As a matter of interest ...

While my suppliers are trying to calm everyone, the laws of supply and demand would indicate that turquoise prices are going to hit the roof again like they did in the 1980s.  China is going to be dramatically slowing its production of turquoise rough -- a couple of sources are suggesting that that country's output may fall by as much as 75%.


Available here.

While this is no doubt exaggerated, it has some interesting implications.  A lot of turquoise miners are going to lose their jobs -- but the loss of life in mining should slow too.  The environment around some of the turquoise mines should improve.

And as for what this will do in the jewelry industry ... well, turquoise was recently a Pantone Color of the Year, and it is still exceedingly popular, since it fits both the fruity jelly-bean shades that are in everything this year and the dustier ones predicted for next summer.  As the prices rise, we may see a surge in substitutes, like dyed or undyed howlite, which pleases me -- I much prefer howlite.  Turquoise may be found in fine jewelry more often than casual jewelry by the end of this decade -- as it becomes priced as a luxury, it may be paired with sterling, gold, and precious stones more often than leather, fiber, and bone.  That could conceivably redefine tribal/ethnic-inspired jewelry styles.

This will be interesting to see!

Unrelatedly, I am sick.  I do this every year, but usually I manage to weather it before the school year begins.  However, it's possible my body is still on California scheduling (UCR starts in late September) and thinks it's got plenty of time to be ridiculous.

A Little Grin

In the description for the earrings below, I actually used the one really cool thing I learned from the Etsy writing workshop: Using a quick, unusual story to explain damage to a vintage item.



Sold!

To wit: "The two large pearl beads have slightly different shades and imperfections (I like to imagine it comes of their being worn by a dangerous gang of flapper girls for a famous faux pearl heist), but this is barely visible and what can be seen only enhances the vintage feel of the earrings."


It's always nice when something you wrote makes you smile a little later on.  I got this feeling from the descriptions of some of the stick incenses for my current Elance client, too.  It's a high, like suddenly realizing that the beads are falling into an additional pattern you didn't even plan but which is perfect.  Flipping over a pancake to find you've judged just right and it's wholly fluffy, and melt-in-your-mouth gold.  Or perfectly executing a martial arts form.

Things I Am Slightly Chagrined By

1. I'm making more in a month of copywriting than I ever made even in Decembers from my jewelry business.  Admittedly, most of it's coming from Elance, but I've been at the jewelry for three years (going on four) and the copywriting for three months.  There is something slightly frightening about this.
2. I'm officially giving up the ghost on frontal toggles.  Every time a new Stringing hits the grocery store, there's a new and interesting way to put the clasp in front, to the side, as a pendant base, interchangeable, adjustable, convertible -- just stop.  I am going to accept that my jewelry has boring clasp placement, at least for a while.  I use too many different toggle designs (because I match them carefully with the piece's look) to put myself through this anymore.
3. Teapot earrings -- a billion variations on a single finding -- beat out every other category I can make for top jewelry sales ever.  Maybe this is less chagrin and more astonished laughter.  But yeah.

Sold!

Finding Changes

I like to delude myself that I make these posts so that when I'm rich and famous, my slavish scholarly fans will be able to date my work.  Also, I figure you customer types like to know I actually think about this stuff.

In the past, with some variations, I've used flat headpins and fishhook earwires, as such:


However, especially with doing all the bridal designs, I've occasionally ended up using ball headpins and French wires, as such:


Images courtesy Fire Mountain Gems.

I've just finally made the investment to switch over more or less entirely to the second option.  I prefer the look of ballpins, which give the effect of a tiny additional bead rather than a "stopper" -- and they mimic the look of hand-fired ones better.  Also, while I never believed all the people who told me this, the coiled fishhook wires genuinely don't balance quite as well.  Admittedly, I don't have problems with them -- and I send all my heavier earrings with rubber stoppers to solve any problems others with less beefy earlobes have -- but the ball-end ones give a touch of confidence.  And they're rarer, so I think they look more professional.

So I'll work through my former stock -- especially since there are some design types that the coiled wires suit beautifully, I just don't do them that often.  But overall, I've decided that it's going to be mostly ball-type findings from here on out.

With exceptions to be made, of course, for cool headpins like the enameled ones in these earrings:


Available here.

But ball earwires, anyway.  Although wrapping a colored wire over the coils might be cool ... I'm off to experiment.

New favorite plants

So, in the past month, the milkweed has had an Osiris-esque cycle of death and rebirth.  The coleus ... coleuses ... colei? ... have doubled or tripled in size.  The Wandering Jew has reseeded itself in among the gladiolus.

And I've got a couple of new favorite plants (all images are courtesy the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at wildflower.org):


Tall Meadow Rue
Thalictrum dayscarpum
So this native beauty was unfortunately beheaded when our window box fell on it, but it seems to be doing okay as an abrupt low grower.  I love it not for the flowers, which haven't turned up yet on ours, but for the leaves, delicate little cress-shaped rounds that array themselves very gracefully around the tall stems.


Calico Aster
Symphyotricum lateriflorum
Another tall slender native wildflower with a graceful all-over leafing habit and interestingly hued herbal parts, and it seems to enjoy the hot weather.


Purslane spp.
I cannot recommend this plant enough for anyone in a high heat index climate.  It's not a native plant, but it's a well-behaved, low-maintenance ground grower.  Even in its pot, it seems to require no care at all beyond a splash of water now and then to produce gorgeous flowers and healthy, interesting foliage.  And it seems to absolutely love hot, dryish weather (dry being relative, of course; this is the South).  While everything else droops and has histrionics, our purslane -- we got a lacy double-blooming hybrid -- is shooting up by inches and throwing out romantic nickel-sized, canteloupe-hued, layered-petaled blooms.  Perfect for gardeners who like plants in the summer but also like to be inside where it's air-conditioned.

Huh?

Two mystifying pieces of feedback we received recently on Ballet Llama recently:


"Item much nicer than expected."


"haven't seen them yet, I know I will like them."

...
So ... um ... vintage beads and findings from Ballet Llama are so nice that you'll be able to tell how high-quality they are before they arrive! ... even when you're ... expecting not to like them at all?

Man, I'm supposed to be the expert and I have no idea how to spin this.

Thanks to the relevant customers for their purchases and their lovely feedback, even though it confused me.  <3

A necklace I wanted to talk a little more about

Available here.

I named this necklace Arc of Ages, which is supposed to be a cleverish allusion to Rock of Ages (still a'rollin, rock of ages ...).  We got the vintage (I date it to the 1970s based on style) necklace base from Grandma's Antiques and Things, a fantastic little store run out of a garage in Pendleton which has become my primary steampunkerie supplier (the octogenarian proprietor is really having trouble figuring out what those nice girls are doing with all that weird hardware).

What I wanted to point out, because my blog, not my item descriptions, is the place for annoying self-congratulation, is the rather coherent symbolism that forms in the strange combination of materials here.  (Note that M deserves the majority of the credit for this.)  The large watch face, of course, aligns it with the sf-clockwork look.  The rectangular shield has an odd, delightful filigree pattern reminiscent of a somewhat mechanized paisley -- and of course, nothing is more neo-historical than shamelessly appropriating the motifs of other cultures (see here.)  The arrangement of the subtle gears (really, they're barely visible in person, the light picking them up for an instant before they vanish for a moment in the harmonized chaos of the design) arcs gracefully around the watch face like an event horizon.  Also suggesting the passage of time and the "message of ancient days," as the sole quote I know from Cicero pontificates, is the centerpiece of the watch face: an antiqued silvertone pewter connector in the shape of a Celtic knot, representing infinity.

Multicultural, neo-Victorian, time-traveller-esque -- I think I found steampunk, honey!  Two different thicknesses of triple-link cable chain (vintage) complete the necklace in a statement-goddess-waterfall shape.

I'm also proud of the rather slick wirework on the piece.  See the back:

Scribblegoat Press Release: Jewelry Still Best Gift, Say Designers

I wrote the following press release for one of my Etsy copywriting clients.  Please notify me in a comment if reposting or quoting.  The link to my client's shop is at the bottom of the short release, after the jump.  -Chelsea
 

Jewelry Still Best Gift, Say Designers

21 June 2011 – The classics still work best when you want to please and flatter.  For women and girls of any age, the traditional gift of jewelry is still a top choice for special occasions.

Mother’s Day, graduations, children’s birthdays – all of these are occasions when something that sparkles or shines is usually welcome, according to designer and online shopkeeper Linda Ann Stewart.

Treasury Wednesday: Why was I doing wintry stuff in June?

I guess I figured I might as well follow the front-page style for once. Hmm.

I pay a lot of attention to writing the treasury description when I do treasuries under the Scribblegoat account. Sure, only 8% of Etsy clicks come from internal things like Storque and Treasury, but if I'm doing it for fun anyway I might as well toss myself a bone in the form of free advertising.

'Bleached Vanilla' by Scribblegoat

Along with its crisp but soft greyscale and cream palette, this treasury is all about interesting photography. A visual feast of clear images, well-used props, intriguing cropping, unconventional angles, and perfect close-ups.

romantic collared s... ghostofagipsy $49.00	50pc 4mm bicone gla... craftisland $1.00	White Sequin Mini S... partydressesby... $42.50	Hammered Quartz Ear... heartsabustin $28.00
cast iron sign wood... OldNewAgain $42.00	Earrings In Silver ... casamoda $28.00	The Fox - Original ... BearFollowsCat $60.00	Buttercream Handspu... LondonHandspun $25.00
Small Moon Jellyfis... fieldstudy $19.70	S A L E - Spilt mil... norsola $40.00	Crochet Baby Girl B... inhstyme $12.00	WHITEFAWN felted t... VitalTemptatio... $40.00
40% Anniversary Sal... Maddenphotogra... $15.00	SPECIAL ORDER for K... thecottagepath $	HOT and COLD 8x10 s... bethberg $35.00	Cluster of Fresh Wa... LillyputLaneDe... $58.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Business Chatter

Business-minded readers may wish to check out a recent Bullish column here: Doing Business with Friends and Still Having Friends (and a Business), by Jen Dziura.  You can find me "joining the discussion" (i.e., rambling to the faceless 'Net; that site doesn't have much comment activity and I was excessively lengthy) at the bottom of the article.

And check out some of the new jewelry items in the Steampunk Assemblage section of the shop.  Shown are a pendant, a necklace, and a brooch, ranging from clean utopian styles to gritty post-apocalyptic assemblages: