What's New In July?

I have officially closed my ebay store and have updated my ecrater store. That is a mirror of www.bluemorningexpressions.com so there isn't anything in there that you can't find on my website. What I did was duplicate it so that it would open me up to better marketing opportunities. I have dabbled in etsy but I am not committed to them at this point.

There will be an update of www.cliponearringsboutique.com with the addition of samples of the regular earrings transistioned to drop clip ons. I also have some other design ideas for the big girls too. I am working on those and creating the beads that will be a part of them. I will be moving faux pearls over to www.bluemorningexpressions.com in post format as well.

I have done a lot of bead auctions in the last year, to the point where I have sold over 1000 sets of handcrafted beads. I enjoy the auction part of the whole thing and have left those on ebay. I try to always end my beads on Sunday night which allows me to pack them and get them out on Monday morning. I have tried a few auctions on justbeads.com and I just don't have the time to bounce back and forth between one more site so I haven't done much with them. There are a lot of really wonderful beads on www.justbeads.com if you are in the mood to go shopping - window or otherwise.

My decision on the beads has been to start creating sample beads for the website and then letting you buy as you wish and mix and match. I have had a lot of extra requests for side orders and individual orders and special orders that I want to expand that on the site. I want to make those individual beads a part of the project section, where you can purchase an entire kit or just what you need.

I started experimenting with some bracelets and built my first cuff bracelet. It is still in need of deep wet sanding and needs trim work done on it but it turned out acceptable and I did it in a blue and gold mokume gane blend of clay on black background. I think I will be keeping this one and it makes a great jean bracelet. I just ran out of sandpaper to finish it so it will be awhile before I can get a photo of it. I will post it when it is complete.

I am working on designing pieces and I have four different bead designs and creations that I am sending into a couple magazines. One project is specifically for Bead and Button and the others are for Polymer Cafe. By the time I get things done, they will be ready to take on the Summer issues!

I got one new watermelon earring design done. I did those for fun as I was working on a cane for watermelons. I have one pair of regular earrings and several canes. I have not figured out if I will be putting the canes up on the site or not and if I did where I would put everything!

Halloween and Thanksgiving items are up!

www.chalkhorsegallery.com now has prints and products featuring Susan Carson's artwork. They are now on the gift page and feature some of her irises and landscapes. New prints are up now, including horses, dogs and a cool Sunkist soda painting. She has pillows, mugs, tiles, and other beautiful gift ideas. The holidays are coming faster than you think!

Thank you so much for all the input and emails. I enjoy all the encouragement that you send my way.

Until next month,

Julie

New Products:

ShooDooDads for Crocs and Holey shoes. These are featuring my designs and my beads. Most of these are created out of polymer clay.

Build a Bracelet for those who want to create their own bracelet featuring the shoodoodads and beads. I will give you a selection of beads that you can use to create your one of a kind item. I am thinking at this point that I will be doing some custom name beads. I will have to see how the prototype goes. The DooDads for the shoes were a hit.

Dog Tag Necklaces seem to be very popular and they are one of those things that I am working on. I am doing some experimental pieces and will probably end up doing designs and then just keeping them in stock like I do my earrings. That way you can order them all year round.

Watches are being created as we speak. I am experimenting with different bracelet types and trying out new ways to bead the bands to the watch faces. I have made a few messes and have tossed out some unworkable beads but I am getting there.

Canes For The Rest Of Us is the title of my book. I have done a lot of the preliminary work on it and will be doing all my photography and text in the next few months.

Download Back Issues of BluPrint:
• June Blu Print 2008
• May Blu Print 2008
• April Blu Print 2008
• March Blu Print 2008
• February Blu Print 2008
• January Blu Print 2008
• December Blu Print 2007