Hey Guys.. I am sorry for not writing for a very long time.. I am in the process of finding an appartment and my landlord is not being very helpful in the process.. But that is another story..

I have been busy busy lately.. I have joined some Facebook groups of fellow jewelry makers.. I actually sold some of my pieces! Yeay!!
I am also working on some tutorials (by that I mean, I am trying to pick a piece I should write the tut on).. Several people have been asking me about it so I have decided to do it.. Maybe you could help me pick one...? Just check out the slide show and let me know, what piece you would be interested in learning ( if you are into jewelry making..)

Oh.. I am auctioning off my pieces on my Facebook page so if you are interested in owning a one-of-a-kind wire wrapped piece of jewelry, you should totally check it out.. I am having 24 hour auctions with low starting bids.. So just stop by, place a bid (if you want..) and maybe become the lucky winner of one of my pieces..

The piece being auctioned off today ( Auction ends tomorrow 2:45 PM central time) is this beautiful copper/black adjustable cuff..

I am looking forward to your input and thanks for stopping by..

<3

!!!THE GREAT PENDANT GIVEAWAY!!!

Hi Everybody,

Sorry, I haven't been posting anything lately.. So I have decided to make it up to you by having an AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!

!!Win this romantic and playful plumeria pendant!!

 

With this dreamy pendant you will be the talk of any party. It is hand wrapped in a unique design.. The delicate pink plumeria flower nests inbetween wavy layers of wrapped and coiled, wild layers of brandy colored, enameled, non-tarnish copper wire.. The exquisite, sparkling, faceted green Swarovski crystals accenturate this one-of-a-kind piece. It looks like a romantic tiny flower garden dangling around your neck.. 

It comes with an 18" long silky brown neck cord with an adjustable sliding knot. That way you can easily adjust the length of the cord to fit your style, each time you wear it.. The pendant itself is about 2" long.

All my pieces are one-of-a-kind. Due to the handmade nature and complexity of my designs, it is virtually impossible to reproduce a piece again.. So if you are wearing one of my pieces, you can be sure, you are the only one in the whole world.

You have the chance to win this stunning wire wrapped plumeria pendant.
And Fellas.. Valentines Day is comming sooner then you think.. Your sweetheart will thank you for it! She doesn't have to know it was free!!  ;-)

Giveaway rules:
1. Follow my blog.
2. Like my FB page www.facebook.com/toowired ( if you're not yet a fan)
3. Favourite my Etsy shop  www.etsy.com/shop/2wired (if you're an Etsy member)
3. Comment on this post.

Get extra entries for an extra chance to win! Share this post with your friends.
1. Each friends that follows my blog & mentions your name = 1 entry
2. Each friend that likes my FB page & mentions your name = 1 entry

Deadline is January 13! So hurry! And GOOD LUCK!!!

Social Media Marketing for Dummies ( like me.. )

Hi.. Sorry for being MIA for a while.. But I was busy trying to spread the word on the world wide web about my little jewelry business using all these Social Sites. But this Social Media Marketing stuff is so complicated... Or is it just me?
I am pretty sure, I am not the only artisan, that has a hard time trying to comprehend this Marketing business. Here I am, trying to spread my stuff throughout the web, to get some exposure... but nothing..
There are so many other factors, that play a role like the Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's "natural" or un-paid ("organic") search results. ( I just copied this one off Wiki. I really had no idea, what in the world an SEO was, until now.. ) In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. Now I just have to get to the higher rank in the search engine. But HOW??
It's all about the tags, folks..  You may also call them "search terms" or "keywords ". People (or your future customers) basically type them into the search engines, to find what they are looking for.. So you have to make sure to use lots of these words throughout your website or domain. But you have to use the words, your customers will be using.

And what about the Meta tags?? I have never heard of them in my life! ...until today...  So I decided to google it. I google everything! Hey, you'll never stop learning new things in life..
I found several useful information on this matter.. Meta elements provide information about the web page, which can be used by search engines to help categorize the page correctly. But from what I read, they are not really being used as much anymore.. So I guess we don't really have to worry about them...

But I think I am slowly getting it.. It is one of those " learning on the job" things, I guess. And I have found a really interesting social site.. LinkedIn.. I know all you computer whizzes have probably known about it for years. What should I say, I am still learning... Anyway, I have learned some pretty useful things on there.. Like about the SEOs. Check out this post about the use of the Social Media Sites.. It was an easy to understand explanation for the simple soul, like me..

http://www.e-xanthos.co.uk/blog/idiosyncrasies-of-marketing-in-the-digital-era/#!

The information is short and to the point..  Just the way I like it.. Don't give me all your complicated explanations and descriptions. Speak English!

Oh.. I just wanted to let you know that I signed up for a few more sites (take that SEO!) So if you guys want to follow me, here they are...

www.facebook.com/toowired.
( like me if you want a chance to win one of my jewelry pieces in a Giveaway. One's coming up really soon. )

www.twitter.com/2_Wired
www.pintrest.com/2wired
www.google.com/+ElviraWard
www.linkedin.com/ElviraWard

Do you think it's too many?? Maybe you're right...  I feel that I hang on these sites all day, and I don't really have any time to make something.. Time is in short supply if you have 2 kids... if you know what I mean... I can only take care of my business stuff, when they are in school or in dreamland.. Family comes first!

So.. If any of you has some comments, tips and tricks, or other informative material they would like to share.. Don't be shy.. I am always ready to learn something new..

Thanks for listening.. <3

Behind the scenes of....  Wire wrapping


Well, Hello to my first follower.. Thank you for joining.. :-)

Today would like to talk about my favourite past time in the world.... Wire wrapping! I love it, because it is sooo much fun.. It is like therapy for me after a long day of taking care of my beautiful girls ( I have 2... :-))  Unfortunately I only get to do it when they are in school or asleep.. so that gives me not as much time as I would like to have. But enough about me... let's get back to the main subject.

Did you know that wire wrapping dates back thousands of years BC? The British Museum has samples of jewelry from the Sumerian Dynasty, found in the cemetery of Ur that contain spiraled wire components. This jewelry is dated at approximately 2000 BC. Other samples of jewelry from Ancient Rome show wire wrapped loops (one of the important techniques in making wire wrapped jewelry). This Roman jewelry is dated to approximately 2000 years ago. In the manufacture of this early jewelry the techniques for soldering did not exist.
... I didn't know, myself, until now! Now it is not very common, anymore.. Today, the wire wrapping approach to making jewelry is primarily employed by individual craftspeople... like me.  ;-)

Of course, you'll need several tools to help you with forcing the wire into a shape.. There are many different ones.. The main tools I use are:
- round nose pliers ( to make those beautiful loops)
- flat nose pliers ( those have many uses.. one of them is holding and bending the wire )
- the flash cutters ( to cut the wire ).
... And last, but not least, you need wire..
It comes in various shapes and sizes. There is round, half-round and square wire. Sizes vary from really thick wire (which I use as a frame for my pieces) to very fine wire, almost as thin as hair ( I use that one for the actual wrapping of all the different designs ). You can choose between copper, brass, silver, sterling silver, silver plated, gold plated, enameled copper ( which basically means color-coated copper ) and gold- and silver filled wire.. So many choices! I personally like copper, brass and the silver.  Every now and then I use some color-coated copper wire.. You can see an example of the color-coated copper wire piece on the picture below..

Once you have all your tools together, you'll need some inspiration.. You can get it from the most unlikely places.. The bracelet you see on the picture below was actually inspired by a fairy computer game my daughter was playing.. Who knew, right??

 There are many wrapping and weaving techniques.. You can find a ton of tutorials online.. And then it's practice, practice, practice..   Practice makes perfect... Don't give up.. It could take some time until you are at the level of being able to make clean, intricate pieces.. You'll never stop learning.. I know, I still am... :-) 

Thanks for reading..  <3

Hey Guys,

I just checked back on my little blog, and I see that I finally have some followers. Welcome! I hope you will stick with me for a while  :-)

Behind the Scenes of......   Etsy

Etsy is supposed to be THE "global handmade and vintage marketplace". A large group of jewelry artists have opended their shop there.. And I am one of them... The majority of the little sales I have is through Etsy.  But now I feel, that Etsy has turned it's back on me, the individual artist..

The Etsy policy states, that the website is for people, who sell handmade items, vintage and supplies. But how do they inforce that policy? Especially in the handmade category?? I guess the term  "handmade" has a different meaning for the individual.. Mine is.. you spin your yarn and hand-knit a pair of gloves.  The other option (which I see a lot on Etsy, lately)... you make a charm necklace by stringing a bunch of charms you bought from China... I think anybody could do that...  Don't get me wrong... There are some really talented artists in the Etsy crowd.. I just feel that they go under and go unnoticed amongst the rest..  " The more you make, the more you matter". And let's face it.. If you are truly making your items by hand, it takes a while for you to finish one (depending on the items you offer) and you can not make as many as somebody with tons of charm necklaces and bracelets..


When Etsy started in 2005, it was the place to go to for people, seeking and appreciating handmade items.
They added the suppliers and vintage re-sellers.. (?)  Then, in 2011, the Etsy blog’s “Featured Seller” was a woman claiming to sell handmade furniture constructed out of salvaged wood, which would be great if she were actually making all the pieces herself. She had over 200 items in her shop.. How could she do so many on her own... by hand??? They then found out that she was just designing the furniture and a company in Bali was making it for her.. Do you consider this handmade???  This shop totally violates the site's policies.. I guess that's why they changed them by redefining the term "handmade".
Eli Goodman (Etsy Admin) states: “In looking at the sellers that really embodied the spirit of what we want Etsy to be, there was no one production process that unified them – some made everything from scratch, some had help in their shops, and some used outside production assistance. Thus, we settled on a definition of handmade (based) more around the values these sellers embodied, as opposed to the methods of production that they used. We chose not to change to some other term because we called Etsy a marketplace for handmade things, and the sellers who have formed our community identify themselves as handmade sellers. ”
The problem is, the community, who identifies themselves as handmade sellers, don't really identify with Etsy's new handmade definition.. That means, anybody can sell here, now.. The new definition encourages outsourcing and mass production.. And that has nothing to do with the care and attention to detail, a truly handmade item brings to the customer..

Bottom line is... When I signed up on Etsy, I truly believed, that I finally found a place, where the individual artist was valued more then big profit. Etsy's motto states so... but their new policy??  ... not really..  How can a customer see the difference between the truly handmade and the mass-produced?? It is not that easy... So when you browse Etsy looking for handmade items, beware... Not everything on Etsy is handmade.

BTW... Below is a picture of a 100% handmade cuff by me.. It takes me an average of 6-8 hrs. to make one of those, because it is completely hand wrapped. Every piece in my shop is made with a lot of attention to detail.
Just as an example, that I can not have a ton of jewelry in my Etsy shop, because of the amount of time it consumes to make one...

To see more visit my Etsy shop  www.etsy.com/shop/2wired 

P.S.:  Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions on that subject.. <3

Hey Guys,

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately.. I was kind busy finishing my custom order of the egyptian cuff, which is finally done, btw.. It came out just like I have pictured it..  Check it out..  

 I hope my customer will like it..  

<3

Hey Guys,

Finally got the goldplated wire in the mail.. ! Yeay! And already started on my custom egyptian cuff.  In the meantime, while I was waiting for the wire, I made a bracelet. Hand wrapped with non-tarnish silverplated wire. Featuring a medium olive green Swarovski crystal.. You like??