Designs by Debi Online Holiday Trunk Show

If you love giving meaningful gifts to loved ones at the holidays, you really need to check out the Artisans Open Market page on Facebook. It was started by my friend Nikki Rogalski of Bastille Bleu Lampwork and so far has been a huge hit! 

It's an online Open Market for artisans of handcrafted glass, jewelry and metal arts/jewelry to share and sell their wares with those who appreciate, search for, and purchase unique handcrafted items; making it easy for you to buy, sell, and give the gift of handmade!

There are shows scheduled every day through December 23rd and, after a short break for Christmas, they will resume on the 26th. It has been going so well that Nikki is planning to continue scheduling weekend shows after the holidays and, if things continue to thrive, more dates will open up and quite likely more varieties of handcrafts will be showcased, too.

I'm hosting my Trunk Show there this weekend... from Small Business Saturday 11/24 until Cyber Monday at 11pm. I have over 150 items in my show!! I'm running it in an auction format so there are Buy Now and Starting Bid prices listed. The starting bid prices are at least 50% off retail so you can get great deals on beautiful gifts.

I'm planning a huge relocation in 2013 and I have to do inventory reduction so I decided to do it now and save you money on your holiday shopping! I hope you'll stop by and please share the event with your friends and family. Thank you!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Halloween and Some OOAK Halloween Jewelry

Happy Halloween!

Ok I'm a day early, but I have something exciting for you! Last time I showed you the jewelry set I designed for the Lady Gaga Creative Call for Oddities Event. When I was designing that set, I decided to do a similar one for my Jewelry for Charity Program. 

It's not exactly the same, but very close. So, for those of you who like Halloween and themed jewelry, this is for you...

I had a lot of fun designing for that challenge, even though I hate Halloween LOL. More importantly though, the reason for making this set a Jewelry for Charity set is because I want to call attention to and actively support Lady Gaga's charity, Born This Way Foundation. That's where the donation from the sale will be going :)

Bullying is out of control. BTWF is a movement for change and I think it's AWESOME! Individuality should be celebrated and we should create a world more accepting and tolerant of differences, so I commend her and her Mom, Cynthia Germanotta, for what they're creating and wish them much success.

You can read more about the charity set here. And I hope you'll visit www.BornThisWayFoundation.org and support their work.

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

The Big Reveal: Jewelry for Lady Gaga's Challenge

Ok, it's time for the big reveal! 

In my last post I showed you some of the parts on my workbench for the Lady Gaga Creative Call for Oddities Halloween Event I was participating in thanks to being contacted by Black Diamond Celebrity Gifting.

Well, the jewelry is finished and has been mailed off. I've edited the images and it's time to let you see what I designed!

I put together a collage of the jewelry along with the Lady Gaga graphic that inspired me...

She asked for "Think outside the box...outside the hemisphere. Things that make me go WOW!" So... do you think I succeeded? I hope I did!


Opportunity for You
If you like Halloween and the set I designed, you're going to LOVE this... You could own a similar set!

I made a second jewelry set similar to the one for the design challenge for my October 2012 Jewelry for Charity Set. The donation from the sale will be going to Lady Gaga's charity, Born This Way Foundation!

They're not exactly the same. Each set is a one-of-a-kind, and they're the only 2 sets like this I'll ever make so, if you're interested, keep an eye on the Designs by Debi website. The charity set will be going up soon!

Some Lady Gaga Halloween Excitement

Thanks to being contacted by Black Diamond Celebrity Gifting, I have the opportunity to participate in a design challenge from Lady Gaga!! How exciting is that?!?

She issued a creative call for oddities as a Halloween event and that was a challenge I just could not pass up! The requirement.. "Think outside the box...outside the hemisphere. Things that make me go WOW!" Even though admittedly I hate Halloween, this is an opportunity to do something quite artistic and unusual and really indulge my creative side :)

I'm finishing up the project and mailing it off this week, but I thought I'd share a sneak peek with you. These are some of the parts I purchased for the challenge laid out on my workbench... 

I'll share photos once the set is finished. And, if you DO like Halloween, here's a special opportunity for you....
I'm making a second jewelry set similar to the one for the design challenge. It will be the October 2012 Jewelry for Charity Set on the Designs by Debi website (going up late obviously) and the donation will be going to Lady Gaga's Charity, Born This Way Foundation!

They won't be exactly the same. Each set will be a one-of-a-kind, but they'll be the only 2 sets like this I'll ever make so, if you're interested, keep an eye on the website.

And, speaking of the website, I'm still working on the upgrades. That's why there hasn't been anything going on there for awhile.

My fur baby, Niko, had major surgery and I almost lost him this summer. They removed his spleen and a mass from his belly. He's sick again and it looks like he may need another surgery. Here he is at work in the dining room with me (see the legs of my office chair) the day after his surgery. This was the first time he gave a smiley face to Mommy after surgery... oh how wonderful it felt to see that! He's my baby and it's been a heart-wrenching, rough 5 months here.

Anyway, most of my business is custom designs and my customers take priority always, even over website programming so the upgrades are still a work in progress.

I do expect to have the site finished within the next 4 weeks though in time for Holiday shopping and I'll be adding quite a lot of jewelry to the site and my ArtFire Studio.

You still have time to give me input, too, if you have some. Don't be shy. Take a second and tell me because I do this for YOU. The website and jewelry are for you.

Is there anything I can do to make the site, blog and/or newsletter better for YOU?

There's still a giveaway attached to this request. It doesn't matter how or where you choose to give me your input... responding by email, on the blog, on my Facebook wall... I'll be jotting it down and someone will win a set of jewelry.

Thank you once again for your purchases; for trusting me to design precious keepsakes for you; and for your repeat business and referrals.

And thank you for understanding how important it is for me to take care of Niko and to all of you who send well wishes to us. That's precious and truly appreciated.

I'll have photos of the finished jewelry for the Lady Gaga design challenge by next week so don't forget to check back. It's going to be really unique!

Remembering 9/11

Today I'm thinking about all the victims of  9/11 and their families. I can't believe it's been 11 years... 11 years... wow. The shock and horror are still fresh enough to move me to tears. Everyone always asks if you remember where you were on 9/11. Do you remember where you were? I do. 

I remember exactly where I was standing, who I was with and who told me when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I remember watching on the TV in the patient waiting area in shock as the second plane hit. And I remember going back to take care of my veteran patients with a terrified student who was afraid any government building could be next... I was working at the VA Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island on that day. I remember it as vividly as if it were yesterday.

Little did I know at the time, but there was someone I knew on the plane I had just watched crash into the WTC. Amy Jarret was a Flight Attendant on United Airlines Flight 175. I knew her from high school at Mount St Charles Academy in Woonsocket, RI. Two years younger than I and her life gone in a flash...

In honor of Amy and all of those lost on that horrible day, I designed my Remember 9/11 Memorial Bracelets™. A portion of the proceeds from each one sold is donated to the Twin Towers Orphan Fund to help children who lost one or both parents on September 11th.

If  you lost someone or want to share memories, please feel free to do so.... even if it's just a simple RIP comment... let's honor and remember the wonderful people lost that day ♥ I'll go first :)

Getting Ready for Fall?

Are you getting ready for fall? Personally, I'm a summer person so the thought of the fall season coming so fast has me less than thrilled to say the least. But I have friends who can't wait for the cooler weather to come. And I have to admit even I get excited about the fall coffee flavors at Dunkin' and Honey Dew ^.^ For those who don't know... my blood type is coffee... LOL.

If you like fall and the colors that come with it, take a look at this beautiful ArtFire Collection put together by JewelryByBeaJae. She was kind enough to include my Falling Leaves Toggle Bracelet so a huge thank you goes out to her.

Autumn leaves

  Curated By: JewelrybyBeaJae

ArtFire.com

Handmade Jewelry

ArtFire is always a great place to go if you're looking for special gifts. You can find many top notch artisans there. Make it part of your awesome-gift-giving arsenal, especially for the holidays, and you'll be known for the thoughtful and amazing presents you give to family and friends ;)