2010 - The Best Year Yet!

Here's to 2010!  The best year you'll have yet!  Don't believe me? Go out there and make it the best year you'll ever have!  We sincerely hope that you'll set goals and bust your butt working towards those goals.  We hope that you make changes for the better.  We hope that you make it a point to smile every day.  We hope that you search for truth and joy.  We wish you all these things and more.

And, we hope you wish them back to us!

What's our goal?  We're setting a goal to have 1 online sale a week!  Thinking reasonably, I realize that we probably won't get that, but as long as it averages out to 1 per week at the end of the year, and we bust our butts every week working for that sale, we'll have accomplished a great thing. 

Karla and I started our New Year with laughs!  After our little one went to sleep and we did all the things we normally do to get the house cleaned and ready to start the next day, we decided to rent and watch a movie.  I ran across the street in pj's and flipflops (man was it cold!) and we rented "The Proposal".  Oh my goodness, the movie is extremely funny!  It has lots of humor and a nice, romantic story.  I'd give it 8 stars at least (out of 10) and I imagine Karla would give it more.  It was quite a nice way to bring in the New Year.

So, Happy New Year, to your family from ours!  May this year be the Best Ever!

Men's Wire-Wrapped Buckle Ring

That's what I'm calling it, anyway.

This morning, I woke up wanting to create a wire-wrapped ring for a guy.  Something that I'd wear, as well as other men.  This is what I came up with.  I'm happy with the basic design, but I'm thinking there are some things I'd change before I started to sell it.  For one, I'll probably use a heavier gauge wire.

For those of you who frequent the blog, let me know what you think about it!  Is there anything you'd change on it? 

Wire Wrapped Pendant

A friend of mine asked Karla to make a piece of jewelry out of a stone she (the friend) picked up at some tourist spot. I have completely forgotten where it was picked up or what kind of stone it is. So, it fell to me to do the wrapping to make it a pendant.

This is what I came up with: 

I must say that I'm extremely proud of it!  I used the tutorial here for inspiration and the general know-how to be able to do it, as I've never done it before.  Karla will be finishing the piece, finding the perfect chain and other embellishments.

As this is a custom piece and specific order, it's not going on Etsy.  But, everyone take note!  Should you want something like this, all you have to do is Convo us on Etsy, or send an email to kelleyaccents [at] gmail [dot] com.

Having a clean Camera

This is SUPER IMPORTANT when you have an online store.  I realized earlier yesterday that it's been over a year since I've cleaned the lens on my camera, and during that year, the camera went on a vacation to Mexico, was loaned to my 1yr old son several times, and had an accumulation of saliva and dust.

Why is this important?  If you lens is dirty, you're not going to get a good focus on your items, and when you're photographing something close up, like I do for the store, you need a CLEAR and CRISP focus.  I cleaned my lens yesterday and am very happy with the results.  Check this latest listing out:

The focus is clear and crisp and the photo is beautiful!  There is very little noise in the black, the colors are strong and wonderful.

So, how do you clean your lens?  Very simply.  If it's a compact, turn it on, so the lens extends.   Get a cotton swab and wet one end with rubbing alcohol and then wipe the lens down with the swab, going in a circle starting from the outside.  Make sure to get as far to the sides as you can.  Depending on how dirty your lens is, you may want to dry it with the dry end of the swab, then wipe it down with the wet end again.

When it's clean, lightly blow on the lens to dry it.  DO NOT put your mouth too close to the lens.  The vapor from your breath can get into the lens and condense on the inner elements, making it impossible to focus.  Make sure to keep your mouth about eight inches away from the lens when you blow on it.  It should dry after a minute with no streaking.  If it streaked, clean it again.

And, there you have it!  Your lens is clean so you'll get cleaner photos.

Journals

If you're like me, and have a horrible memory, journals can be your best friends!  It annoys me to no end when Karla talks to me about something of which I have no recollection.  Recently, I've been writing in my journal a lot more than I used to.  I want to remember this stuff and want to have my feelings detailed so it can help me remember in the future. 

On a related note, I'm attempting to learn to bind my own books.  It would be lovely to make my own journals, with quality bindings and a covering of my own choice.

Browsing through Etsy, I found this wonder:  A Winters Journal
That is one cool looking book!  

Learn by Doing

So, I've spent the morning cruising the net, trying to promote our Etsy store and generally wasting time.

I did, however, have a learning experience.  Yesterday, I purchased a coil of copper wire to experiement with (since it's sooo much cheaper than sterling) and try out some designs.  After a wasted hour, I broke it out along with a couple jewelry pliers.  I started twisting, wrapping, and bending wire.  I came up with some cool spirals that I think I want to use in a pair of earrings.  I looked at them and thought to myself, "Self.  These earrings would be REALLY cool with some hammered copper!"  I don't have a jewelers anvil or an appropriate hammer.  So, I broke out the carpenters hammer and a pry-bar to hammer on.

It didn't work.  I finally ended up hammering the copper wire into the concrete of the patio.  It takes a lot of fine hammering to get a good look, yet you've got to know when to stop.  I was trying to flatten out the whole piece, eyering included.  The wire wrapped around the eyering cut the post and cut the eyering right off!  Oops.  Well, now I know not to do that again.

It was a wonderful experience, simply because, had I not attempted to do it, I wouldn't have learned that it doesn't work!  Now, I know, and 'Knowing is Half the Battle!'

Working with Wire

Since I've started making jewelry with my wife, I've been drawn to working with wire.  There is something that makes it a very satisfying pursuit.  I'm not quite sure what it is.  It may be taking something and using my hands to form it into something that looks (or tries to!) beautiful. 

As I was pondering what to write about tonight, I was browsing through Etsy and found this shop:  WireYourWorld

The work there is absolutely beautiful!  I especially love this piece!

It also appears to be a very successful shop.  Which is a good thing!  It means, if we do it right, we can reach that level as well.  We just need to figure out how.

I'm a big Stargate fan and have had an idea for a few weeks now to do some wirework based on the symbols of the different Goa'uld.  I think it would be great fun, but I'm not sure how well the pieces would be received!