Peacock Perfection

I added two new items to Etsy this afternoon... both peacock feather jewelry pieces! I love using peacock feathers... they're one of my favorite elements to work with. In fact, I'm hoping to change my logo, (with a little help from family), to something incorporating a peacock feather. Hence, new business cards, Etsy banner, street fair signs, earrings cards, etc. will soon likely be on the way! I'm seeing my current business cards pop up more and more, and while I think they're beautiful -- I don't want to use what other people are using, too!

Anyway, here are the newest items listed on Etsy:

See them in my Etsy shop HERE!

Of course, anytime I go off on a design tangent, I love to look at what other people are creating on Etsy using the idea, too. There are MANY peacock inspired finds on Etsy that I love, (even some I've purchased myself already)!

For example, this t-shirt from Ancient Future. I love it, but I'm not sure I'd pimp it too much... shipping took 6 weeks... something that was kind of annoying. At least I got it on sale! :)


I'm loving this Etsy artists' feather hair pieces. Sweet Grass Mill uses peacock feathers in a lot of designs. This one just happens to be my favorite of the moment. I've thought about starting to make barrettes adorned with peacock feathers -- but I then decided I'll just stick to jewelry and instead support other artists who are doing this WELL!

I found this print quite a while ago on Etsy, and it's been lovingly placed in my favorites section ever since. This artist, Cafe Baudelaire, hails from Australia, and has work like nothing else out there! What a unique idea for this print! This artist has beautiful work that's so whimsical and in right now! It looks like something Anthropologie would try to knock off. Love it! If you like birds and Victorian-looking flowery things... check out this shop!SunnyDesigns on Etsy has long been one of my favorite shops. This artist creates BEAUTIFUL leather pieces like necklaces I've had my eyes on for years. I found this awesome belt buckle more recently and love it, too!

Finally, my latest find is this awesome Peacock Feather Light Switch Plate from MODest Designs on Etsy. This little piece of art is just 8 bucks. I'm thinkin' it would look pretty sweet in our kitchen.... Mmmmm.... wonder what Mike would think about that? ;)


Anywho, that's it on the blogging front today. Be sure to check out all these fabulous Etsy sellers! I'm expecting an important little phone call this afternoon. Details on that if something comes to fruition as a result... Fingers crossed, I think.

Happy MONDAY! :)

<3 Katery

Sleepless in... Portland?

After a fabulously fun night at Kelly's for her birthday party, (also where I left my camera -- whoops), I'm now home not sleeping at nearly 1 in the morning. That's mostly due to the 2 hour evening nap I took after I got home from the Love Your Mama craft fair in SE Portland, (practically Gresham, btw). I'm not one to complain about a slow craft fair, but let me just say this one was painfully slow, like more often than not --more people working their booths than actual customers. Still, I did better than broke even, met a really nice and knowledgeable jewelry designer, and got teamed up with a great photographer to share a booth at my favorite fair, the Mississippi Street Fair in July.

The lovely chica whom I met is Amy Burgess, and her work is beautiful! I perhaps shouldn't be promoting other people's jewelry on my blog, (created mostly to promote my stuff), but I love it, and a lot of it is quite different than my work, anyway. She uses a lot more gems and precious stones than I do. Her work is on another level, and it's worth writing about! :) She had some beautiful pieces at the fair today. Pictures don't do her work justice, but here they are... ; )

The necklace above is called "Joann", and it's actually a lot bigger than it looks. Amy oxidized all the sterling used and wrapped up this beautiful green amethyst briollette as the focal point. I couldn't put this one down at her booth! Jealous! :)

I'm also loving these earrings with citrine and turquoise pieces. Amy handmakes her own beautiful foraged sterling hoops in a variety of shapes for earrings. That's my next plan -- getting in on the hand foraging of sterling. She told me it's actually pretty easy, so I'm excited to begin that work, maybe later this summer. She also had a lot of helpful advice as far as supply web sites, and I'm looking forward to expanding the work I do as a result! :) Thanks Amy!!

Checkout Amy Burgess Jewelry HERE

Another great artist whom I met today is the photographer behind House of Six Cats. Bill is a talented photographer whose work I love, but he's also got a great marketing strategy for his work. Not only does he sell prints and framed work, but he's really got a lot of other great ideas for showcasing his talent. He's got his photographs on everything -- from night lights, to coasters, to business card holders, jewelry --you name it! It's all beautiful, and I can't wait to share space with him in July! Check out some of my favorites below... each photo is available on a variety of products...

Seaside Memory Print (another beautiful through the viewfinder photo...
I've blogged about how much I love this technique before!)

Acid Olde Tyme Rose Art Night Light

Acid Rose Ceramic Coaster Set

Be sure to check out House of Six Cats on Etsy HERE!

Anyway, that's it for tonight. It's after one o'clock on Mother's Day, the first Mom's Day without my Mom, so I'm not too fond of being awake any more than I have to today. I'm happy to report, however, my Grandma was with me all day at the craft fair Saturday... so I'm very glad to have shared some good, quality time with her. My Mom's Mom will certainly do... now that Mom's gone.

Love,

Katery

Belos Anéis de Flor

Today the language of choice is Portuguese, used to name my newest masterpieces... and I'm so happy with how these turned out!!

Check out the "Belos Anéis de Flor" or Beautiful Flower Rings that came to fruition this afternoon!


I bought a silk flower ring at a shop on NW 23rd Ave. when I was out shopping with Erica a few weeks ago. Much to my dismay, the artist didn't put it together very well... and it fell apart after just a couple of times wearing it. So, I thought I could make cuter rings... better!

For these I trimmed off individual silk hydrangea leaves... then stacked them together using a handmade sterling headpin and a single swarovski crystal... then I glued them onto these adjustable base metal rings, (in gold or silver), and there ya go!

Yay! Fabulous new rings... perfect for Spring and Summer... and they won't fall apart on you! I plan to list them on Etsy tomorrow.

'Til then it's off to spin class and weightlifting for me! Have a fabulous evening! :)

<3>

Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

P.S. Check out this dress I just found online... via a fellow Portland artist/blogger. Beautiful!! Great blog, too! :)
Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Give a Girl Some Freakin' Space!!

This post is about to be all over the place... similar to the current situation that is a span of my kitchen counter.


Yes, that's it... under all the mess. Included in this picture you'll see a Dremel, my display for the little gift wrap cards I made earlier this evening, the mess from making those cards, a paper cutter, a basket of ribbon, glue, display cards showing prices for Saturday's art show, some candles, a napkin holder and napkins, part of my giraffe print purse, a couple pairs of sunglasses, scissors, oh, and there's my phone. Now, find Waldo. ; )

It's been a similar situation on the coffee table, but that's all jewelry-making stuff. Back over on the kitchen counter.... tonight I successfully busted out those aforementioned gift cards:


...and eight of these lovely little price markers for my table:


I want a more cohesive look for my shows... and since I always use a teal and white table cloth... and my black trees from IKEA for jewelry display -- I thought this would do the trick. Here's a shot from the Mississippi Street Fair last July... and my niece woman-ing the booth. :)

Ahhh... summer street fairs. Can't wait for those to start! The next two weekends will host indoor art fairs... easier to set up and find bathrooms, I must say. My favorite so far, though, is the Mississippi Street Fair. Woot!

Meantime, I also feel like all this new teal-ness will go quite well with my existing Etsy setup and my business cards, like so and so:


Okay, well the blurry image isn't the greatest... but it's always on my Etsy shop, too! :)

Katery Designs on Etsy

I had more I was planning on blogging about tonight, but got distracted in the mess that is currently our condo. It's been a long day, too. Drove Gma out to the country this morning, then babysat my little second cousin Ben for a few hours, before going into crafty/jewelry overdrive. Almost done. Tomorrow -- my mission is to create rings using silk flowers I've been thinking of making. A trip to Michaels is in store, perhaps. Fun, fun! Maybe a little cleanup, too.... We'll see. :)

'Night!

Katery

P.S. I scored a fab trade on Etsy today, too. Amy of nJoy designs, (whose Etsy shop I've blogged about before), is trading me a lovely clutch very similar this one for a couple pairs of earrings -- peacocks and copper moon pearls. Sweet deal!! :) This baby's made of waterproof oil cloth... perfect for Portland weather -- or anytime you're around alcohol, (which, as well all know, has a weird tendency to spill). SCORE!!

Check out nJoy Designs on Etsy HERE!

Le Cercle d'Amitié -- and J.Crew Love! ; )

Bonjour! I'm thinking of making my Etsy shop a bit more global and naming jewelry in foreign languages. Let's start avec Francais, oui? "Le cercle d'amitié" is French for "the circle of friendship" -- and that's what my next Etsy item will be. These lovely brass hoops are wrapped in gold with swarovski crystals, and delicately attached to gold chain with more crystals. A perfect gift for mom... or any other close friend who deserves a little something special! :)

10 champagne round swarovski crystals... my fave so far

8 green bicone swarovski crystals...

A bit of a twist... part of a gift set for a friend's mom for Mother's Day!
These are the swarovski crystal colors I'll be able to make these lovely necklaces is: red, clear, champagne, bright blue, solid aqua, solid pink, clear pink and green.

I can also make these necklaces using small jade or amethyst rounds, or pink, purple or white pearls. Lovely! I'm really diggin' that champagne crystal version. I think that might end up in my personal collection one of these days!
In the meantime, I'm busy putting all this jewelry together for this Saturday's "Love यौर Mama" Art Fair। It's from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Gilbert Park Elementary -- 13132 SE Ramona St., just North of Foster. Please come and shop for Mom and Portlanders -- support local artists!

Tomorrow I'm headed to the country to take Grandma out to her brother's Christmas tree farm for a little visit। She'll stay the night, and I'll head back in to babysit my little cousin, Ben. What a cutie! He has a LOT of energy, and I'm sure we'll have fun.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Happy Cinco de Mayo! I'm so not in the partying mood after consuming several bottles of wine amongst friends last Saturday night. Drinking is quite unappealing at the moment. Instead, Mike and I treated ourselves to a little split dinner at the O.G. (our favorite spot in the 'burbs -- The Olive Garden)! Great, a post titled in French, Italian dinner, all on Cinco de Mayo. Go figure!

We also swung by J.Crew to spend my free little gift card I got for having a J.Crew credit card. Ah the perks. I got this lovely dress on super sale as a result. Yay!


Oh -- KAREN!! Look, I found the shoes you're looking for while pulling up the picture of my dress. Half off! Go get 'em, Tiger! :)

Link to SHOES!

Okay, that's it... 'Night night! :)

Love,
Kate

Turquoise Love

Ever since I was a little girl I've had a love affair with turquoise. I think it's in my genes, since my Grandpa Herb was a jewelry craftsman in his later years, and living in Tucson, Arizona, he loved utilizing turquoise in his pieces. In fact, I've got several pieces he made for me with turquoise in them. As a jewelry designer myself, I love using turquoise, too! The beautiful range of colors turquoise can encompass are my favorites and have been since I was young.

I just put together these turquoise and rose quartz earrings and listed them on Etsy tonight:

See them on Etsy HERE

These earrings, obviously, go along with this turquoise necklace, also listed on Etsy and blogged about here. :)

Using turquoise in these pieces made me want to go Etsy hunting and see what other lovely turquoise-ness I could find on my favorite site. Here's what I found:

These stunning turquoise drops are created by an artist in Seattle. I love these beautiful ear wires! I'd love to someday get to the point in my jewelry making abilities where I could do sterling work as lovely as these. You can find these earrings on Etsy at StrungOutDesigns shop HERE.

Are you kidding me about the above turquoise chunks? Those are actually soap! Oh my goodness... I'm loving this shop. Not only is there turquoise, but there are also soaps that look like amethyst, too. This stuff is beautiful! Check out all the lovely soap from Amethyst Soap on Etsy HERE.

How about a lovely little set of hair clips featuring turquoise, aventurine and jasper? This beautiful Etsy artist is up and coming so be sure to check out this item and more on Etsy in La Vieja Tun Tun's shop HERE.

I'm loving these reclaimed brass candle holders from Viva Zephyr on Etsy. These candle holders are powder-coated in turquoise, giving them this lovely Anthropologie-inspired look. Beautiful!

That's it on the turquoise front. You'd be amazed at how tough it is to find things made with actual turquoise, (outside of the jewelry section), rather than turquoise colored things. Anyway, I'm off to bed soon. Earlier today I was a jewelry-making machine, hit up the gym, went grocery shopping with Grandma, and had lunch with Mike and a former co-worker. Tomorrow night will be a little Cinco de Mayo celebration with friends, as well as a stop at the gym and a new store I'll soon be selling jewelry in called Sweet Jayne. Fun idea... everything in the store is $18 or less. Here's a link... I'll be sure to update when Katery Designs are in the store! :)

Sweet Jayne Web Site

Sweet dreams!

Love,

Katery :)