The Creative Process

It's fun creating things.  All types of things,...not just jewelry, either (don't tell anyone I said that!).

In trying to become my techno and web savvy, I'm playing around with some video clips of our jewelry.

Now,....to just get all the jewelry pics we lost over the winter holiday (yep, lost over 8,500 jewerly - and family - pics) back into their prospective folders and backed up and we'll be in business to create better jewelry videos and even our jewelry classes online for you to view.

Here's just the first littele practice run.  

Clickl the MiShel Designs Jewelry link below and Enjoy! (And give us your feedback too, please!)

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Videos of Great Jewelry, Baby!!
Cheers,
~Shel~
MiShel Designs Jewelry

Tucson Gem/Bead Show Finds!!

Wow! The 2010 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show (and, Bead Shows, too!) were fantastic this year - as usual.

Each year we try to find some super "fun" things to bring back and play with like these super-cool multi-colored stones pictured above and the mod peace signs you see at the bottom of this post - how fun are these!?!

We had a great time walking around and drooling over all the beautiful gemstones, beads, carvings, fossils and everything in between!

We met some new people and swapped stories of "Who's got the best,......and what show are they at this year?" We chatted with some familiar faces and trusted vendors, watched cool demonstrations on Kumihimo Braiding, Stamping, Metal Etching, Pearl Knotting and much more!

We've returned from Tucson and have finally 'cataloged' all our our items and wanted to share some of our cool treasures and also some of our "Just for the fun of it" finds with you as well.

We visited so many vendors and places and here are just a few:

Majestic Pearl - Pearls, Pearls, and MORE Pearls!!

Pearl Concepts - Your guessed it - Pearls!

Anil Kumar - Beautiful gemstones, silver and vermeil findings. (510-498-855)

The Realm of the Goddess - 24k gold dipped leaves, chain galore, pendants, and more.

Cargo Hold - Wonderful selection of pendants, chain and findings.

Beaducation - Geat supplier for metal stamping tools, online classes and jewelry supplies.

Hip Chick Beads - Charms, clasps, stamping tools, connectors, etc.

Object and Elements - Cool findings, great designs.

The Fiber Goddess - Exotic, hand-dyed fibers, kits for weaving/braiding cords, etc.

Rio Grande - Catalog in Motion - way cool tools!

Swarovski Crystal - Crystals, Crystals and more Crystals!!

Bokamo Designs - Boro Glass Beads - Beauitufl!!

Kent's Tools - Tools, tools, and more cool tools!

1239 Corp - Semi-Precious Stones and Pearls (212-889-0555)

Evergreen Trading Co - Freshwater Pearls (626-279-2723)

Shivam Imports - Precious and Semi-Precious Gemstones and Diamonds

Prominent Gems and Rough - Gemstone Beads and Loose Gem Stones (212-730-1562)

The Bead Palce - Beads, Beads, and more Beads!

Queenly Global Trading - Beads, Crystals, Pendants and More!

We've got some spring jewelry designs we'll be putting up on the website and our MiShel Designs Facebook Fan page in the next couple of weeks - so be on the look out!



Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Pearls, Baby!!

(And all kinds of fun finds from the Tucson Gem/Mineral and Bead Shows!!)

Cheers!

~Shel~

My Fat Chance Give-A-Way Fun!

Woo Hoo! Our *Believe* pendant necklace is being given away to one lucky person who follows Jullee Petersen's 'My Fat Chance" UTube videos to help people with their weight loss!

Jullee's done a fantastic job of motivating people by giving recipes to help with a healthy lifestyle, sharing tips and just being a great source of encouragement and support!

She's announcing the winner of our pendant this Saturday, Februart 6th, so hurry on over and sign up and follow her instructions for your chance to win!


MY FAT CHANCE - Give-A-Way Fun!


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

Valentines Reminder and Some Cool Links, too!

Hi there all,

With Valentines Day right around the corner, I wanted to let you know I've added some cool things in our shop that might suite your sweetie,...plus, I've searched the web for you and found a bunch of cool stuff to spark ideas of what to get for your 'lovie' this Valentines Day.

One tip: Buy handmade where ever you can this year. With so many items being hand crafted right here in the good ol' USA, you won't be hard pressed to stimulate the economy, get stomething great for yourself or your loved ones at great prices and you'll be supporting those entrepreneurs who are fearless enough to venture out on their own! It's good for everyone!

Until Next time,

Peace, Love and all things hand made baby!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Have a look at these great finds:

Lorelei's Shop - beautiful jewelry,...vintage looks, very cool!

Button Head - Laugh your butt off buttons, tats and magnets!

Suzanne Stevens - Very pretty, colorful, jewelry at great prices, made by a cool person!

Martha's Makes - The cutest little (miniature) animals on the planet - seriously!!

Peanut Tree Designs - Modern goods with a vintage feel!

Sewn Natural - Cool stuff, sewn naturally!

Allagheny Clay Works - Beautiful Ceramic Dishes of all kinds!

Macy's Open Call for Designers!!

Hey all you great designers,....here's the link to Macy's Open Call happening NOW!!

http://www.macysinc.com/opencall/

Good luck to all who take their shot!

Wish I could say I was production ready - maybe next year!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Beautiful Pearls Baby!!

Cheers,
~Shel~

Base Metal or Not To Base Metal,.....

Okay - so at the end of last year, I asked you, my blogging friends, family and fans, both on here and my Facebook (MishelDesigns.com) Fan Page what your impression was of all the handcrafted jewelry out there being made by independent jewelry designers with base metals - aka: Copper (which I personally think looks really cool!), brass, gunmetal and steel,.....

I posed this question because all the jewelry magazines out there now seem to have at least 1/2 (if not more) of their jewelry designs in base metals of some sort, and jewelry designers who are blogging have tons of jewelry posted with base metals and all over Etsy and Artfire are gobs and gobs of handcrafted jewelry utilizing mostly base metals - it's everywhere - even in mainstream department stores such as Macy's, etc.

Your answers completely surprised me. You said that you'd prefer jewerly NOT made with base metals and would even be willing to pay more for sterling silver, fine silver, gold filled and gold than to even mess with Base Metals. You further went on to tell me that one of the main reasons you didn't really care for base metal jewely is because of the way it wears (or doesn't wear, we should probably say) and turns/loses color so quickly, of the way it feels (cheap, was one word someone used) and the kicker,....the way it 'smell's...yep, (and I thought I was the only one who noticed this!!) someone actually mentioned that most of the base metals, especially the brass, not only felt like something out of the industrial park, but smelled like it as well!

However, because I still had people asking about it and for it due to the lower cost and also because of it's trendy fashion roots, (all things Vintage, SteamPunk and Mixed Metals) I went ahead and tried my hand at a piece and found it kind of fun!

Granted, I used sterling silver wire to link my necklace because I couldn't quickly find gunmetal wire and didn't want to use just black craft wire to start off with, but the results even surprised me - I kinda like it. And, it doesn't smell either (maybe because I handled it so much all the 'smell' rubbed off on me!).

So, let me know what you think. I will start to play with some brass this week and next and fill you in on how it goes.

Oh, and by the way - one of the inspirations for this piece? Our Subaru Outback sitting in the snow up at my sis's cabin over the New Year - looking dark, and green, under all the pure white snow - kind of 'industrial' looking,...I'll post a pic when I get one!

Until next time,

Peace, Love and Change!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Ringing in 2010!

Wishing everyone a very Safe, Happy and Prosperous 2010!

May all your wishes, dreams and desires come true this New Year and may you all be blessed with love from your family and friends!

Until Next Year,

Peace, Love and wonderful blessings!!

Cheers,
~Shel~

What A Treat!!

Wow, what a treat!

We're excited to report that Style Envy has featured MiShel Designs as their Designer in the Limelight for December/January!

We couldn't be happier or more thankful!

Go check out Style Envy and see all the wonderful 'deals and steals' they've rustled up to help you save tons of money everyday!

They've definitely got the best super saving deals, scoops on the latest trends, hippest fashion accessories, and fabulous winter looks for the Holiday Season!!

Here at MiShel Designs we're wishing you all a very Happy Holiday Season.

However you celebrate, may you do so with your friends and family and with love, joy and peace in your hearts!!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Pearls, Baby!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Caring For Your Pearls

Since we're into the time of year where most people dig out their classic pearls and wear them, I thought it would be appropriate to remind everyone of some basic pearl care.

Pearls should not be kept in 'air-tight' containers,...they need to 'breathe'.



To avoid scratching your pearls (and other stones, too), store them in a soft, cloth jewelry bag.



To clean your pearls wipe them off gently with a soft, non-chemically treated cloth after each wear and prior to storing them.



Hand-knotted pearls generally need to be re-strung every 18 months to 3 years, depending on the amount of time you wear your pearls and the conditions/environment in which you subject them to.



Keep the silk of your hand-knotted pearls from stretching too quickly by keeping lotions, perfumes, hairsprays, and all other chemicals away from your pearls. This will not only help the silk knots to last longer, but will also help your pearls keep their luster and beauty.



Pearls that come in contact with lotions, hairsprays, perfumes and other substances will slowly lose their luster and may become damaged over time, thus losing their beauty and value.



When it's time to have your pearls restrung - whether it's newer or older pearl jewelry - please call and ask us for a free estimate!



Until Next Time,



Peace, Love and Beautifully Strung Pearls, Baby!!



Cheers,

~Shel~

Queen Conch Cultured Pearls

Great news! Scientists have finally, after 25 years of attempting to culture pearls from the queen conch, been successful!

An article appearing in GIA's Gems and Gemology, stated how scientists from FloridaAtlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (Hector Acosta-Salmon and Megan Davis) "developed proprietary techniques to produce beaded and non-beaded cultured pearls from the queen conch."

According to another article in Science Daily, "This discovery opens up a unique opportunity to introduce a new gem to the industry".

Until now, queen conch "pearls" were some of the rarest gems in the world. (and from our standpoint, some of the most beautiful, too!)

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Beautiful Pearls Baby!!

Cheers,

~Shel~