Happy Halloween everyone and with that said, bring on the holidays! I have already seen way to many ads on TV and it is in the store displays and it all seems way too early. But, since I am technically a retailer I am forced to think about this stuff early too. I am making as many jewelry items as I can to stock my stores full of different designs and make a price point for everyone.  Stick around, new items will be flowing in soon.

I buy top quality beads and materials for my bracelets but I must say that for them to be affordable some findings(clasp, jump rings,stringing wire) are silver plated. Even with the best care, that plating will wear away after a while and the brass core will start to show. Even sterling silver will discolor and I know it sounds gross but skin and dirt and oils will get into the beads and spaces between. If this happens to your favorite Desert Star Creation, send me an email. I will give you my address and you can ship it back for refreshing. I will clean and even replace parts of the bracelet that have become damaged or dirty. Even if I have to re-string the entire bracelet 10 years from now, I will do it at no charge to you. You will have to pay to send it to me but that is it. There are some items I will not be able to do much with, a simple pair of earrings will shine up well with the proper cleaning solution and polishing cloths. This refreshing is meant for mostly bracelets like my awareness charm bracelets, some necklaces and a select style of earrings.
If you have broken a piece of Desert Star Jewelry, send it to me even if it is in pieces and I will fix it for you for free as well. Again, all you pay is to ship it to me. If the item breaks and you are unable to find all the pieces you can even send it to me then and I will find an affordable way for you to have your favorite Desert Star item back as good as new.
I love all my jewelry and I want it to last and I hope you feel the same way about the items you buy from me. I will always offer to clean and refresh or even repair or replace all or parts of your jewelry for as long as you own it and want to continue to wear it. I want your favorite jewelry to look great every time you put it on and even when you pass it on to your family.
Any questions, please email me. I am always here for my customers.
Laura

With the holidays soon arriving I wanted to post a quick note on shipping that applies to my shop policies as well as a lot of online shops. 
I use USPS mainly for the ease of use and because EVERYONE deals with the post office. I send all my packages via USPS first class mail and I usually ship within 24 hrs, 6 days a week. I also always get delivery confirmation so that there is a tracking option to see the progress and state of the package. I also offer USPS Priority mail 2-3 day service. I found out the hard way one time that even though you are paying for a faster shipping method, Priority DOES NOT guarantee delivery in that time frame. It is a service for faster delivery but without a promise to be there. If you want a guarantee you must use Express mail. Post office delays are inevitable, machines, car, plane issues and weather are the most common and that doesn't account for human error but I think for the price and options USPS is the best choice. UPS and FedEX are not very cost effective for a small business let alone a sole crafter selling her items for extra craft cash.
Once an item has left the sellers hands it then becomes the shippers responsibility but remember they DO NOT promise anything unless you pay for it. Express has that higher price tag and a promise of delivery buy a certain time. You can also buy insurance on the item to protect against damage or loss, promising some restitution. 
Most shops have these standard policies for the shipping of items along with letting you know that they DO NOT offer any refund of items lost or delayed as well as not refunding the shipping cost of returned/exchanged items.
I go above and beyond to make my customers happy so if there is something special you need, a custom item or special shipping and handling just ask, I will try my best to make or get you what you need. Happy Shopping!

When I started beading I was always looking for a bargain. I didn't want to spend too much on materials not only for my own pocket book but because it was then just a hobby that I was just learning. As I started to get better and decided to start selling my items I was pricing them low because of lack of knowledge and it was still in a hobby stage. The more knowledge I gained and better I got at designing, not only beauty but for function, I wanted desperately to work with the precious metals and to buy top quality beads like Swarovski Crystals and sterling silver findings over silver plated brass. It took me about 6 months of selling online to get the funds up and to be able to start buying sterling silver clasps, chain, ear wires, and Swarovski crystals. I have a great collection of the crystals now and I keep a regular stock of them as well as the sterling silver. Of course the more top quality materials drives the price of the jewelry up as well and I have had people tell me that my prices are still low. 

I just wanted to re-assure some that the products you see in my Etsy and Art Fire shops is handmade and most is one of a kind made by me, Laura in my Las Vegas home. I included a slide show below with pictures of my studio/office. You can see from the images that I am the one and only creator of all my jewelry, paper products and photography. I do buy supplies in bulk (that is where the supply store came from) and some of it comes from China but even if it is as simple as a pair of earrings or beads strung on a Pandora Style bracelet the design is all me. Rest assured that aside from my awareness bracelets(I make many of these) the items are One or Few of a Kind. I may see a pattern from a magazine or a piece at a store and replicate it but I am still making it by hand and using my own colors/design to make it my own.  If you have any concerns or comments on my products design or how they are put together and with what materials, just contact me. I am happy to answer any questions you have. Also if you purchase an item from me and it breaks, contact me and we will arrange to have it sent to me and I will fix it for Free. I use top quality wire, thread, crimps and glues but accidents happen. If you lost some beads or charm in a break we can still make arrangements to get it fixed and/or replaced, most at no cost to you besides the shipping. I pride myself on customer service and I will help you get exactly what you need, just ask!

I order a lot online and I always take note of the packaging and presentation of the items, it really speaks to the character of the seller. Most shipping and packaging materials are in now way pretty or fun, just functional. I try my best to find good quality in my materials for my jewelry and in my packaging, make it stand out. It is a bit of branding on my part, just another detail that most of the time will probably be over looked but why not package your beautiful items, beautifully!
Most of the packages I get are in small boxes but most are the yellow, manila padded envelopes that the majority of people use. I don't like them but I must say there is more than one use in most of those and in a small attempt to make less waste and save a bit of money,  I will package my items in a previously shipped padded envelope. Next time you get a package, take note and look at the materials, can you use them again? in the same way or for another use?
I don't have the money to spend on special packaging for my items but I do like them packaged safely and in a nice looking manner. I buy in bulk the small (4x8) padded poly bubble mailers but I get mine in white. It is just a cleaner look and the plastic is durable and doesn't pick up dirt as much as the manila ones that are paper. My shipping label is centered on the front and the back has a nice return address label with my name, Desert Star Creations and my logo all in my colors. I also include a card taped under the return address label with 3 Qr codes on them, one for the Facebook page, one for the ArtFire shop and the third for this site. It fits on there nicely and it can be a free bit of advertising.
Now, for the goodies inside the package! My items are first placed in a small zip bag for the best possible protection and it can be used to keep it that way in a jewelry box or other storage. Then I place it in a sheer organza gift bag and placed with a jewelry care instruction card and a couple business cards that I am hoping get handed to friends when they ask "Where did you get the great bracelet?" Then all those items are placed in another thin plastic bag, folded and a sticker with my logo holds it all together. I also make it a point to hand write "Thank you!" to the purchaser. A little extra personal touch goes a long way. 
When it comes to my gift boxes, available for only $1.49 each with purchase of any item in my shops, I go even further. With some instruction from the buyer, I make a handmade paper gift box and matching gift tag. I try and create the box with matching (to the item) colored card stock and add even more special details to the gift. If it is a birthday gift and it is being sent directly to the recipient, I make the box in matching colors and will add small details like a butterfly punch to make a peep-a-boo window in the box and the card out of the same card stock as the box. If it is a Valentines day gift then the box would be red or pink with a heart punch and matching tissue paper and ect. Just small details that make the item and the gift more memorable. 
Not only is this going to help them remember the packaging but the great customer service so that the next time they order and they get that white envelope in the mail, they know exactly what that is and that it has been made with great care and detail and of course with them in mind. Everyone will see that even the simple things like packaging is special and that the crafter (me) has gone the extra mile to create a shopping experience and that every part of the sale and every customer is special and means something to them.
I hope some day soon, when I am making a good income from my crafts I can make an even better effort to package my items even nicer. Just a little extra touch to an already special item to help keep you in their mind next time they go on-ling to make a jewelry purchase or gift and making your packaging even recognizable.

I understand addiction is a problem, a very serious illness in most cases but I don't think there is hope for me. I already deal with an illness everyday but to deal with an illness and an addiction, well it just isn't fair! How much can one person take? OK, not that I am making light of any illness or addiction but this is one addiction I am happy to deal with that my wallet and husband hate. I can not just buy one!
I think back to when I started the beading game and that first trip to the bead store. I was not 100% sure on what to buy. I spent a couple hours looking over the selection and finding out what I could afford and what I liked best and made my plan of action. It seems to me that I find a bead or color I like and I stick to it and buy as many as I can get my hands on. I think back now and look at the stock of supplies I have and wonder "what was I thinking buying this much?"  
When I found Fire Mt and Shipwreck beads I was thinking these wholesale sites aren't for me, I just want a couple beads to make a pair of earrings. I ended up buy a lot of bead mixes which helped me figure out what I like and what I would be willing to spend on some of the higher quality items. So you would think that helped me focus on the quality and style of bead I wanted, not so! I have the Fire Mt website open and I use it every day to either learn about a technique or look for an item that will help with a current project which always leads me to add more to my cart. I still see something I like, take the recent gemstones that I have been obsessed with, and I get a ton of it! I purchase 3 cabs from Marie at Superior Agates, (my last blog is all about it) I fell in love with her work and proceeded to buy 12 more cabs from her! Don't get me wrong, she does amazing work for a great price and I will used all of those cabs to make more jewelry to list on my site but did I really need 12 more cabs? I have 4 more already picked out, see, problem! I even went to Michaels and got some nice Jasper and Onyx and placed an order with Fire Mt for some Jasper, Howlite and Labradorite. I know have a ton of gemstones when just last week I was saying I was happy to add a couple of items to my shop made from Gemstones but that it will never take over the beautiful Swarovski and glass beads I use everyday. So, why did I buy so much?!?!
I see now that this has been the case with most of the materials I work with in my jewelry making and paper crafting products as well. I set up a second desk in my office about a year and a half ago just for my beading. I spent a lot of time last year buying in bulk on Ebay from China stocking up on Pandora style beads and supplies. I got so much to the point it prompted me to set up my supply destash store and it quickly became clear that I had a problem when I went through my stock and added over 200 items to destash. WOW, that is a lot of extra beads!!!
You would think going through my stock and setting up my destash store taught me that I buy too much, nope! I got it in my head just after the Holidays that I wanted to try some paper crafting. My cousin in San Diego sends the cutest cards on every holiday so off to Michaels I went and in 5 short months I have a 3rd desk in my office for paper crafts. I didn't just buy a few sheets of paper, some glue and a couple tools, I have over 60 punches, over 30 packs of paper, buckets of pens and a ton of glitter and stamps! I have a problem!!! Just look at the slide show to the right to see my office.
So as I add more and more to the destash shop I also am set to make any craft I want. All these materials and I still have 3 or 4 websites with full shopping carts, apparently I don't listen to the voices in my head! At least I use them and I do make things that go to use for myself but mostly for all of you. I have just listed some note card sets and I am working on some fun Halloween cards. I have a new pair of Chargers earring to list and Marie's cabs are calling. Thanks for reading all about my addiction, for which I see no cure! 

Dont get me wrong, I love mother earth. I am always amazed at what nature can do. I love storms, we get a few in the desert and most of them are in with a bang of thunder and out with a lightning strike. I camp a lot out in the dunes and deserts here in Nevada and in So. Cal and even though I run a quad and off road buggy all over the surfaces I am still very respectful and I always try to clean even more than just my own trash when I leave.  With that said, do I want nature in my jewelry? 
My personality is a big one and I think my jewelry shows that. There are not a lot of dainty items,  the colors I choose are always bold and bright and even though I am far from a girly girl I like shiny, sparkling crystal. Gemstones to me have always been muted earthy tones and subtle shapes so I never dreamed I would be buying and using gemstones and semi-precious stone in my jewelry designs. I have always love quartz and growing up in southern California and playing in the dirt with the boys, I found a lot of quartz in the ground. I still collect rocks, I find a lot of neat ones out in the local desert. I stopped in a bead shop here in Vegas, one I only go to once a year and I found these great 14X8mm Ice Flake Frosted Quartz rounds and I wanted to by all they had. I gained some perspective and only purchased 4 of them. After I used them in a pair of earrings I knew I wanted more. I went to the online bead shop I use for 90% of my items and got another string of the Frosted Quartz and I have been trying to find the muse for them ever since. 
To me, quartz doesn't look like a gemstone, it is either clear or frosted and now they also dye quartz too. I found some pretty blue and purple 10mm flaked quartz discs as well. But other than that I wasn't thinking of using any other gemstones in my work, that is until I met Marie. Marie has come up with an ingenious way of making you fight to get gemstones. She live in Minnesota and has a quarry close to her home. She became obsessed with rocks and eventually made  great little business out of her hobby, cutting and polishing gemstones. Now everyday Marie goes about her routine knowing there are hundreds of people sitting in cyber space waiting anxiously for her to post her daily creations on her Facebook Fan page. She has a Album she keeps adding photos of her creations to everyday and if you would like to purchase her beautiful hand cut and polished cabochons all you have to do is comment under the photo of the one you like. Easy, right? Not so! You have to be quick and catch them as they are being posted. The first person who comments "mine please" is the winner, so to speak. I purchased a blue Goldstone cab from her, my first gemstone aside from the quartz beads and I am hopelessly hooked! Now, keeping in mind what I said about gemstones, they are earth tones, pale colored rocks and I would never work with them, boy oh boy, was I ignorant or what! Marie finds the most beautiful stones of all colors and her talent just makes them more desirable. I have looked into gemstones and I was kind of right about them, most are beads I would never use in my work but they also dye them into pretty colors and others are great colors in the natural state. So now I have a couple items in my shop and I will be adding a few more. You will never see gemstones take over the Swarovski Crystal and beautiful glass beads I use everyday but there are a few of Marie's beauties in a drawer in her office with my name on them and you may see a few wire wrapped or just simply hung on a silver chain in my shop soon. Thanks to Marie I can bring you all even more variety and choices in my shop.  Coming soon!
For more info on Marie and her great stones, http://www.facebook.com/SuperiorAgates!

Hello all. I have finally taken the time to build my own website and buy my domain name. I am so proud of the work I have done on all my craft projects but especially my jewelry. I have all my jewelry and cards for sale on Art Fire and maybe soon I can get enough of a following to sell directly from this site. Take some time and look around and I will try not only to entertain with my blog but to share my creative process and add some sparkle to your life! Feel free to contact me for any reason or just to say Hi!