Jules Jewels at Mi Ty Design

Moving my blog and Etsy shop ~ Please Read

2008-12-12T22:32:00.001-08:00

I am closing this blog and moving everything to my new blog site - http://www.whimsicalpeacockstudio.blogspot.com

I am in the process of moving http://www.julesatmitydesign.etsy.com over to my new shop - http://www.whimsicalpeacockarts.etsy.com. I also have a destash shop - http://www.bellasbeadsandmore.etsy.com so please check out my 2 new shops!

Here are a few pics of some items that I have posted in my shops:

I have a ton of stuff I'm adding every day so please check my shops often. I am also going to start featuring other Etsy sellers in my blog so tag this blog to follow it, you won't be sorry!

My Surplus Stash of Beads has got to go!

2008-10-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

OK OK OK. Yah, I'm a shop-o-holic. I know that. Especially when it comes to finding unique beads. I can't pass up a bead store within a 50 mile radius from my house. Which means a ton of bead stores. And now I have my wholsesale seller's permit which means even more beads for less money. Oh no. I'm in trouble! Where am I going to store everything?!?

My husband said I need to start selling some of my extras, and the ones I had glorious ideas for but never got around to creating. Ugh. Sniff-Sniff.

So I have opened up a stash store on Etsy: Bella's Beads and More

Makes me sad to have to sell my beautiful babies but I need to make room. So come check out my store. I have TONS of stuff that will be going up for sale as I sell other items!

Thanks,
Jules

Talk Like A Pirate Day - Argh Me Mateys....

2008-09-19T08:39:00.002-07:00

I don't normal post a billion posts a day but here is a link to help you translate into Pirate Speak.....

http://www.talklikeapirateday.com/translate/index.php

Have a Good Day = "Aye, have a good day Ye'll ne'er get me buried booty!"

Ahoy to me mateys!
Captain Jules

Test your color perception

2008-09-19T08:39:00.001-07:00

Since I don't have any new pics to post today, I will give you all a test. This is great. It tests your color hue perception.

http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

I got a 3. The closer to 0 (zero) you get the petter your perception is. Try it and let me know what you got!

Jules

Birthdays suck

2008-09-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday. Hip-hip-horray. Birthdays suck when they land in the middle of the week. I'm not saying how old I am but I am starting to feel a mid-life crisis coming on. I swear. I'm freaking out about how I'm in my 30s and I am just now hitting my artist stride. Why did it take me so long to get there?

Simple answer - GUYS. Guys, in general, screw up your life. When I was in my 20's, I abandoned all of my interests and picked up whatever the guy I was dating at the time's interest was. So now I like Hockey, beer, other sports, playing pool and darts, hole-in-the wall bars, etc.

Now that I've been married 7 years, I have finally revived my artistic needs and my house is covered in art supplies. Lucky for me, I never threw any of my supplies or drawings out. My 5-year-old son loves "playing" with me when I paint, sculpt or make jewelry. He just called me to tell me he's making me a "special birf-day sah-pwise" which I know is going to consist of a combination of all different types of art media. So I'm looking forward to going home, loving his present and after he goes to bed, cleaning up the mess. Maybe Birthdays aren't so bad after all.

It's my Birthday, so let's CELEBRATE!

2008-09-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday this week so I am celebrating! Woot Woot!

Buy any jewelry in my Etsy shop and the shipping is FREE!

I will be adding more items to my shop so keep coming back to take a look. I will also be doing other special promotions this month to celebrate! So make sure to bookmark my shop and my blog to stay up to date!

XOXO~
Jules

Back To Work...

2008-09-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

I was gone for 3 1/2 months on kind of a work hiatus. I've been at my current day job for going on 9 years and needed some time off before I went crazy. (actually I think I did go crazy)

My time off conveniently coincided with Summer so I was able to spend a lot of time with my 5-year old son. I taught him how to swim (yay!) and we went on lots of trips to the beach (I live at the beach but never go, how sad is that?).

I also got to spend a lot of valuable time re-immersing myself back into my creativity. I was an art major incollege but do to "Cost of Living" I had to find a full time job and working kind of ate up all my creativity time. So, 9 years later, I got to delve down deep and find ME again. It was a great experience, one I wish I could keep but someone's got to pay thebills so I'm back at my day job (whoopie).

I did make tons of jewelry and polymer clay pieces this summer. Not all of them came through in the photographs so i'll only show you what I have that was photogenic. Hope you all had a great summer like me.

XOXO~
Jules

Perception Personality Image Test

2008-09-11T08:42:00.001-07:00

I took this test today to see what I perceive in an image. Here were my results. Take the test yourself!

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NFPC - The Artist

Nature, Foreground, Big Picture, and Color

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on what's in front of you (the foreground) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can't control. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.

The Perception Personality Types:

The Perception Personality Image Test Yourself!

New Website & Designs

2008-05-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I've been so busy lately. Between working on my new website, working on some polymer clay designs, making jewelry to sell, working my full time day job and starting escrow for our first home, It has been a crazy time for me.

Anyways, in lieu of a jewelry post (because I still need to take pictures of the creations I have done - LOL) I will post a design from my CafePress T-Shirts & Gifts Designs Shop. Officially we are Mi Ty Design. CafePress is a "print on demand" company that let us have our own store front with our designs. They then take care of any printing and shipping and the money. In return we get our mark-up of the item (they have a base price and then we mark it up a couple of bucks) and there are also monthly bonuses. I love the way this works and in the 6 months of having the store, I have made over $600 which is very exciting for me. All I did was work on the set-up of the store front and my husband, who is a graphic designer, made some designs for my items.

Our most popular item to date is the "Grab Your Balls, We're Going Bowling" design followed up very closely by the "It's All About Me!" design.

So, check out my new website and also my designs. From my main website you can click to get to my CafePress store front to see all of our designs. I have started adding the designs to my main site but this will take a while. So keep checking back!

If you are interested in becoming a CafePress shop keeper, click on the logo on the right side of my blog page to get more information! It's a lot of fun and once you get started, its a fairly simple way to make some extra cash every month. Gotta Love That!

XOXO~

Jules

Asian Dragon Wows Friends...

2008-05-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

It was my friend Sylvia's birthday this last Tuesday (Happy Birthday Sylv!)

She loves taking pictures and her home is decorated in an Asian influenced theme so I made her this Asian Dragon picture holder. (Sorry about the picture - once again I used my cell phone)

She loved it and her boyfriend was amazed. I had a great time making it. I think I might have to make more. what do you think?

XOXO~

Jules

Seahorse Necklace

2008-04-25T15:23:00.001-07:00

I wish I posted more often. I actually have a lot to post but never can manage to get anything on here. Sorry about that.

I made another under the sea necklace inspired by Christi Friesen. It's a whimsical, charming pink seahorse in an underwater scene with star fish. Darling, aren't you jealous? :) (Sorry the photo is blurry, I took it with my cell phone of course)

Also, both of my shops are having Mother's Day Sales starting today through May 4th. If you are interested, please visit my main website.

I have a lot of handmade jewelry to post on my handmade shop site, but I'm waiting until some of my other items have sold first.

If you see something for sale or that has sold, I can make a replica of it for you! Or if you would like a commissioned piece, please let me know! Feel free to email me at CustomerService@MiTyDesign.com

I love getting comments here on my blog site, thank you to everyone who has left me some so far!

XOXO~

Jules

Artistic Inspiration Suggestions

2008-04-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

I'm struggling with inspiration. I think I'm actually way stressed out because we are in Escrow to buy our first home. THAT is stressful! And it's killing my work.

To get away from the stress, I am now looking ofr anything that inspires me.

*Children - my son inspires me. He comes up with these strange characters and then tells me about them. I definitely don't want to destroy his imagination, so I go with it. Sometimes I'll draw out his character and he loves that.

*Nature - When I can't get my body to slow down, I like to go to our big central park. It's nice to here the rustle of the leaves in the trees when a breeze blows by. And no car sounds. I like to sit in the cool grass in the shade and close my eyes and just relax. All the stress just melts away.

*Hanging out with People - This was suggested to me - since I make jewelry and sometimes need a bit of insirpation to make something fashionable, go to a bar, club, restaurant, any hangout or crowd will do. And look at what they are wearing. Teenagers are the best insirpation. I especially like those who have their own since of style.

*Reading - Books, Magazines. I like to look at pictures to get an idea of what's in right now, or what might be the next big thing. And then I try to find my own angle on it.

*Color - I love color. Especially vibrant, rich color. Flowers are one of my favorite inspirations because they are a wealth of color.

So the picture represents my Nature Walk by my future new home in the "Country" where the spring flowers were blooming. In my Ghetto Vase. But I love it! Don't You?

XOXO~

Jules

New Piece to Share!

2008-04-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

A new necklace to share! "Bohemian Necklace"

This is another of the "A-Ha" moments that I had over the weekend.

This piece will eventually be up for sale in my Etsy shop (http://julesatmitydesign.etsy.com/) so keep checking back for the new post.

Leave me comments and tell me what you think!

XOXO~

Jules

Inspired by Chrsti Friesen

2008-04-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this piece for a long time. More like doing nothing with it. I really wanted it to look good like the artists that inspire me, but I don't feel imitation is art.

I sat with the cute turtle for weeks and I finally gave in today and made the necklace. Oh my gosh! I had so much fun and slowly my attitude changed. I then took out my camera and photographed the piece and I'm in love!

Yes it's an imitation but it's MY imitation and it sorta has a piece of me in it as well. Whoopie! I feel like I have made my first real art piece EVER.

OK sorry to gush, I just had a huge burst of artistic confidence and I just wanted to share with you. :)

Hope you enjoy!

XOXO~

Jules

New Squidoo Lens!

2008-04-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love Squidoo. It's fun and easy to make lenses on everything and anything. And then it's fun to watch the numbers of site visits jump. I really enjoy getting comments from people and adding polls.

So I made a new Squidoo lens about my jewelry - check it out! Fun times - http://www.squidoo.com/Hand-CraftedJewelryandGifts

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think or what I should add.

xoxo~
Jules

Froggy

2008-04-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

I know this isn't really jewelry, but I couldn't resist posting this cute little guy!

I finally received the other 3 books in Christi Friesen's series and my son asked me to make the frog. Unfortunately he looks like his back foot got run over by a truck or something because my son tried playing with him before I put him in the oven.

Hope you like it!

Jules

Fun new stuff...

2008-04-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

I have very specific ideas of what types of beads I want when I make jewelry. The stuff in the generic craft stores are boring and the stuff in the fancy bead stores is way out of my league price-wise.

I went to visit a bead store out of my area (Brea Bead Works) and they had this book by Christi Friesen on how to make polymer clay sea life. I thought it was cute so I piucked up a copy for my sister but once I got to reading the book, I was sucked in. How much fun! So I tried my hand at one of her turtles and some star fish. What do you think? (sorry the photos are blurry, my cell phone takes horrible pictures).

I am going to string them for a necklace for my #1 fan (yup, my mom again). I think it's going to turn out well. Now I have purchased more clay and books on how to make fantiastic faux beads. Woopie! I can't wait until I can post some of my new creations. I think I have hit my niche in the artistic jewelry arena. Check back for my future creations!

Jules

I got a new logo & banner!

2008-03-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

Yay! I love my new logo and banner! I purchased the business package from http://pixelcafe.etsy.com/ and she did a beautiful job! I gave her my thoughts and she went with it and I coulnd't be happier!

Check it out!

Jules

Beaded Plumeria Barrette

2008-03-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

The whole reason I got into making jewelry was because I had certain ideas of what I wanted in jewelry style and big name stores just never carried what I liked.

One thing I want is pieces for my hair. Something to make my boring ponytail style a bit more interesting.

So here is my plumeria flower barrette (my favorite flower). Forgive my messing hair! These are another gem fair find. Super small czech beads in graduated colors of pink to white with silver wire wrap.

What do you think?

Jules

Week 9

2008-03-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

I made a piece similar to this one for my grandmother after find these beautiful turquoise beads at a gem fair. I liked it so much that I made another one and then realized that I had switched the links around. I actually like this one even more!

Before I could post it on Etsy, my #1 fan (Mom) bought it off me! Full price. My very first sale. I am so thrilled.

I have 4 weeks of entires to post because I finally got everything situated with my camera. So forgive me if things start to sound redundant.

Jules

Simple yet Elegant Bracelet

2008-03-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I am not feeling inspired, I like to go through my bead boxes and find beads that look great together and then I make simple bracelets from them.

This is one of my favorites. It's simple, delicate yet elegant. This one looks like a million dollars but doesn't actually break the bank. Beautiful sterling silver beads as well as fresh water and faux pearls in shades of light and dark pearlescent gray, and czech crystal on a length of wire that strecthes so it can fit almost any wrist size.

What do you think?

I'm going to give it a try in my Etsy shop (http://julesatmitydesign.etsy.com/) to see if it sells. If not, it's going to be mine, mine, all mine!

Jules

Flower Brooch - Great Gift for Mother's Day!

2008-03-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

I love flowers, swirls, filigree and am inspired by all sorts of nature. Leaves, bugs, butterflies, you name it. I created this cute flower brooch over the weekend, as I was thinking about what to make my mom and my mother-in-law for mother's day. (I know its far off but that is how my brain works)

I have received a lot of complements for this piece and plan on making more in different metals such as brass, gold, silver and of course, copper. Keep an eye out for my etsy shop in the next couple of weeks for releases of these beautiful Flower Brooches! http://julesatmitydesign.etsy.com/

XOXOXO ~

Jules

My new Etsy shop!

2008-03-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hi all -
I'm sorry I haven't been blogging lately, I haven't even turned in any pieces for the YOJ. I think I'm about 2-3 weeks behind.
What I have been doing is setting up my Etsy shop and changing around our Mi Ty Design Studio website to add a link to my shop on Etsy. I still have a long ways to go but at least I have finally started it. you can see my shop here: http://www.julesatmitydesign.etsy.com or check out our main website at: http://www.MiTyDesign.com
I also have 2 commissions that I need to work on, a piar of earrings to make for my mom, and also I am working on learning from some new tutorials that I just bought from Iza, Magdalena and Eni Oken. I hope to take the techniques I learn from their tutorials and tie them in to my own work and get these up for sale soon!
I will take some pictures over the weekend to post!
See ya!
XOXOXO
~Jules~

Copper Necklace

2008-02-21T16:46:00.001-08:00

I took pictures of a great heart piece for the YOJ Week 7 - Amore but of course, lost the photos. I was sad because I had made my own photo box and the pictures turned out superb. :(

In it's place, I am submitting this piece. I guess it could be Amore, since I made it with love for my mother.

I don't know the stones, but they are beautiful and the wire is copper.

enjoy!

XOXO~

Jules

Finished Brooch - bad picture

2008-02-21T16:32:00.000-08:00

I finally finished my brooch with a set of matching earrings. Very nice. My mom loves the set. Unfortunately the battery on my camera died before I could click a photo and my puppy ate through the battery charger cord! Ugh. So I had to take the pic with my cell phone. That didn't turn out to well. Sorry the photo is so nasty. Hopefully I will be able to take a better pic one day.....

XOXO ~

Jules

Work In Progress - Fibula/Brooch

2008-02-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, i took my mom shopping for some focal beads. She ended up buying a bunch of abelone pieces and wanted me to work them in together as a brooch. She told me "Make it big, I want people to stop me and ask me about it". OK, well then. This was a huge struggle for me because4 I like to make dainty, fashion style pieces. I like my jewelry to complement my outfit, I don't normally work my outfit around my jewelry. BUT my mom does. Every piece in her jewelry collection is large and eclectic. And she loves contemporary art. So this was a huge stretch for me. But a challenge I couldn't pass up.

It took me from Saturday through to Tuesday to sketch something out. It was difficult because the pieces of abalone were so large. She had 9 pieces and wanted me to use them all. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't do it. I want her piece to look stunning, not gawdy. So I will save the other pieces to make matching earrings.

Here is the fibula that I made - keep in mind, this is a work in progress. I am waiting for my order of liver of sulfer to antique it and I still have to make the earrings -

Week Six - Aquarius Zodiac Sign

2008-02-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

No offense, but I'm not hip on these Zodiac Signs. For some reason I just don't get a whole lot of inspiration from them. So I used this time to play around with technique. Here I a used a couple of different techniques from some of Eni Oken's tutorials and evreything was looking pretty good. THEN - I dropped the piece into Silver-Black. Yeah. that wasn't such a great idea. I have been using silver coated copper wire and I guess I left it in the Silver-Black for a second too long because it pretty much ate away the silver. LOL. So now my piece is antiqued-copper looking. A bummer but a great lesson learned. This one is going into the "Um, I don't think so" pile. :) I'm done with this week early so now I can play with my new semi-precious gem stones that I just bought.

Jules

Week Five - Mardi Gras

2008-02-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

I am a day late turning in this project but I have a good reason, I promise! I took my mom to my favorite bead store, Surf City Beads, in Fountain Valley, California. She loves big chunky pieces so I had her pick out some focal pieces and I'm going to make her a ton of jewelry. I'm excited to get started. Also, my husband went to Home Depot and bought me a few surprises consisting of 0000 steel wool, painter's tape, an extra fine file, and a drill with a chuck so I can twist wire! Yippee!

So this project was for the Mardi Gras theme. I wanted to make a charm-style bracelet because around hree, they seem to be very popular. I made all the links and the clasp, and tied the beads on with some coils, twists and other cool twisty pieces to finish off the festive spirit of the bracelet. I really like it and have had many people tell me they want it - but I don't think I'm giving this one up because Purple is one of my favorite colors. Hope you like it!!!

Week Four - Blustery

2008-01-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

The word Blustery - What does it mean? It can mean different things to different people. It's supposed to mean raging wind but you can literally take it in many different directions.

When I first read Blustery was one of our topics, I immediately thought of Winnie the Pooh and his Blustery Days. Sorry, I think it's because I have a 4 year old and I used to work for Disneyland. I kept coming up with the image of a cartoon drawn wind and the spirals they create to emphasize wind.

Now this piece has the swirls of wind and the best part of all is the gem of a stone I have used for this setting. Now, no one laugh - this stone was given to me by my 4 year old. He was with his grandma at Michaels one day and saw an employee picking up a bag of spilled decoritive glass stones. He helped her out so she gave him a pocketful as a thank you. And since he is learning all about sharing, he shared one of his stones with me. I actually think it is pretty. It goes to show you can find inpiration anywhere!

Jules

Week Three - Australian Culture

2008-01-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

OK so I kind of cheated on Week Three. I did have great intentions, I wanted to do the whole Australian Aboriginal dot painting as a round pendant using seed beeds weaved in as the dots. It started out nice but half way through it got ugly. So I tore it all aprt and will save all the pieces and wire for something in the future. Instead, you get a piece I made after being inspired from a chandalier earring I saw on the 'net. I actually made it for my mom to wear as a pendant, to hang from a chain. The entire piece was handmade from my wire and the beads are a mix of czech glass beads and a sworovski crystal. I am up on fashion trends and color mixes and read that creams, aqua/blues and browns are the new trendy color combo so I wanted to try it out. I like it. What do you think?

Jules

Week Two - Capricorn Zodiac Sign

2008-01-24T16:21:00.000-08:00

I am a bit late on this one, I think it was due on 1/13. But since I started in the group late, I figured I would just start at the beginning and catch up to the rest eventually. I'm really enjoying this group. There are so many talented artisans and I'm learning alot just by seeing their beautiful artwork and reading about the techniques they use.

The theme for week two was Capricorn Zodiac Sign. I'm not much into horoscopes or signs but I read up on it on the 'net and found some great info regarding stones and colors of the different horoscope signs. This can be worn as a pendant, I can visualize it on a length of black satin cord. If you like my work or you just want to send me comments, you can either comment at the bottom of this blog or contact me at JulesTyler@MiTyDesign.com

Thanks!

Jules

Week One - I Can Do It!

2008-01-23T13:20:00.001-08:00

This first week's theme is "I Can Do It" and I am so excited

about my first piece. My husband bought me Sherlyn Miller's wire wrapping book for Christmas and I have been practicing pieces from it ever since. I had so many pieces that I decided to put some of them together into a whimsical necklace. I think this piece is the best one I have made to date. I love it and wear it all the time and get wonderful comments! A couple of pics have been posted with it, sorry if they are hard to see, I haven't mastered the fine art of photographing my jewelry yet.

Love,
Jules

Year of Jewelry 2008!

2008-01-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

I have become a member of an online weekly jewelry making group. The goal is to make 1 piece from a list of themes every week for an entire year. Yes I am starting a bit late but I gifured that I'm only 3 weeks behind and I have plenty of pieces that I have already created that I can turn in. So please keep in touch with my blog to see my latest pieces of my jewelry artwork!