Australian Designer!

I wanted to aim my spotlight on our Aussie team member, Annette Piper. However, due to our time frame difference, she’s way ahead of me! So, since my message needs to be available on Monday, I wanted to be sure I get this finished so it’s there on time for her. Annette’s work has very classic, sophisticated designs. Her pieces will not “go out” of fashion, like some trendy pieces. These designs you can keep and wear for a lifetime or give as a gift and be sure the receiver will be able to cherish the gift and remember your thoughtfulness for years to come.
The most difficult part of this article was deciding what pieces from her etsy store to high-light! So, I had to start with my favorite jewelry, earrings. I love long dangly chandeliers, so I found her Fatima set. Being drawn not only to the length, which she also balanced with width and different sizes of crystals, I absolutely LOVE the color! These faceted apatit crystals remind me of cool ocean breezes. Anyone wearing these will walk into a room and sparkle! Apatite can have a lovely tendency, because of it’s clarity, to blend with many shades of blue and green, including teal and aqua.
She has a timeless necklace made with a relatively new jade, called serpentine jade. Matched with silver rounds, she calls this piece Urania. The beautiful, smooth gemstones, in various shapes, fairly glow when the light reflects off the face. As you can see, these stones are at once both opaque and translucent, depending on the angle and light. This piece is for the self-assured woman, comfortable in any situation, who knows who she is and is proud of herself.
Annette works with pearls, so I wanted to point out what I considered to be a fanciful l bracelet, Lhamu. My first word is simply wow! A four strand bracelet, it contains pearls of various colors and would look simply divine on your wrist this summer. Pair it with jeans and a summer top, and let the pearls shimmer on your wrist. Or, let it glisten, peeking out from under your suit jacket. It is in a fantastic rainbow of soft colors, so you can match this with almost anything in your closet! What a wonderful, timeless gift.


Sekhmet is composed of gorgeous sunstone ovals, set off with
silver beads and small gold spacers. Annette chose only the best
sunstone pieces she could find, I assure you. Sunstone is supposed to sparkle and display inner light and reflection, and these stones definitely do that! AAA quality, whoever wears this will exude confidence and elegance!

Finally, I wanted to go back to earrings and show you a couple of fun, flirty designs. Both Bhavani and Ketu pairs caught my eye.

The Ketu pair, with it’s small, delicate silver chain, sparkles with amusement. Those stones are faceted hundreds of time, and will twinkle as the light sparkles across them. Finally Bhavani has translucent coins paired with silver wire.
Well, I’ve tried to point out some of my favorite pieces from Annette’s gorgeous work, so you could get an idea of how wonderful her designs truly are. Any piece you selected from her store would be of high quality. I hope you enjoyed hearing about our Australian designer! Check out her entire store at http://annettepiper.etsy.com/

Teri B http://www.sandtcreations.etsy.com

We've Got The Whole World On Our Team (well, getting there!)

Hi, I’m Teresa from Inspired Designs by Teresa. Please come visit my Etsy store or my blog. I started making jewelry about two years ago and had just begun selling it last summer when I got my first teaching job. So my marketing efforts were put on hold for the school year. Just as I was beginning to think about getting back into the online marketing world, Anna Lee of GaHooleeTree proposed starting a new street team on Etsy to learn the ins and outs of social marketing on the internet. I jumped right on the bandwagon, and it has been quite a ride. Although it has been only a few months, we have 90 members in our Yahoo group and represent 49 Etsy stores!

One of the challenges of growing so quickly is keeping up with all the members. Most of our members are from North America, so I thought I would use my blogging time to highlight our members from across the pond, or, in one case, across the world.

Jackie and Lara are a mother and daughter team from Devon, England. In their shop they offer elegant handcrafted jewelry.

Lara (the daughter) also has another store where she offers adorable creatures made from polymer clay or felt. She also offers a banner and avatar design service, so contact her if you can use her services.

Morna is a self-taught jewelry designer from Perth, Scotland. Visit her Etsy store, to see both her finished jewelry and surplus components. She has some lovely copper components, and we all know that right now copper is hot, hot, hot!

Wezz lives in Kessel-Lo, Belgium. Her store currently features handcrafted jewelry, but Wezz admits that all kinds of crafting is in her genes, so who knows what will pop up in the future!

And, from the other side of the world, we have Annette from Coolah, Australia. From her rural oasis Annette handcrafts refined and classic pieces which she offers for your viewing, and if you’re lucky, wearing pleasure. Take a look at her beautiful store.

An introduction from Annette Piper

G'day all!

My name is Annette Piper of Annette Piper Dip. Gem. Handcrafted Jewellery and I am the token Aussie member of eSMArts! (I'm sure we'll gain a few more Australian members in time).

I am situated in rural New South Wales a couple of hundred kilometres inland from the east coast of Australia, in a long established farming and grazing area. Perched, as I am, on the Great Dividing Range, I have magnificent views of the surrounding farmland, distant hills and the wide blue Australian sky above. I live here with my aviator/farmer husband and our three children in a passive solar home that has my studio attached. Oh, there are also a few hundred head of cattle, two very lazy cats, a working dog and abundant birdlife surrounding me, but it's very quiet...really!

I have a strong background in the jewellery trade - my first full time job out of school was as a junior for a jewellery manufacturer and when I was managing a retail jewellery store in Sydney I undertook my Diploma of Gemmology. This was 20+ years ago. I continued to work in the jewellery field for a number of years before stopping due to location restraints and raising a family. When my youngest children (twins - which is why I use the plural) were two years old I really felt the need to do something for myself and soon fell into the world of gems again. This time it was by making jewellery with my beloved gemstones and pearls and I finally found my passion in life!

The popularity for my jewellery has grown over the last five years and I am now known as the "local jewellery maker". I have extended my client base into neighbouring districts as well as gaining a few loyal overseas clients. In an effort to continue this trend, I opened an Etsy store and have joined the talented group of artisans at eSMArts to help me on my journey.

I make mostly one of a kind necklaces, bracelets and earrings and a few limited edition rings and earrings. Most of my designs are simple and bold - but in a very classic and elegant way. I use only the highest quality gemstones and pearls that I source from all over the world. All items are made in my studio by me and have to get past my very high standards to ensure you get a piece of jewellery that is worthy of being worn for decades. Please visit my Etsy store and pop into my blog "Under the Loupe" to hear more of what I am up to.

I look forward to sharing my journey with you all!