Bliss Necklace

I've been thinking a lot lately about the word "bliss".  How many times in your life have you actually experienced true bliss?  sometimes it happens int he quiet moments of the day when you know that everyone you love is safe and happy and well.  it can happen during the creative process, when all elements come together to become something beautiful; cherished for years to come.  If Bliss were a design it might look like this 19" necklace made from vintage lavender and white pearls, used as the focal point, nestled in antiqued bronze vintage bead caps and surrounded by charms made of lucite flowers, swarovski pearls and crystals. More lavender and white pearls line the chain surrounded by antiqued bronze vintage heart connectors. A lovely white lucite flower with an amethyst swarovski crystal as it's center dangles from the antiqued bronze chain. The design is tied together with an antiqued bronze swirled toggle clasp.

Bliss can be purchased in my Etsy Shop!  Giving this necklace as a gift?  Bliss will arrive at your door beautifully wrapped and ready for giving.  And remember, there is always FREE SHIPPING at Zur Designs!

Experience Bliss! :)

The Handmade Artists Forum Etsy Team Sale!!

I have been participating in the Handmade Artists Forum Etsy Team Sale!!  There are so many wonderful artists involved in this sale offering wonderful discounts on their handmade items!!


You can find out more about the sale and participating members here!


As for Zur Designs...I am offering 10% off all items in my shop and as always there is FREE SHIPPING!!  If you are purchasing for a gift for someone special, each purchase will be beautifully gift wrapped and ready for giving!


Take a look at my etsy shop for yourself!  The 10% discount will be refunded through PayPal upon purchase!  The sale goes through Monday, March 15th!!  There's still plenty of time to reap the savings!!

Etsy Buy Handmade ZurDesigns

New Valentine Listing!!

I once had a friend say to me that he didn't like when people said, "I love you," and expected it in return. He said the reason it bothered him was that it made it too commonplace a phrase, like "see you later!' and wasn't a strong enough expression for what being in love really felt like. Yet he didn't feel comfortable replying with something a bit closer to his feelings such as "you are part of my own skin". It was as if what he felt was beyond love...and saying "I love you" simply wasn't enough.

So the other day I started thinking about a love like that...it was self-assured, confident, and impenetrable and I started to wonder what a design would look like that would capture that feeling of love. I realized that it would definitely glow.

So I used my shiniest crystal, and even used my shiniest chain, a diamond cut sterling silver, that glittered in the light. I added shiny charms, one of them a bright red sterling silver heart and some red and clear swarovski crystals dangling from the side.

And I called it "Love Squared". Love Squared is 19" end to end and can be purchased in my Etsy Shop.

Happy Valentines Day!!

My Definition of a Very Good Day!!

This is my definition of a very good day! When the postman brings this little package to my door! Don't you absolutely love ArtBeads' packaging? If I wasn't so frantic to look at the beads and other goodies inside, I'd be compelled to keep it wrapped for awhile...so I took a picture!!

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸❤¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

HAF Etsy Street Team Featured Shop of The Day Is Celtic Crossing

Today's featured shop is Celtic Crossing. This gorgeous shop is filled with beautiful handcrafted jewelry using such mediums as wire and stone.

In Celtic Crossing's own words:

"This a labor of love and I hope that you will find something here that will catch your eye and you'll just have to have!

I have done gem cutting in the past, so working with gemstones is a joy for me and I do have a background for it. I am knowledgeable in properties of the stones so please feel free to ask me about a stone if you'd like to know more about it.

I am also a Reiki Master, and so with each piece of jewelry I make it is infused with positive energy before it leaves my hands and is sent onto you!

Enjoy your time browsing through my shop and please "heart" me, as I am putting up new things all the time"

Check out Celtic Crossing's wonderful Etsy Shop!

Etsy Buy Handmade CelticCrossing

I don't know which of these beautiful pieces I'd pick as a favorite....hmmmmm....I think I will go with Simple Love:

Simple and elegant! This would make a wonderful gift...even if it was for ME!!!


Click on the links to learn more about the Handmade Artists Forum (HAF) or the HAF Etsy Street Team! Enjoy shopping at Celtic Crossing!

Secret Garden Necklace

When I was a little girl we had this wonderful backyard that overlooked a pond and had lots of trees to climb, a large vegetable garden, lots of flowers, and a stone fireplace where the family had cookouts all summer long. My dad put in a swimming pool so he could keep track of all of us and so we had a tall fence all away around the perimeter of the yard.

I thought of it as a wonderland and called it my secret garden. I would open the gate and it just seemed magical inside; like there was a whole new world beyond that fence!

This is what I was thinking of when I created this 25" long necklace. I love the pretty pendant of flowers in pink and black, and I added sterling silver chain, swarovski pearls, and charms containing small pearls, crystals and beads of Czech glass...and I couldn't forget the key to open the gate and enjoy the magic within!

The Secret Garden Necklace is for sale in my Etsy Shop! I am offering FREE SHIPPING on all items in my shop!

This Week's Featured Etsy Shop is: Lunarbelle and She's Having A GIVEAWAY!!!!

This week's featured Etsy Shop is Lunarbelle! Her shop and her designs are just beautiful!

She is located in Australia and loves making jewelry. She almost feel like beads have taken over her life! When you start dreaming about them then you know it is a passion! Many of us know what that's like!!

The name Lunarbelle was derived from: Lunar because her sign is Cancer and Belle is her daughter's nickname.

She started making jewelry about five years ago and has been plying family and friends with her creations! She also sells pieces at a local gift shop and on ebay in Australia.

She found Etsy and thought it would be a wonderful place to list some of her work. She is a proud member of the DUST Team on Etsy, a group of Australian Artists, Crafts people and Artisans who support Etsy and wish to promote independent Handcrafted Goods here in Australia and
worldwide.

Take a look at her wonderful shop for yourself!

Etsy Buy Handmade Lunarbelle

Here are some places to find Lunarbelle:

• Blog
• Twitter
  

To commemorate being the Featured Etsy Shop this week, Lunarbelle is having a GIVEAWAY!!! In addition, for this week only she is offering a 15% discount on all items in her shop to all my blog readers!


Take a chance at winning this lovely pair of dainty crystal cathedral bead earrings.
The beads used are a cathedral cut and are lined with copper which gives them a lovely pink/purple glow. A little gold plated bead cap sits on the bottom and a little gold plated heishi bead sits on the top. The earring hooks are gold plated and are an elongated shape which is flattened at the front. The drops measure 15mm from the bottom of the hook.

Okay here's how it works:

1. Go to Lunarbelle's shop and choose an item you love and leave a comment at the end of this post about your choice
2. Follow Lunarbelle's Blog

Completing those two basic tasks will earn you one chance into the giveaway!

Extra Credit

1. Follow this blog--Zur Designs
2. Follow Lunarbelle on Twitter
3. Follow Zur Designs on Twitter
4. Become a fan on Zur Designs Facebook Fan Page

On Monday, November 2nd I will tally it all up, run it through the random drawing software and announce the winner!

Oh, and if you would like to promote your blog, Facebook page, etc...mention it in your comments!

Thanks everyone and good luck!!!

Zur Designs Was Featured in Beaders Showcase!

The Beaders Showcase is a place where jewelry artists can showcase their work and be a part of an artisan community to learn and share all aspects of beading design.

Each week they showcase six different artists and choose one of their designs. This week they featured Leather and Lace, a coil bracelet that I am particularly fond of!

I am learning so much since joining this wonderful community; surrounded by talented and supportive artists!

Beaded Impressions Beading Contest is Open to Public Vote!

Vote for your favorite necklace and earring design in the 2009 Beaded Impressions Beading Contest! Public voting ends August 13th. It is a wonderful showcase of the talented jewelry artists out there! You will receive a coupon for 10% off any purchase just for voting!

They did have a bit of trouble with their voting page so there are instructions on how to access the survey and if you still have any trouble you can contact them directly.

In the necklace category, be sure to check out #26--Cosmo's Moon! No matter how it turns out, it was a lot of fun just creating the piece and entering the contest!

Have a great day!

Use The Muse II Contest

Well, I even though I didn't win the Use The Muse II Contest, I must say it was great fun and helped my design skills to stretch a bit; although for good or bad, my style still shone through! Here is my finished product!

I call it Dancing in the light because I picture pixies dancing. Perhaps because of the whimsical charms attached along the chain or the delicate nature of the Muse itself--a LillyPilly pendant made of soft shell and decorated in beautiful blues and yellows.

The swarovski crystals represent the light--I used the ones from the kit and also added some beautiful jonquil rounds, small blue bicones, and a gorgeous jonquil crystal pendant that I attached to the Muse with sterling silver wire.

The delicate pearls and silver balls that came with the kit and some bali spacers, bali bead caps, and a lovely silver toggle clasp seemed to tie the piece together nicely!

I would like to thank Scarlet Larson from The Beader's Muse as well as ArtBeads and Rainbows of Light who sponsored the contest. It was an opportunity for all jewelry artists to stretch their creativity, use gorgeous materials, and take a chance at winning a chest filled with beautiful beading treasures!

Dancing in the Light can be purchased at USTrendy and at my Etsy Shop!

A Wonderful Holiday

I went down to Rhode Island for a family reunion and birthday party for my sister Pat and for me! It was great! My sister Jude lives down there and I stayed with her.

Hooked up with the Hermit Designer who is working on some interesting designs I'll be able to show you later on this summer!

My sister Pat and I went to a great bead store in Jamestown called The Purple Door (formerly Deb's Beads)! I bought some beads for this design I have been carrying around in my head for the longest time that uses two different types of chain and stones that reflect white and blue and gray and resemble what it feels like when you look at the moon at night. Found some really great black-gray jasper ovals to capture that moon like quality and some smaller stones that tie into the theme nicely.

What a great shop! It carries both beads and beading accessories and beautifully handcrafted jewelry pieces. If you are in or around Jamestown this summer...you should definitely stop in!

Okay, here's a tiny peek of what this moon necklace is beginning to look like...I am still in the early stages of design but I am soooo excited to show you!

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day, wow, that happened fast! In honor of this special holiday I am lowering my prices for Memorial Day! EVERYTHING IS ON SALE!!! Some items have already been discounted and I took 50% off that already low price...check it out at my Zur Designs Shop on Etsy!

So can I whine a little? Everything I've read and anyone I talked to who is trying to make a living in jewelry design says the same thing: YOU END UP SPENDING MOST OF YOUR TIME IN THE BUSINESS END OF IT ALL...sometimes the creating piece gets lost! So that's what's been happening to me lately. Plus I am trying to learn some new techniques in chain and wire and metal so consequently the inventory development has slowed down as I practice, practice, practice.

But be patient dear friends...as I try to be with myself...because the new product lines with chain and wire as I grow stronger with this art form...are truly going to be inspiring and will definitely be worth the wait!