, and I have a 7 year old female Cocker Spaniel named Boree.

A Studio That Sparkles

Sparkles By Design

www.sparklesbydesign.etsy.com

Well, I finally got my studio organized...what a job. I started making jewelry about 7 years ago because I needed a necklace to match an outfit I was going to wear to a special occasion & since I've always done crafts, gift baskets, etc. since I was young, I thought...why not try making jewelry and it's been a learning process since then. I love designing & creating jewelry. It's relaxing and, also, rewarding when I see the finished pieces. I get ideas for a piece of jewelry any time of the day & anywhere.

Then, I try to sketch a picture of what's in my mind & list the materials & colors I want to use & then I start making it when I'm ready to create.

Sometimes I like the original idea, but other times, I make several changes along the way of working on a piece. I love to use some item that gives a little sparkle such as Swarovski crystals, metals, glass beads, & pearls. I have a good friend that I've known for almost 30 years & every time she would see me she would comment that I always had to have a little sparkle on me in the jewelry I would wear, so I guess that's where I came up with the name for my shop. I enjoy making jewelry because it seems that it makes customers smile & happy when they look at it, try it on, or purchase it. I especially love making jewelry for weddings, which I have done several. It's fun to get together with a customer & create a design customized especially for them and it's even more satisfying to see the appreciation on the customer's face when they are given their finished purchase. A little info about me is that I love gardening & crossword puzzles (when I have time). I always take the time to admire & cherish the beauty that nature gives us. The colors, the sparkle, & the uniqueness. Too often people are rushed and don't realize that they don't even notice the many beautiful things around us that nature has provided us with. When I need a few moments to relax, I sit out at our beautiful fish pond & waterfall. Family is very important to me, too. I have my husband, 2 adult daughters, 2 step-daughters, 2 son-in-laws, & 4 grandchildren. I, also, work 10 hours a week in a local child care program working with the pre kindergarten age. I've been there for almost 14 years. I would like to thank anyone that visits my Etsy shop and to thank you for this great opportunity to introduce myself & my Sparklesbydesign shop through Etsy. Thank you very much for your time.

The Long Weekend

Hello everyone. I hope you had a great long weekend ( if you are in Canada). It was Thanksgiving here in Canada this past Monday. The fall colours are amazing. My family and I took a long ride North to a place called Agawa Provincial Park. We hiked on an ancient trail which led us to rock bluffs along Lake Superior. When you reach this spot you can actually stand right next to ancient Native Pictographs over 700 years old. Some scientists believe they are maybe even 1000 years old. The ride through the Canadian Shield is breath taking. Amazing!

Thanksgiving is a perfect time to reflect on the many blessings in our lives and take gratitude in all of our gifts. I am grateful for many wonderful things in my life.

Click on the title to read more about the Pictographs!

Have a great day!

A Generation of Artists and Crafters~ A Before & After Studio Tour

Here is a great before and after studio tour. Check out Giggling Goldfish and her new studio and more pictures of the gorgeous transformation.


Before

After

Check out Giggling Goldfish Etsy Shop www.gigglinggoldfish.etsy.com

Giggling Goldfish

I come from a family of artists and crafters and have been creating ever since I can remember. I grew up working and playing in my father's wood working shop and knew early on I loved to work with my hands. So of course when I had children of my own I hoped they (two beautiful girls and a 15 month old boy) would love and appreciate art and creating as I do.

Fortunately both of my girls are creative in many ways and do appreciate the concept of handmade and my son has a little space all his own in my studio. My youngest daughter and I have been creating together for a while now and I am enjoying it immensely. It is so awesome to see things thru a child’s eyes. She and now my little son bring so much color and life to our creations. I am inspired by so many things especially color and try to reflect our fun personalities into the things we create.

This is our studio in the making. I had tons of fun collecting little things here and there to create our space and even more fun building my little tables. I am a flea market and salvage yard junky and have been hording my little finds for years and now was able to put some of them to good use. I try to work on it here and there when I have time, but nonetheless I am so thankful to have a place to bring our thoughts to life.

Haha, that doesn’t mean I still don’t take over little parts of the house though. I am like a whirlwind when I am in the middle of a project with little bits and pieces everywhere, but as soon as I’m done I have to clean it all up and reorganize for the next time. For me it is much more relaxing and allows me to focus on what I am doing when I have a clean space. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gigglinggoldfish/sets/72157603946800035/

Good luck on your art space…I look forward to stopping by and taking a peek where you create.

Just Add Memories

I just returned from a little "before school starts" trip. We had a great time and took alot of pictures. I have soooo many pictures to place in an album. My girls are growing so quickly~it's hard to find the time to put all of the pictures in albums. If you are a busy mom like me you can have someone help you out~like ...Just Add Memories.
Just Add Memories

About four years ago I discovered Scrapbooking at my church's MOPs (Mother's Of Preschoolers) meeting. The craft for the night was making a paper bag scrapbook album. I had fun and went home thinking this is something I could do. A couple of days later I went out and purchased some stuff to get started. I have been hooked ever since!I love making scrapbook albums- especially for other people. I like thinking of the smiles people will have when they look at their pages or albums I have helped them create. It is cool to create something that will be treasured for many years to come.Personally- I am my family's record keeper in charge of the pictures and scrapbook albums. My kids are growing and changing so much! I want to remember every detail of our lives together! (Corny I know!)I love the process of taking paper, adhesive, and embellishments and making something beautiful out of it.

What makes scrapbooking special and unique to me is that each person adds their own memories to the page. You can have two identical albums and they will be different because it is YOURS. With your kids, family,and thoughts and feelings.

My scrapbook room is mainly where everything I work with is kept. Paper, albums, works in progress,my "office", my computer and etc. are in this room. I tend to bring stuff out of this room to create. Usually the living room table is where I scrap. Ocassionally the kitchen counter as well. On any given night I can be found scrapping away while watching TV with my hubby and dogs by my side. Olympics anyone?

I try to stay organized but it appears to be a losing battle. As you can see! I found a great dresser that holds a lot at the dump in a "swap" area. It was free and it works. I have a cart for patterned paper and wire shelves for cardstock. I like storage bin/drawer carts. I have four of these. I just got a new one for my etsy items made and to be made. My works in progress usually go on the big table until I come back to them. I love scrapping and doing it for others is incredibly rewarding.

Check out my shop at http://www.justaddmemories.etsy.com/

Three in a Space ~Working Together~ Is it Possible?

Have you ever tried to share your space with someone else.? My space is a family games room with a built in extra large workspace ~ the Ping Pong table. I don't share my space with someone else per say but I do need to clean up my stuff when we have friends over to use the space. I love my space and will use any excuse to spend time in my retreat.

Here is a top excuse for spending time in the studio:

"If I weren't in here, I'd be eating. This is my diet plan." Annie Nordmark in Chicago,IL

~ If you have any excuse to share please post in comment on the blog!~

Featured Etsy Shop ~Krafty Krew

Koodos to Krafty Krew who have mastered the art of togetherness.

By ~KraftyKrew

Well lets see ,we are a joint venture of 3 me , my mom, and my sister and we live in my sister's home. My mom and I share the converted garage so we do with what we have .It's a bit crowded,but we manage.

Let me tell you~ there are times it drives me crazy. I don't like clutter or piles. But since I am not in my own home; well there you go. We try to use plastic shoe boxes to organize. We also use those crystal lite plastic tubes for our pens, rulers, buttons, etc... I use a lot of binders to keep myself organized with my projects and my mom and I use file cabinets to store our patterns.

We also take pictures of our projects to keep a log of what we make.

My sister uses those space bags to store her fabric. She has more room. She had a room built to suit her.

I have a few shelves for my fabrics, which I love .Fabric ~you can never have enough. Who ever dies with the most fabric wins :~) My mom also has a few shelves for her fabric but you will notice that a lot of our fabric is stacked up. We just love to go shopping especially those great fabric shops in Los Angeles.

We all do try to keep our own items and tools separate but sometimes we find that someone has taken our stuff. All in all we manage pretty well. We have fun together and help each other to make the best item so we can list and sell.

So I hope the pictures don't scare you .We do have some kind of organization , don't ask me what it is but I guess it's working for the moment LOL!!! If anyone out there wants to help me ,come on over and help me clean up my work area LOL!!!

Thanks for the opportunity~ kraftykrew aka Rita, Frances, Irene.Pss... the person you see in the picture is my mom. Here she is making her purses and wallets .She also makes soft sculpture dolls. You should see her Mr "T" and Betty Boop. I cant wait to list those. I think everyone will go gaga over them .

http://www.kraftykrew.etsy.com/