Indiesave.com

This is a brand new website offering coupons and savings from many Indie (Independent)businesses!

I know I looove to browse through oh so many sites and drool after everything I want to click and buy, well, now I have an extra reason why to buy handmade and Indie!

Visit http://www.indiesave.com/ to see what is on offer, but bookmark and check back often, because discounts and free gifts are added every month...This month yours truly is offering a free pair of earrings with every order.

I know this will be a regular stop for every Indie lover :)

New designs coming...website down...

I have already updated some of the recently sold pieces but want to add a few more and the website will have an array of fresh jewelry!

Unfortunately the server is down since Saturday :( and I cannot contact my hosting to see what is wrong...hopefully this will be resolved soon!

Here is a sneak preview of what is coming...

Vandalised Vintage

These are a long time favourite of mine...just the right mix of vintage love and irreverance!

Recycled vintage plates are embellished with heat fused ceramic paint in naughtly words, biblical saying or in kooky portraits of the famous... Custom orders are also accepted so imagine what a cool gift this would make for your computer nerd or fashion victim friend!

Visit http://www.vandalisedvintage.etsy.com/ and check out Trixie's blog as well at http://trixiedelicious.wordpress.com/

Athens Summer 2008 Fashion Week preview

I visited Athens Fashion Week that took place last weekend, with my http://www.athenswears.com/ co-conspiritors and took some snapshots of the crowd coming and going...The cool pics will be posted soon on the Athenswears site, so check it out and take the opportunity to subscribe as well...but here is the star of the red carpet!

Art I Heart

I wanted to share with you this artist I have found on Etsy...She works in collage and mixed media, just my cup of tea...creating images that have a colorful sensitivity I adore...complemented by mysterious poetic titles. The lovely work above is titled *She Was The Ghost Of Birds*

I have ordered several small pieces from her twice and set them in a large white frame over vintage wallpaper. She also has larger art, but I purchased the playing card size, which are great for a collection of images now adorning the bedroom wall...

I am still lamenting over a large Marilyn Monroe work I missed, but she has others from time to time for the Marilyn maniacs out there!

Check her out here http://www.stilettoheights.etsy.com/

Made to Measure

I needed to design new jewelry because the sold pieces on the website need updating and made this up...Actually ended up suiting me quite well and I am keeping it :)

Milestones...Ideas...

Well, this weekend saw the celebration of a new milestone in the few years Jewels by Jessica has been online. More sales ever since the new website was launched 10 days ago. I need to spend time tomorrow photographing new designs and putting them online...

I was inspired to check out my visitor stats as well...102.000 visitors since the site was born around 2004 and 5.200 this past month alone... I know many visitors don't stick around for long, but again, I feel this is a pretty good number if one takes into account I am not good with promoting online.

Maybe I needed a sign of optimism, because I have been thinking of a site that would include other Greek Indie Designers...hopefully providing a bridge between them and the rest of the world.

Thinking of names.....any ideas anyone? :) Email me! If you come up with a name we end up using I will send you a free jewel!

Would something funky or something serious be better I wonder...

1) *Designismus*

2) *GreekDesignOnline*

Fashion A - fair

Today I visited an exibition featuring several up and coming accessory and clothing designers. It was organized by a company called Theatre Crossroads from London and was hosted by the Booze Co-operativa Bar and lasted 2 days. During that time a theatrical performance played out, which was imaginative and fun! Here is a pic from the exibition...

Cool Moo

I thought I'd share a cool link I found recently through an indie forum...

A company called MOO prints cute mini cards you can use as promos, business or calling cards, as well as small sticker books, postcards etc.

They have a cool option where you can have up to 100 different cropped images for 100 long and lean mini cards so you have a variety of images and on the back you get several lines of text. These cost about $20 for 100 mini cards.

I am thinking of ordering some thank you or coupon cards myself...You could even use these for clothing and handbag tags.

Visit http://www.moo.com/ for more details and have fun uploading and cropping images :)

p.s. might get stuck while uploading many images, I suggest you disconnect and try loading again!

Is website design worth the effort?

I am quite convinced now...after changing the website look completely, into a more compact and professional layout (well, that was my aim anyway!) I am happy to report sales are up :)

I might need a few more days to be convinced it is not a coincidence, but there you go...I suppose spending some money and getting it professionally designed is a smart move after all, I am just happy to be managing on my own up to now. As a control freak I relish in knowing I created the website from scratch with no technical backround whatsoever!

So to all of you wondering, get to work on your site, in the end all the long hours will pay off :)

p.s. thank you to Eva from http://www.needlemedia.com for my custom illustration and to Krystan from http://www.krystan.etsy.com for the new logo, both of them helped immensly in creating the look I was after.

Jessica discovers mineral make up :)

I haven't been exited about makeup since I was 13 and discovered liquid eyeliner ala Marilyn Monroe! But now I am experimenting with some new natural products that seem to work really well with my skin creating a smooth porcelain finish, not stuffy and dusty as normal powder makes it.

I ordered some samples from pinkquartzminerals, a seller on my favourite website, etsy.com, after reading some reviews on the forum and was instantly hooked!

The foundation and blush were so natural looking and skin friendly I was amazed. A matt but fresh complexion is what I was looking for and got it with these products. The green corrector powder was a bit tricky to set properly but after trying a different slanted brush I managed to cover my red areas around my nose perfectly.Even with the mini kabuki brush the powders went on smoothly once you figure out the way (a light circular motion) and the minimum powder spill I get when I tap the brush on my vanity is well worth it.

I received my large containers today (foundation, blush and veil) and am all set for my winter face! The eyeshadow samples Doree sent as well are stunning, very much like the Mac make up collection but all natural & vegan which is so much better.

http://www.pinkquartzminerals.etsy.com/

p.s. Any reviews I might write are my personal views, about products I am excited about. They are not promotions or advertisments of any kind.

Jewels by Jessica Live

Well, it seems knowing more about website design, doesn't help when you want more with each update ;)

I tried really hard this time to make the site even more organised and professional looking but keeping it cute, fun and girly as well! ...I have my doubts whether I reached all of my high expectations, but after a long time working on it and many many computer malfunctions, here it is for all of you to check out... http://www.jewelsbyjessica.com/

All comments are welcome, especially the good ones...!

Now, at last, I can get back to concentrating on designs and the new collection I am creating. For all of you familiar with my work, it might come as a bit of a surprise, as I mainly have worked with recycled vintage components.

But I am constantly trying out new things and love the challenge of the unknown, so keep posted for the new Jewels by Jessica venture into the world of precious metal :)

A fresh start for...

A whole year has passed since i posted on the blog...so i needed a fresh start.Time flies when life gets in the way of all the other things you love and *need* to do to keep sane...

but there you go...

I am back now, with a new website soon to be launched, a new company identity (like the new business card above. Thanks to Krystan! from krystan.etsy.com ), many plans for the future of Jewels by Jessica and so many ideas in my head, i am practically bursting at the seams...

The only problem will be time management :)