Meet the Newest Gemstone Niobium Post Earrings!

Here are the newest members of my 100% hypoallergenic Niobium post earring family!  

They will be posted very soon for sale in the Pretty Sensitive Ears' Etsy Shop.

 6mm Sodalite - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 6mm Carnelian - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 6mm Aventurine - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 6mm Amber - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 6mm Turquoise - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

6mm Blue Onyx - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

  6mm Rose Quartz - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 6mm Wyoming Jade - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 6mm Goldstone - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 4mm Hematite - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

4mm Garnet - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 4mm Amethyst - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 4mm Malachite - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

 4mm Turquoise - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

4mm Amber - 100% hypoallergenic niobium post earrings!

Which is / are your favorite?

Remember, Niobium is a pure elemental metal that is hypoallergenic.  It is super comfortable.  A wonderful metal for those of us with sensitive ears!

Caught a Fever

I am doing a "Five Minute Friday" post inspired by TheGypsyMama.com.  Her word for today is "Catch."

I've definitely caught a fever - a fever for jewelry and creativity!  I am excited about my "job" that I have created for myself with this little hobby turned home business.  It began trying to find pretty jewelry for my sensitive ears and turned into the thought that maybe I could try making my own.  From there it spawned and spawned...  The more I learn, the more I want to learn and discover and explore the materials and processes.  I've got more ideas than I have time for!  And it's a marvelous feeling!  Some things I'm meaning to get to include: resin bead / cabachon making using silicon molds and dyes (for my hypoallergenic niobium post earrings and surgical steel post earrings), wire wrapping of gemstones I've put through my rock tumbler, experimenting with my dremel tool so I can get comfortable with using it, and working with the titanium wire I ordered in order to also offer it as another hypoallergenic option.  And there's more buzzing around in my head!  I try to write it down and pin it up on my inspiration board.  So, I've definitely caught a fever - and I think the only cure is to feed it!  ;)

Thank you for visiting!

Amanda J ~ Pretty Sensitive Ears

If interested in checking out my latest styles in my etsy shop, including the crystal faced niobium post earrings that I'm so excited about, please visit:  http://www.prettysensitive.etsy.com

Also, you can visit my facebook page to find a special discount offer valid for the remainder of October for fans of my page:  http://www.facebook.com/PrettySensitiveEars

Crystal faced Niobium post earrings

I received a custom order via my website (at http://www.prettysensitive.weebly.com) for a pair of niobium post earrings with clear round crystals recently. I've been meaning to make more crystal faced niobium post earrings for a bit now...and sometimes it takes that extra little kick in the pants!
So, last night I sat down and worked on the custom order and made six extra pairs. Working my pliers on the wire for these identified some places where building up calluses might be nice! Felt like I nearly formed blisters! It takes a lot of work to get the wire to do what I want it to! ;)

Anyway, I got 4mm clear and light blue Swarovski crystal niobium post earrings made, clear princess cut Swarovski crystal in 4mm made, and 6mm jet black Swarovksi crystals made. Also some montees in a light topaz.

They are difficult to get just right when I mount the crystals. They have a tendency to want to slip off-center before the epoxy sets - so I have to keep an eye on them!

I'm excited to get them posted. Check my store soon to see how they turned out! http://www.prettysensitive.etsy.com (Right now there are tons of great choices in surgical steel post earrings too!)

Star earrings featured in treasury

Moved & Setting up

Well, we are moved and settling in box by box.  Our office is our dedicated arts & crafts space in the house.  It was a bedroom for the previous owners' daughter so one wall is bubblegum pink.  After painting our daughters' bedrooms I didn't have any more "oomph" in me to paint over the pink wall in the office.  So for now, it will remain until a later point in time.  It's nice and peppy though!

My husband made it down to Seattle to the University of Washington's Surplus Store and snagged a great deal on a 6 ft work table and a ginormous bulletin board for the wall.  Those pieces in there are so awesome!  (You can find some incredible stuff there!  http://www.washington.edu/facilities/finadmin/movingandsurplus/inventory/)  I plan to use a portion of the cork board as an "Inspiration Board" and the rest for business needs and/or storing baggies of findings or beads even!  For the inspiration board I plan to pin up projected colors for the upcoming seasons along with clippings from magazines / catalogs and sketches of ideas.  I'm very excited about this. 

Shortly after we moved in I was sent a request for custom pearls and flowers on post earrings.  I had been overdue to order more pearls, so I finally got to that.  I received last week the whole order and they are darling.  White and purple 6mm button pearls.  Perfect for a post earring.  They are so versatile...dress up or down.  The white ones have been posted for sale on my etsy shop (http://www.prettysensitive.etsy.com) and the purple ones will be up soon - once I am able to get a good photo showing their color.  (We haven't found our point & click camera yet in all the "stuff" and so I will have to use my digital video camera to get a picture, which is a bit more challenging.)

I also ordered resin dye - in white, transparent red, and transparent amber - and a silicone flower mold to try out making my own resin flower cabachons for post earrings.  I had bought a set of small enameled metal flower beads awhile back on a clearance rack and sadly, cannot find these again ANYwhere.  I have scoured and scoured the internet.  So, I'm going to try this resin route and see how it turns out.  I am actually quite excited!

So, the focus for now in "Pretty Sensitive Ears" land is setting up the workspace, putting together and listing the new pearl post earrings, and trying out the resin cabachon making!  Fun fun fun!

Moving

We are moving into a new house this next week and I am so excited!  I will have a whole office dedicated to crafting!  I plan on setting up my light box and camera in one location so that it will always be up and ready for pictures to be taken.  That way I won't have to do one long marathon of item photos...which is followed by long batches of photo editing...and catching up on listing items for sale.  This way I can list items for sale as I complete them!

I am planning on going to the University of Washington Surplus Store (open to the public on Tuesday afternoons) to purchase a $10 work table - which I am soooo excited about!  (Side note - they have lots of great deals on fun stuff and very entertaining item explanations:  http://www.washington.edu/facilities/finadmin/movingandsurplus/inventory/category/office-equipment)

In the mean time, I may be in and out, as we are now packing, then moving, and unpacking!

Giveaway Contest Results

Thank you to everyone who participated!  I had a handful of guesses submitted via email in addition to the comments left on the blog entry with all the contest details!

My dear hubbie sat down and counted and counted...and counted!  I believe his first response was, "Man!  These are tiny!"  ;)

And...the number of seed beads within the tube came to a grand total of 1,566!

Looking throughout the guesses left via comment and those received via email, the closest guess without going over the total number, is blogger account holder "bubblegum" with a guess of 1,300!

Unfortunately, I do not have an email address for this commenter.  So, if you are "bubblegum," please contact me by sending an email to me at prettysensitive@gmail.com by 11:59 pm PST on Sunday, August 7, 2011, to claim your winnings (any one pair of earrings in my etsy shop located at http://www.prettysensitive.etsy.com).  In your email, please include your choice of earrings along with your name and mailing address!

If I do not receive an email from bubblegum by Sunday night, then I will go through and identify the next closest guesser and announce them here and contact them via email.

Thank you again, everyone, for participating!  I am really excited about surpassing that 100 sales milestone mark.  Onward and upward!

**Edit on Tuesday, August 9, 2011...  I did not receive an email from the initial winner, so the next closest guesser was blogger user "Jonathan and Jamie" with a guess of 1225 seed beads!  Congratulations!  I will be contacting you via email to arrange details for your prize (one free pair of earrings from my etsy shop!!).

Thanks again, everyone!