New Handmade Metalwork Jewelry & Supplies

Antiqued Little Wavy Kites

It's been a while since I've last blogged as I've simply been a busy little bee - or squirrel ;) and was inspired to get back to blogging and today I'm starting with just a few of my new and old additions to both of my handmade metalwork shops. Now on to plan our Florida vacation - in just 2 weeks!

Rustic Southwest Charm

French Sassy Swirls

Super Long Hammered Waves

Enjoy your weekend!

Peace & ♥

Rocki

Beyond Earth & Rustic Way of Life

Beyond Earth

I have the treasury bug and it may be contagious, but it sure is a lot of fun! So I'm sharing this little 'bug' with you.

Rustic Way of Life

Hope you enjoy all the talented artists in these treasuries.

Peace,

Rocki

"Music to your ears, body and heart" Treasury is Featured!

Received some awesome news this weekend and want to share! My "Music to your ears, body and heart" treasury is one of five featured on the On Fire For Handmade website!

Easy as pie...mmm... pie!

Click on the awesome dude above above (by one of the featured artists in my treasury: Zed's Zombie Ranch) to see the five treasuries, click to view them, vote for your favorite and pass it on.

Enjoy and thanks!
Rocki

p.s. this one runs for 1 full week and ends 2/26/11

Classic Cozy Goodness

Inspired by the warmth of earthy blue and brown to create my Classic Cozy Goodness Treasury. Like the Vegan Sea Salt Spa Soap by Aquarian Bath or the beautiful Ceramic Bottle/Vase below by khphillips.

There is much more to be seen, so check it out today and tell your friends.

Peace,

Rocki

Forceps... Scalpel... Gauze...

Symptoms: heart flips and flutters when that special someone walks into the room, when you hear their voice or speak their name.

Remedy: My Hammered Dancing Heart Earrings.

Black and White Wishbone Earrings. These are so hot in person! I'm creating these in several styles, metals and finishes, along with many other new pieces in my artisan metal shop - plus much more on the way.

Happy Friday!

♥Rocki

Beautiful Blue Treasures

For the life of me I just can't figure out how to post the entire treasury picture, so please forgive me.

The beautiful pic above is part of my Beautiful Blue Treasures treasury. Please check out the talented artists and feel free to leave a comment :)

Peace and happiness,
Rocki

(the picture & very cool necklace is from the talented noemiah)

What's new with you?

Where on earth does time go? Last week flew by so fast I didn't have time to blink! I have several more vacation blogs yet to post with some fun and interesting pictures, but since my schedule is kind of wonky this week with appointments and studio time, I'll have to post one later in the week.

In the meantime, thought I would share a few of my new creations that are now in my shop. Above are my Kurly Kites. I really love how they turned out and just like my Go Fly A Kite ear wires, they wear great! Oh and they'll be available in all metals that I offer, as are most of my handmade findings.

My new Swirly Squovals are not only fun to wear, but they are quite lovely as well - if I don't say so myself :) These are interchangeable so you can add your own charms, beaded creations, etc., or wear as is. Also coming soon in all metals.

Okay, yes. These are jump rings - nothing new of course. However, they ARE new to my shop! I've been wanting to make them for months and have FINally done so. More sizes/gauges will be added soon. Currently available in Copper & Sterling - soon to be added in 14k Gold Filled.

Well, that is it for now. I have my ortho appointment in about an hour, so I need to bust'a move here. Tomorrow morning I have my dermo appointment. Fun times I tell ya! ;)

So what's new with you?

Rocki

Double Bubble - twice the fun!

I was playing around with an idea for a double hoop earring using my Wild West Series as inspiration and this is what I came up with.

Double Bubble.

Go ahead, say it again: "Double Bubble". If you say it real fast, it's kind of like repeating "Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper" or "Sally Sold Sea Shells by the Sea Shore".

Currently I have 20g Copper & Sterling Silver Double Bubbles in my shop, but they will also be available in 14k Gold Filled and in 18g... Double Bubble.

I'm selling my new Double Bubble hoops as finished earrings, but they can also be embellished to your hearts content, such as wire wrapping stones or beads, add a dangle or two, etc.

All this bubble talk makes me want to grab my bubble wrap and start popping away. How about you? No problem, click below:

I must admit that I am enjoying wearing my new hoops. I don't know what I like more, the hoops themselves or saying Double Bubble!

Happy popping!

Rocki

Can you feel the love? Alaina J Designs

Just about every day I would see these adorable, brightly colored handmade clay beads while relisting items. I became drawn to them like a magnet and decided to check them out. My goodness, this shop is soooo cute its like going to a pet store and looking at the adorable animals that are just begging you to take them home with you - and you do!

Elaine is the creator/owner of Alaina J Designs (etsy shop name is alanajay). Elaine had a desire to paint, however, as she states "I failed miserably at oil and acrylic painting, so I chose working with clay at the suggestion of my oldest daughter." Good move Elaine, your work is adorable!

Living a very quiet suburb life in the small town of Vicksburg, MS (not Mayberry, but not a big city either) Elaine creates her adorable handmade creations. She started out as an Etsy buyer long ago and eventually started selling her craft.

At first glance of the prices, you may wonder why they are so low. Well, Elaine is doing all this work for fun! She states: "I believe in giving customers the best prices possible... Because I actually don't work for profit. I craft for fun, then sell it." Not only does she sell her handmade crafts in her shop, but Elaine also sells commercial beads & findings.

The beads above are not commercial, these are her handmade FROTHEN SEA WATER Swirl Polymer Clay Beads. Oooh! I just love saying the name, sounds so earthy and fun!

I absolutely love this quote when asked if there was anything she would like people to know about her: "I am a very simple country gal, with a strong desire to run my online business with high morals, strong ethics, and a feeling so friendly, customers can just feel the love through the computer screen."

Most definitely Elaine, I feel the love! Please go and visit Elaine's shop to feel the love yourself!

Happy day!

Rocki

Peace & Inspiration - Marie Dodd

Our life journey offers us many opportunities to enhance our personal being along each of our paths. These opportunities present themselves in a variety of ways, such as in physical form, mental, emotional, imagined, created and so on. When we accept these opportunities with our whole heart, a new and exciting path is created.

Mary Jane, the Etsy Shop owner/creator of Mari Dodd "jewelry to feed your creative spirit", is one of my opportunities. Mary Jane, aka MJ, is one of those very kind hearted souls that can touch your life without even being there in person. I've been wanting to feature her shop for some time now and am honored to finally share her with you.

In short, MJ & I met months ago when she first started purchasing from me. Recently I got to know her a little more and discovered what a truly peace loving person she is. I admire her from many aspects and absolutely love her work! You can tell that MJ creates from the heart, the soul, the depth of her very spirit.

Each inspiring creation that she makes, has a fitting title for it and a description to match. The one above is call "seeing clearly" and I simply love the description as much as the piece itself. MJ also inspires me with my own work.

There is so much more I could say about Mary Jane, but I will leave you with this quote from her shop Profile, which you can read more when you visit her shop:

"in my very normal running-around-mom-lifestyle, working with great components brings me peace and inspiration... i love when things come together... you get a great feeling when you wear something that a person actually had their hands and imagination on..."

Besides traveling through her inspiring creative Etsy Shop, make sure to visit her inspiring blog. It will brighten your day - and your life.

Peace & love,

Rocki

Chemical Element Cu

Bueller. Bueller... (work with me here. Have you seen the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off?)

Yes class, Cu is the symbol for Copper. Okay, school has been out a long time for me and I admit it - I had to look it up. But I honestly loved when we studied about Chemicals and their symbols in class.

Soooo, as you can see I've added a new metal to my shop. And what is is pray tell?

Put your hand down Petunia. Yes, I know you ALWAYS know the answer.

Class? Class? ClaaaaAAAAAssss!
(think Cheech and Chong here folks)

You guessed it. Copper! Pure natural copper.

I'll be creating several of my handcrafted findings that I already make (and then some) with Copper as well. It is so very pretty and can be as organic, rustic, southwestern or elegant as you want it to be. I did not realize how enjoyable it is to work with. Nice on my wrists and...

Johnny sit down and quit pulling Susie's pony tail!

Oh and yes, I'm playing around with different oxidizing techniques as well. Above is my Antiqued Finish and...

Barnaby! That is NOT where a test tube goes! Take that out of your nose right now young man!

Anyway, I have more oxidizing to play with and look forward to playing around with it.

Well, class is just about over and I'm turning gray here, so I'm going to dismiss class early and ....

Whoa!, watch out! Let me.... da du thump thump thump (being run over by students)

Happy Monday!
Rocki

A fun start to my weekend!

See that huge happy smile on the cute clown? Mine is like that right now. In fact, it may be permanent - or at least for a few days. Sure makes it hard to sip coffee like this.

This morning I woke up to my 2000th sale! Wow! I'm deeply touched and over joyed with how well my shop is doing. Although it keeps me quite busy, to say the least, I truly love what I do with all my heart.

That's not all. I also received a message that I was in a fun and awesome Treasury titled: "I love balls" - you've got to see it! I would post a pic of it, but I've never figured out how to do a screen shot - even though I've been told a million times, it doesn't work for me - doh!

I'm also excited about adding more 14k Gold Filled findings, like my new clasps below that I offer with and without the eye link (I'll have more styles added soon!)

That's all for now as I need to go get a napkin to clean up my coffee dribbles.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Rocki

Love Barbara's Feet!

Oh gosh, the first step is always admitting to it... I have a foot fetish!! There, I said it and I meant what I said.

The other day I came across the cutest little feet EVER (and then some!) on Barbara's new Etsy shop "Barbies Best", but she is not new to her craft at all. In fact, Barbara has done it all, sort of: sewing, candles, macrame, tole painting and pretty much whatever is popular at the time. In the 1970's, she even owned a shop in Ohio that sold local handcrafted items on consignment and taught some classes as well.

Barbara discovered polymer clay 3 years ago on a TV show. She finds the clay very soothing to play with. In the beginning she was covering everything she could find with the clay - eggs, vases, wine glasses, candle holders, bowls etc. After watching a show about beads, Barbara was hooked - "Instant gratification. I love the colors, shapes and feel of beads." The details in her creations show how much she loves her work. Like the Red Hat Charm above - love it!

Barbara sells her handmade creations in bead shops and thought she would give Etsy a try. This is how it all began, in her own words: "I was showing a friend some bracelets I had made with my beads and she suggested I take them to the local bead shop and ask if they would sell them for me. The regulars in the shop loved them so much that the owner instantly agreed to take them in on consignment. Every time I walk in the shop I am swarmed to see what's new. Since then I've showed them to other beads shops that now sell my beads. The gals who hang out at the bead shop give me most of my inspiration. I watch what they are making and they always have ideas for me. I also look at patterns on clothes, other jewelry and pictures of just about anything in magazines."

Barbara & I are practically neighbors. Well, sort of. I live near Lake Pleasant and she lives in Lake Havasu City, AZ - a "boating and tourist town where Flip Flops & sandals are the most common footwear as the summer temperatures are usually pushing 110."

I asked her how she came up with those adorable little sandal feet with the perfect little pedicures and here is a snippet of what she said: "One day last spring while I was hanging out at the bead shop I noticed one of the girls wearing a very cute pair of sandals and another one had on a T-shirt with flip flops on the front. The lite when on in my head." The rest is history. You have to see the variety of these adorable beads/charms! There are different sandal styles, colors, etc. She also has a variety of other fun handmade beads.

When she took her little feet to the bead shop, they sold like sunblock on a hot sunny day at the lake! A best seller. Her second most popular beads are the skulls with red rhinestone eyes. She plans on listing more of those soon. I cracked up when she told me what her hubby said: he "wants to know what I do with the rest of the body once I shrink the people and use their heads and feet." Guess only time will tell Barabara ;)

My name is Rocki. I'm a feetaholic and I don't want a cure. I love Barbara's feet!

Now run to her shop and pick up a pair for yourself.

Rocki

A Cowgirl at Heart

While growing up I went I went through different phases. I've always been and will always be known as a flower child, but for a time I was also known as a "Kicker". No, not because I went around kicking people - I was a cowgirl and hung out with all the other cowgirls & cowboys. I had a Buckskin Mare named Fancy who was a very good horse and I miss her. My friends had horses, my boyfriend at the time was a rodeo clown, and life pretty much revolved around our "Kicker" lifestyle.

There's something about being a cowgirl that simply makes your heart light up. I admit that sometimes I miss that lifestyle and although I am who I am, I'll always be a cowgirl at heart.

What made me think about my old "Kicker" days is while I was creating in my studio today I came up with a new clasp that reminds me of a lasso. I have titled it: "Rodeo".

Cowgirl up.

Rocki

Caution... curves ahead

While I was on my R&R vacation (gosh I need another one) I was playing around with some new clasps and here they are:

Curvatious

Curl n Swirl


Elfin Petal


Classic Wrapped Clasp

Caution. Curves ahead.

Happy Monday!

Rocki

Do the Hula-Hoop!

Do you remember the hula-hoop? Yes, I know they still have them today, but when I was growing up the Hula-Hoop, along with the Pogo-Stick , were like the Nintendo's of today. THIS was hot entertainment let me tell you! Getting past 100 was pretty cool or jumping as high as my Dad's head (he's short) was the best! And when we were called in for dinner, we didn't have to say "Wait mom! I have to save first!"

Speaking of hoops.

Big Egg Hoops

I've been making new findings and thought I would share the ones I've added to my Etsy Shop.
Above are my Big Egg Hoops. Big is hot right now, oval is a nice shape and hoops are always in style. What else could I do but name them as I did?

Big Retro French Hoops

My signature Retro French ear wires ate their Wheaties. These Big Retro French Hoops are very stylish. They still have my Retro French shape, but you get a nice hoop as well - but not too big of one.

Antiqued Retro French

Speaking of my Retro French ear wires, here they are now in a nice hand brushed Antiqued Finish. These are also available in Bright & Dark Polished finishes.

Thanks for letting me share. Oh, wait - one more item. I decided that starting next week, I will include "Wacky Wednesday" to my blog. We all need a little silliness in our lives, so I'll be doing just that each and every Wednesday.

Happy Hump Day!

Rocki