Zhivana Designs

Supply Shop Reopening

2012-02-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

Now that the holiday rush has passed and I have a little more time, I've decided to reopen Zhivana Designs Supply Shop on Etsy. I love buying supplies and have accumulated lots more beautiful jewels, rhinestone chains, findings and beads than I'll ever use myself. So I'm once again offering it to other jewelry designers, including (for a limited time) a 10% discount with coupon code "REOPEN2012".

So far, I've listed 54 items, with lots more to come: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ZhivanaSupplies

Turquoise Rhinestone Chain

...And Here's One Especially for Valentine's Day...

2012-01-30T20:44:00.001-08:00

Red Jewel Heart Necklace

New Listings on Etsy

2012-01-30T19:27:00.000-08:00

I've listed lots of new jewelry since my last post. Here are just a few:

Montana Blue Jewel Chunky Gold Chain Necklace

Siam Red Jewel Sterling Silver Necklace

Chunky Curb Chain Gold Bracelet

Emerald Green Rhinestone Earrings

Light Amethyst Purple Rhinestone Earrings

Peridot Green Rhinestone Earrings

Hot Pink Earrings

Holiday Romantic Treasury on Etsy's Front Page

2011-12-15T14:56:00.000-08:00

My Holiday Romantic treasury was on Etsy's front page today!

Holiday Romantic

Congrats to everyone featured!

Featured in Etsy Finds

2011-11-26T10:28:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited that these earrings were featured in the Etsy Finds email today!

Vintage Jewel Earrings in Emerald Green

Recently Added To My Etsy Shop

2011-11-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

Long Tassel Necklace - long necklace, long tassel, gorgeous glowing jade rondelle - wear it with everything!

Sterling Silver Rope Chain Jade Tassel Necklace

Recently Added To My Etsy Shop

2011-10-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

I've been busy making and photographing new jewelry items for my Etsy shop.

Here are some of my latest:

Gemstone 14K Gold Fill Sapphire Bracelet

Swarovski Crystal Earrings on 14K Gold Fill Leverbacks

14K Gold Fill Lapis Necklace

Double Sterling Silver Chain A Grade Pearl Bracelet

Gold Chain Royal Blue Necklace, Vintage Jewel

Biwa Pearl Necklace, 14K Gold Fill Chain

Sterling Silver Double Disc Earrings

Wire Wrapped Smokey Quartz Necklace

Rhinestone Cream Pearl Earrings

Swarovski Rhinestone Amethyst Purple Earrings

Everyday Pearl 14K Gold Fill Twisted Circle Earrings

Gold Red Rhinestone Necklace

Aqua Rhinestone Dark Fringe Earrings

Another Landing Page

2011-10-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

This time, I added all my items manually so they don't change as I update my Etsy shop. I like it better this way - what do you think?

www.zhivana.com

Landing Page

2011-09-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

I spent a little time prettying up my landing page today. I used the Etsy Mini application to create a grid with 12 items that I think go nicely together. I'll still have to manually put in my own photos one of these days, though, because as I list more items on Etsy the grid will change. In the meantime, though, I think it looks pretty and it's more functional than before now that there are more links.

www.zhivana.com

Front Page

2011-09-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy that my Team Serendipity treasury was on the front page this morning ...

... and especially happy that so many of the people that have featured Zhivana Designs in the past were included!

New Listings on Etsy

2011-09-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

I've been busy making lots of new jewelry. Here are some new listings I've added over the past month or so:

Faceted Glass Jewel Double Drop Purple Earrings

Montana Blue Earrings

Petal Sterling Silver Earrings

Vintage Glass Beads Brass Dragonfly Necklace

Silver Owl Necklace

Wire Wrapped Pyrite Necklace, Gold Box Chain

Coin Pearl Green Leaf Necklace

Modern Gold Necklace

Silver Leaf Necklace

Sparkly Ice Blue Necklace

... and lots more to come over the next few weeks!

New Listing on Etsy Today

2011-07-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

A new pair of double vintage jewel earrings in crystal clear and olive green:

Olive Green and Clear Vintage Jewel Earrings on 14K Gold Fill

Listings on Etsy

2011-07-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

I've listed quite a few new jewelry pieces in my Etsy shop since my last blog posting:

Textured Smoky Grey Vintage Jewel Earrings on 14K Gold Fill Kidney Wires

Orange Vintage Bead and Rhinestone Ball Necklace on Oxidized Sterling Silver

Vintage Lipstick Red Jewel Earrings on Sterling Silver

Vintage Sapphire Blue Jewel Earrings on 14K Gold Fill

Swarovski Crystal Octagons on 14K Gold Fill Leverbacks

Sterling Silver Vintage Blue Bead Bracelet

Sterling Silver Hammered Chain Necklace

Listings on Etsy

2011-06-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

I've listed all kinds of new items in my shop in the past month or so. Here are just a few:

June Garden

2011-06-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been busy gardening - one of my favorite hobbies! Last year we added new gardens to our property and enlarged existing ones, and we've been rewarded with some beautiful new blooms this year. There's still lots more work to be done - plants to be divided and moved around, bare spots to be filled, compost to be added. But it's coming along and it's one of the things that makes me happiest, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos here.

Nothing in my garden has gotten me more excited this year than the profusion of lupins - they're all over the place and doing beautifully!

I bought these poppies by mistake - I normally like to choose plants in pinks, purples and blues and thought I was getting pink ones - but what a happy mistake they were! They are spectacular!

I also managed to get some in pink - these are so pretty and delicate-looking.

We had a lot of irises in our garden when we moved in 5 years ago, and last year we divided them and spread them out. They were one of the first plants to flower, right after the tulips, and they've been making our garden look beautiful for a few weeks now.

These are low-growing dianthus - they've been very prolific this year and have always been a favorite in any garden I've had!

We have an herb, fruit and vegetable garden and I love how the chives give us such lovely flowers to look at!

New Listings on Etsy

2011-04-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

I've listed 5 items in my Etsy shop today and yesterday - some brand new and others old favorites - and wanted to share them here today.

Vintage Green Heart Jewels, Freshwater Pearls on 14K Gold Fill

Post Earrings, Crystal Swarovski Jewels, 14K Gold Fill Post

Crystal Teardrops and Vintage Jewels on 14K Gold Fill Leverbacks

Honey Moon Bracelet, Freshwater Coin Pearl and Cute Bee on a Gold Chain

Swarovski Green Jewel Filigree Earrings on 14K Gold Fill

The Daily Star Earrings Featured on Etsy's Front Page

2011-03-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Julie Garland's lovely treasury made it to the front page, and brought The Daily Star earrings along for the ride.

As a result, Zhivana Designs sold 3 pairs of earrings: 2 pairs of those featured, as well as one additional pair.

That's the second time this month that a treasury of Julie's has brought Zhivana Designs to Etsy's front page. Thanks, Julie and Etsy - it was a fun ride!

New Listings

2011-03-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

I've been listing new items in my Etsy shop as quickly as I can photograph them, old favorites as well as brand new items.

Here are some of my new designs:

Framed Vintage Green Navette Earrings on Sterling Silver

Vintage Swarovski Bright Green Jewel Earrings on 14K Gold Fill

14K Gold Fill Star Hoop Earrings, The Daily Star

Vintage Scarlet Red Jewel on 14K Gold Fill Chain

Vintage Swarovski Jonquil Yellow Jewel Earrings on 14K Gold Fill

Vintage Light Purple Jewel Earrings on Sterling Silver

Front Page

2011-03-11T16:19:00.000-08:00

So today was kind of a big day for Zhivana Designs on Etsy's front page!

One of my treasuries was featured at 5:00 this morning:

(I wasn't up on time to see it, so I got the screen shot from Craft Cult.) Congrats to everyone featured!

And at 11:00, a necklace of mine was on the front page in one of Julie Garland's gorgeous treasuries:

Thanks, Julie and Etsy!

Etsy Treasuries

2011-03-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

In addition to photographing, listing and making new jewelry items, I've been busy making treasuries on Etsy. Since January 23, I've made 53 treasuries!

Here's my latest:

Etsy Shop Reopening

2011-02-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

I reopened my Etsy shop on Tuesday evening and have listed 12 items so far. Having closed my shop gave me the chance to step back a bit and do some planning, rethink my packaging to make it more affordable, work on new designs and make more jewelry.

For my new line, I'm combining smaller vintage and old stock jewels with simple modern classic style, and will also be incorporating some simple metal-only pieces in sterling silver and 14K gold fill.

New Designs, New Packaging and Etsy Treasuries

2011-02-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of time lately preparing to reopen my Etsy shop and launch a dedicated web site. I'm just waiting for new business cards to arrive and have reworked my packaging so that Zhivana Designs jewellery can now ship at a much reduced rate.

I've also done 35 Etsy treasuries since January 23 (!) and one of them was featured on their front page Sunday evening:


Screen shot courtesy of craftcult.com

Congratulations to everyone featured: you all looked great up there!

Sneak Peek

2011-01-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

It's nice to finally be back on my blog after not having written for so long. My apologies to those of you who posted such nice comments that it took me until yesterday to respond!

I've been spending time designing new jewelry and planning a new line, which has me really excited! I'll have lots to list in the coming couple of months or so - here's a sneak peek at one of my new necklaces in the meantime!

Holiday Shipping: Orders Over $100 Upgraded to Xpresspost

2010-12-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

Necklace, Aqua Pendant and Vintage White Beads on Oxidized Sterling Silver

There’s still time to buy Zhivana Designs jewelry before the holidays!

Necklace, Vintage Jewel in a Choice of Colors with Skeleton Key on 14K Gold Fill Chain

Holiday shipping:
All orders totaling over US$100 will be upgraded to Xpresspost, including tracking, delivery confirmation, insurance and an on-time delivery guarantee (where available) at no additional charge through December 21, 2010.

Long Necklace, Quartz Crystal, Amethyst and Oxidized Sterling Silver

Selected Xpresspost delivery times:
Canada – 1 to 2 business days from time of shipment;
US – 2 business days from time of shipment to major centers; 3 business days to all other destinations;
Great Britain – 4 business days from time of shipment;
France - 4 business days from time of shipment;
Germany - 4 business days from time of shipment;

Enjoy an upgrade to Xpresspost and next business day shipping through December 21!

New Post Earrings

2010-12-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

Today I added another pair of post earrings to my shop. I love the subtle light amethyst color of the top jewels against the clear sparkle of the Swarovski crystals. Light amethyst colored jewels are vintage from Czechoslovakia, while the Swarovski crystals are old stock from the 1990s.

This brings my collection of hand-soldered post earrings to a total of eight. (I also have an additional pair in my shop that were made with posts I purchased.)

For now, I'll be turning my attention to other designs, but I have some other ideas for jewel combinations and will be making more in the future.

Ice Block Dangle Earrings

2010-12-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

Elegant and simple, but far from ordinary, these earrings are made up of vintage clear glass jewels set in brass and dangled from 14K gold fill kidney ear wires.

When I first ordered these jewels, they had foiled backs, but when the shipment came in it turned out that the foil was damaged. So I removed it with vinegar and salt and placed them in these open-backed settings. It was a fortunate mishap, because I actually think they're much nicer like this!

Shop Update: New This Week

2010-12-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

I added 15 items to my shop this week - some new and some old favorites, mostly earrings and one necklace. I still have another pair of post earrings to photograph and list, and then I'll start making more necklaces and bracelets. I'm feeling very productive and motivated these days, and have so many more ideas I still want to work on!

Behind the Scenes: Jewelry Photography

2010-11-29T10:24:00.000-08:00

Before listing these post earrings in my shop, I took various different photos of them. For this shot, I used a light box lit with daylight lamps. In the background is part of a picture frame I had taken apart and painted white. I've also used a couple of different light-colored papers as backdrops. I like the look of almost white backgrounds with texture, so that's what I've been working with lately. My camera is set to super-macro and I adjusted the aperture setting to get this dreamy, romantic look. My light box isn't all that strongly lit, so the next step was to increase the lighting and contrast before including them in my listing.

I decided to photograph these earrings on a mannequin to show how beautifully they fall and give buyers an idea of what they look like when worn. I first set up my backdrop to get the camera to the right height (I only have a small stand, which is fine for taking shots of jewelry lying down, but isn't high enough to get a good shot of earrings when they are displayed on my fairly tall mannequin.) I improvised by attaching a piece of fabric to a wire shelf with clothes pegs and positioning my camera on top of a sewing basket, a stack of books and a supply order shipment that just came in.

And here's the finished product!

Post Earrings Photographed and Listed

2010-11-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

I've photographed and listed all three pairs of the post earrings I made last week. A little while ago I bought a light box and some good daylight lamps, so I no longer have to wait for sunny days to photograph my jewelry - a big bonus now that winter is coming.

I've also been experimenting with different photo backgrounds - I wanted to use white and light neutrals, with texture for interest. So I bought some paper sheets at Omer DeSerres and painted an old frame white. I'm still working on my photography (it's almost as much fun as making jewelry!), but I think I'm making some progress.

Ribbon Samples Arrived

2010-11-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

I just received more Mokuba ribbon samples in the mail! The quality of even the sample cards is wonderful, and the array of colors is gorgeous and inspiring!

And the obsession continues...

Post Earrings

2010-11-18T12:11:00.000-08:00

My latest project this week has been making post earrings using jewels, brass settings and 14K gold fill posts.
I solder the post to the back of one of the brass settings, first carefully drilling a little cup in the back of the settings to hold the post more securely. Then the metal is pickled, the jewels are set, and everything is put into the tumbler for shine and strength.

I'm really happy with how these turned out, and will be listing them in my shop in the next few days.

(Link to post earrings added November 24.)

Fall Garden

2010-11-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

Kale

The front of our property gets a lot more sun than the back, so this year we planted our vegetables there. We're pushing social convention by doing so, but were encouraged by the fact that several of our neighbors have put vegetables in their front yards as well. The stunning colors of this kale really brighten up our property - it's one of the most beautiful plants in the garden right now!

Miniature rose

I wouldn't plant industrial-style rows of monoculture crops - I still want the garden to look pretty, but I like that it's providing us with food as well. And I'm happy to see that the idea of what's aesthetically pleasing in a suburban garden seems to be evolving into something more interesting.

Kale

Much to our surprise, our two kale plants changed colors differently in the fall. This pristine white is gorgeous against the darker green, and the delicate pink in the middle provides a subtle, pretty touch of color.

Evening at the Opera Earrings

2010-11-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

I've recently added a new set of Evening at the Opera earrings to my shop.

Evening at the Opera is a series of earrings that are made with two linked jewels of various shapes and colors dangling from sterling silver or 14K gold fill leverback earrings wires. They are glamorous enough to wear to the swankiest event - hence their name!

New Landing Page

2010-11-15T15:32:00.000-08:00

So after landing safely when I wiped out on a sidewalk banana peel yesterday (thought that only happened in cartoons!), I turned my attention today to my virtual landing page. There wasn't much there before, but with my hubby's help, I managed to pretty it up a bit.

Next step: a dedicated shop site!

Update: November 19. With a little more tinkering, this is what I've come up with.

Zhivana Designs Supply Shop on ArtFire

2010-11-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

When I wasn't raking leaves today (we have a lot of trees on our property!), I was working on my ArtFire supply shop. There were 19 items at the beginning of the day, and I've managed to get the number up to 78.

I still have more to list, and feel like I'm off to a good start!

Getting Organized

2010-11-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

The past few months have been a planning / designing / purchasing period. I have lots of vintage and newer rhinestone jewels, so yesterday I took some time to organize them according to shape and size.

It's so much more pleasant to make jewelry when I can actually find what I'm looking for!

Mokuba Toronto

2010-11-10T10:54:00.000-08:00

I recently came across Mokuba, the most amazing ribbon store in Toronto's fashion district, and became completely obsessed, visiting four times in a week! The staff are helpful and friendly, and I couldn't be happier to have found such an amazing source of Japan-made top-quality ribbons.

After each time I left, I came up with more ideas for Spring 2011 and had to return to get more ribbons and sample cards.

With an inventory of over 27,000 items, Mokuba is definitely a must-see if you're ever in Toronto and love to be inspired by pretty things!

Montreal Gem and Mineral Show

2010-11-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

I went to the Montreal Gem and Mineral Show this past weekend. In other years, I've found the sheer size of it overwhelming, but this time it seemed just right. I paced myself, relaxed into the chaos of it all, and left feeling enriched and inspired.

Table after table was filled with the most gorgeous array of beads and gemstones.

druzy / rhodochrosite / biwa pearls / vesuvianite

I do most of my buying on-line, so it's always a treat to be able to see and touch stones before making a purchase. I tried to talk myself out of the gorgeous druzy you see pictured here, but kept coming back to it before finally giving in to temptation! I've always loved rhodochrosite and couldn't resist these Biwa pearls - they are some of the longest and most elegant I've ever seen. And the vesuvianite is so pretty, and mined right here in Quebec.