MY BLOG HAS MOVED!

You can now find &/or follow me on any of these social media platforms:

Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/LeafRiverJewels

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeafRiverJewelry

 Instagram: http://instagram.com/leafriverjewelry

 Tumblr: http://LeafRiverJewelry.tumblr.com

 Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/LeafRiverJewels

Holiday Orders and Shipping Deadlines

2010 Holiday Orders and Shipping Deadlines

During this time of year, in my experience, the USPS can run a few days behind their normal delivery schedule. Therefore I can not guarentee delivery by 12/25 unless orders are shipped Express Mail. If you would like your purchase shipped Priority or Express please contact me prior to ordering for a rates.

Below are my recomendations for orders placed in my etsy store.

Custom orders or orders with personalization (ex. Design Your Own Charms, Handstamping/Engraving, Specific Size Requests) should be placed by 12/15 to qualify for FREE Domestic First Class Shipping

Non custom order or orders that do not require Personaliztion should be placed by 12/17 to qualify for FREE Domestic First Class Shipping.

Review: Rio Cold Mold Two Part Compound

Rio Grande's Cold Mold Two Part Compound

Price: about $25

My Goal for this Product: To create 3 dimensional PMC charms

The Bottom Line: Easy to use and affordable. A must have for metal clay artists.

My Review: I couldn't be more pleased with the product! You get a good amount of the product and will be able to make many molds. The compound comes with complete instructions that are simple to follow. All you have to do is combine equal amounts of each part, no additional mold or release agents are needed!

Tips for Using this Product: The compound beings to harden quickly, so have the object you intend to create your impression from ready to go before you being mixing the two components. I like to test the impression on a lump of Play Dough before committing to making a mold from it. Sometimes the object I'm using (ex. the pattern on a spoon handle) doesn't create a deep enough impression to make a good mold from.

My first molds with Cold Mold Compound

My charms after firing in the kiln
(unfinished, I still need to apply the patina)

Rio Grande has a great video about how to use Cold Mold here (after the wax carving demo)

Earring Sale Going on NOW!

I'm having an Earring blow out sale right now in my Etsy shop.

Earrings starting at just $8

with FREE SHIPPING!

~Sterling Silver~

~Pearls~

~LSU and Saints Colors~

~Vintage~

http://PreciousMetals4u.Etsy.com

LSU Tigers Treasury by Tulipstrunk2010

I'm in a Treasury!!

LSU Tigers Treasury
by Tulipstrunk2010

Custom Order: 13.1

I've been slacking on posting photos of my custom order lately but I wanted to make sure you saw this one.

This custom order is a gift for to 2 sisters.
The recipients had lost their mom a year ago, and has spent the last year training for a half-marathon to raise money for leukemia research (which is what their mom had). To mark the occasion, their friend ordered each a special charm engraved with their initials and the distance of the half marathon.

Most Important Custom Order EVER!

This afternoon, I put the finishing touches on a bracelet I had been working on this week. I turned to show my 3 year old and she said "Oh mommy, that is so pretty. Is it for me??" I felt so bad!! Out of all the jewelry I've made I have NEVER made anything for my biggest fan!! (I'm a terrible mother) So, after a quick explanation why she couldn't have the adult size bracelet, we jumped in the car and headed to the supply shop. I told her to pick out 4 of her most favorite charms and mommy would make a special bracelet just for her. At first I was impressed b/c she seemed to be sticking with a theme; dolphin, seahorse, fish, train?!? Oh well, it's her bracelet. I added the "L" as a special surprise.

She's already gone to bed so she will get it tomorrow morning (Sunday morning = DONUTS!!). Hehe, it's so tiny!

Farewell to LOST

I know the purpose of this blog is to discuss my jewelry and related topics, but I thought I'd change it up a bit and share a few pics from our Farewell to LOST party this weekend.
(we are such nerds! but it was fun!)

My husband and I in Dharma jumpsuits
with my sister and her hubby dressed as Jack & Kate

It was pretty funny to open the door and
see my sister holding a shot gun. LOL! Also, it had been raining so they had the perfect wet, running through the jungle from Smokie look.

The Apollo Bars were my fav! My sis made 'em! Don't they look awesome!

Here Comes the Bride(s)

With wedding season fast approaching, I wanted to share a few unique order's I've had lately for some special brides and grooms.

This first 'token' is a gift from a special friend to the happy couple. It is going to be incorporate into the brides bouquet. The bride had lost her mother and the groom had lost his father. The inscription reads "always on our minds, forever in our hearts" with the wedding date in the center. The backside is engraved with the brides mother and grooms father. The heart/crystal dangle in front represents her 'something blue'.



And this oval charm for Matthew and Meghan will be hung from their unity candle during the ceremony.

Congrats to both couples! Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day. Best wishes to you both!

Class Project - Copper Leaves

Last weekend I took a metalworking class where we learned several techniques for working with copper. Our class project was to create copper leaves. We learned how to bend, texture, cut, form, soften, and harden the metal. Many of the techniques I already knew, but it was fun to spend time with other jewelry enthusiasts and learn new tips and tricks from the other students and teacher.

Here are the leaves I created in class while practicing the techniques:

After class, I was in such a jewelry making mood, I came home and made this cuff bracelet
(soon to be in my shop as soon as it's finished)

I made the Etsy Front Page!

I just happened to check CraftCult.com Sunday afternoon and discovered I was featured on the front page of Etsy!! I'm beyond excited!!

And the Winner Is...

Thank you to all who participated in my
Etsyversary Hide & Seek Contest

I put all the entries in a bowl, shook 'em up and let my 3 yr old draw the winner.

Congrats to:

Yamarilet P. from Kenner, LA

Yamarilet will be receiving a pair of sterling silver fluer de lis earrings!

Aunt Tala's Jade

My great Aunt Tala lived to be well over 100 years old. When I began making jewelry my grandmother gave me one of Aunt Tala's old necklaces: a strand of jade pearls. The necklace had been broken many years before and the stone had just been sitting in her jewelry box. I'm working on diving the stones into several pieces of jewelry so that each woman in my family can have one.

Here are 2 pieces I created this week using wire wrapping techniques I learned from
Beautiful Wire Jewelry
by Irina Miech

Handmade Louisiana: Cards for Cancer Drive

Wanted to share some photo of my precious angel helping mommy make
handmade cards for
Cards for Cancer

(scroll down to learn more about Cards for Cancer)

She is very excited about her artwork

and that it was going to make "them feel all better".

For more info on Cards for Cancer and how you can participate
scroll down a bit more or click here

A Modern Twist on a Family Heirloom

My cousin challenged me to come up with a modern way for her to wear an antique family heirloom. This beautiful brooch belonged to her grandmother-n-law. My cousin, who's not a brooch wearing kinda girl (neither am I), wanted a simple yet sophisticated way to incorporate it into somthing she could wear almost everyday.

By connecting double chains to the filigree work on the brooch, I was able to create this simple necklace.

Here Comes Baseball Season

The last few days have been filled with orders for Baseball Charms!
Here are a few I've finished recently:

I also made this sweet tag for my Mother-n-Law. She sell diaper bags and baby items on Etsy and wanted to include a zipper pull on one of her custom bags. Check out her shop here - http://www.etsy.com/shop/StitchesFromTheSouth

Handmade Louisiana: Cards for Cancer

The first annual

Cards for Cancer

will take place on

April 10, 2010

and Handmade Louisiana (a group I am a member of)

is among the groups participating in the event.

What is Cards for Cancer?

Cards for Cancer is a worldwide event focusing on letting people with cancer know others are out there thinking of them. Having cancer can often be lonely. Sometimes something as simple as receiving a card provides an uplifting of ones spirit. Cards for Cancer sponsored by Spirit Jump and Bloggers Unite.

Groups participating in Cards for Cancer have the opportunity to honor someone who has been touched by cancer. Handmade Louisiana had chosen this year to honor the memory of Jonathan DiLeo. Jonathan was an amazing person and a friend to everyone he met. He was the best friend of one of our member's daughter and he is greatly missed every day.

Each group chooses a cancer center to deliver the cards to on or before April 10th. Handmade Louisiana will deliver our cards to the Mary Perkins Cancer Center in Covington, LA. In addition to the cards, some of our members have offered to donate items as small gifts for the patients who received treatment at the center. We hope that these offerings of comfort and hope help cheer and lift up the recipients' spirits.

To learn more about Cards for Cancer please go to http://cards4cancer.org.

If you'd like to make a card or donate a small gift to the patients at the center please contact me for more details at PreciousMetals4u@cox.net

Etsy-versary Hide & Seek Contest

I'm celebrating my Etsy-versary

by having a
Hide & Seek Contest!!!

Starts: Monday, March 1st

Ends: Wednesday, March 31th

How to play:

• First, find three of the Hide & Seek logos (like the one above) hidden within three separate listings in my shop.


• Then, send an email or Etsy Convo to me with the following information:
  

1. Links to all three items with the Hide & Seek images.

2. Your Name and Address to mail the prize to.

3. Your prize choice (select from list below)

No purchase necessary!

All entries will be collected and a drawing will be held and the prize winner selected at random. The winner will be announced Thursday April 1st

right here on my blog!

The winner will get to select ONE of the following prizes up for grabs:

Prize #1
A pair of Hand-Stamped Sterling Silver Earrings

Discs are 3/8" and you select the design stamps
(Disc and earwires are sterling silver)


Prize #2
One Stretch Necklace


You select the color beads and charm

Available colors:
Black
Purple
Slate Grey
Silver Blue

Charms:
Cross
Giving Tree
Tiger Face
Tiger Body
Fleur de Lis (SOLD OUT)

You can DOUBLE or TRIPLE your chances to win by leaving a comment and letting me know you've done any of the following:

• Blog about this contest and provide a link.

• Tweet this contest and provide a link.
  

My Apprentice

Taking 'Arts & Crafts' time to a whole new level!!

Just wanted to share a few photos my husband snapped while I'm teaching my 3 yr old daughter how to make a textured pendant from scrap silver.

After a quick lesson in what we can and CAN NOT hit with a hammer, she's eager to start banging!

BANG, BANG, BANG

Next we squeeze, squeeze, SQUEEZE with the hole punch pliers

Daddy, DADDY! Look what I made!!

Then mommy oxidizes and polishes it.

So Close!!!

I ALMOST made the Etsy Front Page!!

According to CraftCult.com my
Sterling Silver Textured Ring
was chosen by Etsy as an
alternate choice
in a Front Page Treasury List.

(That means that if one of the items on the front page had sold,
my item was an alternate to replace it.)

It's always been a goal of mine to make the front page, maybe now that I'm on their radar I might make it!

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!!

A custom Pet ID/Collar Charm for a sweet kitty named Lilly

Let's Stay Together

This morning I received the nicest email from PragyaK of ArtoCrat: Home Art Prints & Posters. She said:

Hello,

Love your work and blog! I wanted to post this comment on your blog but the comment link is broken or something. Anyways here it is-

"It was so nice to stumble across your blog. I've just read through 3 posts and I'm hooked :) Is there a way I could get your daily posts in a email? Tried the RSS but it just takes me to a page filled with words! LOL!"


So I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a few solutions with everyone out there that might be experiencing the same dilemma! There are multiple options for getting your Precious Metals fix ;-)

1. Blog RSS Feed

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a Web feed format used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document (which is called a feed or web feed or channel) contains either a summary of content (teaser) from an associated web site or the full text.

To subscribe the RSS feed simply click the Blog RSS link
This is going to bring you to a text/document of the same webpage. At the top of the page you should see a yellow subscription box. Click Subscribe to this Feed.


Next a confirmation box should appear. Click the Subscribe button.



Now you should see a message that says You've Successfully Subscribed to this Feed

Open MS Outlook. Under the RSS folder you should see a folder for Precious Metals

2. Facebook Fan Page and Twitter

Whenever I create a new blog post I always post a link to it on my Facebook Fan Page. My Fan Page is also linked to my Twitter account. So any updates to the Fan Page are automatically posted on Twitter. On Twitter I also post any new listings in my shop, but I don't post new listings on Facebook.

Become a Facebook Fan: www.Facebook.com/PreciousMetals4u

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/PreciousMetals4

3. Followers

If you have a Blogger.com account you can opt to "follow" a blog. Simply locate the Followers section of the blog and click Follow

You will be asked to login to a account (I use google)

Once you sign in you can select to Follow This Blog

Now when you login to your Blogger account you'll see the blog listed in your reading list

4. Comments

My friend Rachel, from Sohaus, also had issues with comments not working correctly on her blog. This is what she found that solved the problem:

If you want to comment on any of the blogs, you need to sign into your google account. If you've already typed up a comment without signing in, and you hit "post comment", you'll get a thing saying this couldn't be processed. Just click on "more options" and it will let you sign into your account and then your comment will show up in the feed.

There you go! I hope this helps so of you navigate the Blogger world and stay in touch with your favorite blogs.