New Items And Free Shipping Promo! ... your thoughts on permanent free shipping?

Hi Ladies!

I've been pretty busy, catching up with custom orders and doing school-related stuff. I'm also scurrying to finish a bunch of new items for Whole Earth Festival from May 7- 9 at UCD. I'm going to be displaying jewelry for sale at the UCD Craft Center's table =)-- if you're in the area, stop by!

I also wanted to thank everyone who dropped by and left an answer to the question from my last post: What drink would you be, and why? I thought this one was pretty interesting, and wanted to share:

i would be the big jug of koolaid that runs through walls
seems like fun
and demonstrates that under my soft demeanor im a strong and independent woman

dont mess (lol) <3

-joey

Congrats, joey! You've won the a pair of kidney wire earrings :D. If you can drop me an email with your shipping address. that'd be amazing =) heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

For future reference, creativity counts when answering these questions! The more memorable you are, the more likely you'll win =)


Free Shipping?
In honor of Mothers' Day, I wanted to offer FREE SHIPPING on all orders placed between now and May 3rd, 2010. Please put the code "MD2010" in the comments section during checkout. You'll be REFUNDED your S/H charge after you make payment. 


And on the topic of shipping, how do you guys feel about me changing my prices a bit so that it includes free worldwide shipping? Shipping costs includes cost of time, materials, boxes, packaging and postage. I know it turns people off to have to pay an additional cost on top of what you see, and refunding shipping charges can be a hassle. Thoughts? Keep in mind a package with 1 earring in it takes about $2.50 to pack and ship.


Here are some new things I've added to the website that I haven't had the chance to show off on blog just quite yet:

Oh man, the rondelles on these POP and are SUPER shiny. This is the second time I've worked with multi-faceted rondelles (the aquamarine beads), and they are PHENOMENAL. Well worth the price. SWAROVSKI crystals are priced not only by the size of the crystals, but also how many cuts a crystal has-- making this one shiny piece.



This bracelet also makes a beautiful bridesmaid bracelet!

More kidney wire earrings:


Another Galactic (popular) earring!


I had these floral hoops in white gold a while back... now introducing them in gold =)


Starfish!


These red/gold earrings were inspired by one of my older designs, but with a "lucky" twist. Red and Gold are the luckiest colors in Chinese culture =)


Violet AB version of Butterfly Dreamin'


Now these hooks are kinda special-- they're not disconnected from the piece! Generally, we see french ear wires separate from the piece, but these are connected. Grab these quick at such a low price!






This particular green is STUNNING. There are few words that can describe how awesome it is. Not quite as dark with emerald, but definitely darker than peridot. It's called "erinite". PRETTY.


Greige is the hottest color of the season! Grab these for your everyday/work wear!


I finally settled on a signature style of pearl bracelet... pearls with some extra "bling".
I also tried really hard to price this reasonably-- can you believe those small sterling silver spacer beads are $1 each by themselves?
The leaf toggle really makes this piece a classic.


Another uni-sex necklace! I know that the jet pegasus has been really popular among the dudes-- so this one's for you! It comes on a nice 17-inch leather necklace =)


BTW, Jen WAS having a giveaway on Youtube to celebrate her 10K subscribers on her channel.
I was going to post this earlier but was too swamped with work :(. Oh well, doesn't hurt to visit her channel anyway-- she's got tons of beauty reviews (her recent batch of items are Lioele).

Can you see that she's wearing the HQCD Crown/Pearl dangles? ;)

That's all for now.
Shop HQCD Jewelry HERE.

I promise that the next post will be the huge giveaway I've been saving ;)

love,
Lisa
heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com
I'm always open for custom orders/questions/comments!

New Earrings & Mothers' Day Special =), Small Giveaway

Hi everyone!
Happy end of the week =)

I'm generally horrible with posting special listings for Holidays--- but I'm finally able to do it in time for Mothers' Day!

Show Mom you love her by giving her a lasting gift (with an excellent price tag....)

Colors were specially paired together to show the nurturing and feminine side of Mom =)
Very gentle design, simple and clean.

And some more earrings-- back to a little more special and detailed =)

These are back! I finally found these links again. These floral earrings were my top seller last year =)


And finally bringing these back as well =)


A play on the other golden ribbons I had =)


And some more bridal earrings:

I like making bridal earrings that can be worn outside of the big event-- something that's versatile and beautiful, but not over the top =)

Over the weekend, I'm gonna make a video, as well as an entry for my 500-sale giveaway.

General note:
I'm putting my shop on hold from May 7- May 9 because I'll be selling at the whole earth festival at UCD. If there's something you've had your eye on, please get it now. Once things get sold at Whole Earth, I won't guarantee that they'll be back in stock.


Small Giveaway
Open to residents world wide. Will announce chosen winner when I make my next blog entry. Could be tomorrow... could in be a few days, so get your entry in quick!
Answer the following question for a chance to win these:

If you were a drink, what kind of drink would you be and why?
Leave your thoughtful or creative responses in a comment to this blog entry =)

love,
Lisa
Shop HQCD HERE.
heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

Everyday Classic Collection, Quick Post

School is busy busy, which is why I haven't been able to blog as much :(
I've gotten quite a few requests to make a youtube vid to better show off those Triangle bracelets-- will do, as soon as I get the chance, probably this weekend =)

I added to my Everyday Classic collection-- this is a simple collection that features just 1 crystal or pearl or so-- everyone's been asking for a simpler selection, so I hope this is good!

A good friend of mine asked me to make these for his girlfriend-- HE came up with the design! Thanks :D

The Everyday Classic collection has been modeled after the above earrings designed by my friend.

Here's a look:





At $12 a pair, these are VERY affordable, not to mentioned, made with the best sterling silver ear wires!

See those beautiful earrings HERE. 

Also, bringing back the first type of bracelet I made when I first started making jewelry:

Cute, also only $20 =)

And something new.... and pretty different.
I'm not a fan of a simple strand of pearls, but when I saw these BEAUTIFUl faceted roundelles, I HAD to make a simple, FRICKEN SHINY piece.

The more facets (cuts) a crystal has, the shiner and pricier it is. This is the only all-crystal strand bracelet I've ever made :



You can find out more about the bracelet HERE.

Okay, so that was a SUPER quick post. Keep your eye out for my giveaway coming up! It'll be a big one =)

love,
Lisa
SHOP HQCD
heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

Glass Bead Making Adventure & New Items + Exclusive Discount!

I'm excited to share with all of you that I took my first glass bead making class last night!! Being a crafty person, and specifically jewelry artisan, I'm always drawn to new ways of really making jewelry, not just designing pieces from already made materials. As such, I can showcase more original work =)

I took a class at the UCD Craft Center last night with a veteran glass bead maker, and it was scary, fun, and eye opening. It takes an unexpected level of skill to properly manipulate glass, and I've barely grazed the tip of the grass. WORKING WITH FIRE = OOOOOOOOO AHHHHHHHH

We melted soft glass rods like this:


And melted them over a flame using various skills that the teacher showed us to make beads like these:


FUN FUN FUN!
I'm also a volunteer at the Craft Center. My hours are Friday 12 noon - 5 PM. If you're around, drop by and say hi! I can show you some of the things we do here.
BTW, SOAP MAKING is now available! They haven't offered it for a while so this is exciting for me, especially since I've been wanting to do it for a while =)

I made more macarons last week... hahaaa, just had to show you again.
This weekend, I'm making a batch to send some special ladies... ;)




Some new work:








I got some new, AWESOME looking earrings cards! I designed em myself, and got them printed by ZAZZLE.

I stopped making my own because it took forever to cut -_-. At least with these, I only need to cut very few cards.

I'm giving out Japanese Strawberry/Chocolate kit kats with all orders over $20! I spent over $50 on these babies to give out-- I hope you like them!


Exclusive Promos for HQCD Blog Readers
8% off ALL purchases!
Applicable on orders placed and paid for between April 16 - April 20, 2010. No E-Checks, please!
Input code "BRP416_20" in the COMMENTS section during checkout.
The difference will be REFUNDED back to your PayPal/Credit Card AFTER payment has been made. 8% discount is applied to total prior to Shipping and Handling.

General Announcements:
- Anything NOT sold before May 7th will be put on sale at UCD's Whole Earth Festival.
If you've had your eye on some pieces, please buy them now because I can not guarantee that they will still be available!
- Please, no haggling! HQCD prices reflect top craftsmanship and materials, not to mention valuable time and effort put into artistic design. I value my work, and hope that you will, too. =)

Also, I'm having a giveaway soon to celebrate reaching 500 sales on E-Crater! Keep your eyes on this blog :D

love,
Lisa
SHOP HQCD HERE
Email me for custom orders/questions: heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

Giveaway Winner, Macaron Success And new LUX Bracelet =)

Thanks to everyone who entered the quick, 2-day HQCD Anniversary giveaway!
The winner is Nikki
Congrats, love! Please email me your shipping address: heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

Some of you may remember that I tried to make French Macarons a couple of weeks ago. They tasted good, but were super fail as far as what they looked like :X

If you need a reminder, this is what they looked like:

Oh, the horror. Cracked tops, no "feet" at the bottom. Stuck to the parchment paper like no other.

And what they're SUPPOSED to look like:


I have a strange obsession with macarons right now. The fact that they're hard to make and obscenely expensive to buy in stores makes them all that appealing to try and make :X

Yesterday, I tried my hand at them again. The tricky thing about making macarons is the technique-- the actual ingredients are VERY basic.

And this is what I ended up with:





Perfection. Well, almost. Next time I'll try to make them perfectly round. BUT I was so, SO happy. I think I screeched when I took them out of the oven :X. They're just regular sugar flavored with chocolate ganache filling, but I used some food coloring to make them baby pink in color-- matches well with the chocolate.

I wish that shipping these would be easier, or else all of my customers would definitely be getting one of these.

Jewelry news...

New threaders:
Lil'Fish:


And introducing HQCD Triangle Lux Bracelet:

Because this bracelet is so awesome and took me eons to make, I must spam as many photos of it as I possibly can.

It's 3-D, triangular. Beaded with fishing wire, but the fishing wire is completely invisible :D


The clasp, and greige heart.
Did you know Greige or Grey tones are the hottest colors of the season?


And one more closeup, because I'm in love.


You can find out more about the bracelet HERE.
Talk to me about customizing one =)-- your colors, your charm (or none, just plain bracelet is stunning in of itself).

As always, don't forget to use one of the promotions on the side-bar when you're placing an order!

I'm at 499 sales on my E-Crater site! That's crazy, considering I only really started listing jewelry on there since last August. Before that, I've been selling on Soompi Forums for years, and managed to get over 1400 sales :D. I'm having ANOTHER giveaway the second I reach 500 sales on E-Crater! So... look forward to that =)

love,
Lisa
SHOP HQCD
heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com
* Don't hesitate if you have questions, requests, or just want to say 'hi'!

Happy Birthday, HQCD! HQCD Pocket Mirrors and Giveaway in celebration =)

April 8th marks the 6th year I've been making jewelry, and 5 years of selling jewelry online-- it's amazing that I'm still doing this, and it's all because of you guys =) THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL.

I wanted to make a couple of pieces to celebrate this, and they're at a special price.
Necklaces for the Anniversary Specials are all RHODIUM plated. Rhodium is a metal of the platinum family, generally VERY safe-- it IS a little darker than sterling silver, however. It doesn't tarnish as easily as sterling silver, and is one of my favorite plating metals for charms =)

There is only ONE of each necklace available, and I WILL NOT be replicating them!




Some new Earrings =)




^ These feather studs are love.


Get em quick! Only one of each piece available.

For those who love HQCD, I've ordered some custom POCKET MIRRORS =)

You can get them HERE
At $3.75 each, these are a bargain! I'll probably also give some of these out to my loyal customers with their future orders =)

ALSO...

BTW, Alice in Wonderland fans-- ALICE has hit SWAROVSKI. Check it out HERE.
Okay, so they're expensive-- but aren't they just insanely adorable?

HQCD 2010 Anniversary Giveaway

Enter for a chance to win the following:
- Tokyo Bay Cosmetic Bag
- Clinique Travel size Moisturizer
- Clinique Lipstick
- HQCD Addict Pocket Mirror
- HQCD Amethyst Briolette Earrings


Rules of Entry
- Open to residents world wide
- Must be 18 years of age or older, or have parent permission to enter
- You must be a follower of the HQCD blog-- you don't need a blog to be a follower =)
- Limit 2 entries/person
- Ends April 10, 2010
- Check back here on April 11, 2010 to see if you've won! Please DO NOT leave your emails in your comments.


How to Enter
- For your FIRST entry, comment with a link to your favorite HQCD item from my SITE.
- For (1) additional entry, make another comment with a link to either your blog/twitter/myspace/fb or whatever networking site where you have helped to spread the word about this giveaway


This is a QUICK Giveaway, so get your entries in NOW! And don't forget to SPREAD THE WORD! Good luck! Winner will be announced on April 11, 2010 =)

ENDED! Thank you for entering :D


love,
Lisa
SHOP HQCD
heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com