For your Valentine...

Give-A-Way!

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, so we decided to have a sweet little giveaway.

All you have to do is "Like" our fan page on Facebook and leave a comment here letting us know that you did.  That's it...simple!  If you're already a fan, fantastic, just let us know that as well!

Now you're wondering what's up for grabs right?  Your choice of one of our exclusive Dark Decors designed heart necklaces; "Love's Embrace", "333 Half Evil" or "My Wicked Heart".  

Please leave which one you would like in your comments along with a way of contacting if you're our lucky winner.  

The contest starts Tuesday, January 22nd and ends February 5th and is open to US only (due to the time period). 

Good luck!

Looking for a unique gift for...

...that special lady in your life or maybe just a good friend, mom, daughter?  Well we have the perfect unique gift for that "one of a kind" person.

or maybe someone who is a little bit of both....sweet and naughty!

Then again, maybe they are just "naughty" all the time...lol!

Valentine's Day will be here before we know it...so orders yours today!

Coming soon...

Here is a sneak peek of what we've been working on.  This is one of three in a series.

Crafty Clay Shoppe cutomer creations

 

Victorian Door Knocker Set- Mold

In our Clay Shoppe on Etsy we are so very blessed to provide craft tools to such an array of amazing artists. Just look what Arja of Arjas Uni Finnish Handmade Jewelry has created using molds from The Clay Shoppe by Ametista!   She is a talented polymer and precious metal clay jewelry designer and artisan hailing from the long arctic winters of Lapland and fueled by the nightless nights of the Finnish summer when the sun doesn't set.

Her work is a fusion of influences from nature, art of the ingenious Sami people of Lapland and Kalevala folklore to Celtic aesthetics, Steam-punk and contemporary design.

  Sly Fox - Mold

We eagerly look forward to seeing more work from Arja!  We invite you to view more amazing work created by our loyal customers.  To view the fabulousness click here.  

Are you a Clay Shoppe customer?  Want to have your work featured here?  Let us know by leaving a comment at the end of this post and we will contact you.

The Art of Re-Enchanting...

As many of you already know, we specialize in polymer clay, with a focus on dark yet whimsical home decor, such as artistic apothecary bottles and MoNsTeR bOxes. But what you may not know is that most of our items are crafted from re-enchanted glass, wood and other materials.

Starbucks fans will recognize these bottles.

What is Re-Enchanted?
The Definition of Re-Enchanted goes something like this...
To Enchant—
en-chant [en-chant]
-verb (used with object)
1. To subject to magical influence; bewitch: fairy tales about witches who enchant handsome princes and beautiful maidens.
2. To delight to a high degree: Her gaiety and wit have enchanted us all.
3. To impart a magic quality or effect to.

Re—
re [ree]
-prefix (used in this case with a verb)
To re-do: Can I have a do over?
To do again
To reuse, and this case to Recycle.

Chambord anyone?

In short, we re-enchant the mundane and render it magical!
At Ametista you can choose from our ever expanding selection of artistic offerings
OR you can have us custom design a piece just for you!

 Vintage Jewelry Box circa 1960, now artistically re-enchanted.

Creativity in Bloom...

We are pleased to announce the completion of a very special piece, "Creativity in Bloom". It was commissioned by an incredible jewelry designer and dear friend, Suzanne Colucci of Belandaria Designs Inc. in LA.

Her wish was to have something inspiring that could be used to hang her works in progress. She envisioned a whimsical, magical tree in a place where anything is possible and the imagination is free to roam.

This design needed to be strong enough to hold her jewelry pieces which often include strands of bead, gemstones and chain. So we started with a wooden frame and formed wire mesh around it to give it shape. (Should have worn gloves for that bit.)

After that a base coat of scrap polymer clay was applied, then a layer of black clay was laid to cover the entire piece and carved to give the effect of tree bark...being sure to carve whimsical swirls and meaningful symbols throughout.

After the carving was complete it was time for my favorite part...PearlEx metallic pigment (also avail at The Clay Shoppe)  for rich, beautiful color that shines! (I'm starting to sound like a Loreal hair color commercial here.) I should mention that while very pretty, it is not good for the hair, eyes or nose, etc...so don't put it there...trust me.

The tree stands 18" tall and is made almost entirely of sculpted polymer clay, over a frame of wood and wire mesh. It also includes examples of our work with our molds, (You can get our molds at http://theclayshoppe.etsy.com) metallic pigments and alcohol inks. Jewelry findings have been added throughout to encourage extra sparkly inspirations!

I leave tomorrow morning to bring it out to her...can't wait to see how she likes it!

If you or someone you know is interested in a custom design display please contact us via this post or at ametista_etsy@live.com

Bright blessings and happy Spring!

A Crafty Clay Shoppe Customer Creation...

Look what Roz Loftus of Rozzies Sparklies has created using molds from The Clay Shoppe by Ametista!   She is a talented Precious Metal Clay artisan from the UK who, aside from being a fabulous customer of ours, is someone who wishes she could be a singer, architect and travel writer when she grows up...(and secretly hopes she will never grow up) and we respect that.

We eagerly look forward to seeing more work from Roz!  We invite you to view more amazing work created by our loyal customers.  To view the fabulousness click here.  

Are you a Clay Shoppe customer?  Want to have your work featured here?  Let us know by leaving a comment at the end of this post and we will contact you.

Matters of the Heart

Our most lovable MoNsTeR bOx has been included in 

this heart warming Etsy Treasury, which features 

not just us, but other extremely talented 

PCAGOE members! :)

Thanks BlessedBeadJewelry!

Ametista's Holiday Give-away!

Ametista's Holiday Give-away
These festive mini holiday jars can be yours!
Enter to Win! Don't miss out!

Here's all you have to do to enter... 1. Tell us what you like about this delightful little set. Leave your comments right here at the end if this post...it's that simple!

2. PLEASE be sure to leave your contact information, either your email address or Etsy shop if you have one, so we can reach you when you win! The winner will be contacted on or after December 6, 2009. If after 24hrs if we haven't heard from that winner, we'll pick another winner.

3. We will draw the winner's name on December 6, 2009 after 5pm/pst.

We ship world wide! All are welcome to participate in this fabulous drawing! Good luck everyone and Happy holidays from Carrie & Kathy

WOW! Once again our festive Mr. Snowman made it in a treasury!

Thanks PCAGOE Team for including our Mr. Snowman in this wonderful treasury!

Be sure to click on the picture to see

more of these incredible polymer clay artists.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Purple Passion

Our hand carved "Tree of Life" mold has been included in another stunning Etsy treasury!
Yeah purple!!
Thanks roseworksjewelry

Warm and wonderful Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy...

Aren't these pieces just amazing? There are some incredibly talented artist in the PCAGOE and we are so honored to be associated with them!

Bottom right is our very popular Large Maple Leaf mold for polymer clay & PMC.

Thanks RozPetalStudio for including us in this beautiful Etsy treasury!

The JaCk SkeLLingToN MoNsTeR bOx

This MoNsTeR bOx is not for sale,
as we don't wish to go to jail.

We captured it for a review
and posted here to show to you,

these lovely pics of Nightmare fright
but Disney owns the copyright.

And though our Skelly shan't be bought
we are satisfied that he was caught.

For you see my friend, that's what we do...
...hunt MoNsTeR bOxes just for you!

See our collection of fine specimens at Ametista Artistic Offerings

A sneak peak at a "custom" MoNsTeR bOx.....

We are actually adding the finishing touches to this request for a custom MoNsTeR bOx, more details on all who and why which is very exciting...well to us that is. LOL!

More of this box will be revealed very soon......

Help us name this MoNsTeR bOx...

Here's recently captured MoNsTer bOx who refuses to tell us it's name...stubborn little bugger. So we must give it a new one and we need your help. Please leave us a comment with your name suggestion(s) ...we welcome any ideas you may have here.

We greatly appreciate your efforts in the endeavor.

UPDATE - As of 8/29/09 we have, via our Facebook and Flickr friends, the following submissions...

• Dorothy's Revenge
• Beetlejuice
• Zebra Crossing
• Wicked West
• Deep Blue Sea
• Mime-in-a-Box
• Wicked
• Ebony & Ivory
  

All very tempting! The hard part will be to pick just one, so tell us what you think. Which one would you pick?

Some Moms bake cookies...we bake skulls!

Kathy and I are gearing up for the Fall season and getting ready for
our biggest (in terms of attendance) show ever...The Age of Chivalry
Ren Fair in Las Vegas, coming this October. More info on that soon!
                                                 


These bone chilling little scalawags are some of the new items we will be
selling at the event. Handcrafted from polymer clay, baked, stained and
embellished for a nice 'bone' effect arrrrrrr. Available as rings AND pendants!

What's that? Can't make it out to Vegas in October? Not to worry...
you can get your skull gear on our shop soon...while supplies last!

Two more items coming soon to Ametista.etsy.com.....

First I just want to announce that we (Carrie and I (Ametista)) got accepted to have a booth at the Renaissance Festival here in Las Vegas starting October 9,10,&11.....Yea!
We're very excited, but more on that later....

So here are two of the items we've been working on and the "Blackthorn Artistic Apothecary Bottle" designed by Carrie is totally finished and should be up for sale this week at ametista.etsy.com.

Then there's the one I've been working on. I haven't come up with a name yet for it, but it's another creation to our MoNsTeR bOx series....LOL...I should have this one completed by the end of the week and it too can be purchased at ametista.etsy.com.

The stars are made with Night Glow clay.

So now that we have this huge event coming up soon...we'll be busy creating....creating...filling orders....creating...well you get it. But will always try to drop a few lines with upcoming items on this blog here and our other blog at www.calkatthejewelryjunkie.blogspot.com.

Be sure to check back!

Bright Blessings!

You can now find Ametista Artistic Offerings at...

Artfire.com

We are very excited to have joined this community of such talented artists
from all over the world.

We hope that you'll drop by to visit our new shop and browse other artisans as well.

Many Bright Blessings!

Crafty Clay Shoppe Customers...

Look what "dedesjewelrybox's" created with our molds. These stunning pieces are crafted from Silver PMC (Precious metal clay) which she forms, using our molds and then dries, sands, fires and polishes for a shine that only this purest of silvers can give.





This artist has done a remarkable job and we look forward to seeing more from her!