The entries for this month's challenge are in!
First, we have "Steampunk Necklace" made by Diane of My Gemstone Box
Second, we have "Exactly" made by Hillary of Artful Unity
There's only two for this month, but they're both beautiful! Hopefully we will have some more gorgeous entries next month!
Thanks for voting! Look for the details of December's Challenge in the next day or two and look for the results of this challenge in a week!
We'll be contacting Suzin today to inform her of this windfall :) and her winnings will be on their way to her soon. 
We are happy to announce the return of the official ESMARTS team challenge! Get in on the excitement and share in the fun!
We're glad there has been keen interest in this special team event. Why? Each Challenge offers an exciting opportunity to encourage new creations while also creating fresh opportunities to promote each others' work!!!
Here's how our challenges will work:
Every month, Hillary will pick a theme at random from her rather large list of ideas.
Entries will be due by the last day of the month and voting will be open on the 2nd of each month for one week.
All team members are welcome to participate, regardless of membership level.
August's Theme is "nature/natural".
Entries are due by Midnight EST on August 31st, 2009.
All eSMArts team members are invited to submit their entry by sending a picture to artfulhillary [at] gmail.com.
We look forward to seeing some amazing new creations and hope you will join us by checking back here to see their progress and vote.
Just listed today in my Esty Store are these wire wrapped pieces I've taken these lovely lampwork glass beads created by Wilma Whimsey's , fellow eSMArts team member and mix them with AB Swarovski crystals and silver. I finished off the clasp with a tear drop lavendar faceted chalcedony and 2 amethysts, both teardrop and faceted as well.
Let me tell you a little bit about the artist that created these lovely beads. Wilma Travis of "Wilma Whimsey's" is a single mom of three wonderful children and 2 delightful grandchildren. Her oldest son is engaged to be married and will do so in May of 2009. She has a handicapped young adult (27), her youngest son who still lives with her. She was originally from New York, born and raised there. I moved to MN in 1994 and I love she loves it there.
Wilma has been working with glass for several years. She began her journey with stained glass until begining Lampwork in June of 2005.
Here is how you can see more of her lovely work:
Wilma's Etsy Store
Wilma's Whimsey's Website
Wilma's Blog
eSMArts is truly growing by leaps and bounds!
Our list of member shops continues to blossom and our eSMArts handmade Gallery of unique artwork currently available for sale is impressive.
We're pleased to endorse the many gorgeous creations from these new members of our team:
Silver Rabbit Studio
Kelly Snelling
M5 Creative Corners
Pine Tree Designs
Banished
Twisted Sister Arts
Vamp Kitty Designs
More will be written here about these artists over the following weeks and months. I take this opportunity to welcome all of these talented artisans to our group and I wish them continued success in their creative endeavours.
Anna Lee Husband
eSMArts
http://gahooletree.etsy.com http://gahooletreedesigns.blogspot.com
http://sassydlite.etsy.com http://sassydlite.blogspot.com
http://gahooletreesupplies.etsy.com
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/
I've noticed that sometimes a woman will pick up a pair of earrings, hold them up against her face and they just don't look right. It can be frustrating. Not as frustrating as finding the perfect pair of jeans....but frustrating none the less. The shape of your face will determine what kind of earrings look good on you. Why? Because earrings highlight your face. So what's the right style for YOUR face?
Oval- if this is your shape then you look best in earrings that widen and balance the face. Stay away from super long looks that weigh the face down. Gravitate towards hoops, studs, long ovals and round shapes.
Round- if this is your shape then you look best in earrings that create balance. Stay away from tiny studs and button earrings. You look best in angular shapes, wide dangling earrings and long narrow earrings that will draw one's eyes downward.
Triangular - if this is your shape then you look best in small circular earrings or long dangly ones. Stay away from earrings that come to a point, look for curves that will soften the angles of your face.
Heart- if this is your shape then you want balance at your cheekbones. Stay away from earrings that come to a point or mimic the shape of your face. Gravitate towards large earrings, a dangle with a large object at the bottom or oval shaped pairs. Dangling earrings that form a triangle are flattering for this shape face.
Rectangular- if this is your shape then you want to soften your angles. Stay away from squares and rectangles opting instead for round. Hoops and medium to long styles will look best on you.
With so many choices out there, it's easy to find a pair that you love and that flatter your face. Let's take a peek at what some of the team members have available....
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
Jackie and Lara are a mother and daughter team from 
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 
Wezz lives in 
And, from the other side of the world, we have Annette from 
Big things happening this week for the eSmarts Team members participating in a social marketing team on Etsy. Three of our members Tortoise Treasures, Inspired Designs by Teresa and Willow's Beads have had sales, for some their very first and our very own Vamp Kitty has posted for the first time.
Starting us off was Tortoise Treasures with this charming German Silver wire wrap of a turquoise blue agate with a crystal in the center of the stone. Nice work Shelley. Check out more of Tortoise Treasures creations and watch for more turtles to come.
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