Romancing The Stone Giveaway

Mother's Day is the perfect time for another giveaway! Enter for your chance to win the lovely handcrafted Romancing The Stone necklace. This stunning gem is a cream magnesite stone with intricate wire wrapping.

Make a statement this spring/summer with a lovely handcrafted necklace. Enter to win the Romancing The Stone necklace a $50 value!

Fall Giveaway

Time for our Fall Giveaway! 

It's been awhile for a necklace giveaway and there's no time like the present to offer a chic handcrafted necklace. The Onyx necklace is a wire wrapped black onyx stone with Swarovski crystals and rhinestones.


This is the season to make a statement with a lovely handcrafted necklace. Enter to win The Onyx necklace a $50 value! Follow the instructions below to enter. Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bling into Spring Giveaway

Spring is in the air...

Time for our Bling into Spring Giveaway! Are you ready to bling into spring with a brand new ring? Enter to win a beautiful wire wrapped ring, that will be custom created to fit your hand.  Now is the time to make a statement with a lovely handcrafted ring.  Follow the link below to enter. Good Luck! Enter to Win! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Falling Into Fall Giveaway

Enter to win today! 

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but the best way to come back and show some love is to giveaway something for FREE!  Enter to win the lovely Knot Always leather bracelet. Made with beautiful bali beads on a dark brown leather cord.  This boho chic look works great with any outfit anytime.

Here is how you can enter: 

Website 

Facebook 

Google Plus 

Thanks for stopping by...Good luck!  

Father's Day Giveaway

Enter to win the Empire bracelet worn by Emmy nominee John Benjamin Hickey, of the hit TV show the Big C. The stylish Empire Bracelet was handcrafted using the Byzantine technique.

The Empire Bracelet was prominently displayed at the 2013 GBK Primetime Emmy Gift Lounge, when John saw the copper version he fell in love with it! Displays generally don't leave the exhibit, but we always make exceptions for our favorite celebs. :) His quote to the representative from The Artisan Group was "I love these bracelets! Wow! This is fantastic! It goes great with my watch. I will absolutely wear this all the time!"


We love hearing from our customers who tell us how happy they are with our handcrafted gems.  If you win we would LOVE hearing from you as well! Good luck! Enter Today!

Empire Braclet 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Embrace Mother's Day Giveaway

Mother's Day is just around the corner and we are celebrating in a big way!  We were thrilled to create Embrace Mother's Day Bracelet for celebrity Moms like...Drew Barrymore, Halle Berry, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kelly Clarkson, Scarlett Johansson, Alyssa Milano, Kerry Washington and many more! See the entire list of celebrities that received the Embrace Mother's Day Bracelet.

We would like to welcome everyone to enter our Embrace Mother's Day Giveaway during April 28 -May 12. There will be TWO lucky winners! ENTER HERE

We are more than happy to giveaway the lovely handcrafted Embrace Mother's Day Bracelet. Created with Mother-Of-Pearl shell beads, Bali Pewter spacers and a gemstone heart pendant. ($35.00 value).

Please share this giveaway with your family and friends. :) 

All Hail the Queen!

Look who's wearing our Cobra Bangle...

It's the new Queen of the Universe Ariel D. King, Miss USA!

We were fortunate enough to be invited by the CEO and a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills, Joyce Giraud to attend the pageant. We are so proud to be a sponsor for such an important charity event...and it was a great show! Learn more about pageant.

Congratulations to Ariel!

Bling into Spring

It has been a really tough winter for us New England folks...we are so ready for the spring! How about you? We would like to welcome everyone to enter our Bling into Spring Giveaway during March 8 -March 22.

We are excited to giveaway the lovely handcrafted Florence Necklace & Earring set.  Made with sterling silver wire wrapped on a mahogany obsidian cabochon stone.  The total value is $65.00.  Please share this giveaway with your family and friends.  Good Luck!!!

Visit Essentials Etc. to enter today!

Florence Necklace & Earring Set 

The Empire Strikes Back!

John Benjamin Hickey
Wearing The Empire Bracelet

We're so proud that our Empire Bracelet from the Egyptian Collection will be worn by Emmy nominee John Benjamin Hickey. The Empire Bracelet was prominently displayed at the 2013 GBK Primetime Emmy Gift Lounge, when John saw the copper version he fell in love with it! Displays generally don't leave the exhibit, but we always make exceptions for our favorite celebs. :) His quote to the representative from The Artisan Group was "I love these bracelets! Wow! This is fantastic! It goes great with my watch. I will absolutely wear this all the time!" We love hearing from our customers who tell us how happy they are with our handcrafted gems. In this case – The Empire strikes back!

More about John...
He won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Felix Turner in The Normal Heart. On Broadway, he originated the role of Arthur in Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning play Love! Valour! Compassion! in 1995, a role he would recreate for the 1997 film version. He played Clifford Bradshaw in the 1998 revival of Cabaret, which won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical, and played Reverend John Hale in the Tony-nominated 2002 revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

On television, he played Sean, the homeless brother of Cathy (played by actress Laura Linney), the main character on the Showtime series The Big C in which he was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a miniseries or a movie.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article John Benjamin Hickey, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

If it's FREE it's for me!

Would you like to own the Cobra Bangle we gifted to the celebrities at the 2013 GBK Primetime Emmy Gift Lounge? Now you have a chance to win one! It's simple..just follow the instructions below to enter. Good Luck!!!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

And the Emmy goes to...

We are so excited to be participating in the 2013 GBK Primetime Emmy Gift Lounge! 

This is an invitation-only luxury celebrity gift lounge hosted by GBK Productions on September 20-21, 2013 at an exclusive location in Hollywood, California, in honor of the The 2013 Primetime Emmys Nominees and Presenters. 

Our Isis necklace and Empire bracelets will be prominently featured on display at The Artisan Group's exhibit, and all attending celebrities will receive our Cobra bracelet in their swag bags. This event will also be attended by nearly fifty press and media outlets.

The Isis necklace, Empire and Cobra  bracelets are a part of our new fall Egyptian Collection.  The Isis necklace is a tiger's eye focal pendant surrounded by crystals, tiger's eye and pearls carefully wrapped in silver-filled wire. The Empire bracelets are exclusively for the men, and they were handcrafted using several chainmaille techniques while using a variety of metals. We created 100 Cobra bracelets for the coveted Artisan Group swag bags, they were coiled with silver-filled wire on a copper base with lampwork glass beads as a center focal.  Also, not featured in the lounge but an important part of the collection is the Nefertiti multi-chain necklace photographed on the right.  To learn more about our 
Egyptian Collection visit essentialsetc.net. 

Essentials' Spotlight: Friends that Sparkle

Name:  Sarah

Hometown: Brooklyn, Pennsylvania

Favorite movie: Love, Actually

Favorite type of jewelry: Bracelets

Sarah, who currently lives in Boston, works as a media relations professional, loves the beach and boating, and would rather have her feet in the grass or sand, instead of shoes. She has loved bracelets since her grandmother bought her first ones when she was 6 years old.  The bracelets by Essentials Etc. are some of her favorites! She particularly loves the black bauble bracelet, which she says goes with everything! Sarah would highly recommend Essentials Etc. as the source for all jewelry and in fact, gets all of her pieces there now!

We love Sarah as our customer.  She has been with us since we started! Sarah has attended many of our events and supported us in many other ways.

Check out more of our Friends that Sparkle!

Is Jewelry Art?

Some people don't always consider jewelry designing a form of art.  I challenge all the skeptics to take a trip to their local museums and take notice how the featured jewelry exhibits are highly regarded as art. I design my own jewelry and designing, in and of itself, is an art. If one creates art, it follows that one would be deemed an artist.

Sample Collection From Our Trip 

During a recent trip to the
Fuller Craft Museum I was fortunate enough to catch the jewelry exhibit - Adornments & Delights: Five Jewelers Courting Nature. The exhibit consist of five extraordinary jewelers who are highly accomplished and nationally recognized artists. The artists featured are Susan Hamlet, Linda Kindler Priest, Claire Sanford, Mary Hughes, and Caro-Gray Bosca. This exhibition focuses on their unique voices exploring nature. The exhibit will be shown until June 16, 2013,  I highly recommend a visit and you will be a true believer in jewelry as an art-form!

Outside the Fuller Craft Museum

I love this museum because everything is handcrafted even down to the benches that you sit on. The entire place is so inspirational. Throughout my travels I go to museums for inspiration, and not just for the jewelry exhibits, I get inspired by all of the collections. The culture,  colors, textures and creative thinking always moves me. I get the immediate urge to run home and create something!

The next time you hear the age old debate...is jewelry making a craft or art? Take a look at my jewelry collection and other talented jewelry artists, observe how every piece and every collection differs with fine art incorporated. It's truly amazing when a solid piece of wire is molded into something beautiful AND useful. Now that's a work of art! I guess you could argue that I'm more of an Artisan and I won't dispute that because I craft several of my pieces, but I also design, draw, sculpt, and even paint when making jewelry. I consider myself an artist as well, not just because I studied art in school, mostly because I have a defined skill to produce quality work. So feel free to call me an Artisan or Artists because I have so many hobbies that fall into either category.  Hence my blog title...Crafty Addictions.

What do you think?  Is jewelry making art? 

Seeing Stars

Pearl Cluster Earrings 

2013 has started off extremely well for Essentials Etc.! We were selected to create jewelry for the 2013 GBK Oscars Gifting Lounge. We decided to make Essentials exclusive Pearl Cluster Earrings for the event, and once I received approval from The Artisan Group to make the earrings that's when the fun began!

Gifted for the 2013 GBK
Oscars Celebrity Gift Lounge

100 products were due in California (shipped from Massachusetts) on February 8, in order to get to the lounge in time for the February 22/23 event. Mind you, I was selected late November and still had holiday orders to fulfill…YIKES! I also needed to order materials and packaging because of course I didn't have enough materials to make 100 pieces, plus I wanted the packaging to be special for the stars! Needless to say I was working with a very tight deadline, but I was determined to make it. I recruited my family members to help with this most important task. Instead of using my studio, which could not accommodate all of my helpers, I did a dining room take over. I set up tables, lighting, and food…and of course some old school music! I scheduled work dates for everyone and tasks that they could handle (including my husband…who now knows how to bend and cut headpins). I am so grateful for all the support I received from my family. Hopefully one day I can repay them all.

"Making earrings for the stars"

Every year we receive an invitation from the City of Brockton’s Mayor to sell our jewelry at the Holiday Bazaar, at this time the word was out that I was “going” to the Oscars. The Mayor was gracious and very supportive of my new endeavor. We were also invited to the 15th Annual African Festival & Marketplace again this year and between these two events we created quite a buzz in my hometown of Brockton. I appeared on two local cable television shows and in a PSA to promote the Festival and to talk about my participation in the Oscars. I also received a call, for the second time in 3 years to be featured in the Brockton Enterprise print and online edition (read article). The first time it was a feature story about my business, but this time they wanted to discuss the Oscars...but of course! I was told I would appear in the Friday, February 22 issue, when I picked up the paper I was surprised to see my article on the front page! What a treat! When I attended the African Festival and the Mayor got on stage to address the crowded room she gave me a HUGE shout-out! She also said she would wear the necklace that she purchased from me while watching the Oscars. I’m so honored!

The Oscars aired this past weekend check out some of the stars that received our package. We are hoping something really great comes out of our new found “fame”, but either way we're happy just to be nominated! He-he!

A Proud Member!

I was accepted as a new member to The Artisan Group™ (TAG).  I am so proud to be amongst these elite talented artisans.  I am very excited about the prospect of celebrities wearing something that I handcrafted...it would be a dream come true! Not to mention the support my business will receive from TAG to thrive and continue to grow. It's truly an honor to be selected and I can't wait to become an active member! Keep visiting Essentials Etc. for more TAG updates. 

Read more about The Artisan Group's mission and business model (from their website www.theartisangroup.org):

At The Artisan Group™ we are on a mission to introduce Hollywood to the best of the handcrafted movement. We do it by providing owners of artisan businesses the chance to introduce their products to celebrities, industry leaders and members of the press through participation in major award show gift lounges such as those leading up to The Academy Awards*, The Golden Globes* and The Primetime Emmys*. Because The Artisan Group takes a collaborative approach to participation in these lounges, a marketing opportunity that would be prohibitively expensive for most small companies becomes surprisingly affordable.

Members of The Artisan Group showcase an array of handcrafted products, including jewelry; bath and spa products; designer stationery and paper goods; crocheted accessories; children’s apparel and toys; ceramics; purses and totes; hand-poured candles; hand-bound books and journals; illustrations and paintings; hand-dyed scarves; fine art photography; hair accessories; pet accessories and toys; and woodworked items.

The Artisan Group also offers members guidance in sales, marketing, social media and public relations. Our representatives are experienced and have acted as spokespersons for many artists at Hollywood's top gift lounges, with fantastic results. Because they know and trust us, most celebrities will pose for a professional photo with our artisans’ products.

Participation in The Artisan Group is by invitation only. The result is an exclusive, close-knit community of talented artisans who exhibit excellence of product, great product photography, impressive branding and online shop presence, unique products, an established online sales record and products appropriate (size-wise) for gifting.

Hot Off the Wire!

I absolutely love working with wire!  Wire wrapping is one of the oldest handcrafted jewelry techniques out there. The reason I enjoy it so much is because I can create cool unique pieces. I put emphasis on the word unique...pretty much all jewelry designers have the desire create the most "unique" collection in the market.  Unfortunately, that is very hard to achieve when there are so many beads, techniques and jewelers readily available to replicate (and believe me I've had my stuff replicated). With today's technology and easy accessibility to craft store classes, just about anyone can make a decent popular piece of jewelry. But that is not what I'm in the business of doing. 

I am always searching for new ways to keep my designs fresh and unique. This is what the majority of my customers want...a piece that no one else will have!  Of course you will see some familiar designs in my collections...trendy items are always great to have.  But it's important to have the ability to create unique custom pieces. This is why I invest in design school to increase and improve on the skills I have.


G-Clef Silver Wire Wrapped Bracelet

Working with wire I can create my own findings or components (earring hooks, bracelet & necklace clasps, headpins, jump rings and rings), and use mix metals...which never goes out of style. The bracelet shown here has a G-Clef as the focal and it's own unique clasp. It's very cool when pretty much anything you shape with wire can form into a fabulous piece of jewelry.

You should understand that wire working is very time consuming and requires more expensive materials, you certainly don't want to use that cheap aluminum stuff when creating your wired pieces. It does not bother me at all the time it takes to create one piece of jewelry, because I don't like to mass produce anything. So spending a little more time on a piece and having my faithful customers getting excited about these unique creations over and over, is a much better option for me. I tell my coworkers that designing jewelry is where I get my butter not my bread! I don't need to create jewelry...I love to! I have a full-time career to get me the things I need, which allows me to keep my focus on creating beautiful quality pieces of jewelry just for fun...that's what I'm most passionate about.  

If you are interested in having a custom bracelet, ring, necklace or earrings hot off the wire...please do not hesitate to contact me.  My design advice and consultations are always free!
Email me at marcia_fleming@essentialsetc.net.

History Lesson...
Examples of wire and beaded jewelry made using wire wrapping techniques date back to thousands of years BC. The British Museum has samples of jewelry from the Sumerian Dynasty, found in the cemetery of Ur that contain spiraled wire components. This jewelry is dated at approximately 2000 BC. Other samples of jewelry from Ancient Rome show wire wrapped loops (one of the important techniques in making wire wrapped jewelry). This Roman jewelry is dated to approximately 2000 years ago. In the manufacture of this early jewelry the techniques for soldering did not exist. Later, as the technique for soldering developed, the wire wrapping approach continued because it was an economical and quick way to make jewelry components out of wire.

Crocheting...But Not With Yarn!

As you know, I have many crafty addictions, crocheting being one of them.  I was thrilled to discover I could incorporate two of my favorite past times into one!  Crocheting AND jewelry design! 

Who woulda thunk?  It's actually a very easy technique to learn and beautiful to wear! 

I am having so much fun with it. I like to crochet but I LOVE to knit so that will be on my list of things to learn.  Stay tuned.

The best part about creating my first necklace was that I only used the chain...there was no real stitching involved.  (Of course there are other projects that involve more stitches). 

Don't get me wrong, it's so much easier to crochet with yarn, because yarn has more movement.  Crocheting with the wire (I used 28 gauge) doesn't move as well, and if your like me with a very tight tension it makes it even more difficult to keep things moving. 

Despite the minor challenges it works very fast and it's more interesting than stringing on wire.  After your first strand, you'll be watching your favorite show while creating wonderful pieces!

Charmed, I'm Sure

As a child I always loved charm bracelets, It was so much fun to collect a bunch of things that you love and wear them on your wrist, back in the day my love was for monkeys and many other girlie girl things.

It was back in 2000 when I saw my first Pandora bracelet; I was very impressed how they bought this charming look into a new era. This updated look with the charms strung on a snake bracelet or necklace chain is very cool, but I still like the classic charm bracelets on regular links (shown on the left). I believe that a charm bracelet should tell a story and a little about the person wearing it. For instance, I have a tropical theme bracelet that has a palm tree, a flip flop, a tropical cocktail glass, and shells. I collected most of these charms from my travels throughout the Caribbean. My story is obvious; I love tropical places...so much that I even tied the knot in beautiful Barbados! I will be sure to keep you posted on any great finds on my upcoming trips.

I love the conversation that a charm bracelet creates. It's so much fun having a girlfriend grab your wrist and check out your charm selections. Ladies here is a good tip when adorning your charms, make it your spring/summer look so it doesn't snag your beautiful winter sweaters.

Big Things Come in Small Packages

Beaded Cross Ornament

Have you ever received a gift that you didn't want to open because it looked so pretty?  Of course, you eventually open it, but you have a twinge of guilt when the package is wrapped just right. You take your time opening it being careful to tear it gently, you even save the ribbons/ornaments that it came with.

I absolutely love wrapping gifts! I take special care when I am wrapping, thinking of the person the gift is for and only using colors and paper styles that I think they would like. I use silk ribbons, ornaments, sparkling rhinestones and anything else that will make a package beautiful. I learned very young how to make ornaments and to tie ribbons on wreaths and packages.

Snowflake Ornaments

People automatically determine the worth of the gift by the package it came in...it's human nature. If there were a bunch of packages lined up and you had to choose just one (like that yankee swap your forced to do at work), you'd choose the one that is most attractive to you. Often times people go for the largest package, but of course, there's the old saying "big things come in small packages" and I'm sure whoever came up with that saying received a beautiful piece of jewelry! 

At essentialsetc.net we have several accessory items that can be used to decorate packages, but if you're just the throw it in the bag kinda gal but you want to try something different, then we have gift wrapping available with your purchase. 

Hit 'em with a great first impression and make your gift beautiful inside and out. If you're brave enough to try it yourself Martha Stewart has some great gift-wrapping ideas. If you don't know how or just don't have the motivation to wrap your own gifts, most retailers will do it for you and there are places who specialize in just that. Be sure to ask. Now that's a wrap!

Konnichiwa Kumihimo!

Kumihimo is a Japanese form of braid-making. Cords and ribbons are made by interlacing strands.  In Japan, braids are also used for religious ceremonies, on kimonos, ornaments on festival carts, tea ceremony containers, ribbons for mirrors, and fans, and most recently for attaching cell phones to belts, purses, etc.

When I first saw a bracelet made using the Kumihimo technique I was intrigued. I just knew I wanted to learn how to create this beautiful piece of art. As I researched the internet to see how it was done, I was floored! I thought I would need to hire someone to build me a bamboo stand (pictured right) just to make projects! My instincts told me this couldn't be the only way, so I decided to add Kumihimo Braiding to my course schedule.

In class I was excited to learn that I only needed a foam disk to begin creating. The class was interesting and the technique is not as complicated as it looks. I picked it up right away, and I now have my first Kumihimo bracelet (on the left) created. So, say hello or konnichiwa to my brand new technique and stay tuned to see lots of Kumihimo pieces sold on essentialsetc.net!