Melissa Meman

Come Visit me on Blogspot

Melissa Meman...Art, Life, Love  on Blogspot

I have been doing research, tallying, worrying, for a while now about the expenses involved in my online ventures (website, other sales venues, this blog) and have come to the conclusion that I need to go to a free venue for Art, Life, Love. Yesterday, I decided to switch to blogspot.  I actually had wanted to do it several months ago, but discovered that Google doesn't import from Typepad, and I didn't want to lose all my archived posts.

I finally figured out the work-around by exporting everything to my old WordPress site (glad I kept it open), then using a handy-dandy application that coverted the xml file to a blogger-compatible one.

Here is the link...it is up and running.  http://melissameman.blogspot.com

This typepad address will be functioning until my billing date of December 10, so I will leave it up until then.  If you follow me here, or have me bookmarked/linked to your blog, thank you!  I hope you will update your links and that I will see you there!  

Back to Basics - Custom Order

Wow, this is the first "strung" project I have done in ages, and I must say, it kicked my bee-hind! I forgot how hard it is to get multiple strands even, get the crimps on securely, and the beading wire tucked in nicely.

It was worth the extra work, though...this was a custom order for "Miss Carolyn"! She is the wife of the cantor at the church where I sing, and if it weren't for her, I would not have been able to have my paid church gig. She has provided me with free child care during rehearsals and Mass ever since Ben was a baby! He has grown up with her and we love her! She wanted a special Mothers bracelet for her daughter, and this is what I came up with.

 

I gave it to her on Sunday, but took a quick photo before hand...I think it turned out pretty.

 

My next show is this coming Sunday, so I have to get back to the work bench!

'Tis the season...

for holiday craft shows and church bazaars!  Big sigh...I am signed up for 3, all falling within 7 days of each other!  The last 2 are back to back.  I know, I know :)

So, I am trying to get my inventory up and am working a bit every night on something.  As per my normal modus operandi, I start a bunch of projects and work on them sort of simultaneously until things get finished...at least with larger projects.  I am going to focus on simpler designs, with lower price tags for at least 2 of these events.

My goal is to post something new every day or so over the next couple weeks as motivation to keep plugging away.

Today's finished pieces...2 new bracelets.

 
Too bad you can't actually tell these gorgeous faceted beads are amethyst...I took these photos indoors and was not able to get the lighting right, even with Picnik.

This one is a tad better, although the long, skinny beads and herringbone wrap made it difficult to layout in a pretty way. 

More tomorrow :)

 

Halloween through the years - a parade of costumes

I was looking back through family photos yesterday and found Ben's costume from last year, which made me nostalgic and so I searched through the archives to find as many as I could.  I got back as far as 2004, when he was 3.  That was his first Halloween/trick-or-treating experience.

 

They each hold a special memory...

• The little leopard was so cute, he was shy that year!
• THe clown costume is the only one I was crafty enough to make...we found that hat on sale (I have one just like it) and I built the costume around it.
• Dash Incredible was his 1st superhero costume and he wore it around the house until it got to small!
• The yellow and blue Wolverine was a surprise...he chose it because it had long plastic claws!
• Darth Vadar was another unexpected choice...again, I think he chose it for the cool light saber! We went to an office party that year and he won a prize.
• This year - guess who he chose...that's right, Iron Man! I'll document the costume tonight and add it to the archives.

Happy Halloween to all! Have fun, but please remember to be safe!

Carving Pumpkins...

Ben and I carved our 2 pumpkins last night.  It was really hard to turn him loose with a fairly sharp knife, but I was able to do it this year...now, before I get a bunch of comments, I didn't really turn him loose with a sharp knife, I was right there by him, cheering him on, reminding him to keep the fingers on his other hand out of the way, etc :)

He did a great job...he decided how he wanted it and drew it on paper, then I drew it on the pumpkin and he cut.

Can you tell which one I designed? I always like to give mine eyeliner and a few tattoos!

I love these fun templates from Picnik!

Sweet Bead Studio's Sweet Giveaway!

One of my new favorite jewelry artists, Cindy Wimmer, over at Sweet Bead Studio made the cover of Easy Wire 2009!  Congrats, Cindy...you deserve it!

In celebration, she is having a giveaway over at her blog...go check it out, and leave a comment to be entered.  While you are there, take a gander at her fabulous drool-worthy work.  She has some cute kids, as well :)

Month of the Rosary

Did you know that the month of October is considered the month of the Holy Rosary?  In honor of that, all my rosaries, pocket rosaries, and rosary bracelets are on sale for 25% off today through Sunday, November 1.  On my website, enter "rosary" in the coupon box.  If you would like to order through Etsy, send me a convo, and I'll revise the invoice for you.

  
 
My friends at the Etsy Rosary Guild Team have been busy snagging treasuries and promoting our art. For those of you who would like a bit more info, here is a  brief history lesson on the origins of the Rosary.

It's that time of year...

leaves are changing color, autumn nip is in the air, pumpkins and Halloween stuff in the stores...school fundraisers!

Ben came home with stars in his eyes and a smile on his face...and an envelope full of school fundraiser information. "Mom! I'm going to get a Nintendo Wii!  All I have to do is sell some stuff!"  Yep, he can win the coveted Nintendo Wii by selling 139 items.  Oops!  How do you convince your excited 8 year old that the probability of us selling 139 items is not very good?

Seeing the light in his eyes dim after bursting his bubble, I guiltily promised him that we would try our best, after all, it does benefit his school!

So, if you'd like to help support Whittier Elementary School in Frederick, MD and help a disillusioned little boy follow his dream of owning a Wii, go shopping!  They actually have some cute stuff as fundraiser items go.  The link is http://www.shoplavenders.com   Make sure you enter Ben's ID# 255117 so that he will get credit. 

Look at this face!

A New Look, Outlook, Attitude, Game Plan...

As you can probably tell by now, this blog has not been my priority lately!  Too much real life stuff going on and try as I might, I just can't post daily or even weekly updates.  I have decided that it is okay.  I'm not going to worry about it..I worry too much about other stuff as it is. 

Have been trying to get all my latest pieces listed on my website and other various "selling venues", which is my least favorite part of the creative process.  Every site I list on requires a different size photo, etc, so it can be time consuming...especially if you have a back-log of items to enter!  I usually focus on my website, then Etsy, then the others.  1000markets and Trunkt only gets my higher end jewelry, so that is usually pretty easy.

Take a look at my new website look...I got really bored seeing the pinky-orange theme and decided to get a 2nd template for a change.  I like it.

Ok, gotta go get some more stuff done...Frederick Arts Market is back from summer hiatus and I will have a table there this Sunday.

To my loyal readers out there...don't give up on me! I always come back eventually :)

Stuff I haven't actually shown-off before!

As some of you may remember I had a show at a Catholic Festival a couple weekends ago...what better place to sell rosaries and other spiritual jewelry, right?  I pulled a rosary-making fest for about  a week before and cranked out several new items, just positive they would all sell!  Now, I did make several great sales at the Festival, but not a single "new" item was among them...go figure.  It was still a good thing to do, since I felt my inventory was a little light.  There is always that question.."do I have enough stuff"?  Too much, and people might feel overwhelmed...not know where to start.  Too little, not enough variety and selection...people tend to walk right by!  A very fine line!

So here are some of the items I slaved over...not sure why but carnelian was obviously the stone of the day :)

Rosaries - carnelian/banded agate/sterling, unakite/carnelian/bronze, amazonite/agate/sterling

Pocket Rosaries - czech glass/silver, czech glass/bronze, orange carnelian/bronze

 

Rosary Bracelets - serpentine/bronze, carnelian/bronze, agate/smoky topaz/bronze, czech glass/silver

I have been experimenting with different lighting/focus elements using Picnik.com...I really love that site!