Entries from February 2008 ↓

Gold-filled seems to be one of the metals that most people know little about. It is gaining in popularity with the ever-increasing price of metal, so I would like to shed a little light on this useful and attractive metal.

Gold-filled is different from gold-plated, both in the way it is produced, and in its gold content. Gold-filled is made by heat bonding/fusing a layer of gold to a base metal (such as brass). Gold-plating, on the other hand, is made by electroplating a very thin layer of gold ions onto a base metal. The layer of gold in gold-filled metal is 50 to 10000 times thicker than the layer of gold on plated metals.

Gold-filled metal has its own special notation. A common gold-filled is called 12/20. This indicates that the metal is 1/20 12kt gold by weight. (I’ll save the discussion of gold karats for another time.)

The primary advantage of using gold-filled instead of solid gold is cost. Gold-filled usually only costs a bit more than sterling silver. The advantage of using gold-filled over gold-plated is that gold plating tends to wear off quickly. Gold-plated metals are not regulated in the United States, and they have no minimum required gold content, so the quality of gold-plated metals varies widely. Gold-filled is an affordable, quality, alternative to using solid gold.

Although I don’t have any gold-filled pieces currently listed in my shop, I do have some available for customers who prefer it.

A few links:
Increasing gold prices
Gold-filled on Wikipedia

I’m thrilled to be able to announce the winners of the Winter Beading Challenge…

Anything Goes – Dew on a Petal

Only the Beads – Tango K Design

Honorable Mention – GalleriaLinda

Special thanks to our judge Christine Dhein of the Revere Academy for Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, and to everyone who participated!

The Spring Beading Challenge will be announced soon; please contact me if you wish to be notified of the Spring Beading Challenge.

Today’s featured Etsy seller is PhotosbyFoosa, one of Etsy’s many talented photographers.

How would you describe your photography?
As unique and interesting

What are your favorite subjects to photograph?
Animals are definitely my favorite thing to photograph as you can see from my shop.

How did you get started in photography?
I had been taking photos as an amateur when a friend of mine who is a pro. offered to sell me his used pro camera because I had taken mine as far as I it could technically go..it wasn’t doing what I needed it to and I accepted his offer and he has taught me everything I know.

What inspires you in your work?
The beauty in the things around me really inspires my work.

How did you name your shop?
I named my shop PhotosBYFoosa after the foosa from Madagascar, the movie because that is my dogs nick name instead of Randi we usually call her Foosa cause she acts wild like a foosa from Madagascar.

What is your day job?
I am currently employed as a bus aide for a 12 year old autistic boy.

What other types of jobs have you worked?
I have been a pet sitter,a drywall, Hanger and taper and a day care aide

Where is your work available for sale?
Currently only on Etsy

Today’s featured Etsy shop is Katrin Lerman Jewelry, a shop featuring handmade jewelry.

Each piece is created entirely by using sterling silver wire and high quality genuine gemstones. First, I create the desired shape/shell for a piece out of thick sterling silver wire. Then I string on the gemstones and wrap the entire piece with feet upon feet of thin sterling silver wire to give it a finished look. I add tiny sterling silver beads to the frame during wrapping to give it more dimension.

How did you get started making your art?

I have been making jewelry for a long time now. I started with friendship bracelets and then went on to beading. Then, when I moved here from Germany, I took metalsmithing classes in and really thought I found my art. But after becoming pregnant, I felt it was too dangerous to work with the torch and everything that was needed in a jeweler’s workroom. So I started with wire wrapping because it gives you lot’s of flexibility in the type of forms to create and also the solid sterling silver feel of traditional metalsmithing pieces. I love how I can work on it anywhere and I’m not confined to a studio. In fact, I do it with my baby playing right next to me.

What inspires you in your work?

Everything around me! I can be inspired by the movies I watch, my childhood or even by the gemstones I buy. Often I also think about possible design while sitting in the dark holding my baby girl until she falls asleep. That is the best time for me to work on some designs and shapes in my mind without caring about time.

What other types of art do you make for fun?

I have so many ideas for other crafts but no time that I try to stop myself before I get started. Nonetheless, supplies for the most random things are collecting in my home. Just recently I did actually start to make embroidered felt accessories with my sister as a balance to creating silver jewelry. It is so much fun creating those colorful pieces and working with my sister that we ended up opening another shop on Etsy to sell those items. It’s www.kaleidoscopestyle.etsy.com. So when I’m out with my baby girl I wear them because they are child friendly so that I don’t have to worry when she pulls on them. I’m always scared when she is trying to touch my silver and gemstone jewelry. Too many breakable parts!

The husband of an Etsy seller (Christine Francisco of bellastyleboutique and rinnovibodyspa) went missing earlier this week. He disappeared on Wednesday night (2/13) on his way home from work in the Seattle area.

Please pass the word along to people in the Seattle area. We would like to see this family reunited. Updates on the situation can be found at mailpen.net

I have a new free spreadsheet (not specific to Etsy sellers) available for download now. It includes all sales information that a small e-business owner should need come tax time. Please note that it does not include all expenses information. I might possibly create an expenses spreadsheet for download at some point too. But for now, just sales. This is also not intended for keeping inventory. I do plan to make an inventory sheet available soon.

Each row on the spreadsheet is a single order (not an individual item). You need to manually input all fields (I did not include a PayPal calculator this time because of the difficulty in determining domestic vs international fees). I still think this can be a handy place to keep track of your monthly sales – it’s all of the information that I personally needed for doing my sales tax, and some of the information I needed for my income tax.

You are quite welcome to share and to modify this spreadsheet for your own needs. However, I ask that if you want to share the spreadsheet from your web site or blog, link back to my blog (http://www.cheldodge.net/blog/2008/02/16/free-sales-spreadsheet/) rather than directly to the spreadsheet file. Thank you! I’d love to hear if anyone modifies it, especially if you modify for a country other than the US.

Oh, and while you’re here, please take a moment to vote for your favorite Etsy photographer (below). Thanks!

I have chosen six very talented Etsy photographers for you to consider. It was extremely difficult to choose only six; the talent in photography on Etsy is just incredible. The photographer with the most votes by next Wednesday (Feb. 20) will be interviewed and featured in my blog in the near future. Please look at all six photographers’ shops before voting. Thank you!

The results of my poll show that I have a very diverse group of readers visiting my blog. The most interest seems to be in my features of Etsy shops. So for those people… I have another feature lined up for next Monday.

For those interested in metal, I plan to write about goldfill soon.

And for the geeks who frequent my blog (Yay, geeks!), I thought I’d talk about Babylon 5 today since I recently rewatched it. I’m hoping that some of you have seen it too and can post your opinions. I like the overall story arc of B5, but the writing was klutzy at best. I mean, seriously, how many times do you need your characters to use the phrase “straight to hell”? Or how many times in the first season does Ivanova need to state she’s Russian? lol I never really became a big fan of the actors who played Sheridan or Sinclair; they just didn’t capture my attention (or imagination) for some reason. Even with better writing, I don’t think I would have warmed up to them. Mira Furlan as Delenn was pretty good (although I think she’s even better on Lost), and who doesn’t like Londo (Peter Jurasik)? A bad guy that we actually kinda like… That doesn’t happen in every series. I think my favorite characters are Lenier, Vir, and G’Kar, because they undergo the most change within the series. (Yeah, Delenn and Sinclair change _species_, but their basic character remains untouched.)

Looks like I need to do something crazy at this point, like get some sleep. I hope there are a couple of you out there who have seen B5.

Question of the Day: If you’ve seen B5, did you like it? What did you consider to be its strengths and its weaknesses?

Poll Answers

Today’s featured Etsy shop is Designs in Floral, a shop featuring a variety of home and gift items created with pressed flowers. This includes intricate artwork, greeting cards, bookmarks, candles, pendants, and soaps.

I asked the owner of Designs in Floral a few questions about herself and her work.

Tell me about yourself. How did you get started making your art?

My mom is a florist so she makes beautiful arrangements with fresh, silk and dried flowers. I always loved helping my Mom gather flowers on the side of the road to dry. However, I was often disappointed that the brightest flowers could not be hung upside down to dry, and continue to be pretty. That is how my business got started. I went to a single class about how to press flowers and I was immediately hooked. To this day, I love to stop on the side of the road looking for flowers to dry. Now I pick those beautifully colored flowers and immediately press them to preserve their beauty. Then I make my own version of flower arrangements for you to enjoy. I love to take the pressed flowers and see how many new ways I can use them. My favorite things to do with them are to use them as my “paint”. A piece of fern becomes a evergreen tree, hydrangea petals transform into lakes or streams, and the stem from a tiger lily can become bark on a tree. Its always an adventure to create something new, because I don’t have any two flowers exactly the same.

What is your day job?

I have a variety of “jobs” I do. I work in my home as a Mom of 3 children (soon to be 4!). That alone is enough to keep me busy, but I also work part time as a medical assistant for a doctors office, as well as some volunteer work with my church. Sometimes I wish I had more time to create art, but I love everything I do. You can learn more about me on my own blog: http://designsinfloral.blogspot.com

What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting their own small business selling handmade goods?

My only advice would be to GO FOR IT! It has been a great creative outlet for me to run my own business. I’ve stretched my capabilities with not only my craft, but also with learning how to run a business and create and maintain a website. It will keep you busy, but it will also keep you learning and expanding your mind.

Where is your work available for sale?

I sell at local craft shows and my online stores: http://www.designs-in-floral.com and http://designsinfloral.etsy.com.