Open or Closed Heart?

The other day I parked in front of this house and went to yoga. I stepped out of the car and felt a little nervous because the house had boards nailed across every window and three large dogs guarding a gate. My first thought was "What the heck is going on inside this house that they don't want anyone to see?"

I felt so uncomfortable that I almost moved my car to another spot, but I was running late so I abandoned my grand plan and skipped off to yoga. During class, as my mind searched for something to fixate on I remembered the house. In a moment of awareness, I heard myself turning my initial thoughts around to become "What don't they want to let in?" My heart softened, and I felt like I knew this house.

What don't we want to let in?

I'm guessing all of us grab hold to the belief that we are naturally loving, caring, nurturing, and giving. Well, gosh I have a whole laundry list of things I've done to prove this: taking care of people, volunteering my time, donating money, teaching, listening to others, etc. Most often we use our actions to prove our hearts are open.

Nevertheless, over the last year I have noticed that a physically, emotionally, and spiritually open heart is much more passive and subtle. It doesn't require that I do anything.

Lately, I've started an awareness practice where I periodically check in with my heart to see if it's open or closed. If it's closed, my heart feels like a clenched fist holding on tight for dear life. If it's open, my heart feels like an empty palm. I do this practice in the middle of conversations, driving my car on errands, standing in line at the grocery store, talking on the phone, etc.

I have to say that I was shocked how many times my heart feels a lot like this boarded up house. This new honesty was disappointing at first, but then I realized that it was just like practicing a yoga posture. Every time I encounter the closed fist heart, I imagine releasing each finger one by one into an open palm. Then I see my whole hand relaxing and sense that tender spot in the middle of my palm that is completely open and empty.

This practice isn't moving me towards a destination. It's ongoing. It's a promise to connect with my own heart wherever it's at and to accept it completely whether I'm ready to let something in or not.

Behind the Scenes: Choosing a Background for Photographing Jewelry

Eclipse, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, and silver eclipse charm

Ahhhhhh, figuring out the background for your jewelry photographs...this could be a fun adventure! I do hope it is or was for you :) I recall it was a frustrating struggle -- me and the camera squared off like two sumo wrestlers.

There doesn't seem to be a simple formula for choosing the right background for your jewelry photographs, but here are some ideas that helped me make a final decision:

1. Think of your shop like a stage in a theater and you are the set designer. What message, mood, feeling do you want your shop to convey? How would you translate this into designing a setting for a play? Inside or Outside? City or Country? Earthy or Urban? Color or Neutral? How are you going to make your customers feel at home? How will they know they have arrived in the right place?

2. Is your jewelry colorful or primarily metalwork? You may want the color of the jewelry to stand out against a neutral background and the metalwork to have a hue to play against.

3. Think about who you are and make sure the background is an expression of your style. These photographs are usually the first way you greet a customer, so make sure it is a reflection of your personality. Are you simple or complicated? Are you modern or shabby chic?

Eclipse, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, and silver eclipse charm

I chose a simple textured color paper background for these reasons:

1. My shop Hint Jewelry is in reference to the whiff of fragrance you experience around flowers. I wanted my shop to be like a garden so I needed more color then my silver charms would offer.

2. I love paper. I am paper. If I could marry paper, I would. I'm a printmaker at heart and paper reminds me of skin -- seductive and tempting.

3. My taste and style is tends toward Zen so keeping the background simple and letting the jewelry and charms speak for themselves was essential to communicating my personality.

Eclipse, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, and silver eclipse charm

Choosing the type of background was one hurdle in figuring out photographs, but the hardest choice is deciding what color to use with each of my charms and necklaces.

Eclipse, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, and silver eclipse charm

I purposely photographed this Eclipse necklace on a bunch of different colored backgrounds so you can see how each one conveys a completely different feeling and mood.

Eclipse, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, and silver eclipse charm

Is my necklace sunny and happy?

Eclipse, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, and silver eclipse charm

Or sporty and powerful?

It's hard to choose, and often I go back after some time having a piece in the shop and photograph it with a new background if I decide it doesn't work. My best advice is to keep evaluating your photos and be honest with yourself if they don't work. Be willing to do it all over again.

For more blog posts on running an online jewelry business or making metal clay charms check out my whole Behind the Scenes blog series.

Abstraction: Remembering Simple Pleasures

Insula Dulcamara, Paul Klee, 1938: oil on newsprint mounted on burlap

The April monthly challenge over at Art Bead Scene is inspired by a beautiful painting by the artist Paul Klee. If you've ever visited or lived in a Mediterranean type environment, this painting seems to best express its subtle vibrancy. I love how Paul Klee may have been originally inspired by the Greek hero Odysseus whose journey home was delayed by the sea nymph Calypso.

I like to think that the sinuous black line through the middle of the painting is Calypso lying on the beach, while Odysseus looks on in wonder, caught by her seduction!

Eclipse, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, sterling chain, and silver eclipse charm

Inspired by the abstract lines and the colors of Paul Klee's painting, I created a simple necklace using a Hint Jewelry charm called eclipse. For fun, I picked gems that matched the colors of the painting and wire wrapped them as one cluster into the sterling chain. I like how this necklace feels modern and sporty all at the same time.

Eclipse, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
ruby, sapphire, spinel, peridot, sterling chain, and silver eclipse charm

The joy of working with abstract paintings from artists such as Paul Klee is that it forces me to break down jewelry into basic elements: color, line, form, and shape. Regardless of where you are at in the creative process this always brings a person back to those nurturing moments of childhood where picking up a crayon and drawing a circle feels like you just climbed Mt. Everest.

Are you giving yourself the gift of remembering the simplicity of creativity? If not, doodle your way through some lines and circles! :)

Gem Stories: Quartz

clear quartz gemstones

Clear quartz is one of the superstar gemstones used for healing. The ancients referred to quartz as "holy ice," so you can imagine how much reverence this stone garnered over the ages. Considered one of the alternative birthstones for April instead of diamond, quartz communicates a type of purity that is hard to define. Difficult to photograph its true beauty and intensity, I've only use quartz in jewelry that I make for personal healing.

Quartz is great for using during meditation and working with your inner vision -- a type of goal setting stone. During my former computer job, I wore a chunky, quartz bracelet that helped me get through hectic, overwhelming analytical days. I loved how they looked cold like ice cubes yet absorbed the warmth of my skin. This contradiction was a perfect metaphor for my healing.

Healer Necklace, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
silk thread, gold filled chain and clasp, crystal quartz,
rose quartz, prehnite, turquoise, and aquamarine

Quartz has a helical spiral crystalline form, which gives it the unique ability to absorb, store, amplify and release energy. A quartz crystal will align with a person's vibrations so as to take their energy back to its most perfect state -- like tuning a piano.

As you are like a computer with an infinite amount of data stored inside your cellular memory, so is a quartz crystal. Using this gemstone is akin to walking into an ancient library filled with whatever knowledge you are needing in the moment -- like a Google search of your latest spiritual desire.

Last month I was called to make this personal healing necklace photographed above that incorporated crystal quartz along with other powerful restorative stones such as aquamarine, prehnite, rose quartz, and turquoise. Sometimes it feels good just to bring stones together on thread like gathering your greatest emotional and physical healers in one place for a rejuvenating retreat.

Have you found yourself using gemstones in this way before? Which stones are your most powerful healers?

Red Wine Vinaigrette Treasury

Doesn't this Red Wine Vinaigrette Treasury created by Lunalove just make you want to eat a yummy salad for lunch and peruse Etsy for nifty finds? I just love how Lunalove evoked the delicious flavor of a vinaigrette through the subtle manipulation of color!

Many thanks for including my tiny firebird charm in this scrumptious Treasury along with other neat picks like Mamacita Beadworks Funky Nut and Bow Wow Beds personalized dog bed cover.

Behind the Scenes: Turning Setbacks into Opportunties for Greater Understanding

Bee Angel, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry): silver bee angel charm

A year ago today my cat Saskia passed away. For me, the last month is what I and other people would affectionately call a setback.

My kitty Saskia was the first love that taught me about unconditional acceptance and understanding. Losing her was a profound step in my life. This blog post is about seeing grief and the setbacks that may accompany it as an opportunity for greater understanding.

*******

A week after Saskia died, I was tooling around town doing errands, and as I hopped into my car to drive from one store to another, there on my windshield was the cutest little bee. She seemed familiar and had the most wonderful, full rounded figure. I said a quick "hello" and "goodbye" and then swiftly started my car off to its next destination. The bee stayed along for the ride. Atop my windshield, sitting in front of my face, while speeding down the road was this tiny bee hanging on for dear life. "Why don't you just fly off?" kept screaming through my head as I was thinking my car was going to make this bee another traffic casualty. Then I heard myself saying a small prayer, hoping that she made it to my next stop without getting hurt.

I parked. Like a bee with super powers, she looked up at me as if nothing had happened -- piece of cake. I promised myself that if she was still sitting there when I came back from shopping, then it was definitely Saskia. Well, of course she didn't leave. She was stuck to my windshield like glue. Blubbering with all sorts of apologies, I coaxed my little bee angel onto a piece of paper and gently placed her on my backseat. She rode the whole way home with me like that -- completely content. When I got home, I lifted her out of the car and looked for the most beautiful tulip in our yard. There she slowly lumbered off the paper onto the lip of the flower and then disappeared inside.

Bee Angel, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry): silver bee angel charm

All summer long I looked for Saskia -- my bee angel -- feeding scraps of dinner to friendly insects, imagining one just might be her. Sometimes a flirtatious fly or crafty spider seemed a little extra fat and cute like her, and I would smile, thinking that she was still around our house. Of course, bully for me, this is when my newly redesigned bee angel charm took shape and started getting more attention in my shop. It was an exciting time.

I'm not sure where magical thinking fits into the grieving process, but I definitely dove in head first and experienced this amazing blissful period where everything I looked at had new meaning and beauty. Possibly denial? Bargaining maybe?

Well, bliss didn't last long. Soon I was mired in a bog of moody grief that vacillated between denial, bargaining, depression, and anger. Sometimes happening all in one day like I was hoping for some kind of award. I was going to kick this grief in the butt like a champion rodeo rider...Woohoo!

Come to find out this gung-ho grieving method can really tire a person out.

Enter stage left -- setback

My creativity took a nose dive and stopped short. I've seen this happen before so I'm not completely perplexed. It's like a knee injury. It just needs time to rest and heal.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do while you've been barreling your way forward to a new level of understanding is just stopping and sitting awhile. It forces you to pay attention. My grief was done with all my demands and needed a softer touch.

As I pondered my creative setback, I realized that this word no longer worked. A setback is a "step back." Like stepping back from the most wonderful painting so as to get a better view of what's truly happening. A setback is your most loving Self saying, "hey, you're about to miss out on the Grand Canyon here, let's pull over for awhile!" Setbacks are moments when you open yourself up to greater understandings that will create a more expansive you.

I must have been a pretty funny sight scurrying around last month looking for the hidden message behind everything that was happening to me during my self-imposed convalescence. There is nothing worse then a impatient type A personality on a treasure hunt. I was relentless. What am I trying to tell myself? What is it?

I can't say how it happened or why it arrived when it did, but I know I couldn't have gotten there without a step back. One day as the spinning thoughts died down in my head, I heard a voice inside me say "I'm okay that you're okay without me."

Now I see how painfully obvious it all was, but shame and guilt are tricky feelings. They lurk in the shadows and cloak themselves as other needs so as to confuse you. The shameful pain that you are ready to let go of an attachment in the physical world is all wrapped up in the false belief that you are abandoning someone and in doing so somehow denying that this love ever existed. To let go and move on is one of the most frightening experiences because two beings are really searching for a way to say, "I'm okay that you're okay without me."

This kind of letting go is like training wheels being taken off a bike or lifting your hands from the handlebars. It's faith in yourself, others and the universe. It's also a person trusting that your love is never ending even when you're okay without them. It's Big Love.

*********

I have a lot to be grateful for in my life. The moment of bliss I experienced last summer, which produced this bee angel charm is one of them. For when someone purchases a bee angel they always have a story of loss to tell, reminding me of our universal human connection.

I am also deeply thankful for this step back -- perhaps a final gift of learning from Saskia. Imagining those words bestowed on me from another has taught me to say them silently to the people in my life who deserve freedom from ties that bind.

No one is abandoned. No one is ever left behind. Nothing can extinguish love that once flourished for it's always there and flows no matter if the physical remnants remain or you have let go.

I am okay that you're okay without me, and I am blessed knowing you are too.

Sun: Life-Giving Energy

Sun Kissed, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry): fine silver sun charm

You are like the sun -- a powerful source of life-giving energy. Though sometimes confusion may cloud your inner knowing, be assured that deep within you is a shimmering reflection of a vibrant, blazing sun longing to serve. Wear Sun Kissed and expand your highest energy into the universe.

Heirloom Memory Necklace: March 2010

Memory Necklace 2010, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry)
silver charms: lotus blossom, tree of life, and cross
materials: aquamarine, carnelian, turquoise, lemon quartz,
peridot, prehnite, garnet, sterling silver chain and wire, and gold filled wire

I had a difficult time working on my Memory Necklace for the month of March because it was really confusing. So many crazy things happened last month for me that it felt like I was trudging through a jungle, bushwhacking my way through suffocating plant life, trying to clear a path for the rest of the year.

Does your life get like that? All murky and muddy, like you're just barely moving forward into who knows what?

March definitely provided a bunch of interesting moments and life material. I spent a lot of time turning away from looking outside and learning to trust my inner vision, intuition, and dreams. It was the only part of myself that made me feel light. I also tried to get more grounded and worked on being rooted to the place I am right now. I cleaned up my house and paid attention to some things I had been neglecting in regards to my health and well-being. To honor this experience I added three wire wrapped deep, red garnet gemstones that remind me to take care of my root chakra on a daily basis.

sea horse dream mind mapping, silver tree of life and lotus blossom charms

I also wanted to remember the vivid dreams that comforted me through the month of March and helped me to stay centered and positive while everything felt upside down. One dream was about this luminous blue-green sea horse that was swimming around a crystal tree underwater. It was a magical experience and remembering it brings an instance sense of calm. I wire wrapped a tree of life charm to a ephemeral green prehnite gemstone as my dream talisman.

Memory Necklace 2010, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry)
silver charms: lotus blossom, tree of life, and cross
materials: aquamarine, carnelian, turquoise, lemon quartz,
peridot, prehnite, garnet, sterling silver chain and wire, and gold filled wire

I also took the opportunity to change the gemstones that I had previously added to the necklace. I removed a couple of lemon quartz and wire wrapped the briolettes so they all slide along the necklace together. Functionally this may give me some more opportunities for rearranging gemstones as I build this Memory Necklace.

Whew, I'm glad March has turned into April. Sometimes these emotional setbacks are necessary to moving forward into a bigger understanding, so I'm glad I have this necklace to remind me to embrace what happened as the best possible learning meant for me in that moment.

Wishing you a virtual hug for anytime you might feel stuck in the muddy, dark jungle of life!

Behind the Scenes: Starting from Scratch

Understanding how creation and destruction are delicately intertwined is one of the fundamental keys to making something extraordinary.

We moved into our second house almost two years ago, and like many other happy homeowners we inherited a predetermined garden. Unfortunately, this once cherished garden was not suited to our talents and tastes and so it languished...unattended.

Last fall as we looked out on our sorry little garden, my husband asked me what I wanted to do about it and like Attila the Hun out on a battlefield, I said, "I want to RIP it up and START OVER!"

I'm not sure if this is a Northwest Portland thing, but the moment you start pulling up a little plant and laying it to rest on the compost heap, once friendly neighbors start grimacing as if the roots you just ripped out of the ground were somehow intricately connected to their soul's well-being.

Luckily for me, my husband took the brunt of passerby's clucking and unhappy looks as one day he proceeded to make my dream come true and create a fresh, clean canvas of dirt!

This mass destruction of plant life felt sinfully delicious, and part of me wonders why people are so opposed to this wiping-the-slate-clean experience.



Then I hit on something important. Maybe people are afraid to feel the intense energy behind rubbing something out, ripping something apart, wiping it all away, and annihilating it into oblivion because in fact they might actually like it, become attached to it, and then where would that all lead...to something creative?



Honestly, I can't think of anything more freeing than recycling a piece of art that didn't work, white washing over a painting that no longer speaks to you, or dumping the latest kitchen experiment that tastes like glue onto the compost.

To create something new, you inevitably have to destroy something old. To change your mind you have to let go of one idea to embrace another. To move to the next step of development the person you were yesterday must die. To allow this constant becoming to flow you are always creating and destroying in every moment...so why not savor every time you need to break it all down again and start from scratch?!

What have you been longing to break down to its most elemental form?

See my whole Behind the Scenes series for more musings on art and design.

Field of Flowers: Joy in Every Day Things

Joy, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry): silver plum blossoms charm

Joy is being able to live in the moment no matter the weather and see the world as a field of flowers.

Designing Aphrodite Primavera

Aphrodite Primavera, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
prehnite, pink tourmaline, citrine, apatite, green silk thread,
sterling silver wire and chain, and fine silver mermaid shell charm

Hello beautiful spring!

Primavera Earrings, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
prehnite, pink tourmaline, and sterling silver wire

It all started with a dream where I envisioned these amazing prehnite and pink tourmaline earrings. Do you ever design in your dreams? I do quite frequently, and I find that they are usually more satisfying designs then the ones when I do when I'm awake. When I woke up from my dream, I remember thinking how delicious these earrings looked with the soft, green prehnite, which looked like a succulent honey dew or ripe watermelon and the juicy pink tourmaline gemstones that cascaded down my neck like little summer berries.

Aphrodite Primavera, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
prehnite , pink tourmaline, citrine, apatite, green silk thread,
sterling silver wire and chain, and fine silver mermaid shell charm

The earrings in my dream were extremely elaborate and complicated. I sketched out a bunch of potential designs in my journal, but I ended up fabricating earrings that were simple yet kept the essence of the color sensation I experienced.

Sometimes a dream becomes the starting point for discovering a whole new set of artistic ideas. For instance, I started collecting color schemes from magazines and books that reminded me of this dream. I sketched out little flowers that seemed to be connected in my mind to this image and just let my eyes attach to things that may not have made literal sense but seemed to relate.

Aphrodite Primavera, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
prehnite, pink tourmaline, citrine, apatite, green silk thread,
sterling silver wire and chain, and fine silver mermaid shell charm

I became increasingly interested in the gemstone combination I was using for a necklace design that grew out of my Primavera earring dream. I never use prehnite in my shop because it's a really difficult color to photograph and seems to only look good on a select few. But I stopped thinking like a rational business owner and decided to just design from my dream and derive enjoyment from the process.

When I looked up prehnite and pink tourmaline in my Gems of Wisdom, Gems of Power book by Teresa Kennedy I made an interesting discovery.

Well first off, Teresa Kennedy has included this wonderful quote at the beginning of the section on prehnite:

Our dreams are firsthand creations, rather than residues of waking life. We have the capacity for infinite creativity; at least while dreaming, we partake of the power of the Spirit, the infinite Godhead that creates the cosmos.
-- Jackie Gleason

(Keep in mind I hadn't purchased this book yet when I had my Primavera earring dream!)

Apparently, this subtly colored green stone is pretty powerful stuff. Deepening your dreams, insights, creativity, and meditative states, prehnite helps you bring something that has been lingering in your unconscious to light. Kennedy also goes on to say "if from a creative standpoint you've been guilty of producing only what you believe the market will bear, it is sure to show you how and when it's time to pull out all the stops."

Wow! This is exactly what I had been struggling with. Designing for the what I think the market will bear, which can be so draining and ultimately unrewarding.

In contrast, pink tourmaline is some kind of wonderful aphrodisiac that inspires you to trust in all different forms of love -- spiritual and material. It is the perfect stone for healing and cleansing your heart chakra.

Aphrodite Primavera, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
prehnite, pink tourmaline, citrine, apatite, green silk thread,
sterling silver wire and chain, and fine silver mermaid shell charm

I was so touched by the idea that my subconscious knew exactly which gems and colors that I needed to inspire me that I decided to trust my instincts and add a couple more stones to my necklace in the form of apatite and citrine.

Cheerful, blue apatite aids in all forms of communication and self-expression while the sunny, yellow citrine is warming and promotes abundance.

Aphrodite Primavera, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
prehnite , pink tourmaline, citrine, apatite, green silk thread,
sterling silver wire and chain, and fine silver mermaid shell charm

For the longest time, I didn't know which Hint Jewelry charm belonged on this necklace. I left it as a strand of gems with these wonderful little floral like dangles that reminded me of a garland around my neck.

Aphrodite Primavera, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
prehnite, pink tourmaline, citrine, apatite, green silk thread,
sterling silver wire and chain, and fine silver mermaid shell charm

That's what designing feels like sometimes...I don't know what to do next. So I just let my necklace simmer for a while. I would take out charms that I "thought" would work and put them up next to the gems to see if they were a fit. Then one day I just decided to pick charms at random and chose this little Aphrodite shell charm. She felt like a perfect match :)

Well of course, Aphrodite had been a work in my dreams, guiding and prompting me to design this necklace that honors what is most essentially feminine in all creatures -- our creativity!

Beingness

Lotus Bud, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
freshwater pearl, silver wire & chain, and fine silver lotus bud charm

If you could be more, you would be. But you are a word, a sound, a ripple on the water. You are a whisper, a blushing emotion, a fluttering leaf. You come and go. You are a silent song in my heart that longs to break free. You are both nothing and everything. You are the breath I breathe in and the air I breathe out. You are no more and no less. And for this Beingness I am eternally grateful.

Lifebeats: Celebrate Your Spring Rhythms

Amethyst Ambiance Bracelet, Kimberly Benac (lifebeats):
swarovski crystals, delica beads, beading thread, and Thai silver clasp

"Adornments to help you celebrate the celebrate the rhythms of life!"

Back in February I bought this beautiful Amethyst Ambiance bracelet from Lifebeats because I was ready to start celebrating spring. My friend Kim Benac from Lifebeats created this gorgeous symphony of lavenders and violets in super tiny crystals. It's hard to capture in a photograph how refined yet powerful this bracelet feels on my wrist. It reminds me of a gorgeous piece of lace but modernized in a way that completely expresses what it feels like to be empowered.

If you are looking for a piece of jewelry that celebrates your rhythm in the world, I totally recommend wearing one of Lifebeat's herringbone bracelets...it may even have the power to produce a sunny, spring day!

Behind the Scenes: Increase Search Engine Traffic By Using Alt Tags for Images in Blogger

How do people know where to find you? If you are swimming in a sea of data out on the Internet one of the hardest things to achieve is to be heard by the people you are trying to serve. Like penguins calling out for their mates, you need to find ways to let your peeps hear you.

If you have a product that helps others, one of the easiest ways to be located is through images on a search engine such as Google. For instance, if I am looking for a heart pendant necklace, sometimes it's easier to just look through images instead of clicking on each link to see what they look like (click here to see an example of a heart necklace image search). Be aware that these image searches do not include everyone's work, but that's why it's a useful tool for being heard.

For example, if you type in "tree of life charm" in a Google image search, Hint's Tree of Life charm featured on Blogger will appear on the first page. I've been tracking this Tree of Life charm for six months now, and it hasn't left this page ranking. More importantly, when I look at the stats from Google Analytics, I can track that about 40% of my potential audience is finding Hint Jewelry through image searches.

You don't have to be super technical to make sure your pictures are accurately included in an image search, rather it's just one extra step in your blogging process that helps people locate you. I'm not an expert on adding alt tags to blogger so you may want to visit this site called Blogger Tips and Tricks where I learned how to edit my posts.

Because the images appear so small on my post, be sure to click on them with your mouse to enlarge the photo so you can see the examples more clearly.

How to Add Alt Tags to Images in Blogger
(Click on the above photo after reading these instructions to enlarge)

1. While editing a Blogger post, click on the Edit Html tab.
2. Use your Internet Browser's Find Option (Ctrl+F or Edit > Find), type alt into the search field, and then click Next to search for alt.
3. You should see some text that resembles your image file name and then after it alt = " " With your mouse click in between the two quotes after the alt = and type in five to seven different search terms that people might use to find this image. It was suggested to add no more then eight keywords because search engines may see it as spamming. If you have only one photo in your post then you may only find one alt = " " in the Html code. Otherwise, if you have multiple photos keep clicking Next in the Find option to look for another alt = " " and add more keyword tags.




Click on this photo to enlarge and see an example of some keyword tags that I entered for a silver sun charm: alt = " silver sun charm jewelry bracelet"

An even more important decision is figuring out what keywords to add as alt tags. There is a trick to finding the best words, and I hope to explore this in a later Behind the Scenes post. If you are looking for some guidance, I like to use Google Adwords Keyword Tool.

Please see my whole Behind the Scenes series for more tips on running an online business and making jewelry.

Ladybug: Lucky in Life

Lucky, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry): silver good luck ladybug charm

Luck is believing all things in your story have a purpose and knowing the universe will unfold exactly as you imagined. Embrace the power you have in making all things happen, and lady luck will always be by your side.

Necklace Giveaway from VisionWise

Creative Spirit, VisionWise: carnelian, turquoise, and silver

Lauren from VisionWise is giving away this beautiful necklace called Creative Spirit on her blog this week. A wonderful mix of healing carnelian and turquoise. To enter this giveaway visit the VisionWise Blog. Happy Easter!

Beading Corner: Christi Friesen

Phoenix, Christie Friesen: polymer clay

Polymer clay is a mysterious medium. About 15 years ago when I first tried polymer clay, I thought oh this is going to be so much fun and easier then regular clay. I quickly became aware that polymer clay has its own unique texture and consistency and a new set of rules for how to communicate with it, which are developed over time and consistent practice. So when I see something like this amazing one-of-a-kind phoenix focal bead by Christi Friesen, I can only imagine the loving patience that went into creating it.

Steampunk Bird, Christie Friesen: polymer clay

Christi Friesen also known as CForiginals is a polymer clay artist who not only creates magnificent beads, art jewelry, and sculpture, she also teaches workshops and online classes as well as selling books and downloadable projects that teach you how to recreate her mini masterpieces of imagination.

Her work in polymer clay definitely reminds me of a fantasy world that I would love to get lost in and spend an hour or two daydreaming. Of course I'm immediately drawn to her love of animals and nature, which are primary themes found throughout her polymer clay designs.



She also has this neat new book called Steampunkery that seems super clever. If you're not ready to make a purchase, you might check out her free Steampunk Bug download so you can test drive the medium and Christie Friesen's easy going teaching style. He is the most adorable little bug I've seen this season!

Behind the Scenes: Precious Metal Clay Safety

I will always remember March 2010 as my wake up call. The moment I finally decided to start taking art safety seriously and to listen to my body.

I've always been a bit lax on safety issues even when it comes to simple household chores that could become hazardous. Call me lazy or just plain stubborn it wasn't until a recent development of iritis in my left eye that I started to look into how I may have been contributing to my illness by using poor work habits when making precious metal clay charms.

I owe a gigantic "Thank You" to metal clay artist Kate McKinnon for taking the initiative to dialog about art safety and create this wonderfully informative video on safe handling of metal clay. She also has a page on metal clay that offers more detailed information on what might be a potentially dangerous practice.

After reading and watching Kate McKinnon's video, I realized that there were three areas where I could make my working conditions safer. Here were my problem areas and the solutions that I will be implementing over the next month:

Problem: Inhaling dust when sanding and filing and potentially getting particles in my eyes.

Solution: I purchased a better dust respirator that deals specifically with fine particulates and a new set of safety glasses. I created a new work space in my garage for sanding and filing that will have better ventilation and will be out of my family's primary living space. I may install a fan to suck dust out of my work space. I will become more conscious of creating charms that require less sanding and filing.



Problem: Poor kiln ventilation.

Solution: I will begin firing the kiln outside.



Problem: Absorbing heavy metal through my skin when working with clay.

Solution: I purchased a skin barrier called Bio-Safe Without Gloves for Artists that may protect me from absorbing heavy metals through my hands (this is not advertised as a benefit of the product, but I am testing this out as a possible solution). I also purchased some snug fitting, durable garden gloves that might be another option. I find it almost impossible to make charms without the use of skin to clay contact because they are so small and delicate. This is the most frustrating part, so I'm sure I will be experimenting with washing my hands more frequently and limiting my exposure time.

Hope you have been taking good care of yourself when it comes to making art, and if you can share any possible solutions to improving my working conditions your expertise would be greatly appreciated!