With summertime comes... toe rings!

After almost a month of not creating any new designs, I decided that it was high time to come up with something to excite me-- and hopefully my potential customers as well. I sat down with my tools and my wire and proceeded to have that certain look that always makes my husband say, "What on earth are you doing? Often, a new idea just comes to me, and I eagerly get to work, twisting, cutting, and bending, until the idea is a reality. Other times, like the one I am speaking of currently, I sit down and tell myself I am going to come up with an idea, right now.That is when the desperate, concerned, somewhat psycho "look" can be seen.

This time, while racking my brain to come up with what people might want, I looked down at my sandal-clad feet, and I realized what I want. A light, feminine, shiny toe ring! I'm in sandals nearly every day in the summer, and I know that I'm not the only one. (Though I may be the only one who adds socks when it gets chilly, rather than giving up the comfort of sandals for something more weather-appropriate!)

So that is just what I did. Now, toe rings are a bit limited due to the nature of the toe.

Don't get me wrong, there are many possibilities, and I intend to explore the heck out of them, but you can't just take any round ring and put it on the toe. It needs to be a style that is slightly adjustable to allow for the area where the ring sits to be thinner than the end of the toe that the ring must first pass over. Yet it cannot be the type of adjustable ring that has two bands right up against each other, or you risk being pinched when weight is put on the toe.

Given the elements that are absolutely necessary in a toe ring, I went with a style that I have seen many times, and concentrated on how I could make mine better. I blunted the ends of the wires to avoid poking of the skin. I curled the wire slowly and carefully so that it the curves are smooth and flowing, rather than rough and primitive, all the while being careful not to leave any unsightly marks on the silver with my metal tools. Ever mindful of functionality, I made the design so that the curl in the wire that is nearest to the end of the toe curls downward, toward the foot, to avoid snagging. Finally, I tumbled it for a few hours to harden the silver a bit, helping the ring to hold its shape while still retaining some flexibility so that it can mold properly to the wearer's toe.

I've been wearing it for 4 days now, and I am pleased with it. I even had to paint my toenails. They looked so plain next to my lovely ring. I've always admired toe rings on others, but never had one that was comfortable enough to wear on a regular basis. This one is going to be a permanent fixture for me this summer!

Aluminum Jewelry

I've discovered a new medium, and I'm in love! Aluminum. It's bright, it's shiny, it's  inexpensive, and best of all, I love the feel of it in my hands. Seriously, I'm one who has quite the thing for touching things, and working with aluminum wire is absolutely blissful.

My first creation in aluminum is a bracelet and ring set. Because I haven't had experience with how aluminum behaves as jewelry, I've been wearing the set-- and getting lots of compliments.
 

The bracelet is wonderful. I made each link individually, with a feminine spiral on each end, linking them together with jump rings. The great thing about this bracelet is that it is almost weightless. It is so light that I forget I'm wearing it. This is ideal for me, as watches and heavier bracelets never fail to have me tugging and adjusting them all day.

The ring, while beautiful, and a perfect compliment to the bracelet, does have a drawback. It is soft. Aluminum is a soft, soft, metal, and it doesn't take much of a snag to bend the ring out of shape. I have been wearing it for 2 days so far, removing it at night, and it still looks great. However, there have been several times already when I've had to gently put it back into shape. One such time was when I was filing paperwork, reaching my hand between tightly shelved manilla file folders. With a different style of ring, a bit more substantial and compact, this would be a non-issue, but this particular one can lose its shape pretty easily. I'm okay with it, but would certainly need to make that drawback very clear when offering this style of ring to anyone else.

Lastly, I made a butterfly pendant from aluminum. Again, this material just feels like butter in my fingers. I adore working with it. I haven't taken the pendant on a test run, but the only drawback I foresee is that it will not stand up to abuse, such as Baby tugging on it, as babies will do if they get the opportunity. The light weight will be a nice perk.

I look forward to working more with aluminum. At the moment, I can't seem to put it down!

Honkus Grogana featured in a blog!

Yay! I am excited, humbled, and grateful. Lauren at Orange Raspberry Lemonade featured some of my handmade jewelry in her blog!

I invite you to check it out, and show Orange Raspberry Lemonade some love. Lots of good reading there. I was thrilled to find an article about menstrual cups. I feel that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and can't believe more women don't know about them!

Sometimes We Need that Push

I was just reminded how wonderful my customers are. They have faith in my talent even when I am unsure myself, and they never fail to push me to do more and more.

I opened my shop with nothing but rings and wire name pendants. Friends would ask, "Do you do necklaces? Bracelets?" And I would say, "Not right now, but maybe in the future I'll branch out into more types of jewelry." The fact is, I am comfortable making rings and wire name pendants. I've done it a bazillion times, and I'm confident that I can design and execute a beautiful ring without any difficulty. Necklace, bracelet, earrings? The same techniques are used for making those, wire wrapping, but because I haven't made many, I am afraid to try! What if it doesn't turn out right? What if people don't buy it? So-and-so makes gorgeous earrings. What if mine aren't as good?

Twice now my customers have given me the push I needed to take a chance and make something I hadn't made before. The first time was just before Valentine's Day. A sweet husband was buying his wife a ring that she had admired when she saw me wearing it. He asked me if I could please make her a set of earrings to match. How am I going to say no to a sweet husband and additional sale? I said yes, I made matching earrings, and they were beautiful. She called to let me know how much she likes the whole set and it just made me warm and fuzzy all over!

The second incident was just a couple of days ago. An artist at Etsy featured my swan ring in her treasury, and another artist saw it and loved the design, but doesn't wear rings. She sent me a message asking if I could make a bracelet in the same design. I was thrilled, and I was terrified! The bracelet would be made in exactly the same way the ring is made, just bigger, which means a lot more sterling silver. This scared me... what if I messed up and trashed more than 2 feet of sterling silver wire?! I swear I must have held my breath as I carefully crafted that bracelet... and it turned out absolutely lovely. A perfect replica of the little ring, but bracelet-sized.

I'm so grateful for these people who make me live up to my full potential. The tendency to limit myself seems to be strong sometimes, and I feel the limits lifted every time I complete a new challenge. I expect that my confidence will continue to grow and my shop will continue to evolve as I sell more and more pieces. And I know that there will always be those wonderful people that will ask me to make something that I had never dreamed of making, and that is what makes jewelry making even more exciting, fun, and challenging.

Buckling Down

Holy time warp, Batman! It feels like it was just Monday! I had made it a goal to blog 3 times per week; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Turns out I didn't do so well this week with that endeavor. It's funny, I was just about to write here about what I have been doing, when the phone rang and totally reinforced my game plan. It felt a little like a blow to the stomach, but I needed it.

It was a nice gentleman who is a client at the law firm where I work. His wife had come in to drop off some paperwork for him, and she saw the sterling silver green agate ring that I was wearing and really liked it. I told her that I made it, and she asked if I also sold the jewelry that I make. I told her about my Artfire shop, and explained that I could make her a ring very similar to the one I was wearing. (She needed a larger size than that particular one.) So her husband called a few days later and asked me to email him a link to my website. He just called back to ask me to make her a ring and earrings from sterling silver and green agate, but he also said this: " I checked out your shop, and it was really nice. I had expected to see more in there, but the things you have are beautiful." I thanked him and told him that it's a new project for me, and that I am adding new things every day, still a work in progress.

Which brings me to what I have been up to while I have been neglecting my blog: Making new jewelry! That has been my game plan for the week, and I have made quite a few new things. I still need to get more, more, more items in my shop! I need to photograph and list the ones that I have already made. Sometimes I get caught up reading and learning about how to market my stuff, SEO, and what's going on in the Artfire and Etsy communities, and I feel like I am doing something productive. But the truth is, while learning is nice, and while promoting is important, my shop will not be successful until I get a nice respectable amount of items there. No way around it.

This weekend and all of next week, create and list, create and list. I can dig it. But hopefully no neglecting my blog this time. Please feel free to chastise me here if I do not make some sort of interesting contribution here by Tuesday next week!

Holly
Honkus G.

Opened an Artfire shop

I've only just opened my Etsy shop, but I have been looking around for an additional place for my items to be available. Many artists recommended Artfire, so I decided to give it a try. I opened a basic account for now, and if I see that I have a nice flow of traffic and a good amount of sales, I'll be upgrading the account to a paid one.

HonkusGrogana @ Artfire

If you are an artist or crafter and you are interested in opening a shop at Artfire, you can do it by clicking my referral link below and you and I will both get our 3rd month free.
http://www.artfire.com/users/HonkusGrogana/sell-crafts

My Surprise Swan

The swan first. This was such a pleasant surprise! A gentleman contacted me about my cherry ring. He wanted to know if I could make it a bit more substantial in size for a man's hand. I told him that I would be glad to do that. He also mentioned that he loved fleur de lis jewelery, and asked if I could make a fleur de lis ring.

So I bent and twisted, but what happened was not at all a fleur de lis! Instead, I ended up with a graceful swan! I just love it, nobody else has it, and it was such a complete accident!

Now to come up with a fleur de lis...

                          Click the picture to go to the swan in my Artfire shop

My first "craft show" = fail? Not at all!

My very first attempt at selling my jewelry was at an elementary school's fall festival. A friend of mine had posted on her facebook page that her daughter's school was looking for artists to have tables at their fall festival. Booth fee was only $20, and she said there is normally a very large turnout.

Terrified to do it on my own, my friend Carolyn and I split the booth fee and shared a table. She was selling beaded jewelry and I was selling wire name pendants. I thought it would be a good venue for the name pendants, as young girls do seem to like them. I think I sold 3, and Carolyn sold one item, a watch, which she discounted drastically from the price that the she would normally have asked.

A few things were going on here.

• The crowd did not come prepared to spend large amounts of money. They need items at a low price point.
•  The festival had been rescheduled from a previous date, and was now held on the same day and time as a big-deal college football game

So, while the amount of money I made at the festival barely covered my half of the rental fee and my lunch afterward at Taco Bell, the experience taught me something, and I am grateful for it. Next time I do a school fall festival, I will be sure to bring lots of eye-catching but inexpensive things that Mom & Dad will not say "no" to.

I'd be remiss if I did not mention that it was a beautiful day, which I got to spend outside talking with lots of nice people, hanging with Carolyn, and getting some exposure for my craft. I also learned that my daughter, Sid, is an outgoing little sales girl, bringing over girls, two at a time, "Do you like my necklace? Come see, my mom can make one for you, too!"

Fail? Nope! I had a great time and learned something, too! Win!

Welcome!

Welcome, and thank you for stopping in!

My name is Holly and I love making jewelry! I started making wire name pendants when I was 15 years old, working for a wonderful couple that leased a shop at Six Flags over Georgia. I did this for several summers, and it was something I really enjoyed. After that, I made pendants for family and friends, but had never considered selling my pretties.

I have a regular daytime job as a legal secretary at a small law firm, and my husband, Jaaxx, and I have an online store called JuicyLiquid where we sell the liquid that goes into electronic cigarettes. Fortunately for me, both of these jobs can be quite fulfilling. I work with wonderful people at the law firm, and I get a good feeling when I can offer help or even just a smile and a kind word to people who are down and out. I am sometimes moved to tears when someone who purchases e-liquid from us writes to say that they haven't smoked a tobacco cigarette in a year, or their grandmother quit after smoking for 40 years. But for the most part, Jaax runs JuicyLiquid. Certainly I help, but he does the bulk of the work. And as much as I don't like to think about it, my boss at the law firm won't be around forever.

One day I posted pictures of some of my jewelry on my Facebook page, and my friends really liked my stuff! I was getting tons of messages from friends there, asking if I could make them a ring like that, could I make a pendant with their daughter's name on it, could I make this one in blue? I couldn't believe it. But yes, I could do these things, and I did. That is when I decided that I'd like to take a shot at opening up a small online shop, doing a bit of consignment, and attending some craft fairs.

I'd like to share my journey here, as it happens. The excitement, the disappointment, the things that work for me, and the things that didn't turn out so hot. I also would like to share about the actual making of jewelry, and other artists who touch or inspire me. I'd also like to share other things, at times, that make me smile or laugh. I want to meet lots of fun people.

At this point, I am unsure of how my story will go. It is my hope that it will be a long and successful story of how a 30-something artist, wife and mother of two, came to be making beautiful jewelry and selling lots of it.

Thank you for visiting here! I hope you will come back and share in my journey. I would love to hear your comments, suggestions, and experiences.
My online store, Honkus Grogana, can be found HERE.