New opportunity to increase blog or site traffic

Some of you may have blogs that are banging (and I do mean that in the most innocuous way), some of you may feel like you are blogging to crickets.

But in either case, who doesn't want more readers? More traffic? Potentially more friends? and insight and inspiration, and, well, a whole bunch of other stuff !

I know I do!

Some years ago, I had the great opportunity to participate in a Synchroblog. A group of bloggers who posted on a topic each month and then linked up to each other in a link party. The focus then was on sharing information, views, opinions, etc (it was a faith based synchroblog).  Now Synchroblogs and Blog Parties/Blog Carnivals are used for fun, to inspire, to share, educate, ANNNNNNNND - to drive traffic. And why not?  You're blogging anyway, right ? (well, many of you are and if you're not - YOU CAN START! or read along)

So why not join together and share with one another and also help one another?

To that end, we're reviving the Synchroblog!


This is open to jewelry artists, other artists, and non-artists alike!

Head over to the Jewelry Artists Network to learn more! (click graphic below) 

 

oh. and recently, I made this (sorry for the poor phone photo). This is a pendant handcrafted from sterling silver wire and sheet with a faceted iolite.

Just trying to keep the METALSMITHING in the journey! :) 

 

TT - A little late

Tutorial coming - pics of 'fold and gold' for now.....

Yes, Tuesday Tutorial WILL be posted today, but its going to be a LATE date post - well, more like a night time post. :) Hope you'll come back tonight or check in tomorrow. I'm having a good time posting metalsmithing tutorials that I find and also sharing those of friends.

In the meantime, I said I'd try to grab a photo of the fold and gold ring now that its oxidized. I didn't get to it last night - swim team is going to be a killer! Yesterday was our first practice. My father was good enough to take LG to the pool at 5pm at which time we found out he'd be in the 6:15-6pm group. They decided to stay and wait it out, so I ran home and picked up little Lisa and took her to the vet. I returned home with Lisa around 7pm and little guy and Pop-Pop pulled in a bit after 7:15. Needless to say, dinner was on the late side last night, little guy needed a shower after being in the strong chlorine, and after he went to bed, I crashed.

Ohhhhh, No, scrap that. I did go to the bench - - got started with the 14k gold bezel - on a lovely little triangular (trillian) cut aquamarine cabochon. After fiddling with that a bit - I then crashed in front of the tv for an hour and went to bed early. (again!)

So I snapped these photos on my way to work this morning and now that I'm taking my lunch break have uploaded them.

Whatcha' think?

I don't really like the way the LOS was left on there....I may redo the LOS and use pumice instead of steel wool, but my pumice doesn't arrive until Friday, so the ring is going to stay as is for now.

:)

Don't forget to check back for the Tuesday Tutorial - if all goes well it will be up whilst its still actually Tuesday!

Oh, and for fun, here's little guy playing Ultimate Frisbee at the school fair this past Saturday.

Isn't he just too adorable?

~Janice

Productive Weekend

For me, metalsmithing comes in waves. I don't always have the time I'd like to sit at the bench for a couple of hours to work on jewelry. And sometimes when I DO have the time, I'm beat! Since I work FT outside the home, and I have a son (age 7) at home, my evenings are a whirlwind.

BUT, I had the best Valentine's 'gift' - the house to myself on Saturday night - from about 6:30pm on....YAY! My son went to a sleep-over birthday party (his first ever sleep-over!) And I got to finish these, two of which are listed on etsy:








I actually had started the smoky quartz ring sometime last week, but didn't finish it until Saturday night. Then whipped out the other two pretty quick. Its unbelievable how having an totally empty house can really boost productivity! If only the rest of the weekend had been that quiet. :)

Saturday morning my son had a basketball game at 8 am. So we were up and out early. Then shopping for the b-day present on the way home. Then house cleaning and some laundry and then packing for the big sleep-over. Then off to the sleep-over, but not before I accidentally tripped the security alarm! So when I got home, the police were waiting for me. But then, after that, I had the house to myself!

Sunday morning I skipped church, something I so rarely do, to pick Sam up from the party. After that we went straight to the grocery, came home, put away groceries, cooked brunch....finished some laundry and hung out with Sam. Took photos of jewelry, made dinner, visited with my daughter and her friend who stopped by, then gave them a ride home - got home about 9pm and uploaded the pictures. Cropped, edited, posted online. And finally went to bed around 11:45 I think. Somehow the weekend seemed busier than that. All I know is it was over before I knew it!!!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

OK, here is a late addition picture - to give you an idea about the size difference:


The chrysanthemum stone ring is really big! The setting itself measures 1.5 inches at the long angle. :)

a few shots and the new ring

I am playing with my new tripod -- ohhhhhhhhh, did I mention I received a little teeny tiny tripod for Christmas!?? It is REALLY small - JUST what I wanted to use desktop for shooting jewelry. I am hoping it alleviates any tiny handshake I may get pressing the trigger or just holding it in my hand while I use the timer.

ok, here is the ring that I mentioned earlier, that sort of matches the bangle....similar, but not the same - it still needs a bit of clean up - but I wanted to show it since I said I would!

And with it on. I wore it today. I have no pride....I don't care if its dirty! I just can't wait to 'test drive' new pieces!! This is a bit big, but I managed to keep it on my middle finger today. I either need to resize it or try to sell it to someone with large hands. :) Or just keep it....

Here's another photo of a few recent pieces and one OLD ring - one that I wear just about every day - my little twist ring, all the way on the left.

Looking towards 2009

I am not yet announcing any big resolutions, in fact, I'm not into resolutions - just the categorization freaks me out a bit. Messes with my head. Sounds like failure at first blush, and second glance, and third read - its no charm for me. So no resolution announcements are coming - at all.

But I do think goals are doable, and beneficial, and something I can think about - in fact I had started thinking about them a while back, about goals and intentions and benchmarks to quantify progress. The thing is, I didn't follow through - I had a good start and then things came to a screeching halt. No, thats not the truth. In reality, things fizzled out...slowly, quietly.....those ideas quietly took a backseat.

So, for starters, I am going to go back to my list and post it in several places - on my bedroom mirror, and somewhere in my car....and maybe at work. I may also post them on the sidebar of the blog. Anywhere I can get them in my sights. I lead a somewhat busy crazy schizophrenic life. . . if I'm going to follow through on some things, I'm going to need reminders.

Perhaps I need to continue to take inventory of my personality and lifestyle and formulate a plan to get the goals started on the right foot before I even set the goals and start working on them! (like a meeting to plan a meeting or a list of what lists to make...lol)

I love New Years. I love that its a definitive 'starting'....a man-made starting but a starting none-the-less. It seems so rich with possibilities, newness, fresh starts. I love that I stay home on New Years eve and contemplate. Quietly. For the past several years I have stayed home, putting my son to bed at just a little later than normal and then I sit.....I read, I listen to music, watch tv or a movie....usually in the family room - where the Christmas tree still stands, softly illuminating the dim room with the colored lights tucked in amongst the branches. Its so calm, so peaceful. I look back to the year that is coming to a close and I also look forward to the coming year. I stopped making resolutions quite a few years ago and have only half-heartedly made goals in the years since. But this year, this year I think I'm ready to really look not only at the year coming up but where I really want to be in 5 years, 10 years, and beyond. And plan. For the future.

I have talked over the past couple of years about creating a 'line' of jewelry. Something somewhat cohesive, in addition to the 'one ofs' that I love to create. But its never really happened. I have been so carefree and almost scattered in what I make because I've been so thirsty for new techniques and constant learning. Well its time to settle down and utilize what I know and see what I can do with it. Just in the past two weeks I've stumbled onto a design that I really really like. Something that I can see translating from the bangle that I made, into rings and earrings and beyond. And not just 'matching' items but slight variations - and they are all popping in my head all at once. And instead of the 'line' confining me, it is actually inspiring me! Who would have thought it?

Here is the bangle that started it all, and its so fitting since the prominent feature on the bangle is a series of lines!

I love the simplicity of the piece and the dark lines against the really shiney sterling.

Last night I sat down and created a ring which is a continuation of this bangle in a way. The shank is flattened 10 gauge rd. sterling wire and then I used half round for the top of the ring, similar to the half round used in this bangle. The lines aren't arranged the same, but they are there. Providing a nice visual effect against the super shiney sterling. I don't yet have a picture of the ring but will try to get one tonight and then update the blog. It's exciting to have something concrete that I'm working towards. I hope the pieces are well received, I really like them. :)

Sleek and casual - great for everyday wear!

~Janice