HourGlass Studio Custom Wedding jewelry

HourGlass Studio Custom Wedding jewelry

Friday, September 24, 2010

Artfire, a new way to buy handmade

I have been selling my jewelry on Etsy for a while now and a year ago I signed up for an Artfire account.  I never added any product to my store front there, but decided to give it a try again.  I will be adding product there over the next week.  So you have two ways to buy your bridal jewelry, Etsy and Artfire.  I will also be adding some new product...hair jewelry. So stay tunned.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Etsy Pearl Jewelry Treasury

My Pearl and fireball necklace made it into a treasury of pearl jewelry on Etsy.  Take a peek.  This is a stunning collection of pearl jewelry.  Perfect for a wedding or special occassion.


Here is a small sample of a piece in the collection.  Click the link above to see the entire collection of pearl jewelry.


Sunday, August 29, 2010

Pearl stud earrings

Looking for something simple.  I have just ordered some swarovski pearls that can be made into stud earrings.  I am ordering this seasons hot colors and am looking forward to the pearls arrival.  I think these will be fabulous for any age and any event.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Gemstone earrings and necklace sets

What is your favorite gemstones.  I personally love them all !  I just recently purchased a HUGE order of chalcedony, quartz, pearls, peridot, amethyst, garnet, carnelian, jade and many other stones.  While waiting for them to arrive I got thinking of unique wedding jewelry that I could incorperate the gemstones into.

I have a large binder full of amazing gemstone jewelry designs I want to turn these stones into, so that should be a lot of fun !  Half of the gemstones are destined for sale on Etsy.  So stay tuned.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Tin Cup Necklace

Tin cup Pearl  bridal jewelry is still just as popular today as it was when the movie first aired.  Why.  Timeless elegance.  Pearls and sterling silver never go out of style and if gold is your thing, then consider gold filled. This style can take you from your special event to jean and a Tee, or a night on the town.  Dont forget the office either.  So versatile !

Here is an image from the movie....and should you wish a tuin cup necklace for yourself, head over to my ETSY store.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Getting ready for FALL Weddings

Wedding jewelry for fall.  Summer is nowhere near over but its time to start with fall colors. Earthy colors mixed with silver and gold. Sparkling crystals, luminous pearls and decandent gemstones.  What will your bridal party be wearing this fall ?

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

August begins

I love summer, LOVE IT !  My favorite time of year...schools over, the kids are home, you can go outside without looking like a Eskimo, the sun shines so bright and the heat is amazing and wedding season begins.

This summer we put up a swing / fort for our son, put in a fire pit and leveled our yard.  We have 6 acres and some areas were really low, others high and we paved our driveway and parking area.  Doesn't seem like much was accomplished since June but it was a huge undertaking.  Literally hundreds of gravel trucks worth of dirt was moved from one area to another, then hours and hours of levelling it out and packing it. We still have a lot to do but its getting there.  We also hydro seeded the front of our property...a good acre.  So we finally will have some NICE grass.  Which also means a lot of mowing.  Good thing our daughter loves the ride mower. We picked weeds for ever and a day.  Thistles are evil !  LOL.

I still have plants to add to the front walk way and want a columnar aspen for the front of the house between the two bedroom windows.  Our house is really tall...so we need the height.  I want to buy some trees for the back yard area and make the fire pit look nicer than it does.  So a lot of work ahead.  We have a 5 year plan.  LOL.  Hopefully it wont take that long.

I did manage to work on some new jewelry designs ( drawings ) and plan to try some out later today.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Fabulous weather

After a lot of rainy, cold and grey weather we finally are having a stretch of sunshine, heat and blue skies.  It is about time. Perfect weather for BBQs, family get togethers, camping or some good old fashioned yard work.  Guess what I am doing.  Yep, yard work.  Hubby has decided that I need to learn how to run the track hoe.  This should be interesting. 

I have several orders for brides to be to be packed up and ship off to their new homes and still need to get my new jewelry edited and listed on etsy.  So, I think I will make him happy and jump on the how and at least try....then later tonight I can finish up my earring and necklace orders and maybe get a movie in there too.

I hope you all did something fun this weekend.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Favorite piece of jewelry

Everyone has one...their favorite piece of jewelry.  Besides my wedding ring, mine are a pair of diamond stud earrings my husband gave me for Christmas two years ago and my Pandora bracelet and charms.  I also have a lariat necklace that I really love a lot too.

Growing up my Mom always wore the same gold filigree earrings and I just adored them.  I wanted a pair for myself so bad.  She had lots of really neat and unusual jewelry.  I loved rummaging thru her jewelry box and fondling her pearl necklace.  The pearls felt so good against my skin.  To this day I love pearls !  I exclusively use Swarovski pearls in my jewelry designs because of their similar characteristics to real pearls.  The same weight, feel and look for a fraction of the price.

Friday, July 30, 2010

100 sales on Etsy

Well, I hit my goal of 100 sales on ETSY before the end of the summer.  I took a lengthy absence from Etsy and making jewelry to take care of my health.  I had a growth inside my liver and over 60% of my liver had to be removed along with my gall Bladder because it was on the side of the growth.  It was a long recovery....ended up with H1N1 and pneumonia one week after surgery.  Major surgery. 16" scar, damaged lung and just plain worn out.  So it was a while before I did anything. 

But I am back...have been for a few months now and starting all over on Etsy.  Gaining a new customer base and enjoying the design process again.  I also sell at local  bridal boutiques, shoppes and stores but Etsy is the ground I really want to conquer.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Sterling or Gold filled

Sterling silver jewelry.  By far my favorite metal to use. Not too many people seem to want anything gold anymore but just so you know gold filled is an great alternative to 14K gold.  Gold filled is an alloy, gold plated is a plating over sterling silver.  An alloy is a mixture and wont flake, chip or peel.  So if you want gold, ask for gold filled.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Do brides want pearl bracelets ?

I make several styles of bridal bracelets.  The best selling is a simple pearl and crystal bracelet and it sells very well where I live.  Etsy, well thats a different story.  Do brides want to accessorize their wrists or do they simply want a stylish pair of earrings and a necklace ?

Monday, July 26, 2010

What jewelry style do brides love ?

Wedding jewelry has really evolved since I was married.  There is so much selection and a brides choices are truly only limited to her own imagination. Sterling silver and gold filled are redily used today as are many other high quality componants.  When I was married my choices were limited and most designs were over the top gawdy.  By nights end my ears were red, swollen and the earrings tossed.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Earrings, Necklaces and Bracelets oh my !  Thats what I am up to this weekend.  I have a huge wedding party jewelry order to complete this weekend and if I have time, I plan on trying to fit in some yard work.  I have 30 flowers, shrubs and decorative grasses that need planting and a lot of weeds that need to be picked. The yard is finally taking shape.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Pantone fall colors

While designing crystal earrings tonight I decided to check out Pantones site. Pantone is where I go to preview the next seasons "HOT" colors.  Lets just say their names are very unusual. How will the Pantone fall colors translate into Wedding colors ?  Not quite sure but there are some very odd colors for fall. Endive, golden glow, living coral, lipstick red, purple orchid, chocolate truffle, woodbine, oyster gray and rose dust. I suppose I should order some swarovski in these colors....just in case :)

Here is the link in case your interested in seeing what we will be wearing for fall / winter 2010

http://www.pantone.com/downloads/articles/pdfs/PANTONE_Fashion_Color_Report_Fall_2010.pdf

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Welcome


HourGlass Studio's specialty is custom jewelry. Wedding jewelry for the bride, bridesmaids and other special events and occassions. My name is Laurie and I am the designer behind HourGlass Studio. Each piece is created in my jewelry studio and given the utmost attention to detail, thus ensuring quality pieces that any woman will be proud to wear again and again.

Please visit HourGlass Studio on ETSY to view my entire collection.

http://www.hourglassstudio.etsy.com/