So close!

I just noticed that I am three sales away from 900 in my Etsy shop. Wow! That put me in a jolly mood so I am going to give a free gift to EVERY customer who purchases before midnight tomorrow (Saturday the 28th). I would love to go above and beyond 900 sales by the end of tomorrow so if you are reading this and you make a purchase just let me know that you read this blog post and I will send you a fun little surprise gift. Yay for everyone! :)

Thistle Farm Arts

The second piece I received in my creative exchange is from Dani of Thistle Farms Arts. Dani and I have been friends for many years and we both work together as assistants at the pottery studio. Dani is one of these women who can make just about anything, in any medium, do it quickly (you should see her mix glazes!) and she does it all perfectly. She has a great fondness for Martha Stewart (I'll overlook that ;) and has even been featured on her show! (Dani has a chicken, which she named Martha and dressed up in a wig and tiny apron to look like Martha. The chicken's picture was shown on the show and Dani was interviewed over the phone by Martha's herself! - too funny!)

I was pretty excited about my exchange gift. As you can see it's an earring holder! How perfect! I immediately started to fill the holes with earrings and quickly realized how perfect it would be to use as a prop when photographing my earrings. I am always looking for a way to suspend the earrings and this will work like a dream. I am going to have to commission another one in white. :)

Thanks so much, Dani, I just love it!
You can read about Dani's adventures in her blog and be sure to visit her Etsy shop. She has another earring holder in purple!! Hurry!

Newly listed and another looky

These little sweeties (and the two below) are newly listed in the shop. This is one of my favorite designs and I especially love it in this deep dark purple.

Discus on copper in liquid blue.

Incredible glaze combination! Aqua and caramel = yum!

I also wanted to share another "looky" with you all. This is a necklace that was made by Debbie of Prairie Emporium using one of my etched copper pendants. I absolutely love the combination of copper and turquoise! Be sure to check out her blog and her Etsy shop. :)

Lastly, I have just added a whole new batch of etched pendants in my Extra shop. I've been etching like the wind. :)

Lorelei Eurto

The creative exchanges are starting to roll in from the trade I announced last week. This is fun! I like getting presents in the mail! The first one to arrive was from Lorelei Eurto. Many of you are already familiar with Lorelei's work. In fact, many of you probably found me through Lorelei's blog. She has been a great friend and has directed many wonderful people my way and for this I thank her. Thanks, Lori!

I was pretty giddy as I opened my package since I knew whatever it contained would be fantastic. And I was right. Just look at this bracelet! Warm reds and browns with bronze - could it get any better on this freezing cold Winter morning?

I especially love her use of seed beads and they way they add such a subtle and consistent texture to the bracelet. It makes me want to take a look at my seed bead stash and take it a little more seriously. I also love the vintage button closure. What a perfect way to bring in a touch of metal and, I think, a very modern look.

Lorelei has big year ahead of her with many features in a zillion bead and jewelry magazines. You can currently see her work in Bead Style and the upcoming issue of Stringing Magazine.

Yay, I have a new awesome bracelet to wear! Thanks so much Lori!
Be sure to check out her Etsy shop and her blog.

Buttons, baby!

One of my goals for this year is to increase my button production. So far I haven't been tremendously successful in that endeavor (I need to get my butt-on in gear. Ha!) but I did manage to put a few in my Round Rabbit Extra shop yesterday. Most of them are pretty huge but I will be putting in some "normal" buttons later today. As normal as I am capable of. ;)

I'd like to thank...

Yesterday I received two blog awards! One (the Lemonade Award) from Rachel Lucie and another (The Spreader of Love Award) from Rosanne of Fab Fibers. Thanks ladies!

Both awards have basically the same rules so I am going to kill two birds with one stone and do them as a two for one.

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.

2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to their blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

I'm nominating: Lorelei
Dani
Charmaine
Erin
Heidi

I am doing this extra lazy style. If you see your name here then feel free to post the award on your blog. If you don't feel like it, that is fine as well. :) Be sure to click on the name to check out their awesome blogs.

Looky!

This morning as I was doing my daily blog hopping I came across this awesome necklace made by Lorelei. This is the first finished piece I have seen using one of my etched copper pendants and I couldn't be happier with how fantastic it looks - she did a knock-out job (as always)! You can find the necklace in her Etsy shop right here.

And you can find a fresh batch of etched copper pendants in my Round Rabbit Extra shop. :)

Petey in the wild

Tired bunny

Man, am I one tired bunny. Yes, I just called myself a bunny. I told you I was tired. The past two days were spent working in the studio doing both my own work and my work as an assistant. I mixed glazes, unloaded kilns, refined pieces, cleaned, fielded questions, ate too many donuts and wondered why so many of the young female college students feel the need to wear extra low rise jeans while bent over a pottery wheel (I have seen enough thong underwear and tramp stamp tattoos to last a lifetime {not that there is anything wrong with either of those things, both of which I have, I just don't need to see out of shape youth with sequin bedazzled undies and liquor induced Tasmanian Devil tats}).

Anyhoo, I managed to squeeze in some etching time and produce the adorable tiny hearts you see above. I just love these little guys! They can be found in Round Rabbit Extra.

I'm am off to the couch for an evening of pure floppage. BTW, did you guys happen to read the interview with Etsy's Featured Seller, RubyPearl? Her love of the couch is too funny and has me thinking that perhaps we were separated at birth. :)

Sorry!

My apologies to the West Coast!! When I posted my give-away/exchange I wasn't really thinking about all my friends on the West Coast who were still sound asleep. Next time I will post at a time which is much more doable for everyone. And there will be a next time, so have no fear!

Thanks again to everyone who is participating. I will be packing up each box later today and will get them in the mail tomorrow (I hope!). :)

Full!

Ta-da! All the hearts are accounted for - thanks so much to everyone for participating so quickly! This is going to be a lot of fun - I can't wait to see what everyone creates!
To those who snagged a spot - don't forget to email me your address at naneliz2@yahoo.com.

I'm off to the studio. Have a great day everyone!

Fasty!

Man, you guys are fast! I stepped away for a few minutes and nearly all the hearts are spoken for already! Wow! It looks like there is still one left (at 9:30am eastern time) so feel free to grab it!

Time for a creative exchange!

As promised! Nothing like waiting until the last minute and missing Valentine's Day - woo hoo! OK, so here is the deal. I made these sweet little heart dishes just for you! There are nine of them (originally there were ten but one got horribly wonky during the firing) and I am going to send them out to the first nine people who respond to this post. Along with a heart dish you will also receive a bar of the best soap in the world made by my friends over at Syracuse Soapworks.

They very generously donated these bars of my most favorite scent in the world, Sensuous. It's a blend of Lavender, Ylang Ylang and Patchouli. The smell is so incredibly delicious that you won't be able to pry the bar away from your nose. Trust me.

The catch: This isn't just simply a give-away it is a creative trade. What that means is that each of the nine people who receive a box of goodies from me will have to send me something that they made in return. It can be anything in any medium. You could bake me something or write me a poem. Whatever you do that is creative will be just fine. And there is no need to be super extra fancy and elaborate. Whatever you feel is a good, even trade will suffice. This is open to everyone, no matter where you live, so don't hesitate to snag a spot!

In return I will feature each person individually on my blog. I will show what you made and if you have an Etsy shop or other online business I will plug it like there's no tomorrow. Woo-hoo!

Instructions: Just leave me a comment stating that you would like to participate. If you have a color preference you can let me know, otherwise I will surprise you. :) Leave your email address so that I can contact you and get your address - or you can email me at naneliz2@yahoo.com.

Good luck everyone and be sure to hop on over to Syracuse Soapworks and check out their amazing selection of all natural, no synthetic fragrances, no synthetic colors, no animal ingredients and not tested on animals soaps! (plug, plug) :)

Discus Hoops!

I've just added the sterling silver hoop version of my new discus earrings to the shop. I really love this style - I've been wearing a pair nonstop for weeks now. :)

In other news... This was the scene directly across the street from my house today. This photo (click for the close-up) shows the Susquehanna River completely full of chunks of ice. It was moving so quickly and the sound was amazing - as my rather dramatic neighbor said "it looks like something out of a horror movie!" Well, it wasn't quite horrific, more awe inspiring and a bit dangerous. (I could tell you a story about how a body was pulled out the Chenango River directly behind the pottery studio where I work yesterday, but I will spare you the gory details.) Anyhoo, even though it was very darn cold today the sky was hinting at Spring. I bought a ton of vegetable seeds to further the feeling. Can't wait to get them started! :)

Ring a ding ding

I have been neglecting my poor little rings lately. My shop was in need of a real ring intervention so I put together this yummy collection of glossies today. There is a mix of old favorites and some new designs. I will also be adding many new ceramic bands over the next week or so. Ring a ding ding, baby!

And now for something completely different

I've been a bit under the weather for the past few days which means I have been laying low, staying home, staying away from the dusty studio and working on new pieces that require little energy. This bracelet/cuff design is something that has been floating around my head for a while now. I made the butterfly pieces about a month ago and I etched the copper plate a few weeks ago. I've been hoarding ribbon, felt and eyelets forever. Finally all the planets were aligned, I had on my lucky t-shirt and I was just high enough on cold meds to come up with this fun design!

I have more in the works - each one will be a one-of-a-kind.

This piece can be found in my shop. Pasty white arm not included. :)

Heads up!

Two quick little bits of info:

1. I have replenished the etched copper pendants in my RoundRabbitExtra shop.

2. Sometime during the next week I will be doing a giveaway/creative trade. It will be open to any and all, family or friends, near or across the ocean. It is limited to 9 people and will be first come, first serve so I encourage everyone to check back regularly in order to snag a spot. I promise to make it fun! :)

Discus

Some of you may remember this post from a few moths ago showing some new pieces that I was working on. I am thrilled to unveil some of the results today! I call this new line of earrings Discus. I love to play around with a shape to see how many different things I can do with it, so you will be seeing these little disks in many different forms. They are so versatile!

This style makes use of my hand-forged copper links that I often use in many of my necklaces. I try to have a good supply of links made at all times so that I can quickly assemble something without having to make them first. I am all about instant gratification so advance preparation is important. There is no worse buzz kill than not having what you need when you need it. :)

I have listed this first batch (above) in the shop and will be adding the rest over the next week or so.

And for a very simple yet strikingly modern design I made these simple sterling silver hoops to thread the largest of the disks on. They have a nice, clean look while providing a much needed little spark of color.

I wanted to thank everyone yet again for being so supportive and enthusiastic about my new RoundRabbitExtra shop. The response to the etched copper pendants has been wonderful and I am etching more at this very moment. Thanks, Everyone! :)

Copper is my new best friend

I've been having so much fun etching copper! I am working on a bunch of new designs that will incorporate more etched copper with my porcelain - I am pretty darn excited about it and can't wait to share it with you! In the meantime I thought it would be fun to offer some pendant/charm/tag pieces in my RoundRabbitExtra shop for all my fellow jewelry designers to enjoy. The possibilities are endless with these pieces. I have some ideas of my own brewing but I would love to see what some of you can do with them. :)