Birthday loot!

I recieved a very thoughtful gift card to a neato bead shop called Stony Creek Bead for my birthday, and this is my haul! I grabbed some brass and copper flowery skull guys, some great big honkin' lobster clasps, a strand of pretty red pearls and a cache of Elements Pottery by Duane Collins raku baubles because I couldn't leave the freakin' store without them. They knock my socks off, and I can't wait to include them in some super epic bling!


This isn't the only beady goodness I picked up for my birthday. I spoiled myself rotten with two strands of big, chunky Mexican fire opals and a cart full of loot from my favorite bead crack dealer on Etsy. :) I'm ready for a long winter of jewelry making shenanigans -- if my day job ever slows down long enough for me to sit down, that is!

New digs & the art of being notorious

So, I moved. Into a tiny house in a tiny town with a gimongous back yard full of trees [trees!!!] that I immediately set out planning a vegetable garden for. With this move came a smaller studio space, an itty bitty kitchen and a microscopic bathroom. But it has walls and wiring and a boy in it that likes me, so I'll count my blessings.

This lovely pair of Kyanite earrings was part of the Rings n Things blog about trends in 2012. :)

With this move comes a new outlook, new opportunity and hopefully a higher level of productivity. I am going to switch the main idea of this blog from just my jewelry to all of my work. I want folks to know what we are up to...and perhaps what life is like for weirdos like me. Being an artist is kind of a mysterious brew, and I would like people to see that it's not all starvation and tortured angst. ;)

This bracelet was featured in an Earth911 article about repurposing musical stuff into usable things.

Over the past few months I've gotten some recognition for my Strung-Out jewelry here and there. I scored a new wholesale client in the UK...I hear tell there aren't any jewelry designers working with guitar strings over there. Perhaps the musicians can send ME all of their strings!? Heh.
 
I joined a community of artisans and designers called Artisan Whimsy. I'm not sure where I fit in, exactly...but I am enjoying the ride when I find the time -- which mostly involves me being a smartass in the Facebook group.

The Rose - available on Etsy!

A couple weeks ago, I whipped together a rose-themed bracelet with pearls and girly pinkness aplenty, and it was incorporated into the June issue of Beat Chat Magazine. It looks so amazing on the page with everyone else's work! I love it! It's chock full of glittery stones and pretty pearls, way more luxurious than I usually aim for, since I think guitar strings are a 'temporary' medium.

That's about it. Brace yourselves for a slightly more regular schedule of snarkasm and silliness...

Shiny

Workspace!

I posted this picture on Vintage Jewelry Supplies wall a couple weeks ago. They asked their followers to post a shot of their workspace. It's deceptively clean - I took a picture to commemorate my attempt at organizing some stuff. When I found three unopened packages of something I don't even use very often, in three different places, I knew it was time for some action! I have too much of everything, and honestly...no time to use it!

Speaking of Vintage Jewelry Supply, I did manage to make some bridal jewelry last week. I used VJS's silver version of my most favorite stamping possibly ever. :) It was the perfect thing for a beautiful bride on the most lovely day. I snapped this shot as she was making her way up the aisle. I love the dress, and the feather bouquet and the location was stunning! Wedding win!

New Directions?

Hi, blog! Hi, readers! Here's the view from my bead table these days:

 

Rocks! Lots and lots of rocks! I'm hooked on gemstones, collecting like a mofo, spending every dime that I earn selling pretties just to get my hands on new and thrilling stones. I made the bracelet above just this morning - plundering every corner of my gem collection for enough variety to make it happen! You can buy it by clicking on the photo! :)

 Filigree! Oh my stars, I am loving the renaissance of pretty, lacy, industrial, raw, patina-ed, assemblage-ed fabulousness of vintage-style findings and stampings out there. It's everything that I love about adornment! I'll take them all - in every finish! <3

Social Media! I was always skeptical about the effectiveness of Twitter and the like...until I traded a custom necklace for some of these keys by HautTotes...who happens to have eleventybajillion stalkers on Twitter. A couple plugs later...and um...crow...is delicious, by the way. That's all I'm gonna say about that!

I don't know how it happened, but my humble little guitar string bracelet endeavor - once used as a way to relieve the stress of my "real" work - has blossomed into a lovely little online shop. It's very gratifying - much like painting used to be the joyful, visceral experience that made me feel that art is powerful. I don't get the chance to paint anymore, but somehow arranging beads and metal stuff into a wearable object also holds power - and people get to wear it! I love being an artist! :)

Falling all over Fall

The 'Great Pumpkin' Guitar string bracelet

So it's that time again - burninating leaves, cooler temperatures, smashed pumpkins...and a new batch of jewelry with warm, happy fall-inspired colors to drool over! :)

Harvest Moon earrings

Citrine Crystal Point necklace with black brass

Honey Drops earrings

'Autumn' Necklace

Birthday Bling!

There are 9 days left in my 10 days of Birthday Bling sale! Enter 'BDAY25' to get 25% off of everything in my Etsy shop! :)

Sale ends @ Midnight on the 25th - which is my birthday! 

Summertime, and the livin ain't easy...

I wish I had time to cover all of the bases and talk about ALL of the STUFF I've been creating, but I'm uh...sort of busy making stuff. And swooning. And fanning myself a lot. And eating ice cream. And trying to catch up on work because all of this fanning of myself is getting me behind! I need a couple of naked dudes to stand around fanning me. And feeding me grapes. Oh yes.

New! Available!

I want to talk a little bit about craft shows. Who here has done one? I tried once...it was a freakin' nightmare. I'm always so busy preparing that I'm not prepared enough to actually deal with the general public. I love using Etsy to sell my wares -- I can concentrate on and celebrate each piece individually. And the entire planet can see it - not just Mrs. Jones whose neighbor's daughter's cousin-in-law makes jewelry, and do I have anything in mauve? With teddy bears on it? And can she haggle it down to 25% of my asking price? 

I'm convinced that not only does the world not understand art...but the world doesn't understand that handmade stuff is special. Somebody's hands made that piece of art jewelry there. It contains a chunk of their soul, and if it's finely handcrafted and carefully created, it's worth the price. And there is inevitably some asshat out there who is going to rip it off and charge a fraction of your cost...but that's another blog for another angst-fueled time.

New! Also available!

I also had an experience with a retail seller who wanted to place my jewelry in their store. This might have gone alright had their store been open. And if it were in a location that people actually frequented, and not a dead mall in a dead city. They also hit up the craft fair circuit, and offered to take my work on the road. Which sounded awesome! Until it turns out that there are a lot of schmo's out there making a lot of cheapass jewelry that everyone is too busy fawning over to buy quality handmade merchandise. See above rant. :-\

I think I'll stick with Etsy for a hot minute, y'all.