Check Out The Trove Feature on Rena Klingenberg's Jewelry Success News

If you make and sell jewelry, then there's a good chance that you know about Rena Klingenberg's Home Jewelry Success Tips newsletter. Rena does a fantastic job of keeping jewelry artists in the know about new techniques, packaging and display trends, and networking with customers. But my favorite part of her newsletter has always been the section featuring personal jewelry stories submitted by other readers. Finding out what inspires and challenges other artists and even just knowing how many of us are out there is compelling to me. So the other day I thought, why not submit my own story? I went with the one about painting the bf's duck decoy (I blogged about it just a week or so ago). You can read it (in slightly-modified-for-newsletter-reading-audience-format) in Rena's newsletter here*

*Link deactivated.

Happy Halloween!

The bf likes Kermit. We were at my parents' house once when my mom was cleaning out the attic, and he got the biggest kick out of this tiny stuffed Kermit I had when I was a baby. (It sits on our living room bookshelf even as I type this.) So, I bought him one of those tiny gift books all about the beloved Muppet, appropriately called It Isn't Easy Being Green. (If you squint, you can see it crammed in the bf's pocket in the picture above.) All of this explains why, at 2:00 a.m. one night last week after enduring many false leads in the wily game that is costume hunting, I picked out Kermie and Miss Piggy. They went over pretty well at the costume party we went to last night. Even if I did let it slip out that I'd eaten ham for dinner.

Something New and Sparkly: Fabulous Felt Fruit Trio Necklace

Fabulous Felt Fruit Trio Necklace

This Fabulous Felt Fruit Trio Necklace is the final piece in my fabulous felt series -- for now. Truth be told, I've been steeling myself against a deluge of fabulous felt necklace design ideas all week. They just keep popping into my head, begging to be brought to life. But I'm going to put off making more felt friends for awhile because I want to get a jump on some Christmas-themed projects. Black Friday will be here before we know it. (I'm a little ashamed to have just typed that because I hate when other people say it, all important, foreboding, and smug like weather people predicting snow.) The whole prospect makes this crafter-slash-shopper just a teensy bit anxious. So, I think I'll just put it out of my mind. Back in the present, the Fabulous Felt Fruit Trio Necklace is now up for grabs in my Etsy shop. My Fabulous Felt Tulips Necklace is in Etsy's geekery showcase today, so I'm hopeful it'll bring me some lookers. :)

Something New and Sparkly: Fabulous Felt Cherries Necklace

Fabulous Felt Cherries Necklace

These cheerful cherries are enough to charm the child in anyone. (Try saying that five times fast!) When I was in the throes of making the necklaces for my fabulous felt series, I knew that at least one would feature cherries. Cherries, after all, sing with the kind of light-hearted, cartoonish glamour for which The Tote Trove stands. You can find the Fabulous Felt Cherries Necklace on the menu of tasty treats in the Made to Order Necklaces section of my Etsy shop.

Something New and Sparkly: Fabulous Felt Tulips Necklace

Fabulous Felt Tulips Necklace

I'm back at the ranch tonight (as evidenced by this photograph) and rolling out my new felt necklace series. I'm starting with the Fabulous Felt Tulips Necklace because it's the most colorifically in-your-face of the trio, and therefore, my favorite. I've just added it to the ever-growing and delightfully eccentric Made to Order Necklaces section of my Etsy shop. Be sure to check back tomorrow when I unveil my next new chunk of neck candy.

The Third of My Posts Without Pictures - Jack Handey Quote of the Week

"I think a good novel would be where a bunch of men on a ship are looking for a whale. They look and look, but you know what? They never find him. And you know why they never find him? It doesn't say. The book leaves it up to you, the reader, to decide. Then, at the very end, there's a page that you can lick and it tastes like Kool-Aid."

The Second of My Posts Without Pictures

Tonight I had the good fortune to be packaging orders, as I sold my Carnival Critter Necklace (go crazy corsages!), Retro TV Necklace, and Orange Arts and Crafts Necklace this week. There's nothing like being able to spend time making someone's purchase pretty. I wrapped each item (including the surprise free gifts) in rainbow-colored tissue paper I just bought, then bundled everything with tulle. But I think my favorite part is still writing the thank you cards and illustrating the package envelopes. I can't help but think how excited I am when I order something from Etsy and it arrives all done up with pretty wrappings and hand-written messages. I want to make sure that my customers feel that way too, that they smile when they see the necklace/tote/barrette they've been waiting for all decked out in their mailbox.

I also spent some time photographing myself wearing a bunch of my older necklaces. The pictures are for my Etsy shop site. (I think it's important to provide at least one photograph in which I'm wearing the item. Even though I used to scoff at such advice when I read it in other blog posts and articles.) Although I still hate taking pictures of my jewelry, I think I'm getting better at it.

I discovered a hard-to-work clasp on one necklace and repurposed it by tying red and white polka dot ribbon around each end, to be secured as a bow in the front, off-center. I sealed the knots of the ribbon with some fabric glue and will probably give it a test spin by wearing it some time next week. I hope it holds up, because the ribbon makes it look much more interesting than it did before the clasp mishap.

In other news, my mom made baked apples after she came home from her chorus rehearsal. She is a fan of dessert, which is, I suppose, why I'm a fan of dessert. She also made a healthy and tasty dinner of chicken salad sandwiches on snowflake rolls, chicken soup, and a zucchini casserole. I've always marveled at her ability to prepare food that's yummy but doesn't feel as if it's clogging your arteries. It's a talent I've yet to master myself, but I hold out hope.