Luster Jewelry and Accessories - Blog!

Working on...

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:53:00 +0000

I'm working on a complete rework of the homepage (with pretty new graphics) and adding a whole bunch of new merchandise. Bring on the cupcakes and earrings! At least some of it should be done today!

<3
Kris

ANOTHER STORMY DAY

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:35:00 +0000

It's Sunday, all storms and tornado warnings again, so to ward off the dull grey of it all I'm working on a big update (stud earrings anyone?) and some bonus goodies for my email list members. Are you on the email list? Cross your fingers for me, I'm really hoping to make it through the whole day with power!

<3
Kris

Super Storms

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:52:00 +0000

(image via kwwl.com)

Northeast Iowa (otherwise known as HQ) used to be a really calm, quiet place to live. Sure, we had storms, it's the great plains. The last couple summers have been insane. You may have noticed a bit of a shipping delay. What started out as an ordinary storm became something much more remarkable. By the time it was all over winds were measured up to 120 miles per hour (though they can't guarantee those numbers because the equipment wasn't built to measure that high!) and Luster HQ was disconnected from power at about 4am, thanks to trees falling onto the power lines. After around 30 hours of outage power was finally restored, but internet took quite a bit longer than that. It shouldn't be too much of a mystery why orders were delayed for a while there - no power and no internet makes it tricky to check email, print order slips and shipping labels, cook food, not injure yourself in the dark, etc. As soon as things were back running we got busy catching up! I'm sorry if your stuff got caught up in this delay, I couldn't even get online to post an announcement! After last year's flooding and this year's super storms (this is after a tornado was within two or three miles of here already this summer) I'm thinking mother nature owes this city a calm, easy to survive winter ;-)

xoxo
Kris

Between you and me I've got an awesome new project coming up so if you've got pictures of you wearing jewelry from Luster track them down. I'm going to be asking for them ;-)

A Candy Making How-To

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:59:00 +0000

I made some tasty cupcake toppers for Valentine's Day (though, since I'm not a fan of cake, for me they were just tasty candy pieces!) This is what they look like:

Click here for the instructions!

<3
Kris

(This is a Secret)

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:29:00 +0000

Until tomorrow, anyway. I've posted some sparkly new Valentine's Jewelry right here, but I haven't added it to the official front page of links yet. Back to work for me!

<3
Kris

Wait... Is This Kid's Stuff?

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:16:00 +0000

If you aren't caught up on these things (and there's a good chance you aren't) the US government is changing laws about what can and can't be in products for children. In case it's not obvious, the stuff on this website is NOT for kids. Honestly. Everything is in adult sizes. Almost everything contains dangerously small pieces. Everything is handmade in the US. It all should be handled like hand made art pieces, and owned by adults. Think about it, a fake piece of candy with a pin back sticking off the back isn't a great thing to give a kid. Even the smartest kid has bad days and might decide to try that out in their mouth.

That said, every attempt is made to be sure everything here is as safe as possible. All supplies are are labeled "lead-free" from the manufacturer, and most of this stuff can't contain lead (no really, it's science.)

So, basically, Luster's not for kids. Thanks for reading this!

<3
Kris

If you want to know more about the CPSIA (and it's potentially devastating effect on small, responsible, independent businesses) you should check out this post by the very smart Dale Dougherty from Craft Magazine or this update on Etsy. I know there are a lot of things to care about in this world, but if small business matters to you this might be a good time to get involved.

You Should Be My Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:57:00 +0000

Hey, I'm a real person and I like having friends. If you haven't already tracked me down somewhere, here are some places you can find me:

Myspace

Facebook: Kristin DeGraeve

Buzznet

Twitter

<3
Kris

Comments

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:33:00 +0000

I just turned comments on because so many people seemed to want them on. Be nice or I'll turn them back off ;-)

About Shipping

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:28:00 +0000

Orders are going out REALLY SLOWLY right now. The reason is pretty simple - the midwest has been repeatedly drowned in snow over the last couple weeks. Not only are my orders shipping slowly, my supplies aren't getting to me as quickly. It's -20 outside right now (Fahrenheit - that's -28 Celsius for everyone outside the US ;-) If the cold wasn't enough we got 7 inches of snow last night, which was on top of a few inches the night before. When the plows come through and I can get out I rush to the post office, and then usually the grocery store. The weather is getting more promising into next week - the snow should (mostly) stop and it will be warmer - so I should be able to get everything caught back up then.

Thanks for your patience!
<3
Kris

The End of the Year (Already!)

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:27:00 +0000

Long time no post! The holidays were killer - I spent tons of time packing boxes full of bright tissue paper and fruit flavored mini candy canes. By the time the shipping window ended I was exhausted and managed to pick up the flu. BLAH! I'm all mended up now and back to the glittery fun task at hand. Once the glue sets and the resins dry I've got some great new princess-y rings and fun new candy stuff to get online. I'm also designing and planning a landslide of cute little stud earrings so that will be on the way just as quick as I can get them done!

Thanks so much for all of your support this year. Plan yourself a nice and safe New Year's Party and expect next year to be even more full of fun and sparkles!

<3
Kris

P.S. - If you're not already on the email list you might want to join. I'm working on some special goodies just for my email listers ;-)

Coming Soon...

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:35:00 +0000

I've been working on these for a while, I thought you might like to see a preview. They'll be online just as soon as I can get them all done! If you've joined the email list you'll be the first to see them.

<3
Kris

Glass Eyes Hold No Secrets

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:10:00 +0000

You should go to the blog I share with my sister and see some silly pictures of me.

<3
Kris

The Chaos of the Last Few Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:16:00 +0000

I've been in Texas for Maker Faire with my sister. Lucky for me, she's good about getting updates done so you can see pictures when we've pulled it all together.

Before that, we went to something that happens in my city. It's called "Tour d'Loo" and it's a tour of the annual progress downtown. She already got pictures of that together, you can check them out here.

I'm working like there's no tomorrow on new stuff. Trust me, there is a lot and it will be awesome.

<3
Kris

New Collections

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:05:00 +0000

Right now I'm working on two completely new collections! For real! One is for your hair and the other is ridiculously cute jewelry. I don't want to say much more than that for now, except that I am super excited.

I'm also redesigning some of the graphics on the site - really just because I had some new ideas and wanted use them. I love what I'm coming up with, I'll update as soon as I'm sure all the kinks are worked out!

<3
Kris

Candy

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:02:00 +0000

The downside to what I do is that I think about candy ALL THE TIME. Seriously. Beyond just wanting to eat candy I have a limited tolerance for any one candy (generally less than the package size) so I end up with tons of half-eaten bags of candy. I guess it's good that I don't make jewelry about heroin or something....

It's Either Sunday Night or Monday Morning...

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:20:00 +0000

I'm working on a new header for the site. I still love the old one but I had an inspiration for something new and I really like it so far. I'm in one of those phases where I can and will design everything. I can't wait to finish it up and show it off!

<3
Kris

Friday Afternoon Dance Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:50:00 +0000

The Pink Spiders
Little Razor Blade

Or, for a much bigger list (brought to you by the letter "L") go check out what my sister posted earlier today:

Letter L Dance Party

Glue and Glitter

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:28:00 +0000

So... since my last post I've been gluing. And gluing. And gluing. I'm hoping to finish up all of this gluing and move onto resin again - I have a ton of new ideas that I'm really looking forward to working on. I would have a picture to post this morning but my camera batteries are now on the charger - if this sunlight holds out I might get some pics worth posting later.

I have concluded that I have an unhealthy obsession with glitter. Technically it's not just glitter. The obsession is in having every color, shade, finish and size of glitter available. I seriously have 4 different colors of glitter that could all be labeled 'seafoam'. Maybe the problem isn't the glitter, it's that the glitter is in boxes. Maybe it should all be out on shimmering display....

<3
Kris

Right Now...

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:16:00 +0000

I'm editing a huge virtual stack of new stuff pictures. I've got bows, graphic cameos, shooting stars, bunnies, and fun things from the sea. I still have some work to do before they'll be ready for posting but I'm giddy to get the new stuff out there!

Back to work!
<3
Kris