I Heart Hearts

I'm not big on the Valentine's Day thing but I am big on hearts. I like them lots.

So in preparation of Valentine's Day (my excuse to make lots of hearts!), I'd like to introduce you to my heart dangles and a Sweetest Design.

Sweetest Design!

The "I love you" Necklace

 This very special necklace was created for a very special person in my littlest brother's life. 

It's a unique way to tell that special someone, "I love you."

What better time to do so than Valentine's Day? (Which is 1 month from today, by the way!)

Request your "I love you" necklace by February 1st and you will have it in time for the Day of Love :)

I can add a hanging crystal and even make a pair of earrings to match. It's also great for Mother's Day or simply a gift for yourself!

But hurry, because time and supplies are limited!

Contact me: dandlsdangls {at} gmail {dot} com

or visit my website: DandLsDangLs.com

Resolutions

The husband and I haven't worked through our family goals (aka resolutions) for 2011 but I have been thinking a little about my goals for DandLs DangLs.

I love making jewelry and selling it to happy customers. But in this phase in my life...

Stay-at-home mom to these amazing babies!

...I am not going to pursue this as a major money-maker. I'm enjoying it being mostly a hobby that pays for itself!

Lord willing, I will be able to pursue this much further as my children get older and don't need me quite as much. (I'm looking forward to and dreading that time coming!)

In light of my stay-at-home-wife-and-mom job being TOP priority and my purpose in life, the DandLs DangLs goals for the coming year are fairly simple...

1. Set up and organize my work space at our new home

2. Post on this blog at least twice a week

3. Post at least one new piece of jewelry weekly

4. Have 2 parties and go to 2 craft shows (at least)

5. Make a daily and weekly work schedule

I'm sure I'll come up with plenty of sub-goals but this sounds like enough work to me!

What is most important to you? Make sure your new year's resolutions reflect that!

Happy New Year from DandLs DangLs and the Jacobs family!

 

The "D" in DandL

Maybe it's because my little business is kinda lucrative sometimes so his monetary contribution hasn't been as necessary.

Or maybe it's because making jewelry is just that much fun.

Whatever the case, my husband has spent the past several nights working on chainmaille jewelry! He searched online for the best price for jumprings, ordered, asked on a regular basis if they had arrived yet, and has spent hours working since they finally did arrive.

It's been kinda nice to be teaching him something for once.

If only he could do more than close jump rings.

But I'm grateful for what he can do, and what he does is great!

Here's a peak at a set he completed all on his own...

I'm so proud :)

A Party and A Sale

So I missed this past Feature Friday. There was a reason I said, "Lord willing!" I knew last week was going to be crazy, but I wasn't actually prepared for how crazy it was!

It was a WONDERFUL week full of family and food! Doesn't get much better than that.

Unfortunately, it was also a week full of no internet or iPhoto access. So my online business and blog have seriously taken a hit! I don't know when I'll be back up and running.

God has His reasons for things.

In the meantime, my mom is having a DandLs DangLs Jewelry party!

Saturday, December 4, 10am-1pm

• Touch/Hold/Try on all the jewelry you want
• Eat yummy snacks
• Enter to win free jewelry
• Find unique, handcrafted jewelry to give as gifts this Christmas season
• Purchase gift cards
• See yours truly in creative action
• Bring friends and enjoy fellowship

Hope to see you there!!!

(Email me for directions - dandlsdangls@gmail.com)

Also...

I've never braved Black Friday. Not my thing. But Cyber Monday - I'm all about that! So of course DandLs DangLs is having a sale! 25% off everything in my shop beginning at 6am and ending at midnight!

If you plan to attend the jewelry party, you can still take advantage of this sale! Just let me know in the note to seller that you'll be picking up your jewelry at the party and I'll refund the shipping and have your jewelry waiting for you!

Go to my Etsy shop tomorrow (Monday) and check it out!

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!! THANK YOU for supporting my love for jewelry making!

Bead Shopping with my girl.

As I've mentioned before, my baby girl loves to bead shop with me. And I'm beginning to enjoy shopping with her, too!

It definitely wasn't always pleasant. But now that she's old enough to walk around on her own and (usually) obediently stay nearby, it's been fun.

While I hate the idea of her growing up, I'm looking forward to when she can join DandLs DangLs and create jewelry with all the beads she picks out!

Christmas Dangles

When I was little, I loved sporting the holiday-inspired jewelry. I think I still have the Easter Bunny earrings from years and years ago. Thankfully that was years and years ago.

Since then my taste in jewelry has settled down a little. In fact, I much prefer simple. Unique, but simple. With that in mind I came up with these 3 pairs of dangles. What do you think?

O Christmas Tree Dangles

Christmas Copper Dangles

Ornament Dangles

And even after the holiday season is over, these designs can be custom made with all sorts of colors!

These will be posted on my website soon. Gotta share them with my wonderful Facebook fans first!

Discount Giveaway!

One of my very favorite parts of Christmas is giving gifts! Unfortunately this year that opportunity is limited due to very limited finances. So I wanted to take this opportunity to give you all a gift!

Follow this blog, let me know in a comment on this post, and you will receive a 10% discount via email good through January 1, 2011! And two randomly drawn followers will receive a 40% discount!

That means every single one of you will receive a discount coupon!  Woot woot!

(Giveaway ends Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010)

DandLsDangLs.com

My Recent Craft Show Experience

This past Sunday I took part in a craft show at our local mall. It was my second craft show and my second not-so-great experience. It was a long day of very few sales. Jewelry is a tough market to be in!

But it was another learning opportunity. One thing I learned is that I need a LOT more pieces to draw more attention. This was a last minute show so I didn't have as many pieces as I would have liked, but I realized I needed even more than I would have thought!

I've read articles about how to get the most out of craft shows. I followed all the rules I could remember -

• I attempted eye contact with and a smile to every person that walked by my table.
• I left the books and whatnot to entertain myself at home. I was completely available at all times.
• My jewelry set up was unique and organized.
• I greeted everyone that came to my table and attempted conversation.

At one point I had to feed my baby boy, so the husband took over for a bit. He's much better at the sales part of things. He added to my list -

• Hand out a business card to every person that stops even for a second.
• Tell everyone that I also sell online and have a website.
• Find a way to compliment a potential customer (From a distance I noticed a girl blush and twirl her hair after Derek told her dangly earrings go great with long curly hair).

All of these are excellent tips, and I will continue to implement them if I ever attempt a regular craft show again. One more thing I'd like to add when I'm more prepared is have jewelry projects to work on. I think people are drawn to watching people craft their crafts! I know I am. It's different than just sitting there with a book or on your phone.

But I kept wondering as I sat there watching person after person walk by my table... are some people more drawn to a table when the crafter is not paying attention to them? I thought about this because I tend to rather approach a table and browse the merchandise without feeling the pressure of purchasing something from the vendor. I made sure not to put on any pressure, but could simply chatting with them make them feel like they have to purchase something? Could that be why some people smiled back at me and picked up their pace?

Have you ever been to a craft show? What draws you to a table? What is most likely to cause you to pass on by? Don't be shy! Help me out here!

The prize jewelry!

 Here are the pics I snapped before sending the prize winners their jewelry. I'm very happy with the way they turned out. I hope these lovely ladies love their much deserved jewelry!

2nd Prizes (there was a tie!)

1st prize!

Last Minute Craft Show!

This Sunday (October 17th), I'll be at the Concord Mall in Elkhart as a part of an Arts and Craft show!

Please come show me and the other local artisans some support!

See you, Sunday!!

History in the making

I'm not one of those types that was drawing jewelry designs at 5 years old, or always had just the right necklace for every single outfit, or went to any kind of art school. I've always liked wearing jewelry (especially earrings), but I usually had my small handful of favorite pieces that I wore ALL the time.

After Derek and I got married I felt like I needed to grow up a little. Every once in awhile I was going to need to wear something other than jeans and a tshirt with very old silver hoops in my ears every day. I went shopping with my mom-in-law and got a couple dressy outfits that just needed fancy jewelry to compliment. I managed to convince my husband that I needed a set of jewelry for both outfits. (He seriously has a hard time saying no to me). I thought the beaded jewelry I bought was so fantastic that every day I found myself wishing I had some cool jewelry to wear even with my casual clothes. Of course our budget did not support this in the least, so I continued to sport the little silver hoops on a regular basis.

Derek's grandma was visiting and she and I were chatting... I honestly can't think of what the initial point of our conversation was, but she told me about a lady at her church who got simple supplies from a craft store and had a bunch of ladies over from church to make jewelry. She said it was so easy. I was immediately interested and began researching...

Go ahead, google "how to make jewelry" and see if it doesn't stress you out a little.

Not only is there TONS of info out there, there's TONS of different ways to make jewelry! The tools and supplies necessary seemed endless. And so many terms had me wondering if there was some sort of jewelry-making dictionary I could refer to. Typical me, I decided to give up on the idea. But not before I mentioned it to my sister and sis-in-law.

Christmas that year (2007), my sisters combined efforts and got me a little starter kit! And the best part, my sister's friend makes jewelry and agreed to teach me some basics! I honestly don't think I would be doing this right now if it weren't for Jen, Steph, and Candace. Thank you.

Ever since I've been stocking up on beads, studying and learning new techniques, and selling my creations online and to friends and family. Sometimes I like to look at old beading books I got in the beginning and look at the designs I thought were way too hard for me to ever create, that now are part of my regular repetoir. I love teaching myself and whipping out pieces that make my husband proud :)

I'm currently venturing into the world of wire jewelry. My sister-in-law is helping me by designing beaded jewelry while I focus on learning the new and more difficult techniques of wirework. Steph is so good at designing! I love that she enjoys creating with me!

One of Steph's designs - Crystal Ball Dangles. Love these!

One of my fave wire wrapped creations - Forever Pearls Ring.

So that's the background. In the near future I'm going to post about some basic tools needed for making simple beaded jewelry. Then an earring tutorial! Until then, enjoy shopping :)

DandLsDangLs.com

Welcome!!

My name is Lindsay. I make jewelry. That's what this blog is all about!

Here you will find tutorials, tips, sales, contests, giveaways, and whatever else I can think of related to handcrafted jewelry! If you like to make jewelry, want to learn how, or simply like handcrafted jewelry, be sure to follow this blog!

A little about me -

I am a stay-at-home mom to two of the most precious babes. Marie Love is 2. Jack is 3 months. My amazing and handsome husband is in full-time Christian ministry. We currently reside in Indiana and will hopefully soon be home owners! We love our life and are so grateful to our God for His many blessings!

I love making jewelry. I'll share a little more about how I got here in my next post. But I've gotta answer that question tugging at the back of your mind... What is "DandLs DangLs"?? Or maybe you just want to know how to pronounce it. Well I'll help you with both.

DandLs DangLs is my handcrafted jewelry business. I make and sell jewelry mostly, but not exclusively, online. I love to take custom orders and finding ways to give my jewelry away :)

DandLs is pronounced just as it looks. It actually began as "D and L" which stands for my husband's and my initials: D(erek) and L(indsay). My family began calling us DandL - as one word.

When I began this business venture, my awesomely creative Dad came up with DandL's Dangles. We turned it into DandLs DangLs because it looks cool. In the online world, looks are very important!

That should satisfy your curiosity. If not, let me know! Please visit my website - DandLsDangLs.com - to find all my pieces available for purchase. You'll also find galleries of my past creations to check out more of what I can do for you!