February is the month of hearts

  It's hard to juggle all that has to be done to maintain ones self as an independent artist. You have to try find time to fill orders, make custom designs, and come up with new ideas. Oh yeah, and figure out your marketing.  But that's my goal. To remain an independent artist.

 I spent most of 2 days setting up spreadsheets to make my workflow smoother and more streamlined for listing items to Etsy and Jewelry Art Studio  and for posting to Instagram and Facebook It worked. I got 15 items in a new category called hearts on the etsy shop. I also listed the new stone of the month pieces on both sites and started a new category for stone of the month. These will be mostly one of a kind or limited edition pieces.

  Unfortunately Facebook is making it harder and harder for us to reach you without paying for ads. I'll keep trying but much of my efforts now go toward instagram, pinterest and email to show new work, attract followers to my websites, and announce codes for specials. So the new schedule for these email updates is around the first and around the 15th of each month.

    Here are some rough castings of Hearts in process. These will be pendants and earrings. Some are already in the new Hearts section.  I'm trying to get a jump on the demand.  Don't let Valentines day get too close before you order, I might get too busy to get it all in the mail on time.

and some of the fabricated heart pendants in process.  The finished versions are on the etsy store

   The stone of the month for February is amethyst. here is a little article from the American Gem Society
The origin of birthstones is believed to date back to the breastplate of Aaron which contained twelve gemstones representing the twelve tribes of Israel. The current list dates back to 1912 with only one addition since then – the tanzanite was added to December. There are numerous legends and myths about birthstone healing powers and their therapeutic influence. According to these legends, wearing a gemstone during its assigned month heightened its healing powers. For the full effect, individuals needed to own all twelve and alternate them monthly.

January Garnet 

February Amethyst

March Aquamarine and Bloodstone

April Diamond

May emerald  

June  Pearl, Alexandrite, and Moonstone 

July Ruby 

August Peridot, Sardonyx, and Spinel 

September Sapphire 

October Opal and Tourmaline

November Topaz and Citrine 

December  Tanzanite, Zircon, and Turquoise

  I didn't get any feed back from you all on separating the art news from the jewelry news so  it stays together in the same letter for now. If you unsubscribe to one you unsubscribe to both. 

  I've made a new signup form so you can choose 1 or both.

Keep up with new work, shows, and studio stories for and about my jewelry and art by receiving my twice monthly email updates

Happy New Year

 New for 2018
 Happy New Year! (how long can we keep saying that before it's the same old year)
  Did the new year sneak up on you? It did to me. I went from an intense build up for the Holiday to a period of not having much to do, and suddenly there is too much to do again! Thus the late posting of this twice monthly update.
 There a lot of changes coming up this year. One thing I'm doing is starting a Gem of the Month series with designs  based on the stone color of each month. There may be one or several new pieces each month.  Some designs will repeat through out the year with different stones. Some will be one of a kind or limited editions
    I'll be adding new designs in my regular jewelry lines for both men's and women's. Including new buckles in silver and bronze. I have ideas for new animal and nature designs as well as some abstract variations. The women's line will get more one of a kind pendants with stones, more gold, and other designers will be added to the mix on my website. However the Etsy store will continue to be only my handmade creations.
   This newsletter will give you access to discounts on my websites, exclusive opportunities to own one of a kind pieces not posted to facebook or my websites, and It will tell you about instagram contests and give-aways.  I'll also share more stories from my blogs about my art and jewelry process and adventures.
    Art continues to be important.  I'll get more of my work online both on my etsy store and my Fine Art America site starting with a series of small mix media abstracts coming soon. I'm trying to make more time for painting on location and studio abstracts.
    I hope to stay more in touch with my audience this year. What do you want to see more of?  More jewelry? More art? More stories? More process? Do you only want updates only about art?  More heart jewelry?  More sealife ?  More expensive one of a kind jewelry? More men's jewelry?  Please feel free to reply in the comments . I'm always interested and listening to new ideas

   I'm trying to build my following so please forward this to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks again for your support! Wishing you a happy new year!