We have a winner!!!!

I shut down comments at 12:35 (cause I'm forgetful, lol!). Then I headed over the the name my social media peeps seem to prefer for getting winners by having the magic thingy pick a number between 1 and 28. The result?


That's right, the lucky lady happens to be the clay artist who I bought the pendant from!!! Congratulations Kristie!!! You can see some of her work over at http://artisanclay.etsy.com .

In the meantime, while I was running the give-away, I got my first sale! *squeeeee* More on the details later, because I think a first sale is blog worthy:D

To all of those who didn't get lucky this time, no worries:) I love giving stuff away, so I'll have another give-away soon. Thank you so much for participating; 28 comments for my first try is pretty respectable!

Copyright Info for Jewelry by SummerAlyssa

Having just had an interesting discussion about copyright, I feel compelled to make my copyrights clear on this blog.

I’m a firm believer in share and share-alike. Like source code I’ve written, images I’ve created, and any number of my other works, all images of my jewelry are basically open-source:D It's all protected under a Creative Commons license.

The specific license I’ve selected is:


Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

This means that, for any purposes except commercial (excluding selling for charity), you may reproduce, remix, adapt, and otherwise share my work under the following conditions:

1) You attribute the original work to me, with a link back to this license. Though not required, I would also appreciate your letting me see what your work looks like. ‘Cause I’m curious;)

2) Your work is noncommercial. Don’t sell anything you make from my designs, with two exceptions: A) I specifically provide a pattern or tutorial for it, or B) 100% of the proceeds go to charity.

3) If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. In other words, you can’t copy or expand my designs, and then copyright the result. Share and share alike!

An official version of the license can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/.

For more information, please visit http://creativecommons.org/.

Magic, a False Spring, and a Give-Away

Today I took a nice, long walk in the rain. Normally, walks in the rain don't turn people on, but it's January! Rain in January is such an odd and splendid thing that I had to enjoy it. Everything smelled green and wet and glorious. There was even some mist rolling around that lent an air of magic to my meanderings.

That probably explains the magical feel of the necklace I came up with for a give-away. I'm celebrating my first 10 days open, during which I have snagged almost 140 views, 20 shop hearts, and 3 item hearts. That probably sounds modest to all you lovely ladies who have been open for years now, but it's enough to make me happy.


So, here it is, Violet Victorian Scrollwork. Purple-colored copper wire serves as the base to display scrumptious cherry quartz,pink crystals, and and purple and pink glass beads. The pendant (about 1 1/4" around) is stoneware and purple recycled glass by ArtisanClay. At about 21" long, the necklace is "Matinee" length.

So, what do you need to do to win? Well, there are 5 ways to enter! You can do just one, or all 5 for extra chances to win!

1. Check out my shop and tell me what your favorite item is. Leave me a comment here.

2. Post a link to this give-away on Facebook. Leave me a comment with the link to your post.

3. Become a fan of summeralyssa's whimsical wire on Facebook. Leave me a comment to let me know you did.

4. Twitter about this give away (with an @summerblues mention) and leave a comment letting me know you did.

5. Blog about this give-away and leave me a link in the comments.

Please be sure to leave your e-mail so I can get a hold of you if you win!

All comments must be submitted by midnight eastern time on Sunday, January 31st. I'll choose a winner on Monday using the trusty random number generator.

Good luck!

A Long But Productive Day

Woohoo! Shop is officially open.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/summeralyssa

I have posted 10 items, using various techniques and materials. I've started to put into place all sorts of promotional stuff, like a Facebook fan page, etc., but listing was enough of a digital pain in the rear that I'm done with tech for today. I'll do promotional stuff tomorrow;)

Besides, I have to figure out how to separate the business from the personal. I don't want to bombard co-workers, colleagues, and friends who just don't care with jewelry stuff. After all, it's actually a pretty small part of the complicated mess that is "Summer".

A problem for another day, methinks.

In the meantime, check out my Facebook page if you're interested:

summer alyssa's whimsical wire on Facebook

I think I'm going to create a separate Twitter account as well. I think it might be a conflict of interest, or at least in bad taste, considering the vast majority of those I follow are in the nonprofit circle rather than the jewelry circle.

So, I'm off to read the latest issue of Beadwork and to think about maybe joining some color challenges, like those at ArtisanClay and The Beads of Clay Blog. Maybe watch Public Enemies again, cause I'm a little obsessed with that movie;) A glass of wine is probably in the near future as well. Ah, quiet Friday nights... Yes, I lead a boring life:P

Sneak peek!

Early Winter Blahs and Raiding the Stockpile

Wow am I sick of being cold! It's only early winter - we've still got months of snowfall coming - and I'm ready to pack it up for warmer climates. Has anyone noticed that there seems to be a disproportionate number of creative people in warmer climates as opposed to colder? I wonder if there is something to that? ;)

My shop opens up in 5 days! I'm really excited. I don't know why - it's not like an art gallery where you have snacks and people coming and going. But I've made some really cool stuff I can't wait to show off:D

I've had a serious dragonesque stockpile of shiny treasure for a long time now, with stacks of handmade art beads from both Michigan artists like Susan Baily, Shaterra Clay, and Simon Sews Etc., and some of the amazing artists I've met through their online shops, like Artisan Clay, Lisa Peters Art, Spawn of Flame, and Too Aquarius. I've pulled out beads I haven't look at in months or years, added some wire and accents beads, and let the magic happen. Can't wait to see if the world thinks my stuff is as cool as I think it is.

Meanwhile, the boys and I stay huddled by the fire when we get home in the evenings, watching flicks and wearing absurd layers of socks, the hot cocoa and cuddles flowing freely. Torin has a knack for colors and makes some fun stuff with his ribbon and plastic beads. Quinn isn't nearly as interested - he'd rather have something to break than make. That's OK. He's only two. I'll convert him eventually!

I think I'm going to post some teaser shots of some projects later today. But I'm not so good with the macro photography. Does anyone have any suggestions on building a home-made light box?

New Year Resolutions

Hello new year! I've got a few resolutions for you.

• Start and maintain my Etsy shop. I want to have a grand opening January 15th!
• Stay committed to this blog, posting to it at least twice a week. After several years of infrequent posting on my last blog, I got bored with it and shut it down. This one I'm going to maintain with a very specific focus on jewelry making. Sure, I'll probably talk about kids and life, but not as much.
• 12 sales by December 31st, 2010. I'd love one a month, but I know better than to expect that. A modest goal, to be sure, but to hit this mark, I'm going to have to actually engage in promotion.
• Post one new item for sale in my shop each week. That should be easy enough!
• Maintain a commitment to publishing free patterns and tutorials so that other people can learn the amazing stress-relief that is jewelry making on their own.

I think that's it for now! I think I can do it:D