How's Your Summer?

Summer is coming up and so far it has been great! I've been busy camping, visiting a windmill farm, traveling to a few states to visit relatives. I'm taking some time to smell the flowers.

Amor De Plata featured in Etsy in Spanish Blog

Amor De Plata has been featured in blog Etsy in Spanish. The article is in english and spanish with photos of my latest work. A special thanks to Lolo who helped me with my photos and made them into a nice collage.

Check out blog Etsy in Spanish

Marketing Your Jewelry

Sometimes I think marketing your jewelry or products is the hardest part of the job. Do you find that some days you spend most of your day trying to market your product? I go to my Amor De Plata Etsy site and spend time in the forums, bounce into Twitter and leave a few twits, go to Facebook and catch up. I haven't had time to log onto Myspace forever. I try to add friends on Scoutle and then go to my Artfire and check out forums. Do you have any special tips for marketing?

Need Twitter Followers!

Hi everyone, it's been awhile but I will start to post a little more regularly now. I am using a borrowed computer which makes it difficult to use during off hours. Anyway on to what I wanted to post about, twitter. I need twitter followers so I can follow more of you. I think twitter cuts you off from following people until you get 2000 followers. So even if I have 1,425 followers, I am only allowed to follow 1,000. So I have over 400 that I want to follow but can't.

I know I can count on you! Here is my twitter and I will follow you as soon as I can.
Thanks a bunch.

http://twitter.com/amordeplata

Moving from Hawaii to Indiana

I've been off the blog for awhile during my packing for our big move. Yes, we are officially moving from Hawaii to Indiana. Some people say we are crazy but what counts most in life is family. My hubby wanted to be closer to his family and I am staying with my brother and sister-in-law here in Indiana.

We flew out of Hawaii on January 20th. Stayed in Oakland, California for a week visiting my only brother-in-law and his wife. Picked up our vehicle we had shipped from Hawaii. We drove to Palm Springs to visit with my side of the family, mom, brothers and cousins.

We stayed an extra couple of days due to a big ice storms we wanted to avoid in the midwest. Our driving days were great with no rain, or snow/ice on roads. We did have trouble with hotel stays due to workers hired for the storm. Other than that everything went great.

So we are now near Fort Wayne, Indiana, enjoying the snow. Yes, I miss Hawaii but I am thankful for the 18 years I was lucky enough to live there and the great friends I had there. I look forward to a great new life here in Indiana where the people are fantastic and everything is so beautiful.

Happy Holidays to All!

Wishing you all a very Happy Holiday season. Hope you and your family are enjoying the holidays.

This is a busy time for all of us, but I look forward to a great, prosperous and exciting New Year!

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo!

Martha

My New Creation - Wood Texture Jewelry

Here are my latest creations, jewelry made with a real wood texture. I discovered this great piece of wood by Bellows beach here on Oahu. I made a mold, put it aside and just recently had time to make the pendant and earrings. I'm making rings later when I have more time.

My Son - New Hawaii Deputy Sheriff!

Friday was a happy day for us. My son Ben has graduated recruit class and is now a Hawaii Deputy Sheriff. I am so very proud of him and his accomplishments including his six years in the Air Force. I have struggled many years as a single parent, trying to raise my only son to be a good kid and it has finally been accomplished in my eyes. My hubby Ray and Ben's fiance Shayna have also contributed greatly to his success. We look forward to a great career in law enforcement.

A Great new Site - Beaducation

I stumbled upon Beaducation , a great site and signed up immediately. Beaducation has online video classes on many types of crafts and jewelry making. They also sell the kits to go with each class if you don't want to search for the items you need for the class. You print your instruction sheet and follow the video as you go along and you can stop, or go back while you work.

What really caught my eye was the FREE classes! Some of the free classes include Felted Beads, Byzantine Chain, Intro to Chainmaile, Making your own Earwires, Stamped Jewelry, Intro to Seed Beads, Coiling Wire by Hand and more!

Beaducation also sells supplies like charms, hard to find steel stamps, wire, stones with holes, jewelry kits and more.

If you ever wanted to take a class and couldn't afford it, or it's too far away, now is the time to check out Beaducation .

Do you Scoutle?

I just joined Scoutle! A new networking blog traffic site you can use to promote your blog, or website. It was superfast and easy to join. It automatically hooked me up on blogspot when I chose which icon I wanted. See my little icon at the top right of my page? A big thanks to TimothyAdamDesigns.etsy.com for hooking us up to Scoutle.

Mexican Sun Drawing Inspired Pendant

Here is one of my latest creations. A pendant inspired by ancient mexican sun drawings. My sketch was used to hand carve a mold and make this metal clay beauty of a pendant. All handcrafted and made by me! The pendant is oxidized with a bronze background and shiny sun.

I'm Healthy and Back in Business!

It seems like I've been "out" of contact with others and my Etsy shop, blog, silkfair etc. forever. Without getting into the ugly details, I had health issues that have been resolved. I feel good now, I'm healthy, and I'm ready to get back to business.

Thanks to all who have commented, convo'd or e-mailed me with happy thoughts and prayers.

Do You Have A Scratchback TopSpot Widget?

What is a Scratchback TopSpot Widget? It's a FREE widget to post on your blog or website to accept online tips and post a small image ad in return. You name the price on your tips and earn money from every interaction.

I have put one up here on my blog. I humbly ask for your "tips" so you can promote your site for $5.00 a spot! Grab your top spot now.

How To Build Your First Webpage - FREE Course

Struggling to build a website? I have been agonizing over building my website and not wanting to spend money. I discovered a FREE online course going on now at ivillage.com, in the ilearn section. Signing up is simple and FREE! That seems to be my favorite word lately.

So, I signed up, and they e-mail you when lessons are available. You can download the whole PDF file and scroll through at your leisure later if you want. Once a lesson is posted, it remains on the site 24/7 until the end date of the course.

I have no excuse now, I will let you all know how it goes with my page. Good luck with yours!

http://ivillage.com

Your Own Worldwide Retail Shop Online - Silkfair

Do you dream of owning your own retail shop online? Well you can have your own free worldwide storefront at htttp://silkfair.com

There is no fee for listing your items and no limit on the amount of items you sell. Silkfair is a selling site that allows you to sell your products to all countries and buy from all countries. The site keeps 3% of your final selling price.

I really love that Silkfair is promoting the site online and off. They have reviews from PCMagazine, ECommerce Guide, CNBC, Forbes, Wahm, MarthaStewart.com and WomansDay.com to name a few.

See you there!

http://silkfair.amordeplata.com

My Latest Project - Double Silver Hearts

This fine silver double heart pendant was a special request from a friend. It was quite a challenge. Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to accomplish in this medium. I rolled out a snake of Art Clay Silver and shaped it into a heart. A little slip paste was added to attach the ends. I let dry and sanded, no problem. Attaching the first heart through the second one was the challenge. I ended up supporting the first heart in a clear box lid with a slit and a hole punched out. I created the second heart on top of the lid, added slip paste to attach ends and let dry. After sanding smooth, I torch fired while moving piece with a crochet hook. This is the first time I did two pieces at once and I was afraid they would fuse together, but they turned out well.

One day I may do a tutorial. Our Yahoo metal clay group in my favs does a great job doing all kinds of tutorials on working with metal clay.

Plug In!

A "plug" is a small banner advertisement that can be displayed on a plugboard. You can put together a plug on your own if you have computer skills.

A special thanks to BittyMoose.etsy.com for introducing the plugboard to Etsy. BittyMoose will make an animated plug (88 x 31) for you for $5.

I've put a plugboard on this blog, so feel free to plug in. Visit our fellow advertisers by clicking on their banners.

Promote your Business!!

A friend gave me info on website to promote your Etsy shop or business. Seems like a great way to earn money. Check it out!

http://amordeplata.qassia.com/

Treasuries Rock

I recently joined the flickr group Treasuries Rock. It's a group of Etsy shop owners who grab Etsy treasuries and list our group members in the treasury. It's a great way for us to band together and promote our shops. I was able to grab a treasury on my second day.

Check us out at:

http://flickr.com/groups/treasuriesrock/

Broken Torch

Well, things are definitely not going well to start the new year. My torch has gone kaput-died. Ordered a big supply of silver to start on new projects. Waiting for the shipment of my new torch. Waiting, waiting and more waiting. Will list new projects upon resuming my torch firing.