Inspiration Board :: Silk & Pearls

Silk & Pearls by Antiquity Travelers

Just a little inspiration for your weekend. I'm loving the Fall colors with just a splash of turquoise, gold or orange ... such fun! And so beautifully paired with rich browns ... ah Fall .. my favorite season

How to Link Your Social Media: Anjuli's Silk

Anjuli's Silk by Antiquity Travelers

I get asked “how do you link your item through to multiple social media sites?” It is actually pretty easy and it is a great way to increase how many people you reach when promoting your work. The Pinterest team over at a site called Artisan Whimsy a creative bead chat thought we’d give you a quick and easy walk through on how to make sure all your posts on a single item can link through to all your social media. If you make jewelry, and you haven't yet checked out this site, go and take a look around this quickly growing community site.

Step 1: create a listing on your commerce site (Etsy, Artfire, your own domain, etc). Start with listing your item as you always do, but make sure to include a descriptive title (are they earrings or a necklace? what style: boho, steampunk, vintage? type of materials used?)

Step 2: ‘pin’ your listing to a designated Pinterest board full of items from your store. On Etsy you have a couple of options once you publish on the right side (tweet, pin, like on facebook). Be sure to include details on your pin just as you would have on your commerce site so people can easily find your other work and where to buy it.

Step 3: go to your Pinterest and find the pin you just added. ‘Clip’ your Pinterest pin to your Polyvore items.

Step 4: go to your Polyvore profile and click on your new item and click the button on the right that says ‘create a set with this item.’ So now you create a ‘set’ using your item. Pull in colors or a style that really showcases your item to give people excited about how to match your item within their wardrobe. Publish your Polyvore set to your profile on the site (I usually uncheck the box that asks if you want to ‘share.’ I don’t like to have it show up on my blogger postings to all other bloggers.)

Step 5: Once your Polyvore is set is published, click on the button above your set that says ‘blogger.’ It will ask you if you want to publish on your blog, or send as a draft. I usually send as a draft so that I can edit it and add a little write up about the set I’ve created. Publish your Polyvore set as you would any other post.

Step 6: now that your Polyvore board is published on blogger, when someone clicks on it the link will take them to your set on Polyvore. Once at Polyvore they can click on your item and it will click through to your Pinterest board. At Pinterest when they click on your item it will take them to your commerce site. Everything will automatically link from the origin of where you ‘clipped’ and ‘pinned’ your item. Try it. Click on the Polyvore set at the beginning of this blog and you'll see that it links through all my various sites. it's pretty cool - huh?!

Inspiration Board: Carnelian

Florence October by Antiquity Travelers 

It's no secret that carnelian happens to be one of my favorite stones. The color is rich, the stone has character ... I mean what's not to love. I am always on the look out for an unusual cut stone and this soft-cornered, carnelian triangles are just so luscious  While my usual preference is silver, this rich orange color pairs so beautifully with gold. 

Inspiration Board: Audrey's Pearls

This week's feature is a classic pair of pearl earrings. And nothing says classic like mid-century style by Audrey. One of my favorite types of pearls ... Tahitian. I love the luster and the unique shape of each pearl. I left this pair with my sister when I was visiting her this year because she liked them so much. But once home I realized just how much I wear these simple pearls. So now that they are now gone from my collection, it is time to make a new pair! 

Audrey's Pearls by antiquity-travelers featuring flat suede shoes

Polyvore: Spanish Flare

I keep hearing about Polyvore, and I decided that I needed to figure out what this was all about. So I played around with the site, loaded up some images of my jewelry, sifting through various outfits and 'clipped' a Hobo clutch for my first collage. The earrings are ones that I made in reverse colors. The first is with white amethyst and pearls, and the second is onyx. Both use a marcasite connector.

Clearly I'm going to need some practice before they start looking like some of the amazing ones I've seen on people's blogs. And obviously I'll have to change my jewelry photography to a white background. But this could be kinda fun. Any tips for a newbie to Polyvore? Let me know ....

Spanish Flare by antiquity-travelers featuring christian louboutin sandals

Inspiration Board: Adirondacks

We've just returned from our time in the Adirondacks, or as we call it 'camp.' It is a wonderful place to unplug and forget about all the things that stress you out at home. One of the favorite places is sitting on the dock watching the water and the kids swim. It is just stunning.

I did get the chance to work on quite a few projects, so I'll be posting them over the next week or two. This is the first one, Antique Pearl Cuff, which is finally completed. The pearls in the cuff were my Mom's. Nothing too fancy, just nice glass pearls. I finished up the pearl cuff with antique mother-of-pearl buttons. I found these in a forgotten sewing machine drawer at my mother-in-law's. I'll bet they were there for 50+ years! So they were a nice finish to the bracelet. I added a simple beaded loop to hold it in place and it seemed to come together nicely. 








I thought I'd leave a little Adirondack inspiration board for anyone stuck at work in this heat! It's Monday, I'm back and work, and will be thinking of sitting at the dock.


What patterns do you dream when you've got the luxury of a lazy day?

Inspiration Board: Turquoise

My last couple of blog entries have been about creating a jewelry turquoise series. I have already created a couple of bracelets, several pair of earrings which I'm revealing today. They range from a rustic Boho rough cut stone, to a more elegant silver cone pair to one of my favorite pearl drop styles. I still have a few more on the table that are in need of inspiration, and so I set it aside for now and went surfing. 

Sometimes I just need to look at pictures, and lately I've been turning to Pinterest to wash me over with color and style. This is the Inspiration Board I created from my Island Life board (you'll find my button on the right if you want to follow me and see more), or if you prefer to pin your own you'll find these pictures from a great collection I found on tumblr.


I still have more to come in my turquoise quest. There will be a few more pairs of earrings and a necklace. The necklace is pinned in place on the beading table for now. I've changed out the beads at least 3 times, but I think I finally have a pattern I like. So after a lovely day in this beautiful sunshine I'm heading back to the beading table to power through completing it. I'll show you the final version later in the week. So check back and let me know what you think.

Button Swap-Blog Hop: Dreaming of the Aegean

Cindy over at sweet bead studio is hosting a button swap extravaganza this weekend with over 90 people participating. When I saw her post I knew that this was just the hop for me! I have a large jar full of buttons (left) that people have tossed my way through the years. I have one or two of each button, and while that isn't enough for sewing it is perfect for a beader.  
    I have to thank Cindy for paring me with Julia at beautifully whimsical who sent me jewel tone buttons, which I love. But ooooh, then I saw the gorgeous blue one. Julia had stacked the deck with this amazing button. I knew that I could not do my usual 'button clasp bracelet' with this baby. Oh no, this screamed ... put me up front. And so I did. Right up front in yet one more ribbon choker. 
   For those of you who saw my piece from last weekend (blog post below), you might think this is my thing. But these are the only two ribbon chokers I've ever made - I swear! Thing is; once I finished the piece I felt like it would be better hanging all the beads vertically and giving a little room to the necklace. But, I'll let you guys be the judge. Let me know what your vote is .... choker or vertical? 
   Recently I signed up for Pinterest just to check it out. My first couple of times on the site I was thinking ... really, so people 'pin' pictures sort of like on a bulletin board? How, um, boring. Yeah, well 4 months in and I'm addicted. 4,600+ pins later, completely addicted. I create mood boards for my beading inspiration. This piece was inspired from my Mediterranean board. I also decided to throw in a couple of quick wire-wrap earrings in that same gorgeous color. I couldn't help it with pictures of all that blue water around Santorini; it's just so very dreamy.