Local Showcase of Items in Charles Town, WV Boutique

I am so excited to share with you that a select number of my designs will be locally available at et cetera-live•nourish•dwell this weekend. 

Et cetera-live nourish-dwell is located at 

• 130 W. Washington Street
• Charles Town, West Virginia 25414

Here's peak of whats's there

Long earrings can be light and fun to wear, just maybe not around your two year old.

I started making these because I wanted a sexy long earring that would not rip my ears out or feel like they would. I wore a pair all day yesterday and almost at times forgot I was wearing them. I love the look and feel. I am just not wearing them around my two year old son, too much temptation there. :)
These are offered today as part of our daily deals.

Deal of the Day Thursday! Must contact me to purchase. Special deal not offered on website or Etsy!
Today only~

shown with Ear wires but Fish hooks available too! 

options of  earrings....
can choose gunmetal or silver small quantities
of stones and crystal if pearls aren't your thing

These are white pearls shown with fish hooks

Dena Liston Designs Deal of the Day!

Deal of the Day is now Live! Comment with email to purchase and link to shop is here
http://denalistondesigns.com/collections/584482-necklaces/products/5411215-queen-mabe-large-queen-of-the-faeries-victorian-pendant-with-vintage-bronze

Happy Handmade Link up My favorite picks Week #56

The lovely folks at daft crafts  have created a link  up to share some great handcrafted items. I have posted my item and here are my personal picks for week #56
This green lantern bowtie from Dazzling and Dapper would look so cute on my little man

http://www.dazzlinganddapper.com/collections/421900-boys-accessories/products/3696934-green-lantern-bow-tie

And not only does Little Birdy Blue make great bunnies! She make adorable teddies too

http://littlebirdyblue.storenvy.com/products/6090046-happy-bear-mr-spring-bouquet-amigurumi-crochet

And my last pick is a little something for momma from Tiger Knitty

http://tigerknitty.storenvy.com/collections/173474-scarves-and-mitts/products/4225811-kitana-short-blue-lace-scarf-free-ship

I really wish I could pick them all as I have seldom seen such talents grouped in one place.

Oh and if you are curious here is my item submitted.

http://denalistondesigns.com/products/6196126-diana-unique-design-twisted-leather-wrap-bracelet-with-lapis-and-jasper

I hope you will visit the link up and make your own picks or even perhaps make a purchase and support #happyhandmade
Check back weekly for new set of happy handmade items and my personal picks

Deal of the Day starts Monday March 24th

I started something a bit different for our fans on social media starting today March 24, 2014 I am offering a deal of the day. Today's deal is late getting posted so I do apologize. I will update here daily from now as well. Because of this I am extending the first deal til tomorrow. Tomorrows deal will be posted at 9 am EST and shared on FB, IG, and Tweeted Daily as well as right here on the blog.
I want to offer a special deal to all my friends and fans on social media. Tomorrow's deal should be be fun.
Again I apologize for not posting the deal today. I was out most of the day and wasn't able to update but I'll do better tomorrow.

Spring 15% off sale and some giveaways to tell you about

Wow! The handcrafted community is really buzzing with the excitement of the first day of Spring!
 UPDATE SALE EXTENDED TIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!

Dena Liston Designs having a sale today 15 percent off anything over 10 dollars and I added all the lovely bracelets I spoke about yesterday. Use code SPRING14 in my etsy shop or my site today only. 
http://denalistondesigns.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DenaListonDesigns

And some of my favorite crafty crafters are having sales, auctions and giveaways!

Violet Buds is celebrating her three year anniversary with a super spectacular giveway. 
Enter here.
http://violetsbuds.blogspot.com/2014/03/lets-celebrate-3-years.html

And Stitches by Ashley Nicole is having a feature friday giveaway tomorrow where the artist is giving away an exclusive item not available anywhere else. 
http://stitchesbyashleynicole.blogspot.com/2014/03/feature-friday-landons-toy-box.html

There is a great site doing a 15,000 fan giveaway and my crafty friends have joined her. 
Tons of great prizes!
Click here to enter
http://savingbydesign.com/giveaway-win-a-handmade-jewelry-organizer-and-bracelet-tree/

If you like unique pillows and bags Becky is having a winter clearance sale to say goodbye to old man winter. 
http://www.pinterest.com/beckyspillows/etsy-winter-clearance-sale-coupon-code-winterclear/


and last but not least there is a great Spring Auction taking place tomorrow over at Auction Junkies.
Here is all the details:
https://www.facebook.com/events/256885861152751/?source=3&source_newsfeed_story_type=regular

OH LA LA ...Who doesnt love Paris? 
A lovely auction featuring all things Paris is happening tomorrow as well.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?
set=a.727216767301974.1073741833.345847925438862&type=3


And starting tomorrow an Easter auction featuring handmade bows and accessories for kids 
details here. 
https://www.facebook.com/littlebowsbigdreams


HAPPY SPRING AND HAPPY SHOPPING!

Bracelets

I wanted to talk today about my products, in particular bracelets. I love nothing more that wearing, purchasing and making lovely arm candy. These are a few examples of some I have recently made. They vary in size, type and materials. Some take longer to make than others. Some are completely unique and not able to be remade easily. The particular ones I am most proud of right now are my twisted memory wire bracelets with a shambala closure. Made for petite wrists and those not so small as well. These remind me so much of vines twisting around tree branches and shoots. I struggled with these memory wire bracelets a bit when I first tried to make them. If they are triple wrap they stay on easily. But if you have tiny wrist the single wraps don't work too well. So I came up with the idea to add the leather cord. It was a bit of spare I had after attempting a leather wrap bracelet and failed miserably. I am still trying that one as I type. One day I'll figure it out. The twisted wrap looked great but then I had to address the other issues: Getting it to close, look right and not fall off. I did some research of bracelets and found the popular style shambala style ones and got my idea. I used another piece of leather and made an adjustable closure. These will all be hitting the shop soon and I plan to make many more and can even customize them  because just about any 2mm to 8mm size round beads will work. The green one pictured are quartzite, glass pearls, and ceramic beads. The blue one is lapis and jasper with some small silver glass seed beads thrown. in the mix. I have brown, black and cream leather in stock as well. The other wrap bracelets will be hitting the shop soon (The pastel pearl one is already listed) If you are interested in a custom order twisted wrap please email me at denalistondesigns@gmail,com
Here is the link to my shop and where you can find these and other styled bracelets.
http://denalistondesigns.com

Toot your own horn.

Don't you love this sentiment! I want to take today's post and talk about business for a moment. A lot of time crafters and artist are very intimidated about marketing themselves. It often can come across as snooty or standoffish. The last thing you want for your customers or fan to feel alienated by you. That might world in the world of couture and high fashion but in small business it will make you shutter your doors and put you out of business quick as you can say "I don't understand." My advice to small business owners, crafts people and artist is don't ever be afraid to toot your own horn. Don't stand in a corner at a show and not make eye contact, don't hide in the back, don't be quiet about it when you know you have something to offer. Don't wait for others to do it for you. Don't be afraid to shine. Do speak about what you do, what you make, sell.... what makes you tick. Tell people all about it! Carry business cards and hand them out (don't be obnoxious, of course and pick times to do it). Do participate in social media (the 21st century word of mouth) Get in the habit of introducing yourself to  lots of different people. Put yourself out there. Don't lose faith and keep working hard. If people hear you talking about what you do, they will be interested. If you are enthusiastic and speak from a point of love and knowledge, people will be enthralled. They will love it as much as you do. Tell your story, tell how you made it, what inspired you or how you got into doing what you do. Chances are they will become a happy willing fan, and customer. So if you love what you do, and want to be a  success, never be afraid to toot your own horn!

Reusing...

A celluloid flower clip on earring given new life with
 flat plates of jasper gleamed from an old stretch bracelet.

I make a lot of my jewelry from things I find; things that are broken, tossed aside, hidden somewhere, unloved. It didn't start off as a way to recycle or be eco-friendly, although that's a huge bonus for me. No, It started out as a way for me to express myself and work within a modest budget. This quest for me started when I was a child tagging along to flea markets and yard sales or  when my elders would let me have a massively tangled bundle of forgotten treasures. On the really good days of hunting, I would snatch up a box lot of "junk" for pennies. It started with me having a love for the past, for things that no longer function in the modern world but still had value. I love anything vintage, antique, old whatever you want to call it.
I couldn't wait to get home and start figuring out exactly what I had. I  would find all sorts of really cool stuff. A bunch of sterling bangles, a rhinestone paste necklace, a large glass teardrop from a chandelier long since gone, old clip on earrings, beggar beads by the ton. I prob still have remnants of my earliest found treasures in my stash to this day. I still make trips to flea markets and been gifted many broken pieces and even find a few lost treasures on ebay. I have let many pieces over the years go to good homes and now they live on again, being reused and loved. And that makes me happy. I hope that you find value in things that maybe don't seem valuable on their surface. I believe that a lot of things can be reused and hope you take a second look at something you are ready to throw away and maybe find a new purpose for it. On my website there is a page of my portfolio items if you want to take a look at what I have made in the past.
http://denalistondesigns.com/portfoliocustom-design

Introducing myself

I'm new to the world of blogging and social media, and Etsy and running my own show, so to speak, but I'm eager, enthusiastic and completely and utterly dedicated to this new endeavor of mine. The fulfilling of a dream of sorts. Yes, a dream, a dream to call my own shots, to be the one responsible for my success and failure and to make things that speak to my soul, that give voice to my inner feeling, emotions and hopefully strike a chord with my audience and my customers. Understand that I don't want your sale, well I do...yes, let me rephrase that. I do want your sale and I want to you to be over the moon happy about it. I want you to find that special gift for mom or in law, daughter, wife, best friend or happen to come across me and find something that is all your own. A beautiful shiny piece of me that was made just for you. You see I do want your sale but only if you want your sale. Don't ever feel obligated to purchase something from someone, especially homemade. But do support small businesses whenever you can!

I love to craft...to reuse something that would end up as rubbish or banished in a drawer for twenty years. Do you have one of those drawers? Well I'd love to peek inside and see what's there. I have been collecting for over twenty years and the bug for crafting grabbed me as a young girl tagging along to flea markets, antique shops and estate auctions with my folks. And I like to say I'm part crow too, you know they love snatching up shiny objects and hoarding them like a dragon in a JR Tolkien tome. 

I'm inspired by nature, art and architecture. I thank God everyday for the beauty I see, and am in awe of life and the strength  and ingenuity of the human spirit.  I love all the colors in nature and get a lot of inspiration from the changing seasons here in the mid Atlantic. I live in the Eastern Panhandle of WV,  and no not Western Virginia. :)

I am also inspired by strong beautiful, smart women throughout time. Do you know one of those women too? I bet you do and maybe you are one. I am. The women in my family past and present fascinate me. My family is rich in artists on both sides and I'd like to think some of their talent and eye rubbed off on me. My mom even collaborates with me on projects. 

As I endeavor to be an artist and business person I am also doing another important job which takes priority over everything. I'm mom to two fearless explorers and two crazy canines and wife to my best friend. 
I love cooking, reading, writing, thrifting and decorating in addition to my passion for crafting one of kind jewelry. I also believe strongly in local food and sustainability and try to live a frugal and simple life. I volunteer for my local farmers market and I love cooking and eating real food. 

To see my work for yourself  
http://denalistondesigns.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DenaListonDesigns
https://www.facebook.com/denalistondesigns

to connect with me on Twitter, IG, Pinterest, StumbleUpon
https://twitter.com/DListonDesigns
http://instagram.com/denalistondesigns
http://www.pinterest.com/denaliston/
http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/dListonDesigns