I’ll be enjoying one of those afternoons where I will be cruising the internet and finding inspiration again and again, meeting new artists, and just loving the access we have these days because we’re all online. I mean, it’s such a wonderful thing that we can interact with artists across the world and experience them and their handcrafted art right in our own shops, or homes,  or studios. Anyway, so there I am cruising along and having the most glorious fulfilling experiences when *BOOM* I view an advertisement for handmade polymer clay buttons at the amazingly low price of $.03 each, shipped free anywhere…and my happy cruise totally crashes when it hits me that I could never afford to make them this cheap and even worse, if I could I’d surely be a slave to my art.

I began to wonder if I was nuts. I mean, if someone can buy handmade polymer clay buttons online for just cents, why on earth would they pay dollars for mine?

Well after much tortured thought the answer suddenly and gently came to me…because mine are unique. It sounds so simple but it’s true. It was easy to figure out how they can mass produce these handmade buttons. The canes are most likely HUGE, the clay is probably purchased in large quantities more inexpensively, and chances are they are made in an assembly line style. Now in my books there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s quite efficient and everyone wins but it’s a whole lot of the same flower button design, for example.

For some buttons I make small canes and from each one I get roughly 8-16 buttons. I take my time to design them and enjoy the infinite possibilities. I love to create the canes and each button is hand sliced with a razor, hand smoothed, and molded to shape and size.

When I make character buttons like the cute owls shown in the image below, some details like the eyes and wings are made from canes and the rest is hand-sculpted. Then each button hole is gently poked through, one at a time.

Some of the buttons that I create are patterned on top like these yummy raspberry ones in the image to the right.  I even use my own handmade patterned imprints from polymer clay instead of buying and using the silicone ones that are sold at the craft stores.My colors are mostly hand mixed and I’ll even add pearl powders occasionally to give them a special shimmer in the light.

Best of all is that my designs change and are updated very regularly. Don’t worry though if you like something you’ve seen a while back because I’m sure I could reproduce something very similar you’d equally enjoy.  I love custom orders too and will work with anyone who wants something special.

Now this doesn’t mean that you don’t buy the mass produced buttons. I say “Shop away!” because that’s an unbelievable deal but when you’re looking for something special that will add that unique and perhaps special or personal touch, I’m your gal!

Oh, one more thing…Start’s Arts has free shipping too:) Bam!

What is Article Marketing?

It is the process of using short articles, usually between 400 – 700 words, for publication and distribution by other websites and off-line publishers, typically free of charge.

How Can Article Marketing Help Your Handmade Business?

1. Develops Your Expert Position – Article marketing can help you establish yourself as an expert in your field whether it be jewelry making, crocheting, or metal art. As you share your knowledge with your audience they will come to know you as the ‘go to’ person when they have a question.
2. Exposure – The more places your ideal market can find you, the more paths to your shop or blog, the higher your traffic will be. Each article you write creates a separate trail someone can follow back to you – and become your customer. Think of it as a spider web. Your shop is the heart of the web and the various paths to the center are your marketing efforts – article marketing being one.
3. Approval – When you publish your article on someones site this serves as validation or an introduction to that person’s audience, making them more receptive to your message.

Article Marketing Tips:

• Spell check your work. Even if you’ve read it forwards and backwards use the spell checker. After you do that, read your work once again and if possible get someone else to read your work.
• Be sure your article is between 400 – 700 words.
• Take time to do some keyword research before you write your article.
• Add a keyword to your title and in the first sentence or paragraph of your article.
• Check the sites terms on in-article links to see if links to your shop or blog are allowed.
• Use white-space. Reading online is different so short paragraphs with 2-3 sentences are ideal.
• Using numbered or bulleted lists makes it easier to skim the article.

Article Marketing Tools:

• Squidoo.com – an easy to use Web 2.0 article submission site. I’ve been using this platform since 2007 and the traffic to my blog from my articles is consistent. It is a fairly easy system to learn, using modules that you drag and drop into your page. It also has a very good community of authors and mentors. Last week they launched a new magazine called So Crafty where they highlight craft articles. Coming soon they will be offering artist spotlights where they highlight the art of a featured author.
• Hubpages.com – similar to the previous article submission site plus many who write on Squidoo write here as well. I’ve only submitted one article to this site but I’ve heard positive things about fellow writers article marketing efforts.
• Wizzley.com – this site was made by a number of authors who have used the previous two sites and so the platform is very similar. Their writing standards are superb and I highly respect the owners of the site. They are always willing to help new writers.

Article marketing is for any business owner who wants to drive more traffic to their site, establish themselves as experts, and gain access to new audiences. Your potential customers are out there looking for the next hot crafty skill; make sure you show up in the right place at the right time by creating great articles and sprinkling them throughout the web.

Sara Duggan is an avid blogger of all things crochet. She is known as Momwithahook on Squidoo where she shares her patterns,   book reviews, and other crafty knowledge. Visit her at http://momwithahook.blogspot.com or http://saraduggan.com sign up for her monthly newsletter and ask her how you can build your own Squidoo page for your small business or blog.

The Eagle Mt piece is available in my shop NancysWildWireArt . The Pony is in my best friends collection(another blog post) And the earrings are in my personal jewelry collection. Now back to our subject, counting the cost. I had a lot of trouble with this in the beginning. I can’t tell you how many custom paintings I did from life or photos for $25. I forgot to pay me for my work and my talent, I was not told that had worth and added value. I am not trained in art, never took an art class, I just do things. I just don’t always do them in a way that benefits myself. Thank goodness supplies were a lot cheaper back then . Do you always know what you have invested in a piece? If you don’t you can’t possible price it at fair market value. Do you keep track of your time? Well you should! I don’t work for nothing, cause they don’t take smiles at the grocery store or the electric company. I am not going to tell you how to price your jewelry, I simply can’t. I just hope this post makes it easier for you. Everyone must determine their own skill level, and what they are worth as far as an hourly wage. I have my hourly wage in my mind, and that is what I pay myself for the hours I have invested. If I think the market will allow, if I think anyone will be willing to pay that price for my work. Sometimes you have to adjust to stay in the market, but never,never,never short change yourself. From now on keep track of your hours, keep records. A simple index card for each piece is all you need, once you finish the piece and get your price you can toss it. Now for some fun! Do you count the elements in your jewelry? I mean the beads,the wire,copper sheet,gemstone cabs? It will help if you mark the per foot price of each gauge of wire when you get it, it is frustrating looking it up every time. When I buy beads they are usually gemstone beads and they come by the strand. Once you cut open the strand use a few, bag or bottle them, do you know how much they cost? Do you dig through your files for the packing slip and guesstimate the cost because it is too much trouble to do anything else? You probably cheat yourself. Let me show you a much easier way to this part? Yes it takes a few minutes , but you will be so glad you made the investment:) I recently got a shipment of Turquoise,I saved them to use for this. They are pricey so you don’t want to give them away. I have 2 strands I saved to work with for this blog post. Hubei coins on a 16″ strand@ $10.99 and a 17.5″ strand of Sleeping Beauty @$19.99. Lets talk about the Hubei coins first.. I use a ruler, lay the strand alongside it and count the beads in an inch As you can see, it is about 5 coins per inch, and we have 16″ divide the cost of 10.99 by 16 to get $.69 per inch divided that by 5 (the # of beads per inch) gives us bead cost of $.08 each. Lets do another one? Sleeping Beauty chips,17.5″ strand same thing. Cost of 17.5″ strand is $19.99 divide cost by # of inches to get the cost per inch in this case it is $1.15 per inch. Count the number of beads in an inch it’s approximately 14-16 of these divide the cost of an inch by 14 and you get $.08 each per chip. I always round off, so please don’t email me and tell me my figures are wrong:) This is not rocket science we are just counting beads, but they do add up. To keep it simple and not to repeat this every time I use a few of these beads, I put them in herb bottles I find at garage sales.The ones with stoppers. I label the bottle with all the information like material,size, cost per inch and cost per bead if they come on a strand. Write it on the label. While we are on the subject,bag and label cabs too in the same manner. A little work now saves time later and you will be glad you did. This what my finished turquoise looks like bottled up.Aren’t you glad you don’t have to read my writing,that I type this?

I was not doing all this when I first started and I gave a lot of things away when I was trying to make money. I happened to read an article on a site where I shopped for gemstone beads about pricing your jewelry. I have since gotten to be friends with Szarka the owner and have learned a lot from her. I will be forever grateful for this tip:) She taught me to value myself as an artist. Don’t forget to add any shipping or handling cost you pay too. When your order arrives divide the # of items by the shipping and handling costs and add the cost to the item. I scored free shipping on the turquoise we used so I didn’t need to do this. Now when you make a piece of jewelry be sure to count the cost! Please feel free to check out my shop NancysWildWireArt and my other blog Nancy’s WildWire Art

I was thinking and decided to try a twisted wire project.  I took three strands of 18 gauge round soft copper wire and twisted them together into one strand.  Showing this to my wife, she said, why don’t you use silver.  I would like something done with this in silver.  I took three strands of 21 gauge square half hard sterling silver wire and twisted them in a similar manner.  When I show this to Debora, she asked what I was going to do and I replied that I was thinking of a twisted drop with a stone set in the bottom loop.  She asked to select the stone, and she selected a 6 mm round peridot.  That set the size and shape of the stone and setting.

The twisted wire was formed into the basic shape, then the top was wrapped with 21 gauge half round Argentium sterling silver wire to form the bail.  A precast head was soldered into the loop with hard silver solder.  The entire piece was then pickled, hand polished and tumbled to a high gloss polish.  The prongs were notched with a square fine file, and the peridot was set into the silver setting.  We have a finished pendant:

These last to views are from the back and the extreme left side.  Overall, the effect of the twisted wire accents the entire design.

I would like to introduce you to Lynn Frederickson, a very interesting woman and a wonderful artist. Lynn lives in Orillia Ontario and enjoys many forms of arts and crafts from knitting to gourd-carving.

OK, this next part is amazing! So amazing in fact that people don’t get it and don’t believe it but believe me it is true. Lynn can knit whole sweaters; pairs of socks, anything that has two sides all at once off two straight knitting needles…NO SEAMS! Even more amazing was the book she wrote about it called Seams Incredible. The book has long ago been lost among the discount bookshelves but if you can find it, it’s a true gem! This is super easy to learn and Lynn is anxious to answer any questions that anyone has. I’ve encouraged her to join the forum so that you can have easy access to her brain to pick. If you are a knitter I strongly encourage you to. This will save you time and stitching. It gets better…not only can she make anything with two “ply’s” we’ll call them, she can make as many ply’s as she wants/needs… off two straight needles! Think about this. It’s a wonderful thing.

Lynn, as well as being one hell of a piano player, has been creating art her whole life. Painting, macramé, crocheting, playing music (a variety of instruments), and currently she enjoys carving gourds, beading jewelry, and experimenting with any materials she can get her hands on. In fact I remember her making paint from egg yolk because she read about it somewhere and when I was little I remember sitting under her easel. Oh ya, Lynn is my mom:)

What is a polymer cane? I get that question a lot, so I decided to make a short video demonstrating how a polymer cane is made from beginning to end right before your eyes!. I had to speed it up so that it would fit in the allotted time but I think you’ll get the idea.

OK grab your clay and get ready for a bit of inspiration! Please enjoy this free simple turtle cane video which hopefully will give you a better idea of what it is that I do here at Start’s Arts.

After the video I hope that all you cane-curious folks give polymer caning a try! Thanks for watching…

Just click on the link below to watch this tutorial, you might have to click it twice

This is not a turtle tutorial.

Beverley Start
startsarts@gmail.com
Find us:

Starts Arts on the HAFshop

Twitter

Facebook

You can also just search Halloween on the HAFshop and you’ll see a whole bunch of other creations as well.

Maybe some Halloween Earrings will be the touch you need!

Regardless of what your looking for the Handmade Artists’ Shop has what you need! Handmade from the Artist, everyday.

By Beverley Start, Polymer Clay Artist

October 14 2011

Like tubes of cookie dough with pictures in them that you can slice up into a dozen identical treats, polymer canes also have pictures or patterns running through their entire length, only they’re made from clay.

Click here for example one and here for example two.

Detailed images, simple geometric patterns, or anything in between can be designed and created. One of the most magical things to me about polymer cane art is that when the cane begins it is quite large to create the detail but once complete it may be reduced in size. This is quite remarkable because the reduction of the cane reduces the image it holds as well.

Stay tuned for more information on polymer clay and canes.

Finding the ideal kind of project that can be done with children sometimes manages to stump even the most creative of parents. After all, sometimes the typical craft ideas that people are used to seeing detailed in magazines and portrayed in classrooms just aren’t the most compelling picks. And while it might be fun to make something out of paper mache or to get involved in the exciting world of active volcano models, most of the time, people are more interested in whether or not they can find something that will delight youngsters while also not being that difficult to set up. Fortunately, figuring out how to craft these kinds of projects is not as difficult as one might think, and getting things set up for the whole family is definitely a lot less stressful than one might think.

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

The first step in successfully crafting a project for the whole family to enjoy together is identifying just how difficult one wants things to be, from amount of time things will require to the amount of supplies that need to be invested in. Fortunately, it’s a whole lot easier than people might realize to be able to figure out something that is slightly no mess and no fuss. For younger children who tend to require more supervision, going for something that is less messy is a far better idea, as it will mean that those in charge will not be cleaning things up indefinitely. And remember, just because you love fiddly projects that take hours to complete, it doesn’t mean youngsters will – think instant gratification and not too much precision.

Take Into Account Their Interests

When it comes to actually selecting the kind of projects that will keep children entertained, it also makes sense to be considering one’s own child and his or her particular interests. After all, if a child is more bookish, going for a project that is going to be more oriented towards sports is not going to fly quite as well as finding something that clicks more with one’s interests. So be keeping that in mind when making those kind of decisions, as it’s definitely a better way to handle making the best choice. Your child will be far more enthusiastic about making a train/ballerina/dinosaur themed project, even if it isn’t your cup of tea.

Don’t Be Too Rigid

No matter the age of the children with whom crafting is happening, it’s always good for parents to take a step back and allow the children to shine. Make it clear that there are a set of different rules that are worth following, but that being creative is definitely encouraged, and that following directions and finding a way to put one’s own spin on the process is a great idea. This might mean being very specific about putting a piece together but then decorating whatever is being built in a more freewheeling way. This is also a great way for parents to teach their children about the balance between being creative and following the steps at hand to get a great end result.

So when making plans to entertain the children with a craft project, it makes sense to go ahead and realize that focusing on interests and abilities are the two secret weapons to ensuring that all goes smoothly and that children are happy.

About the Author: Victoria Crowdell writes articles on family, home & garden and crafting – her passion is scented candles.

p.s. we are open to a trunk shows too!

I Knit Quilt Sew is such a talented artist who specializes in Handmade baby and art quilts, rag dolls, teddy bears, and baby knits. I especially love all the rag dolls. Like Olivia

The winning member will receive two weeks of free advertising on the Handmade Artists’ Forum, HAF Blog, Chainmaille By MBOI, and Makin’ The Best Of it as well as $25.00 cold hard cash to do with whatever they want!

There is also a prize for voting and leaving a comment! At the end of the contest we will choose one person at random who votes and will give them $25.00 to spend on any item they want on The Handmade Artists’ Shop!

In addition to the $25.00 prize the commenter also will win this beautiful Handmade Little Black Bear by iKnitQuiltSew.

This bear has everything going for it!  In keeping with the first contest, he’s upcycled…  In a previous life, he was a machine washable coat (which has been washed)!  If a disaster strikes, this bear can be put in a pillow case or a lingerie bag and machine washed and dried on warm settings!  In keeping with this contest, I can remember singing a song when I was in Girl Scouts (many, MANY years ago) about a little black bear.  The pads of his feet and fronts of his ears are eco-felt (made from recycled paper and water bottles!).    He has safety-stay plastic eyes and a hand-embroidered nose and mouth.  His arms and legs move – they are jointed with the old-fashioned string-and-button method which is all internal.  Without his scarf, he is completely child-safe.  Standing, he is 12 inches (30.5 cm) tall.

So take your time and pick your favorite, you can vote only once per IP address, and don’t forget to leave a comment to be automatically entered to win $25.00 to spend at the HAFshop and that beautiful Little Black Bear!

Trusk4U Inspired By “The Mystic’s Dream” by Loreena McKennitt

iKnitQuiltSew Inspired by O’ Chritstmas Tree

PennyFarrowInspired by Ron carter Quartet, Sunshower

GrandDesign Inspired by Abney Park,  The Clockyard

2DezineArt Inspired  by Miles Davis, Freddie Freeloader

TotallyUniqueTreasuresInspired by Dire Straits, Sultan of Swing

Rasamalai Inspired by Claudio Monteverdi, Pur ti miro

Impressionsbyheidi Inspired by Rhapsody  by George Gershwin

Crafted RootsInspired Moonlight Sonata, by Beethoven

The voting will end 12/01/2010 at midnight, so get your votes in and don’t forget to comment and be automatically entered to win $25.00 to spend at the Handmade Artists’ Shop and the beautiful Little Black Bear!

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I know that there is plenty of talented people in the world; there are many that are multitalented, now imagine finding a multitalented Australian mother of 5 (yes, you read that right…5 kids!) and still finding time to follow her passion for creating beautiful things from beads and Polymer clay!

Haffina is just such a person who’s creations must be seen to be believed.  Teeny tiny miniatures that look good enough to eat great you right away on the front page of her HandmadeArtistsShop page.  Check out the chocolate!  Couldn’t you just sink your teeth into them!

Not a chocolate fan?  How about the sinful indulgence of Red Velvet?

Miniatures not for you?  How about clay gemstones that you would swear are the real thing?

And just to get your creative juices flowing, Haffina also creates amazing supplies so that you can incorporate a one of a kind creation into your own one of a kind creation.

There is so much more to see of Haffina’s work; but I am running out of space!  Check out Haffinas Creations on the HandmadeArtistsShop for yourself and prepare to be stunned by the amazing talent of this busy mum!

The challenge our artists faced was to take a pre-made shirt of some kind and turn it into something else. They could add any materials they wanted but part of the shirt had to present in the final design.

The winning member will receive two weeks of free advertising on the Handmade Artists’ Forum, HAF Blog, Chainmaille By MBOI, and Makin’ The Best Of it as well as $25.00 cold hard cash to do with whatever they want!

There is also a prize for voting and leaving a comment! At the end of the contest we will choose one person at random who votes and will give them $25.00 to spend on any item they want on The Handmade Artists’ Shop!

So take your time and pick your favorite, you can vote only once per IP address, and don’t forget to leave a comment to be automatically entered to win $25.00 to spend at the HAFshop!

Ecclectic LadyLand

annmadestuff

Reef Botanicals

Calcedonia Design

Deb Thuman

Greenwycke

Crafted Roots

The voting will end 8/26/2010 at midnight, so get your votes in and don’t forget to comment and be automatically entered to win $25.00 to spend at the Handmade Artists’ Shop

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Elle’s Beads was never intended to be a business venture.  I started beading and making jewelry as an outlet for dealing with some of the depression and anxiety I was going through after starting my first “real” job in a new city after college. After a few months of encouragement from family and friends, I decided to open shop on Etsy and I’ve been selling my work ever since.

The designs I make are almost always one of a kind and reflect my personality and eclectic sense of style.  I have a line of LGBT pride jewelry as well as dozens of other funky, colorful pieces.  This year I’ve added lines of metal bookmarks and beaded cell phone charms, perfect even for those who don’t wear much jewelry.  I also make fabric accessories, including brooches, pins, and barrettes.

Environmental responsibility is a big issue for me and so a lot of my work reflects that.  I only use scrap fabrics for my accessories and often incorporate broken vintage jewelry, vintage buttons, and other second-hand embellishments into my work.  I make beaded and resin magnets and often use recycled bottle caps or even creative items like old keys and eyeglass lenses in my creations.  

You can find Elle’s Beads (and me!) all over the web.  I have shops on Handmade Artists Forum, Etsy, Zibbet and my own website.  I have an active Blogger blog, Tumblr blog, YouTube channel, Twitter, and Facebook page.  I’d love it if you stopped by and dropped me a line.  One of the best parts of starting this business is the wonderful friendships I’ve made with other artisans and lovers of handmade!

Until next time,

Elle

There is something so slinky and sexy about chainmaille done well and CMaille, also known as Crescent Maille has found that perfect balance.  From the moment she picked up a couple pairs of pliers, she was hooked for the long haul.

CMaille combines high quality sterling silver jumprings into amazing designs that can be taken from a professional outfit to a night on the town.  Necklaces, bracelets, earrings and more…there is definitely something for every taste and budget.

Love the work but the perfect piece isn’t there?  This is a problem…but not for Crescent Maille!  She is willing to work out custom orders and personalized sizing so that your newest chainmaille treasure is sure to be exactly right in style and fit.

No doubt that you will be able to find the perfect piece for a gift, or better yet, a gift for yourself at Crescent Maille!

Hailing from Arizona there stones are well traveled though, here is a quote from their site “We sell all natural stone in sterling  silver and gold custom handmade jewelry.  All natural cutting rough stone for the cutter.  All stones are hand -cut in our (in-house lapidary shop).   We feature the finest  Pink,  Green  and  Bi-color Tourmaline Crystal Specimen’s ,  Faceted Stones and Cabbing Rough from San Diego, California, Koroit Opal Boulder rough and finished stones from Queensland Australia .  Concave Cut Faceted  Stones of Peridot from San carlos, Arizona.   Specimens from many famous locations”.

This piece is just amazing “This is real, natural Gold in Quartz. This piece came from Gympie, Queensland, Australia. Gympie is an old gold mining town situated along the Bruce Highway on the Fraser Coast. You can find out about the mining industry in Gympie at the Gympie District Historical and Mining Museum.”

Make sure you stop by and take a look at their shop

All in Vein on The Handmade Artists’ Shop there are too many stunning pieces to mention so you have to look for yourself

I often use a distressing technique with acrylic paints and then sanding and baking for a truly vintage and worn out look, and rich leathery patina. All dolls are made to last and wear throughout the years to come. My love of antiques & dolls has certainly been a huge influence at Rabbit Hollow Prims over the past 17 years, and I love what I do.

I am a mother of 2 boys who are 3 and 5 yrs old. I have been an artist in the Hope Mills, NC community for 5 years, where I have also been a Science teacher for groups of middle school kids, and a Science lab expert teacher in the after school community school programs for kids ages 11-14.

Find Rabbit Hollow Prims at the following:
Rabbit Hollow Prims.com
Rabbit Hollow Prims at Etsy.
Read our blog.

I currently work with paper creating cards, invitations, gift tags and other custom items.
If you are looking for something specific, custom orders are always welcome. I also design wedding invitations and will have my designs for sale in the near future. 

Visit my Etsy store.
Find supplies here.
Read my blog.
Follow me on Twitter.

I have always been interested in arts and crafts and sewing – anything creative. When I discovered beads, I knew that this was something I was going to get very excited about. I discovered my love for beading about 10 years ago. When I am creating with beads or polymer clay, I feel a little of what God must have felt when He created the world.

I am a beadaholic and proud of it. I believe I have a God given gift – the love of creating. Give me a needle and thread and some beads and I won’t be able to stop myself. Add a little polymer clay into the mix and I can get really crazy.

After all these years, I’m still excited about and I look forward to beading and creating every day. I love to design and create and I have no favorite materials-if it can be combined into a piece of jewelry, then I love it! A beading heart is a happy heart! I sell my work on consignment at a local bead shop and online.

I am a proud member of the Etsy Bead Weavers Team. Visit our blog for links to all members’ shops.

Check out my Etsy shops BeadsForever & Dangles by Linda.
My personal website My Heart Beads For You.
Read my blog.

I have always been a very artsy person. My current crafts include stamping, scrapbooking, knitting, and quilting. I also enjoy cooking, watching reality television, and reading biographies about famous people. I have been doing nails part time out of my home for over 15 years now specializing in hand painted nail art.

I have a web-based business that I sell my handmade cards from on Etsy. I design and create unique, personalized hand stamped greeting cards and other hand stamped items for all occasions. Each item is a high quality personal work of art made by hand. 

Find my work on Etsy.
Read my blog.

After filling up my jewelry box (and my family’s) I decided to start sharing my pieces with the world – and was pleasantly surprised that people liked them.

My work combines a variety of techniques including chainmaille, silversmithing, copper etching and heat patinas, beading, resin collages, wire wrapping – and anything else that catches my fancy.

Read my blog.

Hey, Jessica here, the artist behind Moon Spirit Jewelry! When I found out I was being featured I just had to do the happy dance, and once that was done the hard part began. Writing about myself has always been hard for me. I can never think of what people could possibly want to know about me. But then I think, what would I want to know about another artist, and the obvious answer is why? Why do artists do what they do? Why do individual people decide to create and imagine? So that is what I will tell you, but I might be getting a little ahead of myself. First let me truly introduce myself.
    
A lot of people ask me how I chose Moon Spirit Jewelry or what it means, and it is actually quite simple. When the moon is at it’s fullest, a horse seems to be a spirit in the night. Running free through marshes, forests, and fields, this is my favorite image of a horse, so it became my name. Along with this business adventure, I am starting a new adventure in my life: college. I am getting ready (or already there depending on when this is published) to go to Colorado State University to start my studies in Equine Science.
   
Moon Spirit Jewelry came into existence during 7th grade. One of my best friends taught me how to make earrings, and a business plan was already forming in my mind. We started off as J.M. Creations, selling at a Chanukkah Boutique at my temple. Wanting to move forward, I taught myself how to create simple beaded necklaces. After figuring out the beaded necklace, I began to soar. Looking at beading magazines and experimenting with different techniques. I began to formulate my own style: elegant, yet fun. Slowly but surely, J.M. Creations morphed into Moon Spirit Jewelry.
   
Beading offers a relaxing hobby, I really got into it during the stress of high school. I could lose myself in new techniques or my stash of beads. My dad tells me I have more beads than a bead store, and I have come to the realization that he is probably right. But if you are a beader then you know how this happens. You start a new project and you just need a clasp. So you run to the local bead shop and return home with a large bag of seed beads, findings, large beads, small beads, pretty much all the beads in the store. The bead store is the only place I do the happy dance when I can leave without spending more than $50.
   
As an artist I sit and imagine who might wear the jewelry I create. Will it bring them luck? Will this piece show up on the Red Carpet (still crossing my fingers)? Is this one going down the aisle with a blushing bride? My biggest hope and the one that every artist hopes is that it brings happiness to whomever wears it. From one artist to another, good luck with all of your adventures.

Check out my Etsy shop.
Follow me on Twitter.
My fanpage on Facebook.

I’m Claire Goverts and I’ve been doing various arts and crafts as long as I can remember. I started beading back in middle school, working primarily with seed beads I even had a bead loom. When I went away to college I didn’t do any beading, I did mostly graphic art at
that point as my materials were all nicely contained within my computer. Then almost 2 years ago I got back into beading. My collection of beads rapidly outgrew the container from middle school as I bought different types of beads. And I also found wire. Most of
the jewelry I make now is still strung beads, but it also has a fair amount of wire wrapped pendants and other embellishments. I love trying new things. There are some days I’ll simply unroll some wire and start winding it around, adding beads and whatever else and see what I come up with.

I also do a bit with polymer clay, making some beads and pendants of my own. I’d like to expand the amount of works with clay sometime soon, for now I just don’t have the amount of space. I’d also like to do more metal work in the future, cutting blanks into patterns for interesting pendants. I’m also fascinated with glass, and am thinking
of seeing what sorts of glass classes there are in my area. Making my own glass beads would be cool. And I also want to learn more chainmaille weaves. I can manage a European 4 in 1 decently enough, but other patterns would be fun. I love to learn new techniques, and integrate various techniques together for something different.

I enjoy helping people learn things as much as I like learning things on my own. I have a tutorial up on Deviant Art, and am looking at more in the future. I’m also putting up various tips on my new bead blog that I hope will be helpful to others. I’m open to suggestions for posts on my blog (or DA tutorials).

Find my work on Deviant Art.
Read my blog.
Follow me on Twitter.