New Undertakings

For the Holidays this year I was lucky enough to receive everything I asked for off my "Creative Wishlist" which included all the stuff to start learning how to solder -- THANKS MOM!!! :)

I also got two pairs of Lindstrom Pliers-- every wire workers' "in-your-dreams" pliers. YIPPIIIIEEEEEE :)

Now I am making my own headpins (just ordered some fine silver wire to reduce firescale issues) with my mini torch, and I will begin soldering something soon. I'm sure I'll have a post about that as soon as it happens. :) I am really thankful that youtube exists! What a great resource for learning.

I will be teaching my *first ever* class at the Bead Bin this spring. Viking Knitting. Very cool. Sort of like a cross between knitting and chainmaille. It's actually pretty easy! I am a little nervous because I hate public speaking, but also fairly confident beause customers have been begging me to teach a class for years. It should be interesting, and I sure hope people sign up!! LOL

My last show was sensationally successful, and I am looking forward to my next show in the Wisconsin Dells in January. It's the "world's largest ice sculpting competition," with a big art fair under a heated tent in the parking lot of a restataunt next to one of the big resorts. It seems to be the most well-attended art fair in Wisconsin that month, so I'm thinking about cranking out some ice-and-snow-themed earrings and seeing how it goes!!

Will also be scheduling my annual Valentine's Day show with my step-aunt-in-law (I love that relation) who sells cards and stampin' up stuff. This will be held in Stoughton, WI at the Comfort Inn sometime in February. More info on this later.

Hoping the New Year brings bountiful success for everybody!

Back into the swing of things!

After a wedding in Florida, and extremely time consuming Halloween costumes, I am ready to get back to work!

This week I will be working on replacing and updating some items that have emptied from my inventory, and hopefully gearing up for a home show in Stoughton, still waiting on approval from the hostess :)

I think I may go away from shiny sterling for a while, and work in oxidized sterling and vintage brass exclusively... trying to create a distinctive "image" for my jewelry.

Yes, everything I make, I make because it's "pretty," but I think it might be more memorable and alluring if it was a bit more cohesive. This will be a challenge for me to limit myself, but if majoring in art in college taught me one thing, it's that I work more freely when limits are applied. If you just let me run free with a "do whatever you want," the hardest thing for me is deciding what I want to do, and then I lose all of my creative momentum.

This may be a very good move for raven's craving studios!

Arts and Crafts Open House

There will be an open house at my house on October 17th and 18th!! Featuring a handful of local artists with items such as jewelry, beads, prints and paintings, handmade cards, screen printed shirts and purses, lip balms and other bath items, HOLIDAY GIFTS GALORE!! :)

Please comment or email me if you would like any more information, or if you would like to book a home show yourself!

Fall Open House

I am planning on having an open house at my house October 17 and 18! Right now I am working on finding people who sell things other than jewelry to participate :)

New Etsy Listings!

I listed all these earrings on etsy tonight:







As well as updated a few images on other earrings! Whew!

What I'm working on!

Tonight I'll get started on these ornaments.

I'm using a Styrofoam ball and wrapping it in the ribbon, whereas in this book they use a wooden bead. I'm making "jumbo" versions. We'll see how it goes!

Middleton Good Neighbor Festival Pics

Here's a couple pictures of our booth from last weekend!

Saturday it was so cold we were wearing our winter coats and huddling under blankets! We tied our tent down with 40lb bags of salt on two corners, and there were very few moments of chasing our things that have blown away, though the wind was brutal!


Sunday it was warmer because the sun was out. It was less windy, but still chilly. After the parade there were lots of people shopping, and I did pretty well. My displays this time were satisfactory, though I don't know if I'll ever be compeltely happy with them!!! (The artist is her worst critic...) We were getting lots of compliments on how nice our booth looked.

All in all it was a decent show. The weather could have been nicer, but there were still enough sales to make it worthwhile! :)

Hello readers!

Just wanted to post an update about what shows I will be at this year.

So far I have only scheduled two home shows, one on Sept 12th in Bloomington, IL, and one in Joliet, IL on Sept 13. If you are interested in attending either of these please leave a comment and I will get you the info.

October, November, and December shows will be scheduled this week in the greater Madison, WI area. Stay tuned!!

Fusing Plastic Bags

So I saw this video on youtube from the etsy how-to series!



I like how she says at the end "I gotta warn you, you're gonna mess up a lot!"

Well ain't that the truth!! I have yet to master this technique, but I'll admit, I gave up after only about 7 tries.

Can I get a heat setting?? I tried at first on the hottest setting, and ended up with a frighteningly-fast-shriveling effect. Down a few notches and kept on trying until I'd tried it all and I still end up with either an overly shriveled piece, or the layers are not sticking together.

I came to the conclusion that my problem is the bags I'm using. They must be too "good," and I can't find any cheaper crappier ones to test it out on.

My friend Margo got it to work and even was able to make a bag by fusing the edges together, too. I was planning on sewing on mine and making little zippy pouches kind of like the sample in the video. I need to ask her what the secret is.

Just wanted to share this and wish any of you who want to try this better luck than I had!!!

Fundamental Truth goes head-to-head Ethical Issues - Need a Tissue?

I've been meaning to write this post for months, but just haven't had the mental energy for it until now! After getting married, planning and going on a honeymoon (http://www.heibelhoneymoon.blogspot.com) and various art fairs, I have rested enough that I feel like writing business again!

One of the biggest gripes I hear about jewelry on etsy is copy-catting. People are constantly complaining in the forums "my original design was ripped off," and it usually ends up breaking their "calling-out" rule and getting the thread shut down.

Let's just get it out of the way, the law states that once and artist has created something, it is copyrighted. You don't have to go get some fancy form from the government or call inventors hotline, it happens all by itself. However, if you created something TRULY original and you are afraid of copy-catters, it would be wise to get it physically copyrighted.

I have done some research (mostly asking my coworkers at the bead hole - as we so lovingly have donned it - what they think) and I have discovered, to my surprise, that everyone agrees with me. So I can confidently say that when it comes to jewelry, for the most part, there really is no such thing as an original idea.

Putting aside truly original pieces, such as these two from etsy.com (click to view shops): one would be hard-pressed to replicate extremely organic, freeform, artistic jewelry that has sprung forth from nothing else besides the artists' imagination and the materials they have chosen to work with. It is a rare occurance that a piece of jewelry someone creates is not influenced by, inspired by, or is just another person's rendering of a trend or personally appealing idea. I have actually read an etsy forum thread where a particular girl was complaining about her designs being copied, and a reader pointed out to the complainer that items almost identical to her "original" design have been seen in bead magazines and books, (including the name of the design!) and therefore she can just as readily be called the copy-cat.

Now, one could go on about how a truly original piece of art would use materials nobody else has used either, and in the beading world it could be said that any freeform bead weaving you created is not original to you if you used a stitch that was invented by someone else. This is all very nitpicky and lame.

Things such as these two items from etsy are certainly original works of art, but it is really quite obvious that they were created out of desire to follow a trend. Who sets these trends? Nobody can really quite say, and some trends go back to prehistory, or only mother nature herself can claim credit.


The only truly ethical "wrong" copying is a complete and total duplicate. Obviously, things like scrabble tile pendants cannot be claimed as an original design whatsoever, but lets say I created a complete duplicate of the silver leaf bracelet above. That would be wrong. That would be unethical copying, and copyright infringement. I could create a bracelet of a similar design with a twiggy-leafy influence (a huge jewelry trend), put my own spin on it, and call it my own. It would be my own. It would be following the trend.

Trends are good. Trends guide artists towards creating what people really seem to want, which makes both the artist and the buyer happy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being "trendy," unless of course you are an emo kid in 11th grade. Then, trendy is bad. (But isnt emo a trend, too? bwahaha) I have embraced my trendiness, I love getting ideas from other jewelry designers, magazines, books, tv, etsy shops: you name it.

Yes, copying other people's ideas is hurtful and unethical, but the truth is, it was never really completely that person's idea to begin with.

If you feel that you have been a victim of copy-catting, I can tell you I commiserate with you. When I see another shop with jewelry similar to my designs, it hurts, and I get angry. But I can also suggest that you take things a little bit more lightly, because really, is there such a thing as an original idea? ;)