Teach Me Wednesday's: How to Make a Treasury on Etsy....Super-Fast

I'm amazed by how many people comment and tell me that they have no clue how to make a treasury in Etsy!

It's super-easy and super-fast and I'm going to show you how.

All you'll need is your Etsy account and a little thing called "Microsoft Tabs". (I think Firefox uses tabs also.)

1. Sign in to Etsy and scroll down until you reach the heading "Treasury". Right-click on it and scroll down until you see "Open in New Tab". It will take you to the main treasury page where you will click on "Create a List."

2. After you've done that you'll be directed to a blank treasury list. Now you'll need to pick a title. I chose something about lemons and limes. (bright lemon yellow and limey green obviously being the focus of this treasury.)

3. Go back to the main Etsy page that you just tabbed away from and put in your search parameters in the search bar. Just start hunting around for things that you want to put in your treasury. Every time you find a new piece, do that "right-click-to-tab" thing.

4. See how many tabs I've got going here? You'll need 16 items for your treasury, so count your tabs.

5. Now that you've got all your items, it's time to fill your treasury. Go to your first item. (I've chosen my Lemons and Limes bracelet just for kicks) Click on the address bar (it's in blue below), right-click and copy the entire URL (that's the address of the item's page).

6. Now go back to the treasury and click on one of the blanks below where the picture should be. Right-click and click on "copy". Hit 'OK' and watch as your item appears.

7. Do this 15 more times until you've filled up your treasury!

A good treasury takes into account a couple of things:

a. Balance- if you're using more than one color, make sure it's not lopsided and that the colors are balanced.

b. Variety - I wouldn't put all scarves or bags in my treasury (normally). Look for a variety of items.

c. Composition - Make sure all the photos have the same "feel" or that they complement each other. Those super-sweet romantic photos generally don't look so good beside the barn photos.

8. Before you hit 'save', make sure and add a bunch of tabs to describe what your treasury is so that people can find it, and also add a little description.

You're done!

Challenge yourself to see how many treasuries you can create, or try to create one a week.

The best part is that you can use any theme you'd like!

Here's the link to Lemons and Limes in the Summertime.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy your new-found treasury-making skills!

I got nothin' but a guessing game...

That's right, I got nothin', well, nothin' new anyway. Not that I haven't made anything, it's just that I'm not gonna show you yet.
I'll show you on Friday....and Saturday....and I may have to stretch it out to Sunday. I dunno.

So, in the meantime, can you guess what movie this comes from?

I'm willing to bet that you can. I know I could, but then again, I made it so I guess that doesn't count. Oh, and if you want to see after you guess if you were right, you can go here. (It's a movie, by the way, but then again, I'm gonna guess that you already knew that.)

Enjoy your Wednesday, August 18th, 2010...you'll never get another one.

Early Guessing Games...

I usually do this on Wed., but I finished this last night and wanted you to see it. Think movies, current movies....and give me your guess.

Oh, and to everyone who said Aladdin from last week, you're absolutely right.

Here's the link, if you must peek, that way, you can click the picture to make it bigger and not be sent directly to the treasury!!

New Rings and a Guessing Game

It all started this weekend when I went dancing and I saw a girl with the most gorgeous bead embroidered ring on her finger.
First thing that went through my mind was, "How beautiful!".
The second thing, "I bet she bought it at a department store, and I bet I could make one!"

So, here's my newest endeavor and the result of my bead embroidered inspiration.

I call it Blue Concentric Circles, and as you can see below, it is completely lined on the back and is adjustable like all of these rings. It's super comfortable to wear if I do say so myself!

The second I call Rustic Turquoise and this one has a much softer not-so-modern feel. It sports some gorgeous little turquoise rounds with soft yellows and burnt siennas thrown in for some color.

The last one is River Rocks Ring. It's a gorgeous little bead of ocean jasper surrounded by the warmest autumn greens and browns that I could find in my stash. (I'm so ready for fall!)


Okay, and here's the Guessing Game for today. Last week I sold one of my Egyptology Pendants, and I loved it so much I had to create another. And then I was inspired by it to create this treasury. Think movies again and leave me with your guess....

Okay, last thing...I'm thinking about opening a new shop for some destash. I've got a ton of gemstones and some gorgeous cabochons that I just don't see myself using and I'd love to pass them on to someone who will. Has anyone opened a destash shop before? How did it go? Did you have to use another e-mail or will Etsy let you have two shops on one account?

Have a good Wednesday!

Guessing Game and a little something new...

I haven't had much time to be creative this week, mostly because I've been busy every morning. I have, however, been cranking out Carnaval Pendants for my sisses. I've just got to get some chain to suspend them from.
I'm seeing a trend in my sales...affordable. In the past couple weeks, I've sold a ton of rings and pendants, all within the $20 - $30 range. So, I'm taking this concept and running with it. I know it's because of the economy, and I'm approaching it with a challenge to myself. Can I make something affordable yet beautiful? With beadweaving this translates into small which is even a greater challenge. I have to capture color, texture, and depth into something that's only about as big as a half dollar!

This is my newest creation, I call it El Mar which means "The Sea" in Spanish. It's a beaded bead suspended from black waxed cotton cord at choker length.

I've worn it twice already and gotten some great compliments on it. I don't normally wear chokers, but this one is great and it's so light around your neck.

Okay, finally...the guessing game! I'm having so much fun putting these together!

I realized that I totally forgot to tell you what last week's was...Rear Window! Only the best Alfred Hitchcock movie ever!

Here's this week, and if you can't get this...I mean, come on! Leave me a comment with your guess. (If you absolutely must know what it is, you can click on the picture for a link, otherwise you'll get no help from me!)

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Guessing Game and some newbies

It all started when I purchased 4mm faceted czech rounds in the color Amaranth from ArtBeads.com. I honestly thought the color was different than it was (read: less pink). Well,
it wasn't so the next challenge was to create something with these little boogers and a color that is normally a BIG challenge for me.

The first thing I managed to crank out was (of course) a Tidepool ring. The second was a bracelet that I'm calling Ruby Quatrefoil. It's a repeating pattern that closes with a beaded toggle clasp.

It has a layered quatrefoil look and each little component reminds me of a starburst or fireworks (since it was just previously the 4th of July).


Instead of trying to keep the pinkish hue of the faceted czech glass, I used a lot of deep maroons and burgundys and a color called red wine to "force" the beads to go red. (I picked up that term from my mom the artist who taught me that colors change when surrounded by other colors.)
The finished product, I like, and so...Ruby Quatrefoil made the cut to my shop.

I'm also putting this little ring called Field of Poplars in my shop. I made it by cutting teeny tiny pieces of paper into small shapes to make a landscape. It's 1" by 1" and I'm still amazed that I don't go blind after playing with little pieces of paper that tiny!

Okay, finally, the Guessing Game. Here's the latest. This one is hard, so I'll give you a hint: think old Hollywood. Good luck, and leave me a comment with your guess, I'll post a link to the treasury tomorrow.
(By the way, you've got to read the titles on this listings before you make your guess, sometimes they give you a clue!)

Margie and Me - Degas' Dancers Part 2

These week's Margie and Me challenge was a real um..well..challenge. Mostly because I just never could get inspired by the color palette, and I also didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to it. I had to make an unexpected trip out of town and I was busy selling two of my stone pendants! Jasper Flower and River Rocks just made one lucky buyer's neck that much more beautiful!

Here's what I was able to come up with. It's a beaded ring and I tried to recreate the frilly look of the girls' dresses. These colors are difficult to work with without it looking too much like I-just-had-a-baby jewelry.

I'm definitely going to keep this color scheme tucked under my hat and will probably revisit it later. I don't feel like I did Degas justice and I know I've got something better in me.

I was also in two treasuries this week that were made by someone other than beadweavers!

The first is a super-cute travel treasury featuring my Road Less Traveled Pendant you can see it here.

The second is a blue-green treasury with some super-intense blues and greens. (wow, that was repetitive) This one features my Layers of Blue Bracelet and it's here.

I'd also like to take a minute to thank you guys who commented on my Quantity vs. Creativity post. It was so enlightening to hear points of view from people all across the jewelry creating spectrum. I definitely plan on addressing this more tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Finally, Persian Rugs Tutorial will be available Monday if I do my job right and thanks to all who have made my tutorials such a huge success! I'm so honored that you like my designs! Have a great weekend!

I gots a Treasury and it's time to vote!!!

I haven't gotten a treasury in a long time, but yesterday I just happened to stumble onto this: It's still cold outside... I hope you like it. It has lots of good beadwork in it!

Also, here's my challenge entry for El Reto on the blog Beads Perles. A group of jewelry artists got together and the challenge was to make something using recycled materials. So, I worked up a bracelet with an old fabric belt that I don't wear anymore and a button that was buried in the deepest recesses of my mother's sewing box. Result? A very Gilligan's Island meets Forever 21.

Here are all the entries for this week: You can click here to vote, and yes, I am shamelessly soliciting votes!

A Treasury!

Finally, got a Treasury! You can check out the link here and here's the snapshot:

I know the screen shot is rough, thanks for bearing with me!