Swag is SCARY...but maybe not too much.

There are 107 definitions for SWAG in the Urban Dictionary, I think this one is pretty close to what I had in mind...

SWAG -- Stuff We All Get - Relating to the trade show convention industry, where exhibitors hand out "free stuff" to visitors. Most of the time these items are purely promotional materials, and are fairly worthless. ie. pencils, mugs, and mouse pads. SWAG always has the company name, logo, slogan, product, service, and contact information clearly printed somewhere on the item/s. Some convention goers have made a hobby of collecting as much swag as possible, and compete with others at the show. - "The online gaming booth is handing out swag demo disks." - "That beats my swag bag of stationary!"

Why am I concerned with Swag, you might ask? Because I need some! I am doing a craft fair in May (IndieSacramento) and there is a swag requirement (minimum is 30 pieces/50 and you get pimped on their website).

First, I had to find out what swag was. Google and done. Next, check out previous swag. There was a note to check out the blog archive from last December and check out the Swag updates...done. OOOOKKKK. Hmmm. Well-then-there-now. Most of the swag was those little buttons, mind you way cooler than most but, plenty of them. There were also little soap samples, little earrings and some neat paper crafts (bookmark, gift tag, or mini card).

Okay, so what to do...Steve said do those little buttons. Yeah, okay, but really, what will that say about Juli's Jewels. I pride myself on the one-of-a-kind or seriously limited edition. But now I'll have a hundred of just one thing. Not really me, I'm thinking. So, again, what to do. BOTTLE CAPS, of course.

I've got plenty of them. I can make them into something pretty quickly, but what? Pins are popular swag and mine would be different. But, not everyone likes pins. So have pins half keychains.

So, I made 25 bottle cap keychains and 25 bottle cap pins. It took me parts of 4 days to complete they but they turned out great. I think they give a nice snapshot of what Juli's Jewels is about (Just like snowflakes, no two are the same). Check out the picture to the left and you will get an idea of what I did.

Be one of the first 150 people at Indie Sacramento and you might just get one!

My Schedule for May

Click on the image to the left to check out my schedule for May. At this time, I have no date scheduled for April, but I'll let you know if that changes. Ladies Day has been confirmed, not just tentative now.

Dominoes and Dominoes

Dominoes make great pendants! I believe this to be true, anyway.

There are several different types of dominoes out there. You can find antique born and horn dominoes, wooden dominoes and even the plastic dominoes that you can get in the game section of Target.

The two types I use are the wooden ones and the plastic ones.

I like to make mini collages with the wooden dominoes, which are about an inch by an inch and a half (1"x1.5"). When I say mini, I mean small. The dominoes above feature a Mexican cowgirl (I made her lasso out of thick button thread) and a wedding photo of my mother-in-law.

The plastic dominoes are inked with alcohol inks and then given a focal stamped image. I saw this technique in Margot Potter's new book, Beyond the Bead. I am not sure if I will make many more of these as the inks can be expensive and you have to be sure they are super dry and cured before you stamp the focal image or everything goes to heck in a hardcart. Also, the plastic dominoes are larger and heavier than the wood kind.

As always, I just keep looking for new ways to mix up my jewelry. I'll keep you posted.

Soldering...How fun!

As always, I am trying to find ways to be creative in my jewelry and add more elements that I have made myself.

I have experimented with silver preciuos metal clay and have made my own pendants and charms that way. I have also been playing with found objects like dominoes that I have been collaging or inking and stamping (you'll see those in another blog).

Well, I have had some experience with soldering in the past (a little bit in High School and a little bit more in the Air Force), but not enough to feel comfortable with my usual "just jump in and try it attitude (tools with heat, etc.). I decided to take a class (gasp).

Last Wednesday at The Bead Fetish (my favorite bead shop) I took Treasured Memories, a soldering class. A shout out to Tessa for being a great instructor. In the picture above, the pendat on the far left is what I made in class. The one on the far right will be come a Christmas tree ornament, I made it on Thursday for more practice. The one in the center is the one I made on Friday. It is 2-side and features Japanese papers. I think I am getting better as I go along. I am really enjoying this medium as it give me a creative outlet to add my love of little tiny collages to my art. Feel free to let me know what you think.