New Jewelry Models

This past week there was a lot of estate sale paperwork to do as I was finishing up the six packages due the week before plus the five due after that. They take a lot of energy to accomplish so I do not do more than two per day. Between packages and helping Mother I worked a bit on jewelry. On Sunday I posted a small lot of mostly new arrival statement pieces with a couple of prior pieces mixed in. The Santo Domingo turquoise necklace, turquoise and onyx Zuni Dishta necklace and the three onyx cuff bracelets are all spoken for, the other items are available. I purchased this big piece of driftwood at one of our sales while I was gone and finally got it into use. Thankfully it fits inside my light box without having to cut it down. One thing I did not expect was for it to be back heavy and tip backwards when I put jewelry on it. I tried putting a small vintage glass on the piece on the right to balance the weight which worked but it was showing in the photo. I then tried a small bag of dog treats and that did the trick! I angled it in the corner for support. The things that go on behind the scenes! I wish I had my larger piece of cowhide that I have in Scottsdale so the background does not show. This is the first purchase I made from this Etsy maker - I selected a placemat, coaster and napkin ring. I think I will sell this set and check out the the other vendor I have been purchasing backgrounds from lately. This pattern is a little busy and it is sometimes difficult to see the details of the jewelry sometimes. I just cannot do a boring white background though! Someone got mad at me last week because I was selling a watch with a cowhide band and even though the band is way more white than black, she could not tell where the band ended and the background began. I referred her to my individual photo which I shot on a piece of wood but as is typical with rude people, there was no response.

I cannot model the jewelry I sell - a lot of times vintage cuff bracelets and rings are too small and earrings do not always look right on me. On and off for about a year, I have been trying to shoot outdoor photos of necklaces on my mannequins, both in Mount Prospect and Scottsdale but I am not having success. The quality of the photos is just not the same as the ones I take in my light box. This past week I had a light bulb moment and realized, why not try to create the mannequin look inside my light box? My first go-to was Etsy and I found some torso tabletop mannequins. They are kind of expensive because they are shipped from Macedonia. The shipping cost is almost as much as the mannequins themselves. They are having a buy two, get one free special and I was about to do it, even though the seller will not ship one to AZ and two to IL. I am glad I double-checked the measurements because they are too tall for the light box. She has a few other styles that would fit but they are not as exciting as the taller ones. What I did not expect was that I cannot find anyone else selling similar mannequins. Most of what is out there are plastic '80s style props in black or white that do not fit my aesthetic. This one is muslin with a burlap corset which I thought would be cute with Southwest Style jewelry. The shorter one is just plain burlap which is not nearly as interesting. I may end up getting the plain one and maybe I can dress it up with a little jacket. But I left the jackets in Scottsdale!

In the meantime, I did have some success when looking for creative ways to display how earrings would look on. I found these wooden jewelry models on Etsy, one is for freeform earrings and the other is for earrings that need a background for stability. I did not have much time to play around with them but tried them out with some Federico earrings. The first go-around I used all silver earrings but I like the colorful earrings much better. I made a quick collage and I like the color palette!

I also had good luck with a prop I already had, this black ceramic hand. I tried a few Federico rings with it and I like the way they came out. But I will still be on the lookout for something in brown tones which will go better with the jewelry. The wooden ones I saw on Etsy are not quite right.

I unfortunately did not get the chance to post any new jewelry to the online marketplaces but the plan is to get back to it next week. July and August are the dog days of online selling but the goal is to post as much as possible this summer so I will be ready for the holidays.

I was able to polish a bunch of budget-friendly sterling silver pieces including rings and earrings as well as some vintage sterling silver statement jewelry. I have not priced any jewelry since I have been back from Scottsdale but I did ship a bunch of priced jewelry before I left. We do not have as heavy of a sale schedule next week but I would like to make a new case for our upcoming Arlington Heights sale. First step is to change the labels in the printer from shipping to jewelry barbells but every time I think of doing it I sell another piece online and need to print a shipping label. Not a bad problem to have!

Mother needed to go for lab work Wednesday, a week prior to her ultrasounds appointment. I have been bothered by how the numerous doctors we have been to see cannot help her with her leg swelling. It has stuck in my mind how our neighbor who is keeping an eye on the Scottsdale home while we are not there mentioned that her daughter is in the field of lymphatic massage. She has been a snowbird between Scottsdale and Utah and has now decided to make the move to Scottsdale full time. She is in the process of opening up a studio for her practice. I did a little online research and the short answer was this does work. I thought that we should not wait until the fall to get help so I tried to find someone local. There are a few massage places around the area who do this but it is not covered by insurance. I also feel since there are medical issues involved medical care is needed. I then found out there were such places called lymphedema clinics. I tried to find one near us but had no luck. Then I thought to just see if Northwest Community Hospital had one and was thrilled to find they do! It is covered by Medicare Part B and happens to be in Rolling Meadows, where Mother had her stroke treatments. I really liked the approach - first step is a reduction phase and the second step is a maintenance phase and transition into self-management.

Since we were already at the primary doctor's office building, we went upstairs to leave a message for her, asking if Mother could go to the clinic. She came back with a referral the same day! It was difficult to get through to the right person to make appointments for physical therapy, we spoke with about eight different people and none of them had ever even heard of this department. But luckily someone did, she had to call back later but we were so surprised to be able to get an appointment for the next day.

We met with a physical therapist for a consultation on Thursday - he has a low-key personality but really seems to know his stuff. He is thinking there might be an infection but we need to keep an eye on it. He drew a line around the area of redness to have us check to be sure it would not spread but the pen wore off right away.  If there is an infection, it is more dangerous to move the fluid out of the legs because we do not want it to settle into the lungs. The next appointment is next Wednesday so we will let him decide if it is OK for Mother to receive the treatment. It looks like future treatment will involve another at-home machine but if it works it will be so worth it. I am mentioning all this in detail because it is important to know that there is help for those who need it, you just need to know what to look for.

That is all the news for this week, see you next time!