My last night on Etsy?

I've just had my best month ever on Etsy:  8 sales.  And if you are one of the eight amazing people who purchased a piece of jewelry, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Etsy started off as a handmade marketplace.  Yes, they also allow supplies and vintage, but Etsy's niche has been handmade.  And it's a great place for small, independent artisans and crafters to start selling online.  Over the years, I've learned so much from Etsy and other Etsy sellers about how to advertise, search engine optimization, photography and the art of online selling.

To show you how far I've come, here are the first and one of the last things I ever listed on Etsy:

Green Twisted Crystal Necklace c. 2009

Violet Swirls Earrings, c. 2012

This is why the recent set of events surrounding one Featured Seller has broken my heart.  If you're not familiar with the controversy, you can get caught up here:

http://www.regretsy.com/2012/04/24/update-ecologica-malibu/

There's more to the story, of course.  But I am extremely disappointed by Etsy's response to this controversy.  In this era of big box stores and cheap goods imported from places like China and the maquiladoras on the US Texas border, I want to support handmade.  I want to support independent artisans who honestly struggle to bring beautiful, functional, funny, amazing creations into this world.  And that is why I'm joining the protests on Etsy planned for May 1 and May 10.  I'll be taking all the items out of my shop on those days, and putting up a banner in support of independent artisans.

What remains to be seen is whether anyone who participates in the protests will be allowed to sell on Etsy again.  One seller (Nicole Hanna Jewelry) has already reported on her blog that Etsy closed her shop after she posted a statement about her support for handmade.  Other sellers on the Etsy forums are anonymously reporting that their shops have been closed without explanation.  So tonight may be the last night that I have an Etsy shop.  It feels bittersweet. 

BeadFest Santa Fe: Rolling Mill Earrings Class

And finally, the piece de resistance.  I think I was more excited about the Rolling Mill Earring class than anything else.  See, I've been lusting after a rolling mill for a loooong time, but I just couldn't purchase it without trying it out.  Class started after dinner on my second day there.  I'd already gone to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, gone through the Expo again, and taken a soldering class.  I was a wee bit tired.  But OMG ROLLING MILL SQUEEEEEEEEEE.

The rolling mill looks a lot like an industrial pasta maker.  To use it, you place a plain metal blank and a texture in a file folder and roll it through the heavy duty pasta maker.  And then you get gorgeous textured metal. 

Our teacher gave us WAY more metal blanks than I expected, and some wire to make the earrings.  There was one rolling mill for 10 of us, so we'd set up a little folder of blanks and texture and get in line to roll one pair of earring stuffs.  Then, you got out of line, set up another folder, and got back in line.  The teacher encouraged us to play with heat to make colors on the metal and to use torches to make the earwires.  When I figured out it could take the whole 3 hours to texture all the blanks she gave us, I decided to forget the earwires and metal coloration.  I mean, I could do that at home, but I don't have a rolling mill at home.  So, I spent 2 hours getting in and out of line.  Here are some of the super cool textured pieces I got to take home:

Brass circles with skeleton leaves and spiral hole punch; Silver filled circles with cloth; Copper ovals with window screen

Copper circles with plastic mesh from produce bag and burlap

Copper square with low-relief circles pattern for rolling mill

Copper strip with open-weave cloth

Copper square with lace

Copper rectangle with wire mesh screen...or maybe it was a plastic produce bag...and lace on the backside

TL; DR:  NOW I WANT MY OWN ROLLING MILL.  WANT WANT WANT.

BeadFest Santa Fe: Sweat Soldering Class

Day 2 began with a trip to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum.  I was aware of her flowers, but really hadn't seen her abstract paintings before.  I love the way she used the color blue in her abstract paintings.  Then I went and found a delicious lunch of dairy-free fish tacos and horchata (oh, how I love thee, horchata.  Y U NO IN MY HOMETOWN HORCHATA???)...ahem. 

Anyway, after lunch I took a class on sweat soldering.  Sweat soldering is a technique for soldering two flat pieces of metal together.  This is also how you set a bezel cup for a round cabochon stone.  I hope to incorporate bezel cups and cabochons into my jewelry....just as soon as I buy *mumble mumble* dollars worth of equipment and supplies.  In class, I made this slightly dorked copper and silver pendant with a lab-created ruby cabochon:
 

BeadFest Santa Fe: The Expo

With slowly bleeding sinuses, I went to see what treasures could be found at the Expo.  Mostly the expo is beads, and the beads tend to be big.  You know, big hunks of rock.  Not my thing.  But I did find a lovely Etsy seller, MetalMeThis, selling her sheets of copper and brass that have been etched and patina stained.  I couldn't resist purchasing these gorgeous sheets from her.  And no, the burgundy is not from my sinuses.  That's a patina stain.  Look for some pieces using these metals in the store in the next month or so....

BeadFest Santa Fe: Fold Forming Class

I went to my first big BeadFest in Santa Fe, New Mexico last month.  Wow, is Santa Fe beautiful!  I got to go to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum but--even better--I got to take some metalsmithing classes!  The first day, I took Fold Forming with Kim St. Jean.  She was fantastic!  I learned to anneal and fold form.

We learned a basic line fold first.  I've got to say, this is my favorite technique!

Line fold

We also got to try some pod and leaf folds.  I think my leaf fold looks more like a set of lips, but, um....LEAF.  Really, it's a leaf.  Mmm-hmmm.....

Leaf and pod fold

We also learned a T fold.  I'm not sure exactly how I'd use this, but it's pretty simple and I do like the linear look of it.

T fold

Then there's the supercalifragilistic fold.  NO, that's not the name, but it seemed pretty complicated.  It's actually called a Pillow fold.  As in a pillow.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  I don't care if it looks like...um...a, um...something plucked...mumbling...anyway, it's a pillow fold.

Pillow fold, possibly diseased

Toward the end of the day, I really wanted to make something I could wear.  Keep in mind we were in a room with no ventilation or soundproofing, and there were 19 of us constantly firing up torches and hammering.  It's possible the fumes and the constant noise got to me.  Maybe, just maybe, this wasn't the best idea.  But, I decided to try the spiral fold and then to make a cuff using the line fold.  Behold, my copper cuffs!

Line Fold Cuff (l) and Spiral Fold Cuff (r)

After fold forming was over, I realized my sinuses were slowly bleeding from the altitude in Santa Fe.  But before I could head back to the hotel, I wanted to check out the expo.  (to be continued....)