What an amazing day for me on
Etsy! I am in four - count 'em - four Treasuries! For those unfamiliar with the concept, "treasuries" on Etsy are user-selected lists of 12 items they found especially beautiful. Sometimes they follow a theme, or a specific color scheme, and they last for about two days, with only 150-170 lists available to view at any one time. To make it into four at once is just unbelievable. Also, the front page of Etsy shows items for sale, and is most often taken from one of the Treasury lists - it all adds up to a lot of free advertising and exposure. Sweet. We'll see if one of these actually makes it to the front page.

Thanks to PearsonMaron, jenniestephensart, giftbearer, and sakurakittycreatives for liking something of mine enough to take the time to include it in their beautiful lists.

Berrysprite on Etsy

This week's special is all about a wonderful seller on Etsy that my daughter just loves - berrysprite. She makes just about the cutest amigurumi creatures you have ever seen. I think if I were to let her, Mackenzie would buy out the store. Check out some of Mackenzie's favorites in the sidebar. Too cute!

I feel like a real artist - three of my pieces are currently on exhibit at the Springfield Art Association's Emerging Artists show. There is a lot of wonderful art on display there from students who attend their classes (see here for their summer schedule - boo hoo, I'll be moved to Texas by the time these classes start up again.)

Two of the pieces are currently for sale on Etsy (Gaia and Sedona), and one (Shopgirl) I'll list when the show is over June 9.

There are so many fabulous artists on Etsy. Beginning this week, I'd like to introduce you to the ones I call my favorites. I'll post their shops, their blogs, if they've got one, and some of the wonderful creations in the margins as a mini display. Let me know if you like them too. Better yet, give them a visit and your patronage. Buy Handmade!!

My first is Enthral, who makes absolutely fabulous jewelry. She's a kindred spirit with me in her love of vintage buttons and beautiful wire work in her pieces. She's all about eco-considerate art, recycling and re-using materials to make beautiful new creations - how fabulous!

You can see her Etsy shop at Enthral, and her blog at Enthral's blog. Check it out!

Found a fun little sign generator via my Flickr Group - One of a Kind -

check it out:



Isn't it cute? Make your own at www.tankmiche.com

Mother's Day is almost upon us. How about something fresh and a bit unusual? This delicate Mama Peapod should do the trick. The "pod" can have up to six "peas" of any mix of boy/girl - blue/pink in any order. Need more peas? Just add more pods! Happy Mom's Day!

There is something so enduring about the classics....well, duh, that's why they're "classics"!! This time around I'm talking about the combo of turquoise, red coral, and sterling silver - a Southwestern classic for jewelry. I fell in love with these absolutely bold and beautiful "vertebrae" beads of red bamboo coral. Combined with genuine turquoise and sterling silver, they make for a necklace of timeless beauty, but definitely not for the faint of heart. Luscious!

I am so loving this necklace, I had to share. Cherries are so fun and trendy now, but most of what is out there is plastic or base metal. Not my cup-o-tea. So I did some up in quartz and sterling. Now there's a bowl of cherries!

I call this piece my Gaia Necklace, because the ryolite stones are so primordial looking. Wonderful swirls of green and tawny tan. I set the cabochon on a disc of sterling, swirled wire around it to form the bail, and decorated with fun little pops of sterling granules. Rich and earthy, don't you think?

Classes at the Springfield Art Association, under the oh-so-fun tutelage of Ms. Meghan Tippy, I have entered the wonderful world of silversmithing. I really enjoy hammering out cuff bracelets, and I added some custom wire wrapping to this piece. Lovely nuggets of southwestern American turquoise I purchased last summer in Sedona are the perfect turquoise color of the skies there.

Holiday time continues: Pumpkins are perfect for either Halloween or Thanksgiving - gotta love that gourd!

To celebrate, I offer FREE gift wrapping on any purchase in that's Headley!

Inspired by Creative Challenge #20 – what does Etsy mean to me?

The beginnings of this necklace began before this particular challenge. It started as it always does – with my various beads of stone in front of me, and my asking them – what do you want to be? I had three stones who had spoken before, and they asked again to be brought together, but something was missing. So I waited. A few weeks later, a larger stone arrived, made of the same material of one of the stones in the group that was waiting patiently for the spark to bring them together again. But again, something was still missing. Then the Creative Challenge and the idea came – the linking element to bring all into focus – an aura of silver.

The piece fell together quickly, as destined pieces do. So for fun, I looked up the folklore of the stones and metal. The large focal stone, in a faceted oval, and smaller stones in octagonal coins are olive jade. Jade – the stone of serenity, longevity, and self-realization. The next stone is peacock blue apatite in faceted ovals. Apatite – the stone to promote creativity and discern the truth within. The last stone is citrine, in small discs, and it also promotes creativity. And last, sterling silver, the metal which serves as a mirror to see our true selves.

Was this chance to pull these materials together? Am I reading what I want out of the folklore? Maybe so, most probably so. But in the end I got what I wanted – a piece to reflect what Etsy means to me: a chance to create, to strive to be the best I can be, to see myself as part of a thriving community of artisans. To show my true colors.

I just love the Kenyan Womens' Shelter Project kazuri ceramic beads. After I made the bracelet, I decided to make a companion necklace, but this necklace I will donate to a fundraiser for my daughter's school, rather than sell at my shop.

It's a multicultural event, with all sorts of food and activities. The necklace will be sold at silent auction. I hope it does well for the school. I'm very excited to work with the kazuri beads, as they are produced and sold by fair trade, and as such produce real economic results for the women who make them. That really can't be said for the majority of beads produced in the world, and that's a sad state of affairs.

At Etsy
, one of the shopkeepers (jewelstreet) gives us a Creative Challenge every week. This week, it was to choose from two poetry passages. I chose one from Sylvia Plath:

If the moon smiled she would resemble you
you leave the same impression
of something beautiful, but annhilating

This Annhilating Moon Beauty of Chalcedony, Moonstone and Labradorite came out of that inspiration. See it at my shop: thats headley jewelry designs

Granny Smith Earrings - little beaded wonders of fall. What a great gift these would make for a teacher! Now that's an apple that will make an impression.

It's time to start the "holiday" season - which for me begins with my birthday (that would be yesterday) and goes through Valentine's. But what says Halloween most to me? That would be candy corn. Have no idea what allure yellow/orange/white colored chewy chunks of sugar keep for me, but there it is - I love the little kernels. I have a friend here in Springfield who does fabulous lampwork beads and she whipped me up some corn, so I'll be "popping" a few into earrings for the Etsy shop. These are going in tomorrow. Aren't they cute? Good enough to eat, I'd say....

This past week I fell in love with these sky blue Czech glass flowers at my favorite local beadery - La Bead, Oh! - and had to bring them home. Strangely, as I was looking them over, I heard my bronze freshwater pearls at home calling me to make a match. And boy, were they right (and what, don't your beads talk to you?). Oh, and La Bead, Oh! had matching little leaves that came home,too. Simply lovely this bracelet, don't you think?

This Kenyan Sunset bracelet turned out so pretty! The focus bead is ceramic from the Kenyan Women's Shelter Project. To read more about the project and these women please go to http://www.someenchantedbeading.com. If you want to know more about the bracelet, visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/view_item.php?listing_id=426895

This is my Olive Branch Tree of Peace necklace, crafted in olive jade, freshwater pearls, citrine, apatite and sterling silver. You can find it at http://www.etsy.com/view_item.php?listing_id=441746