Custom Photo Pendants for Mother's Day

I'm offering custom photo necklaces for Mother's Day. If you want one, please contact me to place your order. Send me a digital photo (one that you have permission to reproduce) and I will reduce it to fit the pendant. I recommend photos that can be cropped into head shots because this particular pendant is small. But this is, after all, a custom pendant so I will work with whatever photo you choose. However, I will not use photos with inappropriate or distasteful images so please don't even ask if that is what you had in mind.

Get your orders in by May 4 to ensure delivery by Mother's Day!

A Word About Copyrights and an Artist's Intellectual Property

The hot topic of the day is copyright protection. It is common sense that copying someone else's work is stealing, but there are many people out there who think that its ok. For those of you who think stealing is ok, I frown upon the person or people who failed to instill moral values in you. Most of the time, people will steal because they feel that the consequences of their actions are minimal if any. So I'm publishing my two cents in this blog to hopefully change your mind about stealing other people's artwork.

Remember that an artist owns the copyrights to their works the very second is it created. If you copy their work, you can be sued. It is true that a person must register their works with their local copyright office in order to legally enforce their copyright. However the concept, which is common sense, is that the work belongs to the artist, so don't copy it.

On the other hand, I believe in idea sharing. Being a software designer, I know that it's not always a good idea to reinvent the wheel, so we reuse code all the time. We call this reusable code "libraries." In an art sense, it's a bit more complicated. If you reproduce even a portion of the artwork, you are still infringing on copyrights. So I'm making this blog my official permission grant for other artists to get ideas from - but NOT COPY - my designs. Let me add a bit more fine print just to make sure we understand each other.

I post pictures of my designs in my blog and on MySpace mainly to promote my Etsy store, but also to inspire beginning jewelry designers. In fact, it would be the biggest ego-booster for me if someone would send me a picture of a jewelry piece that was inspired by one of my designs. However if you make an exact copy of my work, it's ok until you make a profit from it. So if you copy one of my designs and sell it as your own, you are stealing from me. On the other hand, I will give you permission to modify my design in any way, as long as you give due credit. For example, let's say you make a necklace I designed, but you use different color beads. Now this is truly your design, but when you display it please state, "Inspired by O June Jewelry" or something to that effect. This way, you will be respectful to myself and other artists who inspire your work.

The whole concept about copyrights and intellectual property is about respect. So I encourage you to be respectful to other artists and not copy their work. I have officially given permission for artists to "partially" copy my work, but other artists may not be so giving. Remember that you must ask permission if you would like to copy their work or even post pictures of their work on your website or blog. I DO NOT give permission to take my photos of my jewelry for your own use, but I will allow you to post links to the sites where my photo is located - that is, the whole website and not just a link to the file. If you must use my photos, you must ask for my permission in writing and I will grant it on a case-by-case basis. Also, just to add more fine print, I can reverse these permissions I have granted at any time without notice.

So I hope after reading this blog I have changed your mind about copying another artist's work. As an artist, I put my heart into all my work and I think you should, too. If you put your heart into it, then there is no need to copy someone else's work.

About Me

I decided to blog about me. I feel that if you know a little bit about an artist's personality, you find more (or less) appreciation for their work. So here's a brief autobiography about the person behind O June Jewelry.

My name is Omega June. I am the youngest child out of five children. Yes, my real name is Omega. No, my oldest sibling is not named Alpha. My family is of Filipino decent. I was born in Reno, Nevada. I spent most of my childhood in a small town called Fernely, which is now getting more and more visible on the map. After high school, I went straight to college. I moved to sunny Phoenix, Arizona and attended DeVry University where I finished my undergraduate degree in computer engineering technology in 2003. Yes, I am a total nerd! Then I moved back home to Reno and ended up earning an MBA from the University of Phoenix in 2007.

I wish making jewelry would pay my mortgage, but that's just not the case. I am working for a gaming company as a firmware engineer. I actually love my job. I tell my boss all the time that I'm glad that I have a job where I am constantly being challenged. But honestly if I had a choice, I would prefer to be a stay-at-home-mom so I could spend all day everyday with my beautiful daughter. I am happily married to a wonderful man and we have to most beautiful daughter, a stinky dog, and a cat with an attitude. Our family is perfect! When I'm not chasing my toddler or yelling at my husband to take out the trash, I'm making jewelry.

I started making jewelry because I enjoy it. I love looking at a finished piece and thinking, "wow, I made that!" After making my first necklace, I became a bead addict. When I find beads that I like, I buy then without thinking twice. I actually had to stop going to my local bead shop for a while after I received my credit card statement!

I am a self-taught jewelry designer and today I am still learning new techniques. I think jewelry making is a great hobby where you can never stop learning. I'm not one of those artist who keep an art journal and make jewelry designs on paper. Instead, I see what's in my bead trays and throw something together. I love reading books about jewelry making and other jewelry blogs. I would never copy another artist's work, but instead just learn from them.

(Margo Potter wrote a great blog about artist's intellectual property. It's worth a read. Here's the link.)

Right now, I'm learning wire-wrapping techniques. I offered to make all my friends simple bead rings for free just so I could practice. Here's how they turned out.

If you're laughing, I'm definitely laughing with you. These rings are very messy and have suffered unnecessary abuse from my pliers. But hey, they're pretty good for a wire rookie, don't you think?

Maybe I'm getting a little of the main subject. I have more wire projects that I am currently working on and will post a blog about them soon!

So this is a little about me. I hope you like me so far! Keep reading my blogs and you'll get to know me more over time. If you're on MySpace, check out my profile at http://www.myspace.com/ojunejewelry. If you have any comments or suggestions about my work, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading my blog!

O.J.

Inspired by Margot Potter

Before I started making jewelry, scrapbooking was my favorite hobby. I had collected boxes full of scrapbook supplies. Then I read Margot Potter's Beyond the Bead. One of the projects in her book was making "faux-enameled" pendants out of chipboard. Of course, Ms. Potter's version was more elaborate than my version, but the concept is the same.

These two pendants shown here are my first attempt at making jewelry out of scrapbook embelishments. I had a few printed chipboard circles. With my amazing Crop-A-Dile (thanks Gina), I punched a hole for the jump ring. I added a self-adhesive acrylic flower emblishment. To hide the paper look, I painted the back of the circles using a metallic silver colored acrylic paint. Then I added one coat of dimensional adhesive on the back and two coats on the front. To top it off, I followed Margot Potter's example by adding some jump rings and bead dangles.

I listed these two pendants in my Etsy shop as PIF items and they sold the same day. I plan on making more chipboard pendants and selling them as PIF items on Etsy. These two pendants sold like hotcakes, so check my Etsy listings often if you want one!

I really enjoyed making these pendants. Margot Potter is my hero. If you haven't read her books, I think it's worth the trip to the book store or the public library. After reading Beyond the Bead, I find myself examining just about every object to see if it has jewelry possibilities. I hope Margot Potter and I will inspire you to make your own chipboard pendants and have a blast while doing it.

FREE Jewelry and Other Handmade Items

Pay It Forward (PIF) means that you pay the debt in a form of a good deed done onto others. On Etsy, there are tons of sellers who give their jewelry away and only ask for you to "Pay It Forward." I invite you to go on Etsy to check out the PIF items. Just do a search for "PIF" or here's a link.

I'm writing a blog about this because I like the PIF concept. I think that if everyone goes out of their way to do something nice for someone else, the world would be a better place. That's why I will try to keep PIF items in my Etsy shop at all times. See my Etsy shop at http://ojunejewelry.etsy.com.

The true PIF items are listed for only 20 cents. However, some Etsy sellers are trying to sell their items for fundraisers and will ask for a higher price and promise to donate all the money to a non-profit group. Check the PIF listings often and hopefully you'll buy one of more of those items and pay it forward with a random act of kindness.

Happy Easter!

Welcome to my jewelry blog!

My name is Omega. I am addicted to making handmade jewelry. I'm starting this blog so that I can share my passion for jewelry making. I am continually learning new techniques and will try to list all my adventures in jewelry making here.

I started making my own jewelry because it's much more cost-efficient than purchasing mass-produced jewelry, and most of all because it's fun. It's so easy to create something that's truly yours and unique.

I have some of my jewelry for sale in my Etsy shop. See what I have for sale at http://ojunejewelry.etsy.com.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade ojunejewelry.etsy.com