New Thank You Matchbook Notebooks On Their Way!

I have a new design that is just about finished but due to an injured thumb, they will take me a little longer than usual to complete them. They are so cute though and very spring/summery!



These will be great to say 'thank you' to friends/family at a party or to your loyal customers! They're also just a sweet way to say 'thank you' to anyone in general. There will be 10 white pages inside each book for notes or a personalized message.

I cannot wait to get them done. They are so adorable!

In other news, I just found out that my husband and I will be going to Edinburgh for about a week and a half which means I will need to close my ETSY shop for the duration of the trip. We leave August 7th and won't get back until about the 17th. I'll be putting up a notice in a week on the shop notice board to make sure everyone is informed. Aparently, we are going during the time they have a very large festival going on so I'm excited to research that. It's going to be a great trip. Neither one of us has been to Europe so this will be a great learning experience!

Cheers,
Beka

Pendants!

I've been on a pendant kick lately I guess because it seems that all I want to do is make pendants! I figure why not indulge and see what I come up with.



The silver one isn't finished yet. I still need to hammer it and choose beads to make charms for the loops along the bottom. The black wire looks great but can be a pain to work with since it can be easily scratched to show the metal underneath. While working on the black wire pieces, I was really loving my nylon pliers. If you don't have a pair and you make jewelry, I highly recommend you get a pair.

I'm hoping to get these guys close to finished at the end of the week so I can list them up this weekend in my ETSY shop.

Cheers,
Beka

New Items

So I'm back in the saddle again since I am taking the summer off. I spent some time yesterday finishing up some earrings and a necklace I have been wanting to make and complete before we moved. I love them. They have a great nature feel to them with the greens and the berry colors. They make me think of going berry picking in the summer with my family like I used to do many years ago.

Here are the earrings:

Believe it or not, the difference in the green color beads gives it a little something extra. I do plan on making a variant of this style with slightly different colors.

Here is the necklace with the earrings:

The necklace also has a berry motif. The picture really doesn't do the jewelry justice since it's old and having issues focusing amongst other things. I really look forward to replacing this camera soon.

I should be back in my office working on some more pieces to be putting up in my ETSY shop soon and I can't wait to share them all!

Cheers,
Beka

Current Projects and a State of Chaos

Well, we're down to 10 days before we move! There's still lots to pack up, including my art desk, the computer, and everything for my ETSY shop. It has been really busy trying to get everything together, sign paperwork and pack and it has left little time for artistic creation. I am hoping that after we move and settle, I can get back into the swing of things and build up my shop.

That being said, I have a current pic from my art desk (well, from a small portion of my art desk) of what I'm working on currently. I'm going to try to finish it before we move but because I have been so busy lately, I am not 100% sure that is going to be possible. But there's nothing wrong with trying now is there?



I really enjoy the mix of the deep, warm wood with green and silver metal. There's something about that combination that really speaks to me. It will be a necklace with a matching pair of earrings and I am thinking I will sell it as a set.

I have also completed a pair of nice drop earrings that I think would be lovely for the summer.



I bought the bead caps at a little bead store in Eugene, OR when we were visiting my husband's parents for Mother's day. If you ever happen to be in Eugene, OR and love to make jewelry, be sure to check out Harlequin Beads. They have a great selection and friendly sales associates! I love popping in there when we have some spare time and are in the area. If you do make it there, make sure to sign up on their mailing list. You will receive postcards with special deals almost every month and the one they send for your birthday includes a special bonus!

Happy day to you folks!

Cheers,
~Beka

Latest Project On The Desk

Well, it looks like the commission is all complete! I just finished up the last item a couple days ago and decided to make some nice gift box bags to put them in so they are all ready to go. I came across a really cute idea from splitcoaststampers.com for a 2-5-7-10 box that is adorable so that's what I used for these.



I'm almost finished embellishing them. I want to add something to the stripe on the flap to match the stamp and I have a few ideas but I'm not sure what to do quite yet. I'll either do a flowing stamp in white or a seed bead design.

Etsy Promotions will be featuring many ETSYians on Myspace over the next few months and Enchanted By Beka was lucky enough to get on the list! Check it out HERE. If you are an ETSY shop owner, this would be a great way to get connected and do some promoting.

That's all for now folks. Time to clean up the house because the appraiser is coming over tomorrow morning. Almost there!

Cheers,
Beka

Free Time!

Good news everyone! My husband and I sold our home and we're about to make an offer on one we really love! This means that I have some free time to get back to my art desk! (yay!) It's been so long since we started this whole process and it's left little time for fun things unfortunately but now that part is over.

Currently, I'm working on finishing up the large commission I mentioned before. I will post up process pics very soon. One item from that lot will be featured and I'll work out a series of pics to explain it's process and how you could make one too!

I also have some jewelry pieces that are ready to be put together and a series of matchbook notebooks that are almost ready to be put up in my ETSY shop: enchantedbybeka.etsy.com. I'm very excited to get them finished and listed!

Just a short post for now but more will soon come!

Cheers,
~Beka

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

We're almost done with this whole staging process for the house and it will be up on the market this Friday. I feel like I can breathe again. *laughs* We've been going nonstop for a few weeks now, getting everything cleaned and packed. We had the Realtor come today to do a final walkthrough to make sure that everything looked good and it does. The photographer comes tomorrow to take pictures and then all we'll have to do is keep the house clean! Woo!

I was able to get back to my art desk for awhile to work on things for my ETSY shop again. It felt like ages since I was able to do any work and it was nice to work with my hands again. I took a picture of what part of my desk looks like at the moment. I have a butterfly bracelet made from antique materials up at the top that will go up on the ETSY shop soon. It's the light version and the dark version will come soon. I just started the base construction for a new necklace there which is why it's bare and doesn't have a space for a clasp yet. I wanted to get the overall style construction done first so I could start to visualize bead colors, shapes, sizes, etc. I think I'll go for some nice pastel colors with black glass pearls to offset the pastel shades and bring some edgy-ness to the necklace. Haven't decided what to name it yet. Have any ideas?

Cheers,
~Beka

Work Update

I've abandoned my art desk for awhile because of all the packing up we're having to do and also because I don't have a TV in my office. It can get a little lonely at home by myself all day long...well, I have the cat but he pretty much does his own thing. So, all factors considered, I decided to move out to the dinningroom area because from there I can see the TV, I'm next to the kitchen and still close to the bathroom. Ah, paradise. :P

There are the boxes I'm working on for a friend's wedding. The camera makes them look more pinky than they really are. They're a nice red that's not too bright. I have some matchbook notebooks that I'm working on finishing soon and will be posting those up on the ETSY store. They're so cute and would make great favors themselves for events. The butterflies have little rhinestones on the wings to give them a little sparkle.

I have a bracelet that I finished that I don't have a picture up yet. I'll get one up soon. It's a nice butterfly antique style bracelet with two strands. It's lovely and will have a "dark" partner soon enough.

Well, that's all for now. I need to go to the Realtor's to sign some paperwork. Woohoo...

Cheers,
~Beka

Not Enough Time In The Day

There really isn't! Too bad I have to sleep...there's 8 hours there that I could add to my working time here in my office at home. >.< I haven't gotten very far with my crafts and jewelry because we have been working on the banister. We basically ripped it all out and replaced every single piece of wood because the yahoos that lived in the house before us decided that it would be really awesome of them to paint over the natural wood with a yucky brown color...go figure. It looks great now but I tell you, I'll be happy when we move and don't' have these house projects to do.

That picture up there is about as far as I've gotten with this next necklace I'm working on. I think between taking that picture and making this post, I've created a couple little charms to go with that but I just haven't had the time to finish it. I can't wait for the days that I can come home and just craft or make jewelry for 2-3 hours and then for many hours on the weekend and not have to worry about fixing the house.

My co-worker and friend at my job with the kids is so great. She came up with this idea to make T-shirts to advertise my little ETSY shop. "I'll even wear one!" She said to me yesterday. We shared a good laugh but she has a good idea, I can't deny that. If I only had the money though... She asked if I would be willing to make some extra pieces that she could wear around and "advertise". I told her that yeah, I would like to do that but would need time to make some. So we shall see what transpires.

That's all for now, it's time to get to work!

Cheers,
~Beka

Another Modern Picture Frame Necklace

So I made another Modern Picture Frame Necklace just to experiment with the frame and see what kind of designs I could come up with. I used the long rectangle frame this time and wire wrapped the frame with lime glass beads from Blue Moon. I left one less on the left side there because I wanted to hang a charm there instead. I was thinking about doing only part of the frame wrapped with beads but went ahead and did the whole thing. Maybe the next one I'll only do part of it...symmetry is overrated. :P I used the same kind of chain as the other Picture Frame Necklace since it's nice and sturdy and used as 'S' clasp again with a matching charm.

I wore it to work today and it held up very nicely. I work with kids and am constantly moving around so it gave me a chance to see how sturdy it was. It never gave me any issues.

I'll be putting up the Picture Frame Necklaces on my etsy site tomorrow I think so if you might be interested in either of them, please check out my store Enchanted...By Beka.

Thats all for now. I need to help the husband with rebuilding the banister!

Cheers!
~Beka

Modern Dragonfly Picture Frame Necklace

So I started another necklace last night and finished it this morning. When I began, I had no idea what it was going to be but I think it turned out pretty well. I started with a wire frame I picked up and started wrapping black copper filled wire and ended up with the first picture above on the left. I decided it needed some color and a little something else and added some nice lime green glass beads from Blue Moon that I got on sale at Michael's and a little silver dragonfly charm in the center which is also from Blue Moon. (I love that company) I couldn't decide what to put it on: a beaded necklace or chain and the chain won out. It looked too cluttered on a beaded necklace to me. I finished it up with a silver 'S' clasp with a little charm so the clasp wouldn't come undone. It's a fun necklace to make and I'm already planning out my next picture frame necklace but this one will be a long rectangle. Not sure what I want to put in the center but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

So I started working with my new roll of silver 24 gauge wire for a special project but the wire was crap. It left a black residue and broke off. I couldn't work with it at all. I went back to the store to take it back and they didn't carry that wire in a different company. I braved the start of rush hour traffic and went to another store to find that they were COMPLETELY out of the wire I needed. I settled for a 26 gauge and I'm hoping it will work. Kind of flying blind here so we shall see if it works or not.

That's all for now!

Cheers,
~Beka