Button Post Earring Collection

The idea to transform little vintage buttons into earrings kept nagging me for quite some time, but taking a crack at it sure took even longer. The logistics of removing and sending down the shanks off of tiny buttons, which when held down between my fingers leave very little space to maneuver the Dremel sanding attachments, took a bit of brain burning. None of the sanding tools in home improvement stores or pliers seemed to be helpful, but I finally figured out the best way to prep the buttons.

To minimize the horrible glass dust cloud, which used to banish me to my back yard, I purchased a Plexiglass grind box. I wish it was a bit bigger since maneuvering the Dremel and the buttons needs some finessing, but I love the fact, that I was able to get rid of the dust mask and goggles. My fingers still get sanded, burned and poked with flying bits of glass, but the final effect is so worth it.

Some of the buttons I found are modern, made using the same old molds used even back in the 19th century. They are truly stunning, especially in the lovely shades of blue with golden yellow aurora borealis finish.

The vintage and antique buttons are my favorite, some near 100 years old. I get a bit nervous, when working with them, since not all of them survive the assault of modern day power tools...

This last pair of buttons is 80-90 years old. I love how the hand painted background makes the raised flower design pop.

To check out more of the button post earrings, visit my flickr page or my Bonanza shop

Jewels and moss treasury

I don't gamble, I don't bet on horses and I'm not into extreme sports, but landing an Etsy treasury list can be certainly filed in same adrenaline pumping category:O) There is something very nerve-wrecking and exciting in watching the number of treasury list go under that magic 333 number and number of visitors climb rapidly. Then your eyes are glued to the bottom of the screen waiting for the box to open and you are holding your breath afraid to even blink, because if you do...it might be gone. Your hand is squeezing the mouse ready to paste prepared earlier title of your treasury and click the finish button. Then you watch it load opening empty grid ready to be filled with beautiful, creative items. Believe me, beating hundreds of people to a treasury list feels great!

Here is the newest treasury I landed just yesterday. Its called ...jewels and moss... and features beautiful jewelry created by the {NewNew} members.

How-to: "Something Blue" bridal hair pin

My little sister will be getting married this summer and she trusted me enough to give me the extremely important task of designing and creating her jewelry. I'm scared already! ;O I'm almost certain, she will turn out to be my most difficult and outspoken client ever, and I'm not fooled by her when she says "Just surprise me, I'm sure I will love it!"I decided to start with hair accessories.
We went over different possibilities: hair combs, tiaras, hair bends and decided that hair pins would be best. My sister has very fine and "slippery" hair and pins will not only help to hold them in place, but also give the master hairdresser, my brother's best friend, lots of flexibility.

Supplies:
~hair pin
~wire (I'm using 26ga silver plated wire)
~beads: glass flowers, glass leaves, pearls, Swarovski crystals, seed beads go wild! use silk flowers, feathers, old jewelry, sequins, buttons, etc
~wire clippers
1. Cut an 18in long piece of wire, place first petal or leaf shaped bead in the middle of your wire and twist wire securing bead in place.

2. Secure additional 2 petal beads on each end of the wire.

3. Make a couple of additional twists below the little branches.

4. Add glass flower bead topped with "something blue" Swarovski crystal bead leaving about 1/2in of wire bellow the flower.

5. Bend the wire tightly over the edge of the flower bead and twist tightly making sure that the blue crystal stays as centered as possible.

6. Thread a little Swarovski crystal butterfly on the longer end of the wire about 1.5in from twister wire, fold it tightly against the bead and wrap around.

7. Position the butterfly above the pearl branches.

8. Add one more flower bead with Swarovski crystal center at the base of this little bridal bouquet.

9. Thread both ends of the wire through the loop of the hair pin and secure it in place by wrapping around the loop of the hair pin and around the base of the bouquet. Clip off the access wire.

Spring in pink

I think, I'm starting to sound like a broken record...and I'm not the only one;O) Winter seems particularly long and stubborn this year and we keep getting this bothersome cold weather blasts.

As we all ache for spring, every piece created in my studio seems to be influenced by this wonderful time of year, which seems to be particularly inspiring when I'm cold and can't stand wearing my winter coat any longer.

The Leaf Bouquet necklace is one of my all time favourites. This pink creation is third in this series and is made of beautifully detailed brass leaf, Swarovski crystal beads, vintage West German lucite flowers and Czech glass beads. Very delicate and feminine.

This pair of earrings was a bit of an experiment, which I think turned out super cute. I can almost hear the honey bee buzzing while collecting pollen from this beautiful vintage lucite flowers topped with antique copper bead caps and Swarovski crystal beads.

The last pair of earrings is made of antique brass finish leaf detail bead caps topping wonderfully detailed vintage inspired beads.

They can all be found in my Etsy shop

Spring Azalea Earrings

I want spring!!!

We have been lucky with winter weather this season. While areas West and North of Long Island had plenty of "white stuff" covering the ground, warm currents helped in pushing the wintery weather away from the island. Well, at least till last Monday... We got more than 12inches of snow:O))

Well, I'm ignoring all the snow outside my studio's windows and thinking spring while working on lucite azalea earrings, and if I close my eyes, I can see them blooming in my back yard...soon, very soon...

Azalea bush blooming in our backyard in spring of 2008.

Sea Foam Azalea earrings and Tangerine Azalea earrings are already listed in my Etsy shop.

The Lemon Twist earrings as well as earrings in other beautiful spring colors will be coming soon:O)

Winter Berry earrings

I'm slowly getting back into my studio to work on new jewelry. Signing up for Dumbo Indoor Market, where the Brooklyn Flea is moving for the winter, is a great motivation.

I finally made some winter berry earrings, which are on my business cards. They are quite time consuming, but customer's order forced me to dig up the design and improve ways to execute them. I made 2 brand new pairs of earrings yesterday, this time in antique silver finish. They will be listed in my Etsy shop soon.

Hope you will like them:O))

Don't forget to check out the {NewNew} at the Dumbo Indoor Market on February 7th and 8th.

Enamel Flower earrings

I have been working on new jewelry for the Handmade Cavalcade and reached for the remaining vintage enamel flowers left in my stash. They are so cute, that I'm having a hard time letting them go... Here are the newest 3 pairs I made on Saturday.

Ruffle bag earrings

My earrings, which will be added to Holiday Handmade Cavalcade raffle bags are ready! They will be packaged tomorrow and accompanied by a discount coupon for my Etsy shop:O)

Button Rings

Introducing my newest addiction...Czech glass button rings! The first batch of 11 rings is ready and they look fantastic. I tested the very first one, and it even survived tent packing at my last craft show. Very large order of blank base rings will be arriving next week as well as some wonderful, beautifully detailed, new buttons I found on eBay.

The Secret Garden

My newest addition to jewelry selection available on my Etsy page, remind me of the magical "Secret Garden", directed by Agnieszka Holland, with beautiful music composed by Zbigniew Preisner. O) The wonderfully detailed handmade lampwork rose beads are adorn by lovely selection of vintage and contemporary beadcaps and a touch of swarovski sparkle.

Atlantic Antic:O)

Power Cord, originally uploaded by nguyen le.

This Sunday, The {NewNew} will be taking over the Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn:O) We will be scattered along the Atlantic Avenue, thirteen tents filled with fabulous handmade goodness. My booth will be located on the South side of the street, between Bond and Hoyt, and will be sharing my space with Nguyen of KnitKnit.

Handmade Cavalcade Newsletter

The Handmade Cavalcade is coming to town!

Saturday, September 13, 2008 1pm-8pm Corner of Main St. & North Cedar, Beacon, NY

Bust out your shopping carts because on September 13, The Handmade Cavalcade coming to town! The {NewNew}—a group of sellers from Etsy.com—is setting up shop in Beacon, New York for a one-day shopping event.
The craft fair will take place from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and will coincide with Beacon's Second Saturday Art Walk .The Handmade Cavalcade fair will be located at the corner of Main Street and North Cedar, right in the middle of it all!

Here's a sneak peek at some of the great items you'll find for sale:

Love Gun Necklace by pulpsushi: This necklaces features a thick lightweight metal knuckle duster pendant powder coated in hot pink. Measures approximately 2.5cm (1") in size. Length of necklace is 17 inches with a brass lobster claw clasp. Chain is gunmetal. ($16)

Wooden Scull Bookmark by Beacon Bookmarks: Handcrafted bookmark made from cherry wood with a clear water-based satin finish. Measures approximately 1 3/4 inches wide by 7 inches long and weighs less than 1 oz. ($6)

Hazelnut Earrings by Jantar Handcrafted Jewelry: Made of 15x20mm oval rosewood beads, beautiful large antique brass finish bead caps, vintage brass flower caps and 25mm oxidized brass earwires. They measure just over 1.75 inches (including earwires). ($17)

Foxy Cloth Napkins by Cakehouse: Made with repurposed fabrics and silkscreened with water-based inks. Machine washable. ($40 set of four)

For more information on this one day shopping event, please visit www.handmadecavalcade.com
The Handmade Cavalcade is presented by the {NewNew} http://www.thenewnew.blogspot.com/

Bust out your shopping carts because on September 13, 2008, Handmade Cavalcade is coming to town!

The {NewNew} York Etsy Street team — a group of sellers from Etsy.com, the online marketplace for handmade goods — is leaving the city for a day and heading up to Dutchess County to to set up shop in Beacon, New York. The craft fair will take place from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and will coincide with Beacon's Second Saturday Art Walk. The Handmade Cavalcade fair will be located at the corner of Main Street and North Cedar, right in the middle of it all!

Shop through 20 booths for one-of-a-kind items, all handmade by the hippest DIYers around. You’ll find smashing jewelry, paper goods, hand-screened clothing and accessories, unique artwork and items for the home, yummy soaps and body butters, and much much more!

For more info and a complete list of participating Etsy artists, please visit: http://www.handmadecavalcade.com/

Brooklyn Flea

Every Sunday, six members of The NewNew York Etsy Street Team, which I joined a couple of months ago, meets under two tents at the Brooklyn Flea for a fun day of craft selling from 10am to 5pm—rain or shine—at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Lafayette Ave. between Clermont and Vanderbilt Ave. Our flea group rotates, this way each member of the team has a chance to present their handmade goodness and there is always something new and exciting to see and purchase.

Here are some pictures from August 10th:O)

Wai She - waisze.etsy.com - makes beautiful handmade cards and scrapbooks. I especially love the absolutely adorable little scrapbook, which fits inside of a mini tin container.

Nguyen from knitknit.etsy.com offers the cutest knitted and felted jewelry with addition of stones and wooden beads. Very creative! Check out also the little felt bags and spooooky eyeball earrings:O)

If you are looking for deliciously scented natural soap, visit nordeasoaperie.etsy.com It's not only good for your skin and free of harmful chemicals, it has great names also! The "oh! what a man!" is my favourite!

Felicity from wishbyfelicity.etsy.com creates really delicate sterling silver and brass jewelry with tiny gemstone and glass beads. I really like her new, windproof necklace display:O)

Yania - yaniamor.etsy.com - creates colorful and sparkly gem and crystal jewelry. Her display is absolutely yummy and the new "rock candy" necklaces are lovely.

And here is my "baby"! My 11 year old son, Benjamin, and my jewelry table at the flea. Ben is absolutely addicted to craft shows and is such a great helper. He made me pinky swear the day before the flea, that I will wake him up the next morning and take him with me. Of course, he was up and ready in minutes and did not need the wake-up call:O). My jewelry can be found at jantar.etsy.com and I will be at the flea again on August 24th.

So if you are from the New York area or just visiting, stop by the Brooklyn Flea. There is so much to see and purchase: handmade items, vintage clothing, old vinyl records, antique furniture, and absolutely insane food. We are all hooked on the watermelon juice, I had 4 of them yesterday, and will probably need to work out some type of volume discount and start buying by the jug -they are huuuuge. The steak sandwiches with avocado are Nordea's favourite, I love them too. The pupusas are delicious, my son's best pick, and the casadias are simply addictive.

For more info on the Brooklyn Flea and latest news, go to: http://www.brownstoner.com/brooklynflea/

Trumpet Flowers

Couple of weeks ago I came across beautiful carved flower beads online, and just could not resist the temptation to purchase them. They come in variety of colors and materials, and in two different sizes, perfect for necklaces and earrings. First couple of pair of earrings are all finished, photographed and looking fabulous complemented by antique finish brass elements and a touch of Swarovski sparkle:o) The first pair is made of beautiful green aventurine stone with filigree beads, leafy bead caps and tiny vintage bell caps. The second pair is in beautiful, deep shade of amethyst

and this time the beads are made of glass. The centers of the flowers are sparkling beautifully with genuine faceted Swarovski crystals.

There will be more of the trumpet flower earrings and necklaces coming soon:o)

June 25Th

The coral trumpet necklace is ready! The bead is larger than the earring beads, it measures around 30mm and it's made of man-made material. I also used antique finish brass filigree beads, antique brass finish alloy ring, beautifully detailed brass filigree bead cap, brass leaf element and little sponge coral bead. I looove the end result! The leaf and coral dangles were added later and they complete this piece very nicely.