MikiCat Designs

They've just given us a way to have our Artfire Studios on our Facebook Fan pages and you don't have to leave Facebook to find everything we make and sell. I think it's awesome and hope you'll check out Mikicat Designs Facebook Fan page and our new Artfire Kiosk. It is so cool.

In the meantime, I've been working on some new pieces. A 4-in-1 European chainmaille Ring in Sterling Silver, and a really small micro Byzantine weave in 14k gold and Blue Titanium. I haven't priced them or even gotten decent photos yet. But that will happen. Here's a picture of the 4-in-1 Ring. It's so pretty.

I also made a pendant to match the Snow & Ice Earrings I sold. I was so inspired and it came out so nice, I almost don't want to give it up. But when you get a custom order, you can't keep them for yourself. (grin) But it did come out nice and sparkley and pretty and matches perfectly with the earrings of which there are one more pair left!

The end of the month is almost here and our Grand Opening hullabaloo is winding down. I've also put some great things up for sale and reduced prices on the Website, our Etsy shop and our ArtFire Studio. Now is the time for some great savings on beautiful handcrafted items for yourself or to give as gifts.

Okay, I'm blocked for blogging. While I love to write and think I do it well, I don't always know what to write about. After a wonderful chat with the Florida Etsy Street Team tonight, I was complaining about not having any sales. I've been with Etsy for many months now and only made one online sale... to my cousin in Atlanta. I've been waiting and waiting for another sale. Well, we had a fun FEST chat. Talked about Florida sales tax laws, Facebook business pages and how to get fans, some of the wonderful work that others do, blogging and tips on selling, and more. Joining this team makes me feel a part of a community. We're all handmade artisans and whether we work in fiber, clay, ceramics, photography, painting, jewelry or any other type of art or craft, we're a community brought together with one common goal. To help each other learn from our mistakes. To guide others over the pitfalls we fell into. To learn from each other the things we need to learn to make a success of what we love to do and to never give up hope.

Like I said, it was a great chat tonight. A bit fast and it went quick, but I loved it. But the point I'm trying to make is that good karma comes to those who do good. Something happened before I even got to the chat. Something I didn't know about because I hadn't checked my email or my store before logging on to chit chat with everyone. When the chat was over, the first thing I did is what I usually do before going to bed... I checked my Etsy site and, just for the heck of it, clicked on Sold Orders. WOW, color me floored when I found that someone had bought a pair of earrings.

This is my second sale online since I opened the store back in April. I'm so glad that I can make a few more of these as they happen to be one of my best sellers at craft fairs but they are limited edition. Once I run out of the components I won't be buying more and will go on to new designs and ideas. So I am thrilled that someone finally found me, who wasn't a relative, and liked them enough to purchase.

This is so exciting. I'd like to feel it more often. But I don't want to use this blog to blatantly advertise just myself. So next week, look forward to a blog about tomorrow night's Florida Gold Coast Gem & Mineral Society Meeting where, I hear, one of our new members will attempt to teach some of the old lapidarists or is that lapidaryists (lapidaryers?) how to do wire wrapping. This I have GOT to see. LOL

Miki

Almost a year ago I created a pretty loopy chainmaille earring with Swarovski Crystals. I decided to call it Atlantis Spring. Since then, I've had requests to make the same earring in different colors. So, I decided to create them after the seasons. Yesterday, I spent 4 hours making jump rings in the size I needed, and creating the same design in my version of the Four Seasons.

Atlantis Crystal Spring uses 4mm Swarovski bicones in Aqua, Light Rose AB, Crystal AB and Tanzanite. I've varied this for others exchanging Tanzanite for Violet and Aqua for Aqua AB. The Aurora Borealis effect of these crystals creates a rainbow of colors when the light hits it just right. These colors explode with the promise of Spring.

Atlantis Crystal Summer, made with gorgeous Swarovski colors in Peridot, Light Rose, Jonquil and Light Peach, is beautiful combination that reminds you of the soft colors of hazy, lazy summer days.

Fall reminds me most of the changing of the seasons. Though I live in South Florida, which doesn't have much of a fall to begin with, I remember from my years in the north the beautiful colors of the changing leaves on trees. I used the colors Erinite (a beautiful Swarovski leafy green), Topaz (for the orange tips of the leaves), Jonquil (for that touch of yellow) and Smoky Topaz (just the right amount of brown).

Lastly, there's Winter. Cool, chic, mysterious. I chose the colors of Jet for long winter nights, an icy Crystal AB, the beautiful new Air Blue Opal looking like the evening snow and Black Diamond AB.

All of these are currently available on my web site. Eventually I will be adding the choice to custom pick your own colors. But for now, if you want to choose your own, just email us. Whether you choose 1, 2, 3 or 4 colors, each pair of earrings has 24 4mm crystals with a 4x5mm Swarovski Simplicity Crystal AB dangling from the bottom.

One last thing... while the earrings are made from Sterling Silver jump rings, the headpins are now made with silver plate. I do offer the option of upgrading to ball headpins (as seen in the Spring version) in Sterling, Argentium or Fine Silver for a small extra charge. I really would like to know what you think of these color combos and suggestions for others. It's such a fun earring to make. I can even imagine them in pearls and crystals for a beautiful bride. In fact, I think I'll create a pair like that right now.

This month I am also featuring Haffina Creations! A wonderful blogger, artisan, designer and Guild Master. This wonderful woman not only writes articles for Handmadenews.org but also formed the Artfire Chainmaille Artisans Guild, creates some beautiful jewelry and sells it in her studio. She's even started to make polymer clay beads and opened a new studio just to sell them to other artisans. Check out her blog and learn all about her latest passions, what's news and how, like me, she just doesn't find enough time to do everything she wants to do.

Haffina is offering a special Christmas in July sale so check out her offerings at her Artfire studio.

Our web store is still not live :( and we're hoping to get it open by the end of the month. In the meantime, Twitter followers can still get their discount on any item in our Esty Shop or our Artfire Studio.

Please let us know how you feel, what you like, what you dislike. We really need feedback from our customers and would like to make a piece specially for you.

I've been spending so much time online, trying to get the web store loaded up with my designs, promoting my fingers off to get more Facebook fans so I can reach 100 and lock in our name, Tweeting, photographing, describing, typing, etc... that I haven't had a lot of time to work on actually doing what I love to do, designing and making jewelry.

I'm lucky enough to have a new sister-in-law who just started her residency in Radiology on Monday. Amma and my brother, Noel, came down to Florida for a visit for this 4th of July weekend. They live up in Boston and I'm lucky if I get to see them once a year if that much. I wanted to give her something special so I created a design inspired by their love. I've always liked the different "Tree of Life" pendants out there and decided to try my hand at making a pair of earrings. I call them Tree Heart because I used beautiful green and pink Tourmaline, the colors of the heart chakra.

Tourmalines are gems with an incomparable variety of colors. The reason, according to an old Egyptian legend, is that the tourmaline, on its long journey up from the center of the Earth, passed over a rainbow. In doing so, it assumed all of it's colors and that is why it is still referred to as the 'gemstone of the rainbow' today. It is available in a wide variety of colors from black to bluish-black, dark brown, yellow, medium brown, blue to neon blue, lime to dark forest green, red and reddish purple, yellow, pink, and colorless.

Bi-colored and multicoloured tourmalines may be green at one end and pink at the other, watermelon tourmalines are green on the outside and pink on the inside. Some stones are dichroic meaning they appear to change color when viewed from different angles.

Tourmaline is believed to strengthen the body and spirit, especially the nervous system, blood, and lymphs, and enhance flexibility, happiness, objectivity, compassion, serenity, balance, positive transformation, healing, strength, tolerance, love, spirituality, joy, peace, and understanding. It is also thought to inspire creativity and was used extensively as a talisman by artists and writers.

The Heart Chakra is the center from which feelings of love emanate. It is also associated with other virtuous emotions, such as joy, happiness, honesty, respect, compassion, understanding, and generosity, and with loving oneself in a sincere, non-egotistic way. This is also the chakra through which we connect with others whom we love or have affection towards. Once forged, these links are very hard to break, which is why people suffer so much through the break-up of a relationship or the loss of a loved one.

The colors of the heart chakra are green (Emerald), red (Rose Quartz) and white (Silver). The red corresponds to the rose light of love, while the green signifies the lower or gross emotional body functioning of the heart center, which is focused on self, security, and accumulation of and attachment to and pride in physical and emotional possessions. The white or silver of course signifies spiritual purity.

I used a 20mm sterling silver square wire ring and tiny tourmaline chips. These aren't the most perfect earrings I've ever made but I love 'em. Wish I were a better photographer. I'll just have to make another pair and maybe I can get a better photo. Please, tell me what you think.

Miki