Promote Yourself

I had an appointment this morning to donate blood.  Something I've done for years with varying regularity.  (Insert encouragement to donate blood here.)  This morning I did something different; a double red cell donation.  This takes at least twice as long as a regular donation.  Well, there wasn't much to do but chat with the Red Cross techs for about 30 minutes.  Early on the conversation turned to jewelry and gave me opportunity to do a little promoting.  I had my tablet with me and was able to show them some pictures and explain what kind of jewelry I make.  I passed out 4 cards; one to the man who was in line after me to pass to his wife.  Now four more people have my Facebook Fan Page, this blog, and my website URL.  Whether there will be any sales as a result or not; no way to know right now, but there are 4 more chances out there.  Hopefully they will be reading this post and, if so; know that I appreciate the opportunity to show them some of my work.  As you go through each day, take opportunities to tell people about yourself and what you do.  Have fun and enjoy the journey.

Below are a few pieces I've been having fun with.  Leave me a note to tell me what you think they are made of.  I hope you'll be surprised.

When the technique was new to me.

A fun pendant

Size perspective

Pieces that will become necklace and earring sets.

Bead Soup

Completed my first experience with bead swapping.  Well, not quite complete.  Shipped and received beads; now I need to decide what to make.  Lots of choices.  I opened the package and my reaction was WOW!  Took the box when I met a friend for lunch, exact same reaction; WOW!  Thank you Jasvanti.  I'm so looking forward to creating something beautiful with the soup you sent. 

Presentation amazing, it was better before I "rearranged"

The beads out of the box, beautiful!

Got Brave

I find the hardest part of learning anything new is getting up the courage to take the first step.   This was true of me when I decided to venture into more than simple wire wrap pieces.   I was intrigued by the look but intimidated by the process.  Which type of wire to use, what color wire, should I add some bling, would the end result be what I envisioned.   What I finally realized is that I would never learn if I didn't try; so I took a deep breath and started measuring and cutting wire.  What I quickly found was that it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and when something didn't work it was not a big deal to start again.   The materials did not have to be expensive and the time was invested in improving my skills, not wasted.  The last post had my first try at combining elementary weaving with wrapping.  That wasn't so hard but I needed to do more; rings were somewhere I had hesitated to go so I decided that would be a good next step.  I followed the directions and quickly realized I could make a couple adjustments that would make the finished product a little more to my liking and even a little easier to make.  My point; give it a try and you will learn quickly.  What do you think, OK for my first shot at a ring?  I am enjoying working with wire and will be trying Viking Knit and some other more delicate, intricate pieces in the near future.