Welcome to the Fall Business Women Online Expo!

I'm excited to be a part of the 1st Annual Fall Business Women Online Expo this weekend where we're showcasing our businesses with shameless self-promotion, learning about each other (networking) and having fun with contests, give-a-ways (or whatever we want) to entice folks to stop on by and check us out! What fun!


For starters, let's get down to the good stuff: the GIVE-A-WAYS I'm having!



1. Be one of the first 3 folks to leave a comment at the bottom of this post telling us what you like most about our blog and/or website (www.MiShelDesigns.com) along with your name and email (so I can privately get your mailing info) and you will win a pair of our "Herringbone Weave Pearl Drop Earrings".

2. The first 3 people to become our friend/fan on our MiShel Designs fanpage on Facebook on Saturday, September 26th, will win a pair of our 14K GF Faceted Lemon Quartz Drop Earrings. Log onto facebook and go to our MiShelDesigns.com page, became a fan and then send us a private message with your email so I can get your mailing info to send you your pretty pair of earrings!
Okay - is that easy or what?!!

Now, for our juicy detials. And, since most of you are surfing the net w/little time to spare - we'll keep this short (no pun towards myself taken!!) and sweet.

The "We" behind MiShel Designs is me, myslef and I - with lots of love, support (and purchases) from my family, friends and return customers! I'm Michelle Buettner and I love to laugh, have a quirky sense of humor, twirl my hair constantly (when I don't have jewlery tools in my hands!), would stop breathing if I couldn't create jewelry and I consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet! I hold a Graduate Pearls Diploma from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and I love to drool over pearls, gemstones and all things jewelry. My jewelry, even though somewhat trendy, tends to be classic in design and taste and can be worn season after season.
Okay - there you have it. Have fun checking out all the fabulous designers who are participating in the 1st Annual Fall Business Women Online Expo - and please, please share their info w/your friends. We all love handmade items and it feels great supporting those who are passionate enough to put their creativity out in the world for everyone to enjoy!














Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Pearls Baby!!
Cheers,
~Shel~


Find Us Here:
http://www.misheldesigns.com/
http://www.misheldesigns.blogspot.com/
FaceBook
Twitter
Myspace

Fall Business Women Online Expo

Hey - grab your 'fun hat' and click on over to the Fall Business Women Online Expo this Saturday, September 26th!


It's a fantastic way to network w/other independent online business owners, learn some new ways to network within your chosen online social media sites and have a great time to boot!
Plus, you and your friends can find some fantastically great buys for the upcoming holiday season. Nothing feels as good as supporting independent designers AND getting great stuff!


Check it out!!

Until this weekend,

Peace, Love and Pearls Baby!!

Cheers,
~Shel~

Social Media: Does it really influence women's buying decisions?


Okay - I'm really trying to follow the advice of all the pro's and guru's out there who tell me (and everyone else, too) that part of my over-all marketing plan must include as many social networking sites as possible (that apply to what I do, anyway) and that I must take full advantage of these tools if I want to succeed and I want women to buy my jewelry.


In reading "Surprisingly, Women's Purchases Largely Uninfluenced by Social Networks" by Ann Hadley today, I was 'surprised' - as it says - that women's purchases are largely UNINFLUENCED by all the social networking sites - especially the ones I participate in like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace!


My question, after reading the above article is this,...."Do you think that women's purchases are becoming more influenced by these social networking sites because all the pros and gurus out there are 'stearing' things in that direction by touting what they want to be the outcome? Or are you, as a woman, largely, or in anypart, truly influenced by social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, and myspace soley on your own, and do you base your purchases, name brand or independent, on social networking sites and their information?"


I'm interested to hear what types of social networking has helped you in any type of buying decision.....please weigh in.


Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Pearls Baby!!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Fall Designs

I just finished this for my sis today - part of her fall collection.




I haven't oxidized the earrings yet - that's tomorrow!

I like the way the blue-ish grays and purples mix nicely with the blackened silver. Reminds of Fall as I look at it - cooler nights, autumn smells of apple cider and cinnamon - oh, that's nice!

The sleek chain with the baroque shaped pearls mixes things up and gives it a bit of an edgy look!

I hope she likes it!

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Pearls Baby!
Cheers,
~Shel~

New Trends


I just came across this article in the Open Forum that I'd like to pass on:

Trends: New Luxury


It's loaded with info on how the trend on luxury goods and services is shifting and how smaller businesses are taking new and innovative steps in capturing a broader clientele.

I found certain portions greatly beneficial to the "Pearl Buyer Representative" area of my business where I assist clients with shopping for and purchasing luxury pearl jewelry and accessories.

Click on over and check it out and see how you might be able to apply some of the suggestions to your business and possibly create new ways in which to assist your clients!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Pearls Baby!!

Cheers,
~Shel~

Get Your Silver Jewelry Featured in Lark Books!



Make great silver jewelry? Have it featured in a Lark Book!

Call for Entries: 500 Silver Jewelry Designs




Go check out the rules and regs and download an entry form now!


Good luck to all of you who design gorgeous silver jewelry.


(Wish my pics were up to par - 'cause I'd enter a couple things myself!)

Until Next time,
Peace, Love and Silver Baby!!
Cheers,
~Shel~






Creating,...

I've been really into creating this past week! Sadly, though, I'm only wanting to create what I want and not what I'm supposed to be creating - funny how that works, isn't it?! LOL!!


Anyway - I got a new daping/doming block this past week and have been loving life while "tap, tap, tapping" metal into shapes and creating fun things.
This has spawned a new line of jewelry I will be coming out with by the end of September - if not sooner. It's a personal/sentimental, spiritual line of jewelry with symbols, words and stones of meaning. Very simple yet fun and cool!

I'm really enjoying creating this type of jewelry because there's such a 'shift' in the world right now (and it's been happening for awhile now) and we all seem to feel the need to 'be connected' to something/someone, to share our hopes and dreams, goals, feelings, emotions and many other things and "put them out there" for the Universe/God to take and shape from dream into something solid.

I'll keep you posted and give you a sneak peak here over the weekend,....


I'm also getting ready to post some *FREE* jewelry making tutorials over at jewelrylessons.com - so for those of you wanting to do some creating of your own, go check things out. There's tons of tutorials on this site from many talented jewelry artists and so many of the tuts are *FREE*!


Right now I've got an article that was posted over at jewelrylessons.com about teaching jewelry classes with something 'more' - go check it out under the articles section.


Hope your day is filled w/love, health and happiness!!


Until next time,
Peace, Love and have fun creating beautiful things!
Cheers,
~Shel~

To Adorn,......

"Adornment is never anything except a reflection of the heart." ~CoCo Chanel~



Yes, the iconic CoCo Chanel and her pearls!


If you were to adorn yourself today to reflect your heart, what would YOU wear?

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Happy Adornment!
Cheers,
~Shel~


















Our Top Picks for Who, What and Where!

We've been asked lately to give some tips on how to teach good jewelry classes, and then several of our clients have asked where and who to take classes from and what classes I would recommend - so today's blog is a list of the above. Now, I can't list all the classes I'd recommend because that's an almost endless list, but here's a good selection for starters!
First, here's an article we wrote for Rena Klingenberg's Home Jewelry Business Success website:
Rena's site, and her blog, are great tools for those in the hand-crafted jewelry business and our article gives those jewelry artists interested in teaching classes some great pointers to keep your students coming back for more and how to get them to refer you to others as well!
Now, for who, where and what - here's my top picks for some great classes from some great instructors - both online and in person!
For wire wrapping and bead stringing:
MiShel Designs (of course!) We give private jewelry lessons in our Glendale, AZ studio and we also teach at some bead shows, so just call 602-625-7299 for more information.
For just about any type of jewelry making, our friends over at Creative U in Carefree, AZ have a great line up. Call Creative U at 480-575-8500 for all their classes and info. They're a fun, very knowledgable bunch of gals!! Oh, and did I mention that they're lots of FUN!!
For Precious Metal Clay (PMC) our friend Kathy Hunter over at the Loft Art Studios in Scottsdale has you covered!! Kathy's classes are very informative and lots of fun and she'll definitely get your creative juices flowing. Plus, she's got lots of other instructors (and guest instructors too, who stop by her studio to teach) so check things out by visiting The Loft Studios and Gallery website for all her classes and info.
For super cool wire and metal jewelry Connie Fox has some of the best classes around. She's located in sunny San Diego and her website, Jatayu, has all the information on her classes. Plus, she has several free online tutorials and fabulous beads and supplies for sale, too!
Now - there's several instructors who are super great, but unfortunately I haven't gotten to take classes from them in person yet (notice I said, YET! - I only 'know them' via their books, DVD's or online tutorials), and they are:
One of the best books on the market (my opinion - hey, it's my blog!!) for beginning wire work is All Wired Up by Mark Lareau. Basically, it's the backbone for all you need to get started bending wire with very easy to follow instructions and illustrations!
Beaducation - Lisa Niven Kelly and the rest of her fabulous instructors such as Kris Silva, Lisa Claxton and more! Anything wire - chainmaille, stamping, bending, soldering, cold connections, weaving, etc. They have lots of free online tutorials as well as all the tools and supplies to get you started creating wonderful jewelry!
Then, there's Eni Oken's website for all, and I mean ALL, the jewelry making you could ask for! Go to Jewelry Lessons by Eni Oken and Friends to learn all sorts of wonderful things! This is a comprehensive website - filled to the brim with everything to help you create beautiful jewelry!
Sharilyn Miller - Fabulous jewelry instructor! Sharilyn's book Bead On A Wire (she has others, too!) is fantastic for learning basic and a bit more advanced wire techniques and she has several DVD tutorials available on her website too, from wire wrapped rings, tribal jewelry, rubber stamped jewelry and more. Go check it out!

Okay - I've got tons more info for you up my sleeves, but it's summer and my sleeves are short right now - so if you'd like more - just send me a message and I'll share whatever info I can with you!

Until next time,
Peace, Love and Happy Learning!!
Cheers,
~Shel~

And The Winners Are,...

Our give-a-way of Three (3) FREE pair of earrings for answering our jewelry question in our last post are:

Lisa C. of Flaggstaff, Arizona

Jackie R. of Casa Grande, Arizona

and

Marsha H. of Casa Grande, Arizona

All three won a pair of our 2009 "On The Vine" hand crafted sterling silver hoop earrings wire wrapped with small, freshwater cultured pearls in 'Tahitian Blues'.

Congratulations and stay tuned for out next give-a-way!

Until next time,
Peace, Love and FREE jewelry baby!!
Cheers,
~Shel~