Brielle Craft Fair 2013

My goodness! What a gloomy day here at the Jersey shore! A great day for creativity and catching up on little things around the house that we avoid doing. Tomorrow, is suppose to be a picture perfect day so I'll spend the day tomorrow outside and with friends.

For now I have a new event to announce (this is one of those catch up things!) I'm great at creating and not so with writing...

Come visit me if you're in the area...

 

Brielle Craft Fair 2013

 

17 Acre Brielle Park

 

Brielle, NJ

 

Corner of Union Lane and South Street

Time:  9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Rain or Shine

 

The old saying with this show is...it never rains on Brielle Day!

 

It's actually funny...it has rained but it stops nobody! The customers just walk around with their boots, coats and umbellas! Ya, gotta love them!

 

I have been very involved with bangles this year...so beware! There will be many to choose!

 

 

Shooting Stars Bangle

 

The moon, stars (little dots of fine silver) rolling ocean and black sky!

The focal bead is a lampwork bead created with molten glass and torch, then put in a kiln for durability. This bead was created individually by a glass artist.

Sterling Silver. Handcrafted.

 

 



Ocean Grove Giant Craft Show 2013

If you are in the area of Ocean Grove, NJ plan to attend this craft show! I have been a vendor and customer for years at this fantastic show. This year I will be on of the vendors so please stop by and give me a shout out! I will have a banner on top of my canopy with ~ To Be Me Jewelry ~ on it.



Craft Show in Avon By The Sea, NJ ~ July 14, 2012

Hi Beadheads!

 If you plan to visit the Jersey Shore the weekend July 14th please visit To Be Me Jewelry in Avon, NJ. There will be a Craft Show on the Boardwalk in Avon By The Sea  ~ 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.  Rain date will be July 15th.  I love that Avon has a rain date...it's fair to the vendors. Many towns that offer craft shows do not give rain dates and do not return the fees to the vendors.

To Be Me Jewelry will have sea glass jewelry, lampwork bangles, and the famous Thought Waves Necklaces. All of my jewelry is handcrafted with good vibes. You will be able to pick great buys in sterling silver and gold-fill earrings, bracelets, necklaces, bangles.

Coastal bangle

starfish earrings!

 Turquoise...oh yeah!

 Hoops....YES!

 Beach jewelry!

How 'bout some red sea glass, blue sea glass, green sea glass???? Well ~ come see me and find out what I have for YOU!

Watermelon Bangle

OMGoodness...Although, it's only June, designs are being sketched and created for the fall and holiday season. I'm thrilled to say I am in love with working with fall colors and of course deep read and green. Wearing classic colors for the holidays put me in the spirit. Don't you agree? What is your favorite color for the fall and holidays?

Since you have to wait for the unveiling of a new season ... let's zone in on this sweetie of a bangle. What name shall I call this bangle....of course...the Watermelon Bangle. Not very original but it fits!

Designed with lampwork beads and sterling silver, a handful of pink glass beads. The lampwork beads are handcrafted with a torch and put in a kiln for endurance. No two lampwork beads can be exactly alike. Beautiful bright colors just for the hot summer months. So...measure your wrists and order your Watermelon Bangle. This is a limited edition.

How do you like this bangle?

Please go to ToBeMeJewelry for ordering online.
Take care Beadheads!

The Anticipated Thrill of a Craft Show!

Ahhhh....I feel it in my bones...oh wait a minute ~ I mean soul! I think the old saying, I can feel it in my bones is for weather. Yes, it's the anticpated thrill of selling my handmade jewelry at craft shows. I just finished filling out a few applications and plan to mail them today. As soon as I get accepted I'll let you know the scoop.

There are a few different pings of "thrill" when I get ready for a show. One of them is I really LOVE making my own earring cards. Since most of my shows are at the Jersey shore I take my photos around town. My friend, Diane also gave me a couple. Thanks, Diane! I then put the photos at the bottom of the earring card. It's a form of branding. One show, The Ocean Grove Craft Festival has a great deal of tourists. Let's face it, when on vacation we all pick up little "trinkets" to bring back to friends and family. What's better then To Be Me Jewelry's earrings with a Jersey shore photo on it? Good thinking, right?

I make the earring cards using card stock paper 8 1/2 x 11 in. Using the Word program or another type of program I have I design the earring card. I duplicate the design to make 10 cards on each sheet. I use a cutting board to cut to the preferred size which is a business card size. I use to make these on business card paper. I cut down my cost (a lot) by using card stock paper and cutting it myself. Every penny counts, beadheads - every penny costs.

Here's the skinny....and one of the pings.

P.S.  One of the cards has a photo of Madame Marie's blue fortune telling booth. A landmark to the shore area. Bruce Springstein wrote a song, 4th of July, Asbury Park  (Sandy) paying homage to Madame Marie.  Cool.

Take care my beadheads ~ enjoy the coming of summer ~ get those flip-flops on and bebop!

It's a Bangle Kind of Season...don't ya think?

I've been going bangle crazy! A feeling in the air of warm weather brought me to my flip-flop senses and bangles! I love to wear my bangles in the summer. Here is what's up in my workshop at the moment. Not sure if they will all end up on To Be Me Jewelry  ~ so my dears if you see something in this photo let me know fast.

Claire@ToBeMeJewelry.com



Thought Waves - Petite Necklace

I was bebopping on the net today and came across an e-magazine, StyleBistro focusing on celebrity style, fashion and beauty.  My interest of course was what jewelry they had on.  For instance, Taylor Swift had a necklace on that looked similar to my Thought Waves-Petite Necklace.  Cool. We all love Taylor Swift’s music.  I also like her new style.  I hope she stays true to herself as time goes by.

Well, here is my necklace below.  

Check out Taylor Swift's style on StyleBistro 

I Won a Mohair Scarf from Aunt Wednesday's!

A couple of months ago I won a beautiful tan mohair scarf from Aunt Wednesdays. April Robinson is the founder of Aunt Wednesdays and a fantastic fiber artist.  Unfortunately, when I received my scarf  I was preparing for the holidays, dealing with a health problem with a family member...and guess what? I forgot to say ~ April ~ I LOVE MY SCARF! So, I decided to get on my soap box and yell it with a photo of me wearing it. Now you may say,,,ok, Claire...where's your coat? It's been so mild here this winter at the Jersey shore that I didn't wear my scarf yet! Tomorrow, according to the Weather Channel it's suppose to be very cold  and a bit snowy - finally. A good reason today to pull out Aunt Wednesdays scarf and get ready to wear it tomorrow. Check out Aunt Wednesday's online boutique that offers an array of handcrafted crocheted hats, scarves, purses, sweaters, preemie layettes, heirloom christening gowns and many other crocheted items.

My Mohair Scarf....Sweet!

I took this photo by myself in the bathroom! Boy, you think I could have smiled a little!

Thanks, again ~ April~!

Sea Glass Designs

Well, I must say this winter here in New Jersey is quite a surprise! It's been so mild and sunny. I realize the weather can change in a heartbeat but I'm going to enjoy it while I can. The mild weather has inspired me to pull out my sea glass and create a few bracelets. You may find them on my website and I promise my sea glass customers more will come.

Tidal Wave Sea Glass Bracelet

Starfish Sea Glass Bracelet

Moondoggie Sea Glass Bracelet

Tidal Wave Sea Glass Bracelet in dark green

My sea glass bracelets shown here are all in sterling silver with oxidized chain. You may find more info and to purchase visiting To Be Me Jewelry. Nice price too~$38.00 each~Free shipping in the USA.  Made in the USA.

Twinkle Silver Hoop Earrings

It seems that January is my month to rest and take a long sigh. January is a month to take care of the mind, body and soul. I do forget at times to take a break. So here it is beadheads, the end of January and I'm starting to be inspired with swirls of designs in my mind's eye. I love working on one of kind designs but also need to be able to duplicate my work. Here are my Twinkle Silver Earrings being introduced to you for the first time.

Twinkle Silver Hoop earrings - length one inch.  Delicate sterling silver beads handwrapped around sterling silver hoops.

I am in need to design one of a kind sea glass jewelry....this is what presently is feeding my soul. I am working on this project now...so soon to be. Stay tuned...

Diva of Whimsy - Tracy Swartz

This artist is so unique that I needed to chit-chat about her creativity.

Every time I go to Tracy Swartz’s website it just tickles me pink. Tracy Swartz's creative adventures with her art will make you smile. You will certainly want one of her creations either for yourself or for a gift. Tracy is an artist designing gourds into people and animals. One of my favorites is The Electric Barbarellas gourds. Tracy designed these dolls for The Electric Barbarellas as part of their special indiExhibit gift bag. The Electric Barbarellas is a girl band on a MTV reality show. Tracy will design one of these Fairy Gourdarellas just for you.

The Electric Barbarella Gourds

Does the creativity stop at her awesomeness with gourds? Don’t be silly…of course not. Tracy writes poetry and books. Tracy is in the process of releasing a new book soon. Tracy has a unique style of writing and talking that I call Tracyisms. So what are you waiting for check Tracy Swartz out!

Website: http://www.tracyswartz.com/ 

                                                                               Tracy!

Facebook News Feed

I've been on Facebook for a good while now. I've never organized my News Feed or friends. Recently, I seem to have gathered quite a sum of peeps! I notice as my "peeps" grow not all may like everything that I have to say. I have broken down my peeps into groups so they don't get bombarded with posts that they may not care about. My groups consist of old high school friends, artist friends, co-worker friends, friends, family. What's nice is that these groups can also be added to another group, too.  It's also easy after this organization to click a group in the News Feed and see just what that group of peeps are up to. I like to share how things are made for instance when I make a new jewelry design...sooo....I just share with my artist friends. This way not everyone has to endure my ramblings of jewelry posts. You get the idea?

So here's the deal:
1. Go to Edit Friends

2. Create a list (friends, family, artist friends, etc.)

3. Add all your friends, family, groups, etc.

4. Go to your News Feed, click on Most Recent and a drop down menu will appear You select what list you want to show up in your news feed ~ select.

I am no expert in using Facebook but I thought this may be a start for someone out there in Facebookland to follow.

Inspiration Comes from the Craziest Places...Don't Ya Think?

I am always amazed at where and when inspiration aspires. Recently, I was walking the boards in Avon By the Sea, NJ I notice an array of colors that would make a perfect bracelet. I went home to see what bright color lampwork beads I had in my boxes. There is so much beauty to admire here at the Jersey shore but this day I picked out this….hah! Crazy, right?

AND...

Just to show you real beauty just on the left where I was standing to take this photo is this...

                                          Avon by the Sea, NJ a week before Memorial Day. Empty with a few locals. Next week this beach will be quite busy!

I walked over to Belmar's beach and captured these sweeties!

Where does YOUR inspiration come from? What do YOU do with it?



About To Be Me Jewelry

Every woman seeks to define themselves. Over years, as wisdom grows each of us realizes we are all unique. Claire DeRosa, through her own experience learned to feel what was going on inside. What Claire found out is that she is unique and needs to reflect that person and not the people around her. With the philosophy of being true to herself and that the rest of life will flow as it should, Claire launched To Be Me Jewelry. Claire sees all women as unique, strong individuals. The only flaw is women need to take care of themselves more. We need to take a break from being the care giver. Claire’s wish for women of all ages is to find yourself, take care of yourself. To Be Me…is…to be you when you purchase jewelry from To Be Me Jewelry.

An eclectic array of jewelry designs are handcrafted in Claire’s workshop down by the Jerseyshore. Inspiration comes from so many avenues. Living at the Jerseyshore alone is so inspiring. Nature’s colors seem to be the best of course…but then the color of the parkway sign is inspiring too. Claire DeRosa, is mostly self-taught in handcrafting jewelry. Over the years, Claire dabbled in many artistic endeavors that caught her eye, enjoying the dance of all art and definitely bebopping to all the music of creativity.

Featured designer on www.Weezies.com in March 2009.

The Jewelry Wire Magazine in August 2008 featured a bangle, “To Be Shore”, designed by Claire DeRosa.

In the coming year another design will be featured in a well known magazine.

Claire has been a guest lecturer for jewelry design at a local college.