Here is the newest bridal set from Oceanside Creations! Creamy white 8mm freshwater pearls are showcased in this stunningly elegant silver plated necklace and earrings set. A toggle clasp with a twisted rope design closes just below the throat, securing a 16 inch chain, and giving way to a trio of falling pearls. The matching earrings feature hoops in the same twisted rope design with wire wrapped pearls.
May Sale For My Blog Readers:
Save 20 percent off your purchase in May plus receive free shipping in US/Canada and discounted shipping internationally. Just send me a message through my shop with the items you would like to purchase and I will discount them. Please include the words "blogsale". Clearance items are not available for the 20% off discount.
Today is the first in a weekly series of Behind the Art Monday interviews featuring Etsy artists and their handmade work. This week's featured shop is Mod3rnart from Corfu, Greece. Hope you enjoy getting to know these talented artists!
Tell us about your art. What do you make? How did you come to your craft?
We make handmade silver jewelry from original ideas and techniques. Design and modernism has always been a passion of ours and from there we decided to apply it to jewelry.
What inspires your work? Describe your creative process and tell us about your favorite materials to work with.
Ideas come from life-from what surrounds us. The island provides tons of natural inspiration but we tend to mix that with very modern ideas as well. It is almost like we try to bridge the modern with the natural. We love sterling silver, titanium, copper, ebony and brass.
What are your goals for your shop?
To one day live off the sales ;)
What do you do when you are not creating?
Working 9 hours a day-7days a week to make a living.
What is your favorite hobby other than crafting?
Writing, web design, yoga, bike riding, music,
What brought you to Etsy? Do you sell anywhere else?
A friend exposed me to etsy and fell in love. I also sell on dawanda.
Where else can we find you online?
twitter, flickr, www.mod3rnart.com, http://mod3rnart.com/Blog/Blog-Mod3rnart.html
What is your favorite item in your shop?
The Girl with the Pearl Earring Ring
What is the most valuable thing you have learned from your art and being an Etsy seller?
Everything takes time and some things take lots of time ;)
Anything else you would like us to know about you?
We hope life smiles on you all
You can check out more of Mod3rnart's work on Etsy.
Today I am being featured by my fellow Etsy artist Capow on her great blog. Check it out to learn more about me and my jewelry.
I am also being featured on MysticWynd's blog. If you are a jewelry maker or just someone who loves to wear it you should check out this very informative article with great tips on choosing the perfect necklace or bracelet for you.
Beginning on Monday May, 11 I will be featuring some great Etsy artists and their shops. Each week I will have an interview with a talented artist, your chance to meet the person behind the art. If you are an Etsy artist interested in being featured on my blog please contact me through my shop and I will send you a short list of interview questions.
Never heard of Etsy? Check out your place for all things handmade here: http://etsy.com
This month at Oceanside Creations I am offering free shipping to the US and Canada and discounted shipping anywhere else ($2 flat rate no matter how many items you purchase).
Receive 20% off your order by sending me a message through my shop with the code "blogsale" letting me know which items you will be purchasing and I will discount them for you. Or checkout and I will refund your discount through Paypal.
Sale ends 5/31
Happy Shopping!
http://oceansidecreations.
The beach at the end of the trail
A view of the ocean and marshes from the summit
Have you ever wanted to design a personalized Twitter background for your profile page? I spent several hours yesterday sifting through websites with customizable Twitter templates trying to find one that was just right for my business profile on Twitter. No luck. Couldn't find one I liked. I wanted to be able to add text and pictures and couldn't find one that was working for me.
This morning I came across a great site called FreeTwitterDesigner.com which allows you to cusomize all the colors, add text, add pictures and pretty much anything you want. Pretty easy to use too. Just make sure you have Adobe flashplayer 10 installed first or you won't be able to save your work. I ended up with a background using a picture that I took and my Etsy shop name and web address. I wanted to add a few pics of my jewelry but I think they made the file size too big because I couldn't get my background to save. Take a look at my Twitter profile here (and maybe follow me too! I will follow back). Have fun with your new background!
Today is the first day of May and it has really started to feel nice and springlike in Maine. This past week has been beautiful, which has inspired me to get outside more to enjoy the weather and walk to town to do errands instead of driving the 2 minutes to get there. I decided that it being the first day of May, it would be a good time to set some goals for myself to stay motivated with my work and personal life.
My first goal is to keep being active and to continue walking around town or going hiking whenever I get the chance. I have also started doing yoga again which I love. I have been pretty inactive this past winter because I have been unemployed, and starting my business has led me to quite a lot of sitting, whether at my craft table or in front of my computer screen. So, I discovered a great yoga site, Yoga Today, which offers free streaming classes that are pretty easy to follow, and have started doing a class each day. I'm not nearly as flexible as I would like to be, but after doing a yoga class I feel really good about my body and feel strong and healthy. I want to keep being active and maybe drop a few pounds in the process.
My second goal is to stay motivated with my jewelry business. This winter has been really slow... selling a pair of earrings one week, a bracelet a month later...and it's easy to get discouraged, as much as I have enjoyed being creative. Lately I have been working really hard on promoting my shop through blog and Facebook giveaways, starting my own blog and promoting my sales on Twitter, which has helped. I'm still fairly new to Etsy, having started my shop in December, 2008, and I think my shop is finally getting out there a little more. My goal is to keep making jewelry and promoting my shop, and to make a few more sales than I did in April, which with 7 sales is by far my best month so far. So I want to stay motivated with making jewelry, promoting my business and developing my blog (perhaps with a giveaway!)
Another goal is to keep saving money for my big move this fall. I am moving from Maine to Portland, Oregon with my fiancee to be closer to his family, but mostly in the hopes that there will be more job opportunities in the restaurant industry out there. We have both been unemployed since January, working only one or two days a week at the restaurant where we are both cooks, so saving money has been tough. My goal is to start saving more once work picks up and be able to take off for Oregon in the fall.
So I guess those are the 3 big goals I have right now. Feel free to share some goals you have for the coming months. I always find it very inspiring to hear what others are working towards.
