Happy New Year!

We will open the book.
Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity and
its first chapter is New Year's Day.
Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Nice thought, isn't it? A whole new book that we have the chance to write ourselves. May the new book that you write for yourself this coming year turn out exactly the way you want it to. May all the opportunities and blessings the world has to offer be yours for the taking. May much success, good health, love and happiness come your way in 2009. I'm looking forward to what the New Year has to offer and sharing it all with you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Rejected by Uncommon Goods - But That's OK!!

Well, I'm disappointed. Uncommon Goods contacted me saying that they were interested in carrying my jewelry on their website and possibly in their catalog too. They only include uncommon items that are handmade, recycled and organic. They would purchase 6-12 pieces of my jewelry for their website and then if it did well there, they would include it in their catalog. They've had their items featured in all the biggest magazines. They're a very environmentally friendly website and I was totally interested. They gave me a number to call for more information. I called today and was asked a lot of questions about my jewelry. Everything was going along grand until one of the questions triggered the response from me "You do know that my jewelry can't be replicated, don't you?" And everything skidded to a halt.

Apparently, the 6-12 pieces that they wanted to purchase would have to all be identical. And then, if my jewelry were to be included in the catalog, they would want hundreds of them. All - exactly - the- same. Well, I can't do that. Every jewelry piece I create is different. I've tried to replicate certain designs and they never come out exactly the same. Even to get two pieces of china broken into the exact same shape and size to make a pair of earrings is difficult. Hundreds all the same? Never. And where would I find enough of the same china to continue if a certain piece did catch on? China patterns become discontinued and may be difficult to find.

Maybe I'm not so disappointed after all. I'm not a manufacturer of mass produced items. I'm a designer of artistic one-of-a-kind jewelry creations. My customers know that when they purchase one of my designs, they won't run across anyone else wearing the exact same piece. My jewelry may be uncommon enough that uncommongoods.com was interested, which was a lovely compliment and quite exciting for awhile - but it is also unique - and with that I'm satisfied.

"The Magic Story" - Recipe for Success

As 2008 draws to a close and we are all looking ahead to a brand new year and wishing one another success and prosperity in 2009, I wanted to share this story with you. It was first released in 1900 in the original Success Magazine and the author is unknown. It is quite a long story and is written in the style of Dickens. So settle down when you have some time to leisurely read this. I suggest you read both "How the Magic Story was Found" which tells the enjoyable tale of how the story was found by starving artist Sturtevant and then go on to read "The Magic Story". Both are contained at the following link. Heed the moral of this story and let that successful, confident person inside of you take control this coming year.

Happy New Year!

The Magic Story

Happy Holidays to each of you!

May this holiday season bring each of you all that your heart desires. Whatever holiday you're celebrating, enjoy every second of every minute. Be safe, be happy, be well, my friends!

All the best,

New music feature on this blog!

I hope you all enjoy the new music feature that I've added to this blog. Just go to the bottom of the page if you'd like to change the song that's playing. I've added a few of my all-time favorites.

Latest custom order - Bella Lux wire crochet necklace

I just haven't been able to find the time to blog about any of my custom orders but I would like to tell you about my latest one. Most of the story is going to have to wait until after Christmas though! But this is one piece that I can share with you.

This is a yellow rose pendant made from Bella Lux china. The young lady loved the one her mom bought so, since I did have another piece of the same china, I offered to make something similar for her. She asked for lots of wire flourishes so I flourished away! I also designed the wire crochet necklace with a thinner wire than her mom's and gave it a ruffle appearance. It actually stands up a bit along the edges. She was thrilled with it, which made me very happy.




Story to be continued.....

A gift of Waterford crystal

I recently received an inquiry through my website from a lovely lady in New York who told me she had a broken Waterford crystal pitcher and wanted to know if I could use it. Ever since I did the radio interview on The Jewelry Connection and one of the listeners during the question/answer period suggested that I try designing something from crystal, I've wanted to give it a try. So I very enthusiastically and thankfully said "Yes! please send it along".

I received it the other day and, even broken, it's so beautiful. I did a bit of online research and learned that it's the Glandore pattern. I've never worked with crystal so I'm going to need to do a bit of experimenting with it. I have quite a few ideas and am very anxious to start working on it. However, as much as I planned to start this weekend, Christmas shopping may have to take priority. I'll be posting more about this as I venture into the land of broken crystal jewelry. Wish me luck! And a huge thank to Ginny for giving me this opportunity.

Article in Currents Magazine!

I wish my scanner was working - I'd love to scan and post the article Currents Magazine wrote about my jewelry. It's a very small article but I'm absolutely thrilled about it! Currents Magazine is a free magazine that's circulated to every home in Monmouth County, New Jersey. I believe it comes out every other month. It's packed full of local shopping suggestions, restaurant information, beauty and fashion tips, coupons, recipes, etc. Ads are quite expensive to take out in this magazine, at least to this small indie business owner, because it's mailed directly to 10,000 homes in Monmouth County. And here they've written up my jewelry in their "green" section in their holiday issue- for free! They even put a photo of one of my necklaces. Yonna Hall of Currents Magazine said that she loved the Marjorie's Cracked name and thought my jewelry would make great gifts for the holidays.

Thank you, Yonna! Currents Magazine is quite an environmentally conscious magazine and I'm very proud to be mentioned in it.

Athena Magazine Feature: Grandma Marilyn's

Today's Indie jewelry feature on Athena Magazine is now live. Click here for my interview with Marilyn Southmayd of Freer, Texas to read of her adventures in the jewelry world and her excellent advice to Indie sellers on Etsy. Thank you, Marilyn, for taking the time to share your experiences.

Indie Jewelry: You'll Just Love Grandma Marilyn's