Winner of May Giveaway

Congrats to thatpirategirl! She is the winner of a wire wrapped ring for my May Giveaway.

Thatpirategirl...I'll be contacting you shortly via e-mail to get your address and your ring size, as well as the type of ring you would like.

Thanks to all who entered! Oh, and sorry for the delay...I should have known better than to have an announcement on Saturday! I'm hardly ever home during the day. Duh.

Anyway, have a great Sunday, everyone!

Last Day for Contest!

Hi dear readers...

Just a reminder that today is the last day of my May Giveaway where you can enter to win a free wire wrapped ring! So, you should go ahead and get there now with your entry.

I've been light on my posting because I've been busy, busy, busy with work. In the coming weeks, though, I have some plans in mind:

• Rebranding: My sister-in-law is an advertising specialist/graphic designer, and she's going to be designing my new logo, all marketing materials, packaging, etc. She's also quite the creative/crafty one, so I'm certain she'll be bringing lots of great ideas to the establishment of the "look" of Simply Wired Custom Jewelry.
• Organization of shop: I'm going to be organizing my items into product lines to further establish said "branding." As of right now, these are my new tentative sections:
• Beneath the Moon
• Gypsy
• Decadence
  
• Empowerment
• Earthen
• Everyday

I'm not sure I like "Everyday," but it's the only one I can think of right now that represents the "outsiders" that I have to offer. Once I clear them from the shop, I'll probably get rid of that category, or at least the name of it, and figure out a different type of product line.

That's all for now...happy Friday, everyone!

Cherry Chocolate Overdose Necklace

Cherry Chocolate Overdose Necklace - 1
Originally uploaded by Simply Wired Custom Jewelry

Finally done! As mentioned last week, I wanted to add a necklace that complemented my Cherry Chocolate wire wrapped earrings. Here it is! An overdose of decadent smoky quartz teardrops and red garnet rounds.

It'll be posted later today in my shop. Until then, you can browse my selection of metal and wire wrapped jewelry, if you like.

See you soon...

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Newest Visitor: Indigo Bunting

Our latest visitor to our bird feeders is an indigo bunting. I'm quite excited about this one; we never had one before! We actually have two of them that hover in a tree in our backyard. Yesterday during the rain and the terrible wind, this little fella just hung out at our feeders all day long. When they first arrived, they frequently visited our ground feeder, and would be startled if I would go near the window. Yesterday, however, he just didn't seem to mind, and let me stand there to watch him while snapping a few photos. In some of these, I think he might actually be posing.

In other news related to the jewelry stuff, be on the lookout for a new necklace and a new ring this week. Also, don't forget about my May Giveaway, where you can enter to win a wire wrapped ring.

Finally, I also got a treasury this morning where I highlighted many of my favorite jewelery stores on Etsy. Check it out and leave some love!

'Til next time...

Coming Today...New Stuff!

A quick post on some new items coming to Etsy today.

The first is one of my rings I have pictured in my May Giveaway...except I oxidized it and polished it. It'll be titled "Aglow," named after a Sarah Harmer song. A discount will be offered if the ring is purchased with my Warmth in Turquoise earrings.

Also coming to my shop, Cherry Chocolate earrings. YUM. I had a special request from a customer to make these based on my Pink Chocolate earrings. The 8mm red garnet beads are so absolutely luscious I just had to make an extra pair for sale. I'm also going to be making a necklace to match, which will be titled "Cherry Chocolate Overdose," and will feature a "waterfall" of smoky quartz teardrop beads and red garnets dangling freely from sterling silver chain. I hope to finish it up this week.

Here are the photos of the earrings...tell me, dear readers, which one catches your eye first? This is always a dilemma of mine...white background or brown?

Cherry Chocolate on White

Cherry Chocolate on Brown

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My Favorite Springtime Visitor

They're here! They're here! Our yearly visitors--the ruby-throated hummingbird. Forgive the not-so-great photos, as I didn't have my tripod out when they were visiting!




This morning as I was doing some work in my living room, I looked out our large glass window and I had one of them hovering outside, saying, "WHERE is our FOOD?" I hadn't put our feeders out yet; this coming weekend was going to be our planting/outdoor cleanup weekend. However, I didn't mind dropping what I was doing to accommodate these wonderful little visitors. I have about five different feeders, but I only put two out today. Luckily I had some nectar mix.

Are your hummingbirds flying about? If you haven't seen them, I bet they're close by. To bring them in, get your feeders out...red or red-orange colors attract them the most. Even if you don't have the red nectar that comes pre-mixed, you can make your own nectar using this recipe (note that it doesn't have to be red...just the feeder or part of the feeder that is red or red-orange will attract your hummingbirds!):

1. Combine four parts water to one part table sugar in a pan
2. Boil the sugar water mixture (do not leave it boil too long, or the water will evaporate)
3. Cool in the refrigerator
4. Fill your feeders; change the nectar as necessary to prevent bacteria buildup (clean your feeders, too!
5. Store the remaining nectar in the refrigerator
   

Well, I'm off to enjoy more views from my window as I work. Cheers!

May Giveaway -- A Ring!

Greetings, dear readers.

Today's post comes with my May Giveaway announcement -- a wire wrapped ring! As an added bonus, the winner gets to pick which one she wants from the group of rings shown here.

From top to bottom, left to right, they include:

• Chalk turquoise (not yet titled)
• Float (jasper)
• Flora (unakite)
• Delicate (peach moonstone)
• Renewal (garnet)
• Peach moonstone (a little different than Delicate; not yet titled)
• Blush (rhodonite)

Also available, but not pictured: Cultured freshwater pearl (7mm); cranberry colored pearl (5-6mm); amber (6mm); lapis lazuli (6mm). Finally, you'll have options for the metal used (sterling silver or copper), as well as whether you want the ring antiqued or not.

So, here's what to do:

1. Leave a comment on my blog that includes your contact info (Etsy address, e-mail address, whatevah)
2. Include in the comment what gemstone(s) you would like to have included in any future rings I create.

On May 17th, I'll have a drawing. I'll then contact the winner and you can let me know which ring you want and your size. Please keep in mind the gemstones I have available are the ones listed above.

Have fun, folks, and thanks for participating! As usual, the fine print is listed below.

(oh...and psssst...when you're done here, head on over to Bonghi Natura's blog, where you can enter into a contest to win soap! One of my favorite things to shop for! Here's the link: http://bonghinatura.blogspot.com/2008/04/its-giveaway-time-again.html)

The Fine Print
One entry per person. Winner will be announced before noon EST on May 17, 2008, and will have three days to contact me with their ring preference, size, and mailing address. If no response, another name will be drawn. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on May 16, 2008.