Smiles for Life-AAWD...

I was VERY fortunate and thrilled to be asked to take part in the Smiles for Life-AAWD. AAWD is the American Association of Women Dentists, who have put on a fashion show for the last 3 years, this year makes 4. The Smiles for Life event creates a fund for victims of domestic violence so they can receive free dental care at UK. The event consists of a fashion show, brunch and silent auction as well as a few vendors who donate part of their proceeds. ALL of the money that comes in for the event is donated to the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Center.

How lucky was I to be a vendor? Second line on the left... Sage K and Co.

I asked my friend beth to help me out, I had a hunch that I might need it. She was super cool about staying with me when it got incredibly busy considering she has a HUGE test coming up.

There were a few vendors, one was Lexington Healing Arts which offered a short massage right there. Another jewelry vendor who sat behind us, I would explain her jewelry as old lady-ish. Don't get me wrong, I like some of it but I can see my grandma and Aunt Carol (grandpa's sister) going nuts over there. I was extremely happy to be selling my earrings to such a young crowd, it did me well!

The set up, left side

right side

I sold my earrings as singles but they did really well in sets too.

And yes I made (painted, attached and whatever else) the frames and fabric pin board. In fact I worked long and hard to 3 days straight to get ready for this.

I decided I would give away two pairs of earrings (marketing ploy), it was a total hit and by chance a mom and daughter who entered at different times won.

You might want to stay tuned you may get a chance like this every once in a while.

And me, looking like a dork!

The brunch was amazing and the fashion show was really fun to watch, everyone came out in super stylish clothes and had so much fun being up there. Even some of the teachers participated in the show.

This is Dr. Larken

Dr. Abadi

I didn't put any pictures up of the girls or guys because I thought that might be kind of weird since we're not best-ies! I am glad I could donate some of my proceeds, I had a great time and am so appreciative I was invited!

Smiles For Life...

I need to give a big THANK YOU to all of my customers who purchased earrings from me today. If you were not aware, a portion of your purchase is going towards the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Center, which will help women and their families.

As of right now, I am in the process of doing inventory and restocking. My Etsy shop will be opening back up as soon as I can complete this.

Please allow me a few days to get things back on track!

Again thanks a million!

Hope to hear from you all soon!

Mallory Johnson

Quality of Cabochon Earrings...

When I first started doing these little beauties, I thought they were simple as can be. I purchased my posts and earnuts from a local craft store, bought some "heavy duty" glue and proceeded to attached the cabochons (resin flowers) to the posts. I sold a few here and there to family and friends but quickly learned that they weren't holding up.

I gladly accepted them back to be fixed and upon doing so went on a quest to find the best of the best.

Here is where I will show you "some" of the things I learn...

The picture above shows three cabs that are adhered to silver plated posts, the ones I bought at the local craft store. Two of these earrings were given back to me, the other one I tested on. The black one has obviously lost the posts, the coral one, although it is hard to tell, the post is actually loose (meaning the post wobbles while still attached to the plate)

This purple one is the one I tests. Because I could see the quality of the silver plated posts was not holding up, I decided to see if I could remove the post from the cab. I was surprised at how easily this was done. In fact I pulled/bent it off with a pair of tweezers. Upon taking the back off I was also shocked to see that the silver came off the post. Hence the "silver plated post". I learned right then and there that I needed to used surgical stainless steel posts (much much stronger) and as an added benefit they are hypoallergenic (which was a request from a friend who has a nickel allergy.

In addition to problems with the posts I had many people tell me that their earnuts were coming loose, in other words they weren't holding as tightly as they should. One of my clients lost an earring on a run and a few days later I lost one of mine. I tried to fix this by buying rubber ear backs, which seemed to work well but not great. The ultimate fix was changing the posts all together.

Now that I have the posts in order, lets move onto the glue. At first I was using E6000. I had heard that this was the "glue" to use. Super easy to adhere, takes a few hours or even minuets to dry and seemed to keep its hold. Wrong!

Obviously from my purple earring above it was not a permanent bond. It came off very easily.

This picture is to show that the glue was very stretchy.

Again I went on a quest to find the best glue. After a few days of searching I finally decided that I needed to use an epoxy vs a glue. The drying time on an epoxy is much longer and it requires a lot more than just glue and stick.

I developed a 7 step process to ensure that these backs to not come loose from the cab. A 7 step process that I am obviously not going to share for sales reasons. In short my 7 step process takes me around 5 minuets per pair of earrings to complete. I make sure that I am doing everything to the best of my ability and creating a product of great quality.

Now some things to note...

I am not saying that there earrings will never-ever break. Just like any product out there, things eventually succumb to wear and tare through time. My hope is that my product lasts a very long time and you get your money's worth.

I am positive that there are some amateur sellers out there, just like I once was, who are using silver plated post, e6000 or some other type of glue to create their products. I am not saying don't buy from them but be aware that there may be better options out there.

I am also positive that there are other sellers out there who are using surgical stainless steel posts/earnuts and who are also using an epoxy to create a strong bond.

In the end, it's your decision on what you want to buy and from whom. I just want you to beaware of what you are buying and what will last.