An Open Letter To Rachel Maddow

This is an open letter to one of the people I admire most in the world. Thank you for your insights and your humor. I hope that you see this.




Dear Ms. Maddow,


I am writing this open letter to respectfully request a favor from you. This is a really big favor! I would like to ask you to turn your keen eye and brilliant mind to a segment of our population that is so marginalized that nobody ever thinks of us.


We are the micro businesses who have no other options for selling our products than the internet. Sometimes our options are limited by geography but in the 10 years I've been selling online the most repeated reasons that people sell the things they make online is because of the limitations of poor health or health issues and/or poverty.


In this economy it may seem like a luxury to spend a little more to buy handmade items, but ordinary, everyday items that are made one at a time by hand or made in small batches in a micro factory are generally so superior to mass produced that they end up costing less to the consumer than replacing the mass manufactured items in the same time space.


It would be so beneficial for a huge group of people if you would simply say something on your show about supporting our little businesses. For some of us that kind of exposure would mean that we could pay our bills next month, for others it means they get to take their medicines this month.


I sell on a site called ArtFire.com that is a small family owned and operated business as well. They have a small staff, a small budget and a huge hearts. They have worked so unbelievably hard to help us, most of whom are simply artists/artisans/crafters who have no business acumen, become at least a little bit adept at selling our items. There is so much more that needs to be done to sell a handmade items than simply making a great item, and these lovely people have given us all a great educational resource, so if I could ask one more favor it would be to give a shout out to our amazing staff.


Thank you so much for your time, 


Margaret Crow

New Earrings For Fall 2011

I've been adding some beautiful gemstone earrings to my line up at Boho wire Wrapped. I've been using some interesting colors, textures and techniques and thought I'd give you a peek.



First up, I added a pair of sunny, soft yellow citrine and Oregon sunstone earrings made with very high quality, unusual faceted gemstones.

Here's another pair of warm color earrings, peach chalcedony angels trumpet earrings with pale natural peach potato pearls

and a pair of carnelian rose carved flower earrings with copper and gold filled leaves and twigs.



More warm colors are represented by these adorable heart shaped gold rutilated quartz and faceted carnelian teardrops a cute, sassy pair of brilliant yellow glass earrings and gold wire wrapped rosy pink rhodochrosite..


      

On the other hand, if you prefer cool colors, there are some beautiful choices that I recently listed. Cool, soft chrysocolla in quartz has a translucency that gives it a delicate, ethereal look, the scroll work and beaded edge give these a very different appearance.

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These malachite and chrysocolla earrings contain both polished and matte finishes on blue and green stone beads on sterling silver:



Lastly there's a couple of pairs of superb sterling silver earrings featuring two rare, sought after stones. True blue larimar pairs up wonderfully with lavender crystal opal with blue fire to create a vision of elegance in these simple drops and very rare, costly cats eye alexandrite.makes a feminine statement when wire wrapped and paired with charoite.

   


VALUEDREADER at checkout will take 10% off of your purchase of any earrings in my studio.

Some Suggestions for Your Fall Jewelry Wardrobe

At this time of year I always get a sense of recharged energy. Early fall is a time of riotous color in Mobile, Al. Lush, deep broadleaf evergreens are a grand foil for the shimmering purples of native blue asters and the brilliance of goldenrod. These two colors dominate the palette of the wildflowers here and have always meant cooler days and much cooler nights. These shades have always evoked a sense of excitement for me.

I have been making jewelry that is inspired by these textures and colors to list in my ArtFire studio shop, bohowirewrapped. This pendant is one of my newest listings. The ammonite in the center is surrounded by a gallery composed of copper and 14 carat gold filled wire, woven and spiraled into scroll work.

These peach moonstone and amazonite faceted beads become a charming pair of earrings when wrapped in solid copper and hung on hand forged earrings. The colors are perfect for any early fall ensemble, they're reminiscent of a fall sunrise.

This bold chalcedony and copper necklace features a focal pendant made of an unpolished slab of chalcedony with a druzy center that looks like it is full of sugar. The focal area was inspired by a sleeping yellow butterfly.

Please visit me soon to see what else I've been doing!

When hubby is your best friend

My husband has always been my best friend and my strongest supporter and I am so grateful to have him in my life. When I'm happy, he helps me celebrate the moment in small touching ways. When I have a crazy idea, he helps me make it into a reality, and usually much better than I could have hoped for. When I'm sad he always knows what to say to me to bring a smile to my face, even through a cloudburst of tears. He lifts me up and gives me strength and confidence.

I love the twinkle in the man's eye when he thinks something silly/corny and can't resist sharing it, like a mischievous child. He loves corny jokes, but he also has a really wicked sense of humor when he thinks something is too extreme.


I love watching him brainstorm because he has such a vivid imagination and he's so mechanically inclined that he can make wonders out of mundane objects; a ceiling fan motor, a 5 gallon bucket, a wire spool, a water bottle and a length of bed railing become a handmade stone polisher for the cabochons he cuts, polishes and sells in his ArtFire studio, CabNFever.

I've seen him use an old matching metal head and foot board set as the railing on a little curved bridge, and my old 1992 town car runs better than some of my friends' brand new cars, even though it looks weird, lol.

The thing I appreciate the most, though, is the fact that we're almost always on the same wave length. It's so rare for us to not instantly understand one another that those times we're a little out of sync can be really disruptive!

So, if you got this far, thanks for letting me share what's in my heart tonight, I hope you have some of these same warm feelings.

Now that ArtFire has left Beta

These are Open Letters to the Staff of ArtFire from Jewelry On The Rocks and glittercritter



Dear John and Danielle,

Thank you so much for having the vision and the accumen to start something as completely impressive as ArtFire and the insight to hire such gifted and nice people to help you build it. I am constantly humbled by the care that has gone into this amazing adventure and the fact that you've built it from pure imagination is one of my personal 7 wonders of the world.

Thank you so much,

Margaret



Dear Tony,

As the face and voice of ArtFire you give the site it's "personality", and we all have so much to learn from you, professionally as well as personally. You have a huge heart and an acute mind. That you have come into my life in this way is one of the many blessings that I count; your concern for me as a business affiliate and as a person have made me dissolve in tears of gratitude and wonder more than once, sometimes several times a day.

Thank you so much for being who you are and for doing what you are doing. You are a pillar of strength, a paragon of virtue and a guiding light in a world that seems to be slowly darkening. I am so fortunate to have had a chance to be even on the very edge of your influence and feel so safe knowing that your hand is at ArtFire's helm. Thank you also for your patience and fortitude.

I am so proud of the work that you and the rest of the team are doing, and so impressed by the almost seamless launch of such a massive undertaking. I promise to help in any way that I can.

Much respect, gratitude and affection,

Margaret



Dear Jen,

You are a jewel, you are so sweet and supportive and honest and kind. That you and ArtFire found each other when you're hundreds of miles apart makes me grateful to those pioneers who invented and perfected the internet. You are an amazing woman and one that makes a fabulous role model. Much love and wishes for happiness in all of your endeavors,

Margaret



Dear Caleb, Jessica, Kyle, Kirsten, Kevin and Sara,

I am eternally so glad that you're the people that are helping behind the scenes. You are the backbone of ArtFire and I am indebted to each of you personally. Thank you so much for all of your help,

Margaret