Drusy Design Idea from Designer Kay

This is an amazing necklace, earring set. Kay loves to use unique items to make her jewelry. This set is no exception. There are 60 year old Swarovski Crystals, a sparkling Opalite Drusy center focal, freshwater pearls, and 14K gold filled metal.

The centerpiece of this necklace is a sparkling fine drusy bead. (You can find drusy cabochons that you can wire wrap for a focal). The surface is like a thousand little diamonds. Kay has outlined the drusy focal with Swarovski rondelles on a wire on the left and stems of pearls with Swarovski rondelles on the right and bottom, connected to jump rings to the main part of the necklace.

The necklace is made in a linking fashion using 14K gold filled jump rings and wire.the crystal and pearls are strung on wire and connected to the rest of the necklace with jump rings.

The back is finished with a 14k gold filled Lobster claw and is adjustable from 17 1/2' to 19 1/2".

Generally this necklace is made with a wire linking method. If you need more instruction on this method of making necklaces, Kay has a DVD called Wire Linked Necklaces #5 and Advanced Wire Linking #6.

POLYVORE 3RD PLACE WIN

LUXURY GOLD HANDBAG FASHION SHOW by Designer Kay featuring Prada bags

POLYVORE 3RD PLACE WIN

SEQUIN TEAL LUXURY VOGUE COUTURE by Designer Kay featuring Naughty Monkey shoes">

POLYVORE 1ST PLACE WIN

EXOTIC LEMON BURST VOGUE COUTURE by Designer Kay featuring Monsoon

1ST PLACE WIN ON POLYVORE

FABULOUS OLIVINE SEQUIN COUTURE by Designer Kay featuring Dsquared2 shoes

NEW GROUP | POLYVORE'S MOST TALENTED

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT!! NEW POLYVORE GROUP :: POLYVORE'S MOST TALENTED Moderator: Designer Kay PLEASE JOIN !

Hello to al my many Polyvore fans :) Twitter fans :) and my Facebook fans

This is Designer Kay :):) I am very excited to announce the new grand opening of my newest polyvore group.
This group is call POLYVORE'S MOST TALENTED and the group focuses on highly creative , Artistic & talented people. This group will be about designing with a cutting edge flair, an eye for excellence, harmony and balance. Luxury , vogue and couture fashions & accessories are the themes.

CONTESTS & CONTESTS GALORE!!! This will be available when we reach a MIN. 30 MEMBERS REQUIRED BEFORE CONTESTS CAN BEGIN !

Please show your support for this new and upcoming & exciting group! Show off you skilled talents for excellence in design ability & uniqueness. Thanks and have a happy day, Kay:):)

PLEASE JOIN

Have you lost your creativity?

As an Indie artist, sometimes it's hard to get inspired to get up in the morning and start producing new items. So what can you do to get motivated and inspired?

Recently, I turned on the Food network and after watching a few shows I started pulling out the pots and pans and began cooking up a storm. Sometimes you just need to change your routine to get new inspiration.

There are a multitude of places where you can go to get new inspiration. As I mentioned, you can watch programs on television. You can also look in magazines or surf the internet for inspiration. It isn't wrong to look at what others are doing to get inspiration. There are people that try to make exact copies of what they see but exposing yourself to different ideas can give you a place to start a project that you can add your own creative personality to and make something uniquely yours.

If you come to a place where you feel your creativity is low, don't be discouraged. Change your routine. Pick your head up, look around, and get inspiration from what others are doing.

Building Your Inventory

The statement has been made to me, "your lucky, you have all those beads to play with." I owned an online bead store and a physical bead store so I technically had tens of thousands of dollars worth of beads at my disposal.

There was a time though when I didn't have so many beads to work with. When I started making electroform jewelry in the early '90's, I used whatever little bit of money that I had and looked for the best deals that I could find on supplies. Over time as I sold jewelry, I purchased more supplies to make more jewelry. We didn't buy new furniture, housewares, cars, or other goodies, I bought more beads and supplies to work with. Building the business was top priority.

If you want to get to the point where you can have lots of supplies to play with, just start small and keep building as best you can. When I started, we had to travel to shows, to sell our jewelry. Now you can sell your handmade items without leaving home by using the internet. Ebay was never a very good place to sell handmade items, but places like Artfire are.

The internet is a fabulous place to get more for your money when you buy supplies too. At liquidation sites like foxyfindings you get your supplies at prices that I used to pay when I bought large quantities from direct importers. Now it's like having the importers sell directly to you without buying large quantities.

It take a little time but if you start building your inventory of supplies a little at at time, you will find that one day, you will have a lot of The conclusion is that you can build your inventory and business without leaving home and paying a lot of money to be seen any more. It is a great day to start your business at home!

Work at home Motivation

It can be fun and rewarding to work from home. I have worked at home for many years. For some people it is hard to work at home. There are so many distraction that they just can't seem to get anything done. They find themselves doing dishes, washing cloths, talking on the phone, drinking tea, or numerous other things that can distract you at home.

There are a few things that you can do to be more productive when working at home.

First, be sure that you have a place that is specially designated to do your work. Preferably this place is not the kitchen table. The best situation is if you have your own room in which to work. I have always had my own room (studio) designated as my work room.

Second, if you have a problem with motivation, you may not be hungry enough. Seriously, if you need to make extra money, that is a great motivation to be in your studio. If you just want to work more in your studio but don't have to, schedule curtain hours each day to work there. Soon, others will realize that these are the hours that you work and they will leave you alone during that time. It has been said that it takes 21 days to make a habit, so schedule that time and stick to it.

Finally, make your studio a pleasant place to be. Be sure there is plenty of light, heating and cooling, comfortable office type chairs and plenty of work areas. Take time to clean and organize your work area often. This may seen like a waist of time but it will make things easier and you will feel better about working there. Lastly, set the mood in your room with music. Some people need fast music to stimulate them, others want soothing music when they work. Whatever you prefer. The goal is to make your studio an inviting place to be.

So, designate a work area, schedule a time to work in your studio, and make your studio a pleasant place to work. These things will all help you to work at home more productively.

Oh, bye the way, you can't make great jewelry without great supplies. Check out foxyfindings.com

Adding beads to a single strand necklace

Question:
On Kay’s necklaces, how does she string loops of beads to the main strand?

Answer:
I string the main part of the necklace with stranded beading wire. To make the loops that hang off of the main strand I use solid sterling silver or gold filled wire to string the beads that dangle in loops from the main necklace. The ends of the solid wire are usually double looped. It is easiest to make these loops first and string them onto the main stranded wire when you are beading the necklace.

DKay

News Flash: Todays hottest beads are Crystal Beads.

What I want to accomplish

My intent is to discriminate good information about making beaded jewelry, buying jewelry supplies, and selling your beaded jewelry.