End of the {Unannounced} Hiatus

Someone may have noticed.... there hasn't been a lot happening with Fairchild Designs lately. I took an unannounced hiatus for the month of August to take a few trips and enjoy gloriously sunny days with my beloved daughter Eva before she goes to school. It is back to business though. September is on and so is my creativity and drive to produce fresh and exciting designs. I collected some seriously decadant new gems in the past month and I am excited to showcase their perfection in new Simply Luxe designs as well a few couture projects. I have posted a few pictures below of new creation I listed in my Etsy shop tonight.

Simply Luxe Stella Artois Earrings $48

Simply Luxe Inner Light Earrings $22

Simply Luxe Fall Into Champagne Earrings $52

Gathering Lilacs Bracelet $258

The Mystery Stone

I saw this lone strand unmarked and loved it immediately. I didn't know what it was or how much it cost, but I really wanted it. When I asked the dealer more information about it, he wasn't sure either; but finally decided that it was Spectrolite. I think he was completely wrong. I purchased this gorgeous strand of mystery gemstone anyway. I know I'll find wonderful things to create with it, but I'm hoping someone can tell me what it is.

Sneak-Peak Tuesday: New Gem Purchases

I missed last week's Sneak-Peak Tuesday. This post was actually supposed to be last week's post, but I was a little procrastinator in getting my pictures transfered from the camera to the computer. Oops!

I went to a gem show last weekend, which any gemstone user can attest to it's dangerous nature. There was a strand of large london blue topaz 3D cubes that were stunningly perfect....the 8 inch strand was over $400. It unfortunately did not come home with me, but here are a few pictures of the stunning gems that did.

Pink Amethyst, Rhodolite Garnet, Moss Amethyst, Multi-Spinel, Mystery Stone, the most stunning Beer Quartz I've ever seen, Champagne Citrine, White Topaz

Beer Quartz, Champagne Citrine, White Topaz, White Moonstone, Tourmalinated Quartz, Grey Moonstone, Labradorite

up close views

Very Exciting!!!

Sneak-Peak Tuesday ... A Very Sultry Necklace

This is a project that hasn't been started yet, but I have all of the materials to do it and it's planning has taken months. When finished it will emit a very moody, sultry attitude; but will be amazingly sparkling. It's stones will be grey moonstone, champagne citrine, gem quality australian opal, andulasite, shaded brown zircon, color changing garnet, with a show-stopper of a focal: an amazingly perfect, large dark-grey tahitian pearl. The stones will be linked together in a beautiful way by oxidized fine and sterling silver.

Feature From An Etsy Friend

One of the things I love about Etsy is that it is not just an online marketplace for made-by-hand treasures, it really is a community also. I love how Etsy has created a venue that contains so many applications for sellers (and buyers) to help and encourage one another. In the Fall of 2008, after I began listing some of my jeweled creations in my Etsy store I made a connection with another fairly new Etsy seller named Jen of Polestar. She was starting to experience really great success on Etsy and her simple, yet amazing jewelry designs were picking up a lot of exposure. Through the months since then, we have shared positive emails, kind words, and featured one another's work through Etsy treasuries from time to time. We are both great fans of one another's work and it is evident that we have similar tastes.

I was recently blown away to see Jen's sales numbers reaching over 850 (now over 900) and sent a little message to offer my congratulations of her hard-earned success. She was unfortunately having a personal struggle that day and I felt compelled to create a gift for her as a congratulations and a pick-me-up. When I asked for her address I didn't know what exactly I would create, but sat down that night and finished a most lovely necklace, using stones I knew she liked from a pair of earrings I had recently sold.

It really is so encouraging and empowering to see such great success as hers on Etsy and is completely motivating (for me at least) to know that I can do the same. I am so proud of her and I really wanted to bless her with a "knock-her-socks-off" kind of gift. Here are some of the gorgeous photos Jen took of the necklace I sent. How I wish I could send her all my designs to photograph!




She was quite blown away when she received it, and in response has written the loveliest blog entry about the experience and my shop. Here is a link the the blog article she wrote: Polestar Blog

I was really inpsired by this necklace and created another that is somewhat similar in idea, but different, for my Etsy shop . Here is a picture below of the necklace, called Lovely Lucia.

Sneak-Peak Tuesday (a few minutes late)

Today was a busy day surrounded mostly by tasks and activities pertaining to my lovely daughter Eva. We met with out-of-town friends at a park with a large play fountain, ate lunch out, and spent a bit of time at our central Portland library. Oh I must not forget that we spent A LOT of time searching for a certain pet mouse that is running loose in our house right now. Quite a day.

I do have new pictures of a bracelet that is nearly done for this week's Sneak-Peak Tuesday. It doesn't have a name yet, but I learned a few great lessons with this bracelet. It is a bit different in style than I usually do. I usually create a hand-fabricated chain of gemstones all interlinking together. I like this look a lot and I think it is more technically challenging and therefore less common of a style. With this bracelet pictured below, I wrapped gemstones to an existing chain. I found there are a few advantages to this. The largest advantage is that larger-sized stones can easily be used without making an overly chunky design. The design below features some lovely beer quartz rondelles that would have been a bear to use in a typical Faichild Designs bracelet. One of my lessons is that before I started, I had it in my head that the bracelet would take less time. I was wrong. It may be due to all of the perfect smooth prasiolite hearts that I wire wrapped to the chain, but this bracelet creation took about the same amount of time as my others. All it needs now is a clasp and a name and it's ready to be photographed for real. Below is a sampling, but I do look forward to seeing this design in my Etsy shop this week.

I Never Have Sales...but Wednesday Is My Birthday!

I am sale-phobic. Fairchild Designs has never had a sale because of it. I have scary head images of devalued product; nightmares of having too many sales; and customers who don't take my prices seriously because of it. So I avoid them altogether. It's not that I don't want to give customers and potential customers a great deal every now and then, I probably just have irrational fears about having sales.

But... Wednesday, June 24 is my birthday and to help overcome my sale phobia, I'm actually having a one day sale.

So yes, instead of a party, I'm have a sale. Can you imagine a better way of celebrating than offering customers a discount for a day??? I do so appreciate my customers, so all items in my Etsy shop will be marked down up to 28% Midnight to Midnight. Enjoy!!!

Sneak-Peak Tuesday... La Vie En Rose

Here is the latest installment of Sneak-Peak Tuesday. This is a necklace comprised of pink amethyst, white topaz, and and rubellite garnet with a 35 carat perfect pink amethyst as the focal stone. It's stunning!

The New "Baby"

I had been tracking a special package through FedEx for days. Every afternoon I would check to see where my special package was, just so I would have assurance that each day it was getting closer and closer to my house(potentially disturbing, I know). It was supposed to arrive on Friday and I waited all day Friday because of the required signature delivery. I was a little disheartened, but more anxious than anything else when tracking updated at 4:30pm to say it wasn't arriving that day. I was certainly excited that Monday was THE day. On Monday, I also waited all day. Every time a FedEx truck would enter my neighborhood, my heart did a little flutter (yes, potentially disturbing again). However, at 4:30pm, the tracking information updated to say that it wasn't going to be delivered until Tuesday. I was so FRUSTRATED! I waited all day, for two whole business days...and all I wanted was my package!!! I called FedEx customer service and without rant or rave from my end of the phone, they completely redeemed the whole company by sending out a driver from 30 minutes away to deliver just my package. I was beeming at 5:45pm when the driver pulled up to my house and handed me 5 lbs. of bliss. Want to know what it was???

I swear there was an angelic choir in my house when I opened the package. It was seriously like Christmas when you're six years old; I could not have been more giddy. One of the most difficult parts, after waiting aimlessly for FedEx, was waiting for the battery to charge. Oh happy day, I have wanted a DSLR camera for 4 years and this specific model since it came out. Below is a small sampling of images I captured early Monday evening.

Yes, I still managed to make dinner that night...and I even took a picture. =)

This is a little fern in the front area of my house.

A delicate arugala flower, who's lovely leaves made it into my dinner.

Though I am super food conscious, Coke is a serious weak spot...and a great test subject.

I am so thrilled to see where this wonderful camera takes my Fairchild Designs pictures. I could not be more overjoyed!

The First Sneak-Peak Tuesday!

I always have large projects (and sometimes smaller ones too) in the works. Gorgeous and elaborate gemstone designs with lovely color schemes just waiting to be finished! I get excited thinking about them sometimes...and now am thrilled to share this with you. Each Tuesday, I will offer a preview of what's coming.

This is my first Sneak-Peak Tuesday:

I don't have a name yet, but I do know it's going to be a necklace. What are the gems you might ask? A beautiful foliage-inspired palette of green apatite, prasiolite (green amethyst), multi-colored sapphires, and a truly stunning 27 carat Green Amethyst twist/step faceted drop briolette. The gems are likely to be paired with bright silvers, though I've been entertaining the iea of oxidized too.

Enjoy!!!

Resurrection of a *dead* blog

I think there can be romantic feelings when one starts a blog. It must be somewhat similar to the individuals who aren't "pet people", but get a pet.

Love at first sight...with the best of intentions. The time, the care, the expectations, the warm fuzzy feelings all start out strong in the beginning. And slowly but surely each one slips, slips, slips until the poor thing is neglected and Caretaker of the Year is looking for a new owner on Craigslist.

I guess it's a really great thing this is a blog and not a sweet animal. But it has to be said....

I have killed my blog. The poor thing has been severely neglected and has kicked the bucket. I had all those warm and fuzzy feelings in the beginning. There were hopes and dreams for this blog too. Visual ideas stored in my head just waiting to be welcomed into the internet world. But I didn't do anything with them unfortunately. A while back I even thought, "I should take my blog address of my etsy site because I'm too embarrassed to have anyone visit here!" I didn't.

But....

there is a new light and a second wind. I am now fully committed to a vibrant, healthy, and ACTIVE blog. Hurray for fairchilddesigns.blogspot.com! She's turning a new leaf. =)

So to the few stragglers who still might check back here, you're about to see some great changes.