Wirework success!

It’s been a few months since Wirework 2010 hit the shelves–and what a whirlwind it’s been. Most of you know that my Crystal Ring Byzantine bracelet was featured on the cover. Obviously, I was thrilled…and I also had no idea how many orders & emails it would bring. January was a busier month for us than December, which is pretty much unheard of in the retail world! The emails keep coming in, and I’m doing my best to answer each and every one of them. Still have a few more days worth of emails to catch up, but I will! It’s so exciting to hear how thrilled customers all over the world are with the magazine and the various projects:

” I have made every pattern in the book and am looking at every artist in the magazine and man do you guys rock!!! I particularly loved the crystal byzantine bracelet that you had in the issue I got. I have made several now and have friends asking for their own (heavenly) ”

” Your bracelet gave me so much inspiration! Thank you for your article and the wonderful instructions!”

“I made one of these, and I’ve gotten more compliments on it, than any other piece of jewelry I’ve made!”

On the other hand, though, I must admit it was frustrating for us—and for you too, I’m sure—that we kept running out of stock of our kits. We’ve worked hard to rope in some extra temporary help, and have some very promising candidates for permanent employment, so we should be back on track in no time!

If you haven’t yet gotten your copy of Wirework, do so soon, as the magazine will only be on sale through mid-April.  (We’ve got a few copies for sale on the same page as the kits.) If you’ve already purchased a copy, please write a review so the editors know what you think.  And now, I’m going to get back to answering emails!

Final photo shoot!

Jenna & I just finished (what we hope is) the final photo shoot for my book. Yes!

Here we are finishing up the penultimate step of the final project. Notice the grey card that had to be in all the photos. We started referring to him as “Waldo” after the first couple shoots. We have a love/hate—well, mostly hate—relationship with Waldo.

If you think it’s cramped in our photo room, yes, you’re right. Not only that, but hot! It makes me sweat, just looking at how close Jenna is to the hotlights….

We probably spent about 80 hours like this—Jenna on her tippy-toes, and me squatting or on my knees…and we won’t miss it one bit. We are so looking forward to developing a better photo set up, with more space, for the second book. Even if we only get a couple feet more, it’s gonna seem luxurious!

Beaded Celtic Dawn bracelet

A good friend recently lamented the sad state of my online gallery.  Since the supplies part of the business took off, and especially since I started writing my book, I haven’t had time to cultivate the gallery like I used to.  This year I am devoting more attention to my line of finished jewelry (and cannot wait for my website redesign, which will make online ordering so much easier!) It is my personal goal to update the gallery at least once a month this year, and hopefully twice a month beginning in September.  Unfortunately, February flew by without an update.  But, um, today could technically be February 31, right?  :-)

Here is a bracelet I created last summer.  The weave is Celtic Dawn, with an edging of 4 mm crystals.  I’m considering developing a tutorial for it–but that’s a long time away.  After my manuscript is finished I think I need a breather from tutorials for a few months!