The Woes of Silver and Pearl

I recently came across a thread somewhere in the black hole that is the internet where people were saying that they never ever get pearl jewelry with silver metal with it, because of how hard it is to clean the tarnishing silver without damaging the pearls.  I was slightly taken aback, as the majority of my jewelry is made with some form of silver.  

I use silver filled wire in all my designs, some designs use more than others but its needed in all of them.  Even in my strung necklaces and bracelets, the pearl or crystal at the end of the extender chain is held on by wire.  I have many designs made with sterling silver chain.  Like these:

I do make a lot of designs with stainless steel chain instead of silver, like these:

The stainless steel chain is good for several reasons.  For one, it's strong and low maintenance, it won't ever turn or tarnish, it's less expensive than silver or gold, by a lot, and it gives the jewelry a little edge!  But, you can't wire wrap jewelry with stainless steel, the wire would be so strong that it wouldn't be workable.  Pure silver wire is great, but its expensive and not as strong.  That's why I use silver filled wire, the copper center give the wire added strength, but unlike silver plated wire, the silver coating is so thick that by the time it wore down to the copper center the wire would be so thin it would break.  Plus filled wire is a lot less expensive and that helps keep prices down!

The truth is, you can clean silver without harming pearls!  I read somewhere that baking soda would do it, I don't know about that, but I do know that non-bleach tide will do the trick!  I used it a ton when I worked in a jewelry store.  All it takes is some hot water and about a tablespoon of the tide, let the jewelry soak for a minute and its clean!  If you keep the jewelry in a little plastic bag when you're not wearing it, the silver won't tarnish nearly as fast.  It's really easy, you don't need to go buy special bags or expensive cleaners! 

I do apologize if this post sounds 'salespersony' but I want to give you all more information about the materials I use and why I use them.  That's it for today, pop back over on Thursday for this weeks 'Design of the Week'!

Last Day for Free Shipping!

Today is the last day to get free shipping on a few of my bracelets!  You can find them all on my Etsy shop, follow any of the links below to enter the shop, these links are to the items that I'm offering the free shipping on.  They all have matching earrings and necklaces, if you'd like one of those, please message me via etsy and I will make sure you get free shipping on those as well!  If you don't see a matching pair of earrings or necklace that you'd like, again message me and I'll get one made asap just for you!

Peacock Pearls with Pink Crystals:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172427888/peacock-pearl-and-pink-crystal-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active

Pink Pearls with Blue Crystals:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/169235438/pink-pearl-and-blue-crystal-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active

White Pearls with Green Crystals:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172443873/white-pearl-and-green-crystal-bracelet?ref=listing-shop-header-3

White Potato Pearls with Grey Crystals:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172430424/white-pearl-and-gray-crystal-bracelet?ref=listing-shop-header-4

White Pearls with Purple Crystals:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172428506/white-pearl-and-purple-crystal-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active

White Pearls with Turquoise Howlite Beads:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172428806/white-pearl-and-turquoise-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active

White Peanut Pearls with Red Crystals:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172442445/white-peanut-pearl-and-red-crystal?ref=shop_home_active

Wine, Blue, and Peach Pearls, with and without Dangling Pearls:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/171977572/blue-wine-and-peach-pearl-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active

Enjoy!

Design of the Week #4

It's that time of the week again!  This week the design is...the "Girls at the Piano" Bracelet!

This design name refers to a basic design of mine that have necklace, bracelet, and earring versions.  It's a simple design that is extremely versatile.  It can be worn for special occasions and casually, and I can make it in a variety of different bead/crystal and pearl combinations.  Here are a few examples:

Another variation of the design was worn by some gorgeous bridesmaids:

The earrings you see one that last girl are the earring version of this design, which also come in every imaginable color and pearl combination!  Here is what the whole set looks like!

I created this design with a simple goal in mind, to make a simple, wearable bracelet.  It's not overpowering or chunky, and it's not so simple that it fades into the background!  The necklace and earring designs came from just wanting a simple, wearable set.  Nothing really too fancy!  

Since Christmas is fast approaching, here is my gift to you, I offer free shipping on this item starting tonight and going through Sunday Night!  If you would like the matching earrings or necklace, please message me via Etsy and I will make sure you receive free shipping on your entire order!

Check out my Etsy store here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaPetitePearlsandArt?ref=si_shop

A First for Me!

This past week I celebrated my very first jewelry sale on Etsy!  So excited to send the package off to it's new home!  After so much work posting in discussion forums on Etsy I finally got a sale!  I never thought I would be one of those people that is glued to a screen, but here I am, glued to my laptop.  I did recently take a job walking dogs in my neighborhood, so at least I won't get fat living this very sedentary lifestyle!  Aside from making my very first sale, I am also excited about my newest design, another first for me, a double strand necklace!  I've made double strand necklaces before, when I worked at the pearl shop last year I made double, triple, I don't know how many strands I've done in one piece, maybe like 6?  That makes for a really intense necklace!  I've not made one to sell myself yet because more than one strand equals double the pearls and double the work, which translates to more money that I have to charge.  Did I mention that really any more than 2 strands and you need a special clasp so the pearls will on you neck correctly!  But I recently purchased some new pearls, big and beautiful white rice pearls that almost exactly match my smaller rice pearls.  I couldn't resist putting the two together!  What do you think?

There is a challenge when stringing multiple strands, you have to 'nest' them.  Nesting is stringing one strand just long enough so that it lays right beside the other strands, too close to the other strand and it will lay on top of the others, too long or short and there will be a gap between the strands, which can sometimes a good thing, but not what I was going for.  Personally, I think it turned out really well!  To see more, and if you'd like on of these necklaces, visit my Etsy!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/172286565/white-double-strand-pearl-necklace?ref=listing-shop-header-0

Just a Quick Reminder!

The Design of the Week design 'Girl Reading a Letter' Necklace is up on Etsy with free shipping today and tomorrow only!  Take a look, and if you'd like the matching earrings, message me there and I'll make sure you get shipping free for those as well!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/169242913/white-pink-and-mauve-pearl-statement?ref=shop_home_feat

Design of the Week #3

I've been doing this for a couple weeks on Facebook but it will be a first here on the blog!  This is my Design of the Week!  Every Thursday I pick one of my designs and elaborate a little on how I got the idea, why I named it what I did and silly stuff like that, I also offer free shipping on Saturday and Sunday on that item!  This week the design is my 'Girl Reading a Letter' necklace.  (shown below on Etsy)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/169242913/white-pink-and-mauve-pearl-statement?

And also these cool photos, thanks to my good friend Caitlin, I have some cool model photos!  

I think she's ridiculously pretty, which is why she makes such a good model for my jewelry!

So, this design doesn't really have an awesome design story.  When you buy raw pearls they come on string, the nice people where ever they come from sort them and put the ones together that look alike, I appreciate it although I don't envy them!  These particular pearls all come on the same strand, I could have split them up and done designs out of the peach ones, mauve ones, and white ones, but they look really nice together, they have a pastel kind of blend going on, so I wanted to create something that would display that.  I did spend quite a long time rearranging these trying to figure out the best sequence, how many pearls, and of course I have to find the right size pearl in each color, if the biggest pearls were on the outside it would look strange!  That's the hard part when making pearl jewelry, each pearl is different, they each have a slightly different shade, size, and shape, once you have a design and you're making a second piece, you have to go through that process again of finding the right size and shape that fits with the other pearls in the design.  

I've sold a few of these necklaces, one girl that bought one told me she liked it because it's like a statement necklace, that doesn't take over your whole outfit!  I've seen some really awesome statement necklaces, and some pretty awful ones too!  They can be so big and chunky that you have to wear something very simple to even pull it off!  I wear this necklace a lot, and I wear it (I think successfully, no one's ever told me otherwise!) with a lot of different tops and dresses and it complements, the lightness of the color and the variation makes this a very versatile piece!  Definitely not the thing in your closet that you see and think 'if only I had something to wear it with!'  

I think that's all for tonight, I have a ton of other fun tidbits I wish I could share but we'll save those for another time and you'll just have to keep an eye out for them! 

To check out the previous 2 Design of the Week posts check out my facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LaPetitePearls?ref=hl
And be sure to check out the rest of my designs on Etsy!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaPetitePearlsandArt?ref=listing-shop-header-item-count

Seeing a Dream Come True, and a Face Plant!

This past summer I took my jewelry to the Kentucky Music Weekend's Arts and Crafts at Iroquois.  My dad is a lover of folk and bluegrass music and has passed that love on to me, I can't get enough of it!  So I sat outside for two straight days hoping to make back the $60 I spent on the bus ticket to get there!  Which by the way, I almost missed!  The train in Chicago was running behind and we had to get off 2 miles from the Mega Bus stop, my husband and I ran, flat out ran through downtown Chicago during the lunch rush with all my bags.  As we turned the corner there was the bus, closing the luggage compartments and getting ready to pull away(had I not started jogging a few weeks before I would have missed it, no doubt!).  Thankfully the driver saw our panic and waited, and right there in front of a bus full of people my dear husband Jon tripped and face planted on the concrete, but I made it!  Jon's face is intact, having fallen on top of my bag, and after a few minutes of being on the bus the women next me leaned over and said "so, I saw you running."  So I got to tell story to the whole top level.

I did make back the $60, and got to meet some pretty awesome people!  I got to know the woman in the booth next to me, she sold re purposed leather things(I proudly display the tassel key chain I got from her!).  I took note of how she handled her customers and tried to emulate her calm, assured demeanor.  I don't know how well I did but I did sell some jewelry!  One bracelet went home with a woman who looked at it for a long time, put it down and left, I saw her go to each other jewelry tent and then come back and buy my bracelet, I won't pretend it didn't feel good to know that of all the bracelets in those tents she went to, mine was her favorite!  Another woman, perhaps my favorite, is a mom of two rather rambunctious, but well behaved, boys.  She, her two boys, and her husband wondered into my tent, and the woman fell in love with my 'Water Lilies' Pendant (https://www.etsy.com/listing/169231750/twisting-pearl-pendant-necklace?)  they seemed like the kind of family that didn't spend a lot of money on frivolous stuff, like fine jewelry and pearls, but my necklace wasn't expensive.  They moved on but she looked back at me and whispered, "we'll be back!"  They were, she stopped right in front of the tent and looked at her husband, who(rather lovingly) said 'go for it.'  I felt honored to sell that necklace to her, I had a beautiful pearl necklace that she loved, and she could afford it.  It reminded me of why I had started the business in the first place.  I wanted to make jewelry that people like me could afford, and this lovely lady with her two boys and quiet husband let me see a dream come true.  I had so many other wonderful customers that weekend, people I knew and people I didn't.  I hope I can share all the stories with you all at some time, but this is enough for today!

The New La Petite Pearls!

It's been just about a year since I first hatched a plan to create my own pearl jewelry business.  I was working in a pearl shop in Chicago and finally realizing why none of my friends or family had pearl jewelry, it can get pricey, like a strand of pearls costing thousands of dollars!  I sure don't have that kind of money to spend on jewelry!  I started doing some research and found that a nice stand of raw pearls could be purchased for much less than a few thousand, not even a few hundred.  I had left the pearl shop but still wanted to make jewelry, it was fun and I made some pretty cool designs at the shop and was itching to do more.  I scoured thrift stores and ebay for any good deal and came across a woman selling an enormous collection of raw pearls, for no where near what they were worth, with some Christmas money and a little (a lot) of help from my husband, I bought it.  I started creating and posted the photos to facebook, within a few days I'd sold 3 items!  With in a few months I'd made back my investment (that help I got from my husband) and was making profit!

After some trial and error, and perhaps some more error still to come, I am selling on Etsy!  Lets hope this isn't one of my errors!  It's not exactly paying the bills at the moment so I'm sure you'll be hearing about my day jobs, yes I have 2.  I am a receptionist at a leasing agency and a dog walker (dog walking is more fun!), I am also an artist.  I'm sure you'll be hearing about that as well!  I hope you'll stick around with me, and until my next post, check out my facebook and Etsy shop:

https://www.facebook.com/LaPetitePearls?ref=hl

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaPetitePearlsandArt?ref=listing-shop-header-item-count