Just Think "Peach"

Photo from flickr: Peiyu Liu

Photo from flickr: wanderingnome

Photo from flickr: mrlins

Photo from flickr: norwichnuts

Photo from flickr: kenneoh

Photo from flickr: **Mary**

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

Happily Keeping a Promise

Earilier this year I wrote a post about my personal gratitude for the blessings of my life, and my appreciation for the work of Heifer International, a non-profit organization that gives gifts of food-and-power producing animals to people in places where they can't afford them. This project is active throughout the US and around the world and raises the lives of whole communities in a way that promotes health, women and children's economic development, and peace.

This month I am pleased and proud that customers have purchased three items from my shops, and I am more than happy to make this 5% donation to my favorite cause. So! ... in their honor I have donated Bees and a share of Rabbits.

To quote Heifer:

"THE BUZZ ABOUT BEES"

"From Uganda to El Salvador, bees from Heifer International help struggling families earn income through the sale of honey, beeswax and pollen. Beehives require almost no space and, once established, are inexpensive to maintain. As bees search for nectar, they pollinate plants. Placed strategically, beehives can as much as double some fruit and vegetable yields. In this way, a beehive can be a boost to a whole village. Although most Heifer partners keep bees as a supplement to family income, beekeeping can be a family's livelihood. Your gift can help Heifer provide a family with a package of bees, the box and hive, plus training in beekeeping - and this unique gift will be passed on to another family in need." - from Heifer Intl

You would have to live under a rock to be unaware of the dire need we have for bees in the world, and the devastating problems bees are currently having all over the world. More bees. We all need more bees.

"RABBITS GET RESULTS"
"...rabbits from Heifer International is a low-cost, high-yield gift that helps impoverished families increase their protein intake and income. Rabbits are easy to care for; they eat simple foods, such as carrot tops, sweet potato vines and grasses. Rabbit manure can be applied directly on gardens without composting. And because rabbits have so many offspring, the process of passing on the gift multiplies each gift quickly and helps many other impoverished families better their lives." - from Heifer Intl

It is true that rabbits multiply. Rabbits make more rabbits ... lots more rabbits!

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival Entry

As a member of the Etsy Bloggers, I am to post an assigned subject entry, which this month is a 'self interview'. If you already saw this on Made by SwirlyGirl's blog last week, just pass on by ... for those who haven't I offer it humbly:

Describe your product in 25 words +-
JBE: I make jewelry of my own design by hand. Necklaces, bracelets, earrings using mainly pearls and gemstones, fine and sterling silver, vermeil and 14kgf metals.

Why do you produce this product, and not some other product?
JBE: I was a professional portrait painter and gallery owner in another life. I loved doing that, but moving to a different region of the country meant virtually beginning again to build that business. I kind of felt like a new start called for a fresh start. I've gone through "phases" of stained glass, raku pottery, sculpture, weaving, elaborate embroidery and lace making, but I was kept enrapt by the varied methods of personal decoration. (I even have a secret desire to get a tattoo, but I'd have to have it under my hair or my European husband would have a simple fit. Shhhh!) I made a serious study of ethnic jewelry techniques over many years and began some time ago to dabble in bead stringing. Now needing an outlet, I turned again to jewelry making, expanding my early learning to include wire wrapping, chaining, silver solder, PMC and soon enameling with my new kiln. It's an exploration of shape, color, texture, proportion, even weight and size. To me jewelry is personal sculpture, and as I expand my repertoire I can express each piece's narrative more fully.

How much of your day do you spend working on it?
JBE: All day, doing something related to my business. With promotion and marketing being such a big part of any business these days, I only get 10 or 20 hours a week in the studio. I would LOVE to hire an assistant! *wistfully dreaming*.

Is this how you make your living?
JBE: Not yet, but my work is selling well, and I look forward to the economy continuing to improve.

How much of what you produce in your product, did you learn in "school" (define this as you wish)? How much is self-taught? How do you self-teach ... books, trial and error, etc?
JBE: I took classes in bead weaving, PMC, and silver solder. Everything else I learned from reading books and magazines or I cobbled together some backward method of my own. Of course, a lifetime of looking at art masterpieces, museums full of decorative arts, traveling and my Art Minor in college hasn't been wasted!

When you aren't working on producing, marketing, shipping, your product, what to you do? What are your other fascinations and passions?
JBE: Ha! Less and less it seems! I do take time to keep in touch with friends. I love to cook, and I have every kitchen gadget known to man. But, I'm even happier to find a fabulous new restaurant! I have been researching my family history for the past 20 years, and I have over 20,000 names in my genealogy database. The Internet makes the search easier now, but my husband and I have driven from one cemetery to another in every known town in my family's migration route down the east coast. Now I need to prove what I've discovered over seas! He keeps asking when I'll be done ... I don't have the heart to tell him it's the great unfinished job. But, we both love to travel, and try to take a couple of trips every year. I also take advantage of living in tropical Florida, where nature is such a big part of our environment. I grow orchids - well, that's an overblown statement - I have orchids out in my yard where they just grow like topsy along with any stick you plunge into the ground.

How do these other interests affect, or influence the choices you make in your product design?
JBE: I think my art history background and my love of antiques have informed my choices toward more romantic jewelry. I find minimal and architectural jewelry beautiful, but somehow my own designs are always more "rococo". My love of nature and the flora I find so beautiful is always a strong influence on my theme and color choices.

What kind of space do you work in? How big? Is it separate from your living space?
JBE: I am quite spoiled. Thanks to a wonderful friend who designs "Murphy Bed" and organized closet spaces, my guestroom serves double duty as my beading studio. (And then folds, flips, and closes away to become a comfy guest suite). My metalwork and kiln studio is a glass-lined annex off the TV room that sits right on the 11^th hole of one of our community's golf courses. Yes, it is idyllic. I love it.

What kinds of marketing do you do for your product? What is your marketing approach? Are you "in person" at art fairs and shows, or are you a big online presence? Do you tweet or blog; are you on facebook; how about flickr? Do you have a website? List all your URL's and visibility addresses.
JBE: I did many shows all over the US when I painted portraits, so I made the decision to not do them, now. I find the Internet's wider reach a perfect venue. I'm all over the Web in Technorati, Kaboodle, retaggr, Friendfeed, Stumbleupon, and about 300 free directories - but enough is enough. If someone wants to they can shop-me, tweet-me, follow-me, friend-me:

jbEbert jewelry on Etsy
jbEbert on 1000 Markets
jbEbert wholesale on Trunkt
jbEbert on ArtFire
jbEbert facebook Fanpage
follow me on Twitter
jbEbert on flickr

How does the act of creating affect your view of life?
JBE: Although I do have a personal theme song running through my head all the time (a la Ally McBeal, remember her?) I am really a visual person. It's really a matter of how my view of life affects my creativity. I can't create if my life isn't calm. I'm not an "escapist artisan". It is a real right-brain/left-brain conundrum, for me. If my left-brain is too occupied, my right-brain can't slide into that other-worldly zone. So, I distract my left-brain with music, mindless TV, and sometimes yoga to calm my frenetic side. And, I can't try too hard, in life and in my art. I'm a firm believer that if something is meant to happen, it will come together easily. I may be trying to make purple and blue work together, but if I'm not feelin' it, it ain't happenin' ...

Not counting your children, what one activity, action, accomplishment, thing in your life are you most happy about or proud of?
JBE: Well, I'm not a spring chick, so there are lots of things popping up out of my memory files, but, I suppose the winner would have to be my glider pilot's license, which I earned in 1986 when I was one of only some 600 women. And this is a person who is petrified of heights!

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

Rainy Monday

Photo from flickr by thespeak

Photo from flickr by Reini68

Photo from flickr by MorBCN

Photo from flickr by MorBCN

Photo from flickr by millzero.com

Photo from flickr by Imkemper

Photo from flickr by Harshad Sharma

Photo from flickr by Beat[*/]

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

I've Been Awarded!

I am so tickled to have been given this award by TWO, count'em two, of my favorite fellow bloggers! What an honor! And isn't that the cutest little award button? First, my buddy, Laurie LeBlanc-Rickaby a wonderful photo artist and card maker listed my blog, and then the same day I received an award message from the fabulous nature inspired jewelry artisan, TKDesigns4u! How lucky am I? *blush*. Please visit the bright and sparky blogs of these two lovely ladies.

Now, to accept this award, I am to list 5 things I love. One would expect that to be quite simple, but it is the editing of a list that is far too long that is excruciating. So, I've decided to list what has made me happy this morning:

* I love opening my email and seeing more messages from my friends and family than the emails from Viagra and Nigerian widows.
* I love the sight of the bright morning sun streaming in my kitchen bay window onto my delft bowl full of blood oranges.
* I love the sight of my cat so secure in his world that he can lose himself in dreaming sleep on the couch beside me. (He chases geckos in his sleep - and catches them!)
* I love that the hibiscus bushes bloom in my yard in February. It isn't February now and they are going wild, but I know there will still be plucky blooms defiantly facing the cool breezes this winter.
* I love watching the large flocks of ibis feeding on the lawn. We call them "Florida sheep" in the way they graze in large white flocks moving slowly down the block.

And now I send the award along to 10 blogs I love. This editing job was even more difficult. I hope you visit and enjoy them as I do:

photo energy - art that captures you
Brown Button
blossom
The Mincing Mockingbird
Melt'm Design Studio
The Succulent Wife's favorite things
A Cup of Jo
Fleur Violette Jewelry
Made by AnnaK
Purified Art



To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment

>
jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

The Feathers of Florida

Tropical Florida is Birdland. I started looking through some of the photos we have taken here, and I realized that we have an unusual access to our feathered neighbors because many of them nest and breed here, particularly some of the largest species. This is just a few of the photos I found. As I find more, I will post them.

All photos are copyright reserved by Rolf D and Judith B Ebert, 2009

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

Beautiful Blog - Fun Shop

My Etsy Bloggers Team is highlighting the blog Designs by Vanessa this month. Vanessa has a snappy and colorful blog where she posts about interesting finds and often other Etsians! Take a peek.

I am also including a mini-mention about her Etsy shop of the same name, where she sells cute jewelry and notecards, all with birds in common. Here's what she says on her shop profile: "My name is Vanessa and I currently live in Arizona with my husband and our 2 furbabies. I have enjoyed anything and everything crafty since I was a little girl. I have a little (ok, a big) obsession for all things birdie!" Check out these darling items:

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

Words of whisssdomm

I've just plain swiped this from Kimberlee, an accountant blogging from Adelaide, Australia on her pretty blog Brown Button. Love the blog. Thank you, Kimberlee ...

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

Oh So Clever! People's Bank Building

It's been a while since I've posted an Oh So Clever! I have found a fabulous recycled jewelry artist called People's Bank Building, on 1000 Markets who doesn't do the usual found object jewelry, but uses ... well ... trash. Trash in the form of paper products, magazines, junk mail, etc ... and fashions it into the most clever folded origami ornaments for your ear and neck. Pattern on pattern, color on color and shape on shape; these are just a lot of fun!

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy

Lori Matney Young

I am pleased to present the next in our series of interviews with the talented and oh, so interesting artists and craftspeople of the 1000 Markets, New Romantic Market. This installment contains the responses of our own Lori Young, of L. Young Studio . I’m fascinated, and I think you will be as well:

NRM. Describe your product in 25 words +-.
LY. High gloss glazed canvas giclee prints of original watercolors placed in collage images, mainly from nature but some historical, and designed to collect. Art that may be considered romantically inclined, yet with a thoroughly modern vibe.

NRM. Why do you produce this product, and not some other product?
LY. I love watercolor, nature, letters, words, numbers, photos and travel...fond Memories... My designs are really very personal to me.

NRM. How much of your day do you spend working on it?
LY. Days vary. I am, first, a wife and a mother to three sons...but, I tend to average 8+ hours a day...My mind is always on...gaining new ideas, reading, talking with people. I translate these thoughts onto canvas in my mind first.

NRM. Is this how you make your living?
LY. Yes. I sell my pieces wholesale & retail.

NRM. How much of what you produce in your product, did you learn in "school" (define this as you wish)? How much is self-taught? How do you self-teach ... books, trial and error, etc?
LY. I majored in Fine Arts at The University of Texas in Austin. More than anything else my college classes disciplined me to practice, practice, practice in many different mediums...I spent incredible hours creating things I had no interest in & the same kind of hours creating things I enjoyed...when I found what I enjoyed I studied it much deeper … through other artists, books and, again, trial and error and lots more practice! I am completely self-taught on computer graphics. I built my own website & maintain it myself. I love it!

NRM. When you aren't working on producing, marketing, shipping, your product, what to you do? What are your other fascinations and passions?
LY. I've been married to the same wonderful man for 25 years. Together we have three sons. Two in college & one that's a Jr. in High School .. .I spend a lot of time at football games. We are active in our church. We love to travel.

NRM. How do these other interests affect, or influence the choices you make in your product design?
LY. There is something to be said about the unique beauty found in different regions around the United States. Each state possesses its' own history, beauty and culture. I love Louisiana ... the natural beauty, the charming people and the endearing culture all impact my artwork. Living in Louisiana, it all is so readily available to me. That's why the "Louisiana Collection" was my first state in my State Series.

I was blessed with the opportunity to travel while growing up. We traveled everywhere. My parents instilled that love in me. It is one of my favorite things to do. Each place I visit...has an impact on my artwork...I love the "flavor" of each state, some of my designs are very personal to the individual state & some of my designs are more regional (gulf coast, east coast, west coast, Midwest), so they spread across several states.

NRM. What kind of space do you work in? How big? Is it separate from your living space?
LY. Our home base is in Monroe, Louisiana. We live in a southern plantation style home with a big front porch out in the country. Next to our house is a big pond filled with fish & five beautiful ducks. My work space is at home. We live out in the country on close to one hundred acres. I realize, working at home is not always ideal for everyone...it does require self motivation and self discipline...but, I love to be here...I love to use items that are familiar to me...I squirt my paint out onto my beautiful vintage china and use my old crystal to hold my water...my paint brushes are stored in assorted vintage containers...and, I love having my yellow lab resting at my feet & my black cat lounging in my lap, as I paint...I work entirely alone...I am a one woman show.

NRM. What other kinds of marketing do you do for your product, apart from NRM? What is your marketing approach? Are you "in person" at art fairs and shows, or are you a big online presence?
LY. I have a personal website. I occasionally do a show. I will be at the Red River Revel in Shreveport, La the first week in October. That's it this year. As mentioned before...with a son still at home, I really want to be available to go to all his ballgames, etc .I am on facebook. I have a Fan Page & a personal page...I love FB. I use my Fan Page to keep everybody updated with photos & videos about what's going on with L. Young Studio. I am on Flicker, but not super consistent with postings ... creating my designs & canvas' requires so much time ... I can really struggle with getting pulled too thin! I bet everybody can relate to this!

Website
Blog
Flickr
facebook FanPage
1000 Markets
Etsy
Trunkt

NRM. How does the act of creating affect your view of life?
LY. Creating is a part of everything I do. I am a real hands-on person. I enjoy the challenge of creating! I realize at times I'm a "little obsessive"! Okay, "a lot obsessive" ... but I love what I do.

NRM. Not counting your children, what one activity, action, accomplishment in your life are you most happy about or proud of?
LY. Hmmm ... not counting my children ... that's tough ... I have been happily married to my best friend, Joey, for over 25 years ... I am a woman of faith ... and that's where my strength, source of contentment and happiness comes from. I started L. Young Studio in January 2008. Since then, I have been blessed to be featured in Southern Lady Magazine, At Home in Arkansas Magazine ... and, in November, another wonderful magazine (but I'm not letting that name out until later this fall!) I sell my pieces online, as well as in shops in over 10 states ... it's all pretty incredible when I think about it. ... A lot has transpired in under two years! God is good. It really has been a great adventure

I love her spirit! Don’t you? And I hope you will take a look at her wonderful artworks.

To comment click once on the tiny number right of this post's dateline
I invite you to note your blog URL in your comment


jbEbert jewelry on Etsy