Jennifer Kahn Jewelry

A New Year, A New Line Emerging... the year of the Wrapture.

2012-01-20T18:16:00.001-08:00

I've had the idea to make arm/boot cuffs for a couple of years but it's pretty much been simmering on the back burner. Many things have aligned for me to finally move forward with this. Last fall I bought an old Singer sewing machine. Found it at a barn sale right in town. It came with a beautiful wood table that it folds down into. It's one from the 1920's and it works so well. Best part, it sews leather which really opened the door for this new line.

I've also been eager to make an attempt at combining the best of the fashion world with the best of the jewelry world. (Maybe even have a fashion show!) While in NYC over NYE we stopped in an amazing trim shop and I bought some feather trim, some lace and leather and from there the idea really took off.

My new line is called:
Wrap·ture
n.1. To cover, envelop or encase in something that gives way to feelings of ecstasy.

I've been pretty wrapped up in it too! For 2 weeks I've had my sewing machine crankin' and piles of leather and fabric scattered around. I made 7 to start and through them have learned so much about how I want these pieces to work.

I've always loved getting 2 for 1's or items that reverse or transform (including transformer's as a kid!). So it was important to me that these pieces be really versatile. They can be worn so many different ways which really adds to their value.

I see this as being great adornment for the global nomad. A piece of jewelry that you can move from arm-to-boot-to-calf, maybe head, depending on your mood, outfit, desire. The thin wrap even detaches from the thick wrap and can be worn separately as a wrist wrap or anklet. Such a great travel piece.

Made of Silver and stones, brass, upcycled leather, feathers, silk, tribal fabrics and lace. These designer wraps are bigger, bolder and brighter than typical jewelry and can adorn many places on the body. Yet they are more substantial then a mere accessory. Hand made, with silver hand stitched, each one's a unique work of wearable art.

I love this look. Very Warrior Goddess.

My boots are really simple and I love the idea of dressing them up, and being able to change them up.

Which made me realize, you don't need the boot! In warmer weather this would make a great calf cuff.

The Wrap is made up of 2 components and the inner wrap can detach and be worn on it's own on the wrist. It fits 3 times around.
x
Or it could be an anklet, wrapped twice around.

Just wanted to share where I'm at with this so far...I'll debut them this spring. Gotta figure out pricing and such, but for now I'm really excited!

A Jewelry Artist's Perspective on Project Accessory…

2011-12-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

So much to say about this show, where to begin….

I had to watch this show. It’s the only reality show out there that is close to my reality. I’ve watched some reality shows in the past and other shows where cast members compete and get eliminated. I’ve actually never seen Project Runway. When I heard about this show I thought “wow, a show for me!”

First of all, they don’t even really say the word jewelry. It’s just “bling”, this makes my skin crawl. To lump jewelry designers with shoe and bag makers and make them all compete under the category of “accessory” is just disrespectful to these very different trades.

Here its not jewelry, it’s costume jewelry. It’s decoration. Here they are all just ways to decorate the clothing on the body, they’re secondary to the clothing, the fashion. And they all carry the same weight.

To me jewelry is so personal. Bags and shoes, while they definitely can be works of art, they are utilitarian, I put my bag down and I take my shows off and still I wear my jewelry. Jewelry carries emotion, history, it’s made of metal and can last through the ages. On this show, all of that is stripped away and it’s simply ‘bling’ something shiny to accompany a cocktail dress. So few techniques are shown, just some hammering, sawing, wire wrapping. It makes me sad.

Of course I still wanted to watch it because its the only show out there that does include jewelry, unfortunately it only went as far as Swarovski crystals and base metals. Not even silver or precious stones.

Now the challenges were interesting and the materials were varied but the idea of rushing through art, having 1-2 days to make something was so frustrating. This is not fast food! I understand the point was to make it competitive but with more time they could have made better pieces and they could have aired only the dramatic bits but given them a week to work.

I’m interested in the fashion world because, frankly, the jewelry world lacks some pizzazz. We don’t have runway shows and copious spreads in fashion mags. Most jewelry magazines are “how to” and are read by makers, not buyers. But seeing things in this show and hearing statements like “very sellable” and “fashion forward” make me cringe. The idea of creating something in style means its only going to be out of style by the next season.

Another bee in my bonnet: only seeing the work on beautiful, skinny models. Sigh. It was all just so superficial which I guess is all that can be expected from a reality show on TV.

Watching did help me to feel firm in my desire to make work for real women. Work that lasts year after year and goes with all kinds of styles. Timeless pieces, well made and made to last. Not throw away, pieces that are always in style. Modern, yet my own. Made for real budgets. Work with its own meaning not just meant to go with a style or outfit. It made me realize I don’t really want to be in the fashion world. I want to combine the best of that world with the best of the jewelry world and come up with something new…

Update...make that $3100!

2011-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Sold out! Thanks so much to everyone who purchased a Repairing Vermont Pendant. I'm so happy to say we've raised $3100 for the VT Irene Flood Relief Fund!

We've Raised $2500!

2011-12-11T22:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to everyone who purchased a Repairing Vermont Pendant. I'm thrilled to say we've raised $2500 for the VT Irene Flood Relief Fund.

I've heard many stories from those who've purchased pendants. Most have been devastating but many have also been heartwarming and hopeful. I'm so proud to live in Vermont, we have a strong sense of community here and we strive to take care of each other. I'm proud to have played a small part. We can't always help in the ways that we would like, but we can think of ways that we can help within our own means. I still have silver pendants - they make great presents - a gift that gives twice. (Scroll down to see the order button.) Happy Holidays!

Show time! Some Helpful Tips...

2011-11-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year. Craft show time. If you're like me, you are crazed and working away. It's stressful but exciting. I've had several friends who are new to the scene recently write me with some questions on how to prepare for their first show. Now I know there's more than what I have below but this is a good start. I hope this helps!

For starters: Make your life easier with a good folding cart. This one at handtrucksrus.com is amazing. It folds up so small for storage and opens up so huge for carting all your wares. It fits in your car and hides well under your table.

Display: Make your display inviting, yet simple, clean. Tie it in with your work and your style but don't let it compete with what you're selling. I've always found great display items at TJ Maxx, Joanne Fabrics, Pier One and on Ebay and Etsy. Have a table cloth that hangs to the floor so you can hide stuff under your table. Make sure to have a comfy enough chair but stand as much as you can. Be sure to have a mirror if your items are jewelry or clothing or other wearable goods. Make sure your prices are visible. The lighting is never great at shows so it's a good idea to bring your own lights (and extension cord). You don't have to go crazy though. I just set up a desk lamp on either side of my table and really clamp them down well with extra c-clamps.

Banner: You need to have a nice banner so people can find you in a crowded show. I only had to look as far as Etsy to find a banner maker who was fast, affordable and friendly. His name is Paul Wilson and his Etsy shop is Wilson Graphics. He can print whatever you want on thick vinyl complete with grommets and he has a variety of sizes. I chose the 1' x 3'. It only cost $22 + $10 shipping and I received it 4 days after I ordered it! (Although this was 3 years ago, his prices may have gone up.)

Change: I think it's good to have 20 $1s, 4 $5s and 2 $10s. Also change for the meter! I recommend using a modern fanny pack type bag to keep your money on you, instead of a cash box. Be sure to have a calculator, I always check it twice just to be sure I didn't punch the numbers in wrong.

Credit Cards: Now thanks to IPhones and Square, vendors can take credit cards. This is a great thing! I've been using it for a year and I've had no problems. I've made more sales because of it.

Packaging: It would be easy to go nutso here but simple works. Look for boxes and bags that are made from recycled paper. Re-use tissue paper that you've gotten from purchases. Buy or make a custom stamp of your logo to stamp on your boxes and bags. I made mine by carving away at a rubber stamp - something Celie Fago taught me.

Business Cards/Postcards
I love my mini moo cards. They are small but sturdy cards, you get 100 for $19.95 but the best part is, they can be 100 different images! It's so great to be able to get a variety of images and not be limited to just one. I picked 20 images of what's currently available in my Etsy shop and got 5 of each. Always put a card in your box and have them out on your table for people to take.

I get business cards and postcards from Overnightprints.com. They have good prices and quick turn around time. I like to go with a matte finish and rounded corners. The more you buy the cheaper it is. During the holiday season I pick a great image of my work (or multiple images) for the front and list my show schedule on the back.

Food: Bring snacks, lots of them. Things that are easy to eat - not messy and things that aren't going to give you offensive breath! If you drink coffee, chew gum or mints after!

Stickers: Always good to have stickers to give to the lil ones so their parents can have a minute to look.

Show Day: Remember to advertise your shows on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, your website, etc. Especially on the day of your shows to remind folks. Get there early. Always better to have more time to set up and you never know if you'll need to run out for last minute items. Try to always have something to work on during slow times. Smile! You'll learn as you go and the more shows you get under your belt, the easier and more streamlined your whole system will get!

Some extras to remember:
extra price tags
permanent marker
pen
paper
water
scissors
tape
advil
tissues
hand sanitizer
lip balm
paper towels
paper bag for garbage
mailing list sign up
camera

Okay, that should do it... Best of luck!

2011 Commemorative NYE NYC MSG Token

2011-10-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

~A Collectible Token, or A Wearable Pendant

Let the collection begin, with my 2nd token. This year there are many fish and they play a more active role in the design - poised to take a bite out of the big apple. Not only does it commemorate the New Year's Run with all 4 dates etched along the edge, but it is a true sign of the times with the letters "OCCUPY MSG" subtly spelled out among the fish. We might be small but our numbers are strong. From a distance the image resembles a flower... we come in peace.

Token is the size of a quarter. Makes a great holiday gift for your favorite fan! This is a limited edition of 100 tokens, numbers are engraved on the back. My signature can be found on the bottom edge.

Available in Sterling silver:
as a Pendant on cord for $38
or as a Token $25
or Pendant on sterling chain $48

and NEW THIS YEAR - BRASS

as a Token $15
or as a Magnet $20

Once again, I'm donating 10% of every sale to the Mockingbird Foundation.

Item comes nicely packaged and ships Priority Mail. Shipping is a flat $5.00 for as many items as will fit in the box :)

These were on Pre-order but as of 12/9 they are ready to ship! (Priority mail takes 2-3 days).

Just click on any of the above Token links and you will be connected to purchase them through my Etsy shop!

2010 token was featured on: ~ Phish.net ~ PhanArt ~ OnlinePhishTour ~ Coventry Music Blog ~ Glide Magazine's Hidden Track

Holiday Show Schedule

2011-09-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

It's that time again...

I'll have these magnets at the last market. I'll also have them at my holiday shows. If there's a piece someone really likes I'll tell them the name of it and hand them a permanent marker and they can fill in the blank and stick it on their fridge. :)

The Butterfly Story

2011-09-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

One late summer day we noticed this amazing lil cacoon - actually it's a chrysalis. It had spectacular gold details on it. Like some special treasure. It was safely made under the end of the banister on the porch. The weeks went by and I kept an eye on it.

After a heavy rain I checked on it and it had changed. It was clear but black. See-through to a black inside and you could see some of the monarch pattern. I knew it wouldn't be long until it hatched.

I checked the next day and to my great dismay, the butterfly was GONE! How sad after waiting so long. My eyes fell and my gaze rested on THE BUTTERFLY...!

I was so pleased to meet her (I now know she was a she because females have thick black veining through their wings.) She seemed overwhelmed. I couldn't imagine a stranger thing to go through, starting out as a grubby green caterpillar with lots of legs and turning into a beautiful butterfly with wings! I wanted to touch her (not her wings) but just to connect with her but I didn't want to interfere. Then I looked down to her right, there was a thick spider web. I wasn't going to stand by and let her possibly fall into it's doom. So I put my finger next to her legs and she crawled right on.

We just hung out for a while. Every once in a while she'd pump her wings and I could feel it through my finger. This seemed magical.

I decided to place her a few feet away on a tiny flower. The underside of her wings was also just so beautiful. (I realized how similar monarch's colors and patterns are to African mud cloth, one of my favorite textiles.)

There she stayed for over an hour. I kept trying to go back to work but then going outside to see if she had gone or if she was still hangin' on. This was such a great distraction on a sunny day, I just kept going outside.

I took so many photos but it was hard to capture her with her wings fully open, until finally, I got this one. Just exquisite!

Like a parent, I started getting a little concerned - shouldn't she try to fly by now? It had been hours since she hatched. I read that they usually fly shortly after hatching, after they've pumped their wings up. Maybe she lacked confidence? How could I help? At that moment, ANOTHER Monarch flew across the driveway and landed. CRAZY! I've seen very few butterflies around here and to see two at the same moment seemed like kismet. Then I had an idea... I brought "my" butterfly over to meet the other, in the hopes that she would learn to fly from it's example. I kept my finger low and in front of me so that the new butterfly (also a she) wouldn't fly away.

This worked. I crouched right down and slowly moved my finger towards the new butterfly.

This was all very intense and I managed to keep taking photos the whole time! It took a lot of attempts but I finally got a good photo of both of their wings open at the same time.

They fluttered together, seemed like they were communicating. Then mine started to crawl up my hand.

Then the other one started to crawl on my finger.

I was so excited - feeling like the butterfly whisperer! Mine crawled all the way up my arm to my shoulder and before I knew it - TOOK FLIGHT! Her first flight - such a cool thing to witness. She flew awkwardly at first, trying to get the hang of it, fluttering furiously. She flew all the way up to the tallest tree and landed. I felt sad to see her go, but so much pride to be a part of her ride!

The other butterfly flew seemlessly - a pro. I walked over to her again and put my finger out. She crawled on and I stood up. Then she flew off too.

Repairing Vermont Pendant - Raising money for the VT Irene Flood Relief Fund.

2011-09-11T21:05:00.001-07:00

On Aug 28th, our small state got pummeled by hurricane Irene. The devastation that it caused is overwhelming. The only comfort in the wake of the storm is how the Vermont community has come together. Everyone is helping out. I wanted to create a piece that I could sell to generate some money for the relief effort. I didn't want to just create a generic design though, I yearned to make something meaningful. Then it came to me, my signature "patch" design would work so well here. Vermont has been broken, torn up but it's being patched together, healed. The beauty is in the binding.

(Front of Pendant)
100% of the profits after the cost of producing these pendants will be donated to the VT Irene Flood Relief Fund.

(Back of Pendant)
Each one has my JK signature on the back. This symbol is not only my initials, it's the Chinese symbol for "Forever" (which works really well in this case "Love Vermont Forever").

Sterling Silver

or Brass
1" in length.
This pendant is Unisex, everyone can wear it.

Black waxed cotton cord with sterling terminations and clasp.

I use Priority mail. If they're shipped to VT it will only take 1 day. If you order more than 1, the shipping will still be $5.00.

On the Cover of Metal Clay Artist Magazine!

2011-08-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

Exciting news...a bit belated...it's been a crazy summer. My Chinese turquoise necklace is on the cover of Metal Clay Magazine and I have a lovely 5 page spread. It features 9 photos (all by Robert Diamante) of my work -to me it feels kind of like a retrospective of my last 10 years working with PMC. So many thanks to Jeanette LeBlanc and Margaret Schindel, this is such an honor and a thrill. They've made an amazing magazine, it just turned 2 years old with this issue. Thank you to Julia Rai for a great interview.

It's funny, the first thing some of my friends and colleagues have said upon reading it is "You were born in Miami!?!" I know, it's pretty random. I tried to read it as if I was reading about someone else and I thought 'I like what this person has to say', so that's a good thing!

It was so exciting to walk into Barnes and Noble today and see my piece, right there on the magazine rack. A tiny "I've made it!" feeling soared through me and motivates me to keep working away. My mom went to the Barnes and Noble near her and picked up a copy too, making sure to tell all the people that worked there that it was her daughter's work on the cover. Awe, mom.

So, that's the end of my gushing...I'm just really happy about this.

Modern Relics in a Modern Era - One Way I'm Handling the Rise of Silver

2011-05-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

For several years I've had 4 bronze pieces sitting on my desk. They have been waiting, patiently for me to set them in silver as I've done before with my Modern Relics series. They've waited while I've been consumed with making less expensive pieces, always getting pushed to the back corner. This year I was determined to make them into jewelry, into the pendants they were meant to become...and then the cost of silver began to rise...and rise...and RISE. And with it, my interest in creating settings for these pendants, diminished. I had already rolled out the textured backsheets in PMC but I didn't want to spend the silver - or the time to make them into settings. Then it hit me! These pieces are not fragile turquoise, or shell or other thing in need of protection. They're solid bronze and they're STRONG. They don't need sides! (I wouldn't want them to be pendants by themselves because I wouldn't want them to turn people's skin green.)

So I decided to rivet the silver backs onto the bronze. I LOVE riveting and it was easy to drill the bronze. I even drilled large holes for tube rivets so I could use sterling jumprings for bails. The riveting was easy cause you can smack that bronze with a hammer no problem!

I love the way they look and feel and I like having the sides exposed because they are cool and cracked and craggy.

Now they're actually reversible (although I still warn about wearing bronze against moist skin).

With the rise of silver I began to have a mid-jewelry-life crisis. But the first thing I did was cash in 10 years of saved scrap. This was a lot of scrap and it yielded a lot of credit at Rio Grande. Enough to get a kiln, a Flex shaft and drill press, a torch and some tools. Enough to start MY OWN STUDIO! Now it was a scary idea to start my own studio when I was worried if I could afford to keep working with silver but then I thought about my work and the materials I use. I work with copper, brass, bronze, found objects, fabric, shells, stones, leather and feathers. I use silver with most designs but as accents, as embellishments.

So I'm not about to stop making jewelry, just to start making jewelry a little differently, with a little more focus on the other stuff. In April, these pieces were the first ones I created with my new tools and it was very exciting stuff.

My mentor Celie wrote a great blog on her way of dealing with the price of silver, check it out HERE. Now that I have my own kiln and now that I love these new Modern Relics, I will be working with more BronzClay and I'm really looking forward to that. Silver has been down in recent weeks too, maybe it will keep going down, but it's good to know that you can let creativity overcome anxiety, that you can adapt.

Always the Bridesmaid's jewelry, Rarely the Bride's...Part 2

2011-04-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from Ava Bishop's fashion show. The dresses were outstanding, the event well attended and I had a blast seeing my jewelry on these exquisite model brides. Alas, most the photos taken were too far away to see the jewelry but here are a few of the ones that showed it well.
Amelia: Photo by David Seaver
Featuring Droplets Necklace and Tear drop with Pearl earrings
Brittany: Photo by David Seaver
Large Copper Crescent Earrings Kerrin: Photo by David Seaver
Edgy Layered Necklace
Priscilla: Photo by Alison Redlich
Organic Shapes Necklace and EarringsAleisha: Photo by David Seaver
Feather and Leather (with added Lace) Earrings
Linda: Photo by David Seaver
Gold and Silver Leaf Necklace and Earrings
Priscilla: Photo by David Seaver
New Red Feather and Chain earrings
Photo by David Seaver

Thanks Ava! Thanks David and Alison and thank you lovely models!

Always the Bridesmaid's jewelry, Rarely the Bride's...Until Now

2011-03-23T09:35:00.001-07:00

Many a bride has contacted me about ordering jewelry for their bridesmaids. I've done 8 pairs of the same earring, I've done 6 pairs of different earrings but all with gold added to them, I've had women order right from my Etsy shop. I'm always honored to have my work be a part of someone's special day. It's interesting though, how so few of these brides have considered my jewelry for themselves. They tend to be more traditional and go with crystal or diamonds or pearls. So I'm extremely excited to be a part of Ava Bishop's upcoming show. We have a very similar aesthetic and our work pairs beautifully together. Initially I found myself choosing from my most conservative pieces for her gowns and then I realized... she digs the edginess, the tribalness and that's so cool!

Her show of gowns "Past and Present" will be meeting up with my jewelry past and present - some classic designs, some revamped and some brand-spankin' new. I always prefer to see my jewelry on the body and seeing it on model brides draped in Ava's exquisite creations is sure to be a lovely sight.

Photos will be taken and I'll get 'em up on the web as soon as possible.

Rings!!!

2011-03-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

New rings in my Etsy shop. Four textures, four sizes. I'll also be selling these at Trinket.

"The Many Faces of the Modern Apprenticeship"

2011-02-01T16:40:00.000-08:00

So happy to be featured in the March 2011 issue of Art Jewelry Magazine. The article is called "The Many Faces of the Modern Apprenticeship". Kristen Sutter did a great job profiling four types of apprenticeships and I was interviewed for the traditional perspective. Is an apprenticeship right for you? Check out the article!

A New Year, a New Way of Doing Things

2011-01-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

Since I opened my Etsy shop 3 years ago, I've been selling my work in a very careful way. Only posting pics of pieces I had made and that were ready to ship. After another crazed holiday season of trying to fill my shop, do craft shows, and supply Trinket; I am where I often am in January - out of jewelry. In the past, I've slowly rebuilt my inventory over the winter months and worked on big projects, pieces and problems and let my shop go. That really isn't good business, to build up so much momentum and then just let it go, let my shop barely run with a handful of pieces in it.

So, I simply re-filled my shop, activated all of my inactive pieces and renewed many sold pieces and now people can order from me and I can make their order in 1-2 weeks. I thought about doing this last year but I was scared of the pressure this may cause, I don't like pressure. I want Etsy to work for me, not me to work for my Etsy shop. But rather than shooting in the dark and making lots of jewelry that people might buy once I finally list the pieces, I can make what people definitely want.I wasn't sure if people would be apprehensive to purchase pieces that they'd have to wait for, but after talking to folks in the Forums and in real life, the consensus is that "people will wait for good stuff". I have little patience and I recently ordered a hat and a planner from two different Etsy shops that I had to wait 3 weeks for and...it was totally worth it. I like knowing these things were made for ME and waiting for them actually made me that much more excited to get them. It seems a lot of sellers on Etsy work this way. I've already had some sales which is so rare for January and because my shop is full, I've been featured in Treasuries and maintaining my web presence. If the sales get too overwhelming (not a bad problem to have) I can always increase my 'making' time or decrease the amount of pieces in my shop. I am in control!

Why didn't I do this earlier?

Commemorative NYE, NYC, MSG Token

2010-11-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

Ever since I attended my first Phish show, I was taken with the community, the art and most of all, the music. As a maker of little things, I love the merit badge concept and it inspired me to create a token. Since I work in metal and I'm excited for the New Years Run in NYC, a token, reminiscent of subway tokens, was an appealing idea. It's made of pure silver and is the size of a quarter. Each one is hand made by me. A great gift for your favorite Phish head! It comes in an archival coin display holder for $25, HERE

It's also available as a pendant HERE and comes on black waxed cotton cord (16" or 18") with sterling ends and a sterling lobster clasp. Or on a sterling chain for $45 - just check my shop.
In addition to the commemorative fish and apple, and "NYE, NYC, MSG", all three show dates are inscribed among the lines on the edge. A limited edition of only 100 tokens will be made to order. Definitely a collector’s item, and maybe the start of a new token series?

I'm donating a portion of every sale to the Mockingbird Foundation because as important art is to me, I couldn't live without the music and I want that to be true for future generations.

Check it out, the token is featured on CashorTrade.org!

Some Personalized Pendants, just in time for the Holidays!

2010-11-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

You get to choose, one of the twelve classical signs of the Greek/Roman Zodiac. We've been fascinated by the zodiac for ages, the idea that our lives are influenced by the heavens above...

I've made my own textures and I press them into pure silver. The process of pushing the texture into the silver allows for a funky, cracked, natural edge. My favorite part! For that reason every piece is different and unique. A great necklace for layering with other chains. A great gift and perfect for a man or woman.
The back has my JK logo (also the Chinese symbol for 'forever').
Or a sweet little initial pendant...
Made to order! Find them in my Etsy shop.

Holiday Show Schedule

2010-10-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

The Artist Market season has came to a close. Now I have just over a month to create lots of lovely pieces for my holiday shows, can't believe it's that time again! Below is my holiday show schedule. Doin' my usual, wonderful VT shows and this year, just to make things interesting, I'm throwin' in a weekend at the Artist and Fleas in Brooklyn. Woot Woot!
Women's Festival of Crafts - Friday, Nov 26th 5-9pm
Saturday, Nov 27th 10-6pm
Sunday, Nov 28th 10-5pm
City Hall, Burlington, VT

Artist and Fleas Sat Dec 4th and Sun Dec 5th
12-8pm both days
Brooklyn (Willaimsburg) NY

Sweet Lady Jane Trunk Show Sat Dec 11th 10-5pm
40 Church St, Burlington, VT

Holiday Artist Market Fri Dec 17th 12-8pm
Sat Dec 18th 10-6pm
City Hall, Burlington, VT

Find my work everyday at Trinket 32 1/2 Church St, Burlington, VT
And online in my Etsy shop.

Happenings...

2010-10-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

This past Thursday, Rachel had a fashion event at Sweet Lady Jane featuring Covet (a fabulous eco-friendly clothing line) and my jewelry. My work showed really well on Covet's flowing fabrics of solid color. You can see Brett Lupfer's amazing photos HERE. These four close-ups of Kate wearing my big earrings look like they're out of a magazine!

In other news: I was mentioned on Vermont Edition on VPR by a kind and lovely customer on Wednesday. They had Martha Fitch, Executive Director of the Vermont Crafts Council and Anne Majusiak, curator for the State Of Craft Exhibit at the Bennington Museum on to talk about the craft movement in VT. You can hear the whole show HERE or just the snippet HERE.

Also, I've been running a local (to Burlington, VT) promotion: "Get caught!!!" After noticing a lot of lovely ladies sportin' my wares around town, I was inspired to reward this patronage with a discount towards jewelry purchased during the month of October. I've assembled a street team and they're on the lookout. Get "caught" in Jennifer Kahn Jewelry and get 20% off your next piece (redeemable at the Burlington Artist's Market or online in my Etsy Shop).

Copper Candy Collection!

2010-10-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Perfect for fall! Flame-patinated and hammered, embellished with sterling wires and wraps. Big and bold but lightweight.

Press, etc.

2010-09-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

Some exciting press:
•I had an article in the Burlington Free Press yesterday.
•I was interviewed for the Vermont Cynic earlier in the month.
•At the beginning of September I was Trinket's first, first Friday guest artist.
•I'm now in the habit of regularly updating my Etsy shop! Yes!
•Also I just joined twitter.
It's been a busy month and things are only getting busier! Stay tuned for my holiday show schedule.

Evolution of a Design

2010-07-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

A while back a friend asked about one of my signature designs, my "patches" and how and when I started incorporating them in my work. I wrote a lengthy e-mail about it and she suggested that it would make a great blog topic...

I started working with PMC in 2000. Most of my first attempts were crude and simple. I made a LOT of leaf rings and I set a lot of dichroic glass. I worked, I played, I experimented, I made many unsavory pieces, until I began to find my voice. In 2004, I made a piece called Broken World. It was one of the first pieces that I made that I considered to be “art”. Celie had taught me how to construct a hollow lentil bead by making the two halves, letting them dry and putting them together with slip. It was a process that required a certain level of perfection, which made it all the more satisfying to cut into and ‘break’ my little world. But it was sad to see it go from lovely and smooth to damaged and cracked. So I carefully made little patches with faux rivets and patched it back together. Celie called them bandaids. I liked the look so much that I began to intentionally break pieces and patch them back together. My work was going from organic to kind of industrial. I made some simple overlap rings and used multiple patches and big square patches and placed them over the overlap. Those led to my round shield rings with faux rivets. (Please forgive these early photos, they are simply scans from a time before I had a digital camera.)

I double majored in Art and English and aside from writing e-mails and articles I felt I wasn’t doing enough to honor the English major in me. So I started making book pendants. I made them in two sizes big and small and they sold well but they were a huge labor to make. They featured 5 pages of ancient texts. Each book contained a page with a moonstone on it that could be seen from both sides, a page with a hole in it that revealed the moonstone again, a page covered in 24k gold keum-boo and a page where a 'window' was cut out to reveal the gold page. I broke all of the edges of the pages to make them look old and fragile. The book could be worn backwards or forwards and the pages could be flipped to be worn on any side. When Celie and I traveled to Japan in 2005, I was told my book pendant was very wabi sabi.

Robert Diamante took a beautiful photo of one which I featured on the home page of my first website, next to a little animation of the pages flipping. I was so excited to see it among the amazing work at the 2^nd PMC Conference in Barbara Becker Simon’s slide show “We're Serious About This!". She also presented her slide show to the Society of North American Goldsmith’s Conference and compiled it onto a CD.

I wanted to have a more affordable version so I made page earrings and single page pendants to sell in the galleries and boutiques that carried my work.

I continued to make my patched rings and I was lucky enough to have one published in Tim McCreight’s book PMC Decade.

photo by Robert Diamante

One of my favorite things to do is to set stones (a lot of Chinese Turquoise) and unusual things. I developed a technique for setting them in PMC (after firing) and wrote a chapter on the subject for Tim’s book PMC Technic. I try to make as many of my pieces reversible as I can. Celie taught me that “the back of a piece is another opportunity for creativity”. I embellish the back of my shell pendants, with my patches and one of them is featured in the book. photo by Robert Diamante

In early 2008, Celie passed some of Bill Struve’s BRONZclay my way. It was love at first sight. The idea of making the ‘thing’ to be set was just so exciting to me. The bronze looked so old and primitive. So I made my own “Modern Relics”. I made my first metal clay cuff bracelet and encouraged it to crack so I could patch it up.

At the PMC Conference that year, Bill gave a slide show that featured some of my first Modern Relics. It was so great to be able to work big with this material so I started making patched bronze bowls. They had a wonderful sound. I made them over oiled light bulbs and when I took them off they would crack but the patches kept them together.

photo by JP Candelier

That year a friend gave me a small bag of Herkimer diamonds that he had mined and I wasn’t sure what to do with them. They were too small and jagged to set and they had no holes for stringing. As I was setting a patched relic into a PMC bezel, I realized there was a perfect little space for them and they could move around and catch the light and be held in place by the patches. I liked the idea of taking my patch design a step further by having the negative space contain something, by having the patches have a purpose, they created a closure. Now the setting was holding the relic and the relic was holding the stone. Tonya Davidson featured one of these rings on her website and continues to use it in her magazine advertisements. (Thanks Tonya!)

I wish I had more photos of pieces with my patches that I've made and sold over the years. Looking back at a decade of my work, I notice it has changed over time but the patches remain a constant.

Apprenticementor.com

2010-06-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

Announcing --- Apprenticementor.com - a non-profit website where apprentices and mentors can find eachother.

This is an idea I've had for years and years, based on the success of my apprenticeship with Celie Fago. Suddenly everything was aligning to make this project a go. Most of all - the generosity of Simplenation.com in creating the website. I would happily write more about it here but why not just check out the site? Apprenticementor.com

From Burlington to Bennington

2010-06-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

So, it's been awhile. I carry a lot of guilt for not keeping up with my blog. But, what can ya do. You can only move forward and hope to do better. I don't know where the time went but I know I was busy...

Even this post is something I wanted to write over a week ago. Excuse me while I play catchup...

Saturday, May 22 was a BIG day. For weeks I worked on my new venture (more on that in the next post) and on making jewelry for the Burlington Artist Market. It was a crazy juggling act. Then the day came and there I was, at the first market of the season and it was AWESOME! How I missed the familiar faces and kids and dogs and food and art... we even had perfect weather.

Then we made our way down luscious, winding roads to the Bennington Museum for the Opening of "State of Craft" an exhibit that "celebrates the artistic, social and economic history of the studio crafts movement in Vermont over the last 50 years." I'm so honored to have my Journey Necklace in such an important Exhibition.
I wouldn't be if it wasn't for my mentor: Celie Fago. The Opening was great, an exceptional exhibit, old friends, new friends, amazing food, blue grass music and an opportunity for us to pass out cards and talk about our new venture...

Onward and upward and forward and now...

2010-01-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

Now is the time of organization, with the new year comes a fresh start and, for me, a great sense of motivation. I want to grow, I want to make things more efficient, I want to be more productive while following the notion "work smarter not harder". I want to breathe in all the good, live in the moment and go with the flow...
Winters can be hard... so cold and so dark but they also make for a quiet time to get things done. In my first effort to get more organized I changed up my website a bit. I like having a "Current Work" section to show the kinds of pieces I make (but which aren't always available in my Etsy shop). The gallery of photos was getting longer and longer and there was no rhyme or reason to their placement. So, I created a gallery of galleries and moved all of that work (and more) into collections.What a difference it makes - to me at least! As a visual learner, it's so nice to see it that way and even to just have it as a reference catalog for myself. One little step for my website but one large step for my sense of progress!
The holiday shows left me with not much jewelry so I'm busy making some work for my Etsy shop and for Trinket in time for Valentine's Day. Then back to working out the quirks...
Happy organizing!

Next up: Holiday Artist Market!!!

2009-12-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

Friday, Dec 18 12-8
Saturday, Dec 19 10-6
All the artists from the Artist Market will be at Contois Auditorium (City Hall) in Burlington selling their handmade wares to holiday shoppers. It's not too late to buy handmade...buy local.

Trunk Show at Sweet Lady Jane!!!

2009-12-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

It's that time again! This will be my 3rd year having a holiday trunk show at Sweet Lady Jane. It is so wonderful to spend the day in such an amazing boutique with gorgeous clothes and such a warm and friendly staff.

Okay, so it's been foreva...but now it's time for Holiday Shows!!!

2009-11-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

Women's Festival of Crafts, City Hall (149 Church St)
Friday Nov 27th 5-9 pm
Saturday Nov 28th 10-6 pm
Sunday November 29th 10-5 pm

Trunk show at Sweet Lady Jane (40 Church St.)
Saturday Dec 12th 10-6 pm

Holiday Artist Market, City Hall (149 Church St)
Friday Dec 18 12-8
Saturday Dec 19 10-6 pm
In other news:
This is how I spent my Halloween...

Some helpful tips...

2009-08-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

Someday I'll write a blog post on every tip and trick I've learned when it comes to having a booth at an outside venue. For now, I just wanted to share a couple of key items that I often get asked about...I just got a fabulous banner. I only had to look as far as Etsy to find a banner maker who was fast, affordable and friendly. His name is Paul Wilson and his Etsy shop is Wilson Graphics. He can print whatever you want on thick vinyl complete with grommets and he has a variety of sizes. I chose the 1' x 3'. It only cost $22 + $10 shipping and I received it 4 days after I ordered it!

Make your life easier with a good folding cart. This one at handtrucksrus.com is amazing. It folds up so small for storage and opens up so huge for carting all your wares.

I get business cards and postcards from Overnightprints.com. They have good prices and quick turn around time. I like to go with a matte finish and rounded corners.

I also recently got mini moo cards and I LOVE them. They are small but sturdy cards, you get 100 for $19.95 but the best part is, they can be 100 different images! It's so great to be able to get a variety of images and not be limited to just one. I picked 20 images of what's currently available in my Etsy shop and got 5 of each.

Thasall for now. Just wanted to share...

The little things...

2009-07-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Sometime it's the little things that make a big difference...
When I display my earrings at my booth, I hang them on little iron wire racks. I've been selling my earrings at Trinket now for many months, where they were hanging them on little gray cards on the wall. I realized I could really make them pop if I made display cards for them. I always think about one of the most important lessons Celie taught me. Everything...EVERYTHING!...is an opportunity for creativity. So I had an idea to make re-usable display cards by recycling cardboard and paper. Economical, environmental with a raw, edgy look! They were so much fun to make and they do a great job of showing off the earrings.

More than a little behind...

2009-06-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

but I wanted to make 2 shout outs without letting more time pass...

A couple of weeks ago my interview for my Etsy Metal Clay team blog went up, check it out!

Also, my work was featured in Wendy McManus' wonderful new blog Metal Clay Magic.

Oh and just added more work to my Etsy shop.

Thasall for now...more to come...

My Blog is 1 year old!

2009-06-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! I've been writing this blog for a year now. I realized this as I was taking photos of the lilacs outside and feeling a powerful sense of déjà vu. Wow that year went by fast! It seems I have less and less time and try as I might, I'm just not posting enough on here. I hope to change that though as I really value stretching my writing muscle and reflecting on the happenings that...happen.

One of the reasons I've been so busy was gearing up for the Artist Market that started again in mid-May. With the Market comes photos of puppies! I can't resist, so here is the first market pic:
It was taken in front of Moe's colorful table cloth. Speaking of Moe, I'm loving her stuff! I've recently purchased a casette wallet, a journal and baby bibs from her, all great gifts and all made from discarded things. Check out her stuff!

And then there are the lilacs which were simply brilliant this year. They kindly came in 2 weeks early so we were able to enjoy them before running off to Bead and Button.

The luscious lavendar blooms lined the stone path, I had to take the obligatory 'old truck' photo.
This is the view from my window. Nothing quite like the smell of lilacs pouring through it, such a treat! I'm writing this from Milwaukee, at the Bead and Button Show which I'll be writing about shortly...

Queen City Craft Bazaar!

2009-05-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

Gosh, guess it's been awhile! April was a busy month. I've been getting ready for the upcoming Artist Market season, (it starts on May 16th!) and I celebrated my 30th birthday.
(Photo by Lauren Selfridge)Right now I'm getting ready for the Queen City Craft Bazaar on Saturday. Can't wait!

Spring is springing!

2009-03-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite time of year. The snow is receding, revealing new ground every day. Buds are emerging, birds are chirping, the days are longer, my world is habitable again and I can be outside in it.

I've been working in copper clay. Here are a couple of pairs of earrings made with it, the color is so rich, I'm calling it 'Rusty Rose'. Just perfect for spring!
I'm also taking some of my Modern Relics pieces in a new direction, hiding herkimer diamonds in their open spaces. The herkimers move around, adding noise and flickers of light. These are just the first two rings of the series...

I would write more but I have to go out and enjoy this beautiful day. Happy Saturday! Happy Spring

Trinket

2009-03-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

Friday I dropped off a second batch of work to Trinket (32 1/2 Church St) in Burlington. This was the first time I'd seen the place in all of its splendor.
It has such a lovely feel - like a gallery of accessories. White shadow box frames house jewelry on a chalkboard painted wall. Notes and info about the pieces or the artists that made them are lovingly written on that wall.
At this time, my work is featured in one of the top frames on that wall. I took this photo before they added my new work so there's more now!
The back wall has shelving made up of chairs that are mounted in the wall - so cool!
I enjoy selling my work myself, through my Etsy shop and at the Artist Market but I'm very pleased to have my work in this great new shop. I feel very well represented by Rachel and her wonderful staff. So support local artists and local businesses and check out Trinket, you'll love it!

In honor of Valentines Day: Dogs in Love

2009-02-12T08:56:00.001-08:00

The unlikely bond between an Italian Greyhound (Ecco) and a long haired Chihuahua (Kiwi).

2009-02-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

Rachel Strules (owner of Sweet Lady Jane and Tribeca) is opening a new accessories shop called Trinket. I'm pleased to announce that she will be carrying my work there. It is located on the top block of Church St at 32 1/2. It's opening on Wednesday (just in time for V-day!) and there will be a grand opening at the end of the month. I got a sneak peak the other day and it looks amazing!

Imaginative Captures

2009-02-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

Last week Celie and I took Andy Cooperman’s class at the North Country Studio Conference in Bennington, VT. It was so much fun! It’s very exciting to be around a bunch of people who just love to make stuff. The class was called “Imaginative Captures” and it was all about setting stones in different ways – couldn’t be more up my alley! Andy gave us each an eye to make a piece with. During the demo the zipper on my jeans kept opening and I kept messing with it and... the light bulb went off. I used the actual zipper pull from my jeans and fashioned the zipper part from sterling wire. I roller printed the copper sheet with fabric from my apron (actually the fabric that it's photographed on) and heat patina-ed it. It's riveted together with sterling rivets.

Below is the other piece I made in the workshop. We learned how to 'spin set' a faceted gem in a tube. I soldered that tube onto brass sheet that I sawed a shape out of (it looked like a turtle!) The river rock already had a hole in it, I set it in place by pushing the prongs around it.
The class was very inspiring and I look forward to applying some of these techniques to PMC.

Been so long

2009-01-21T11:21:00.000-08:00

I can't believe almost a month has gone by since my last post. I guess I needed a bit of a break after the holidaze. I've been doing a combination of decompressing, having some fun, catching up, and preparing for some big projects/pieces. I usually lose momentum this time of year, after all the crazy hustle and bustle. I kinda feel like I'm constantly juggling so many balls and at the moment, they are all on the ground. Today, however, is a new day. A new world. I'm feeling excited and energized. So, today I'm getting back on track and back to work. And I'll be blogging more often so stay tuned...

With Valentine's Day coming, here's a photo of dogs in love (Ecco and my Kiwi).

Snowed in...

2008-12-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

My crazy selling season has come to an end. I am ready for a much more leisurely pace which is just how I'll spend the winter. We've had so much snow (2'?) and I'm trying to embrace it with lots of photos, hot cocoa, and cooking. I'm also making presents (very last minute) which gives me so much joy. Below is a custom "Rags and Riches" necklace in coral and turquoise which looked quite festive.

Little Kiwi makes the snow look all the more dramatic.
Happy Merry to All!

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

I awoke to a crystal world on Friday. It was just magical...
The ice lasted until last night and made the sunset incredible.

Solstice Pendant, exclusively for the Sweet Lady Jane Trunk Show

2008-12-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

The word "Solstice" is derived from two Latin words: "sol" meaning sun, and "sistere," to stand still. As the darkest time of the year falls upon us, we can be reminded that very soon the days will grow longer and the sun will slowly come back into our lives. This is the Solstice Pendant that I will be selling exclusively at the Sweet Lady Jane Trunk Show. I just made a small batch and its first come first serve till they're gone! It is pure silver with 24k gold on top. It features a spiraled sun on the front and the back is signed. It comes on a red silk cord. It will be offered at a special show price.

Exciting News!!!!

2008-12-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

I wrote a "how to" chapter on my fabric earrings for a Lark book called "Stitched Jewels: Jewelry That's Sewn, Stuffed, Gathered & Frayed". They chose my work for the cover! It comes out in May. I'm beyond thrilled!

Click HERE to find it on Amazon.

Trunk Show at Sweet Lady Jane!

2008-12-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited about this show! I had one there last year and it was so much fun. It is such a beautiful boutique and the staff is so sweet. I'm working on a limited edition pendant that I'll sell exclusively at this show so stay tuned for more on that...

New Bronze pieces in my Etsy Shop

2008-12-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

The Women's Festival of Crafts was great. I made soooooo much work to get ready for that show and now I'm able to put some stuff in my Etsy shop. I added about 20 pieces today. I can't believe it's December now. Sheesh. No time to rest, gotta get ready for my Trunk Show at Sweet Lady Jane on Dec 13th. More on that soon...

2008-11-28T06:12:00.001-08:00

And then it was Winter

2008-11-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

Things seemed to have sped up and slowed down all at the same time. The days are shorter (and colder) and things seem quiet and still, my crazy summer/fall pace has simmered way down. BUT I can feel that Holiday train building up steam and heading right for me! I'm busy getting ready for The Women's Festival of Crafts, which takes place the weekend after Thanksgiving at City Hall in Burlington, VT.

Above is a photo of one of my new "Key Chains". This time I made the key, I used BronzClay and carved it.

In Etsy news, I've created a shop for Celie, check it out HERE.

Photographing Jewelry

2008-11-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

Recently members of my Etsy Metal Clay team asked me to write a tutorial on jewelry photography. I was honored to hear such a request because this is something I’m really proud of and that I’ve worked hard at during the past year. The following is just what works for me and I'm excited to share it with you.

Posting work in my Etsy shop has made me a better photographer. There, the photo is everything. A good photo will make your jewelry look even better. A bad photo will make even good work look bad. On Etsy, there are 5 photos to show off your work, so the first one shouldn't be about showing the whole piece, it should be about enticing your audience. It should be an interesting and amazing photo on its own. The space they provide is a horizontal rectangle, so I always shoot horizontally to get the most out of the space.

I take the majority of my photos using an old, African wood tray as the background. It is a dark, almost black, aged wood and there's just something about it. It is matte but has a bit of a sheen to it, it looks professional yet it has character due to the subtle wood grain and scratches. It looks different in every photo due to the light but it ties them all together. A simple background is a good idea, you don’t want it to compete with your jewelry.
I use a Canon PowerShot SD 1000 digital Elph. I bought this camera before a trip to England last year and my hopes were that I could use it for travel pics as well as for jewelry. It does a wonderful job with both. I place my wood tray on a desk by a South-facing window. I only use natural light. Early or late day works best. If it is really cloudy I'll take the photo outside. I adjust 4 settings, I set it to manual, cloudy, macro and no flash. I hold the camera low down, and try to find that magical angle, really close up, where the light is raking across it; where the texture pops and the piece comes alive. I see a lot of jewelry photos on Etsy that are taken just too far away.
Rings and pendants are easy to take because they fill up that little rectangle so well. If a pendant is quite long, I'll take the photo so that is lies diagonally to fill up the frame.
I found that if you try to show both earrings equally in a photo, you can't get close enough. So I stagger my earrings, and take the shot from bottom-right, often with the light coming from the upper left. The angle draws you in and the photo becomes more interesting. Being that close, offers a lot of information yet you can still see the pair.
For necklaces, I'll often shape them into a spiral so that they fill up the whole frame. I'll take several photos so I can choose the best one.
I'm even taking some photos of Celie's work and they are coming out great! It is such a thrill for me to capture her magnificent work and that she's diggin' the pics.

My second photo in every listing shows the full piece, it’s never a great shot but it shows the actual shape of the piece (since the angle of the first photo can distort what the piece really looks like).

So that’s it. Simple really, I don’t use any fancy equipment or lighting. If anyone has any questions I’d be happy to answer them. Happy snapping!

Interview in the Burlington Free Press!

2008-10-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to be interviewed by Myra Flynn for the Burlington Free Press! The article is out today.

Exciting things!

2008-10-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

This past week I was featured on Tonya Davidson's newsletter and on her website: Whole Lotta Whimsy. What an honor! I was also interviewed on a great blog called: Wunderbug. In Etsy news, several members from our team Etsy Metal Clay are having an Etsy Trunk Show in the Virtual Labs this Thursday at 7pm (EST). Click HERE and click on the tree house room in order to reach our Trunk Show. Each member will be presenting 3 of their items during the trunk show. There will be 3 door prizes available for those that are paying attention. What fun! I'm also busy getting ready for a trunk show at a friend's next week. I thought things would slow down a little bit before the holiday madness but they are picking up! Gotta get to work.

(The photo above is of a special order that I did last week.)

Last Market of the Season

2008-10-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday was my last market day, it was bittersweet and bitter COLD. Most of the day lingered in the 40ºs, just too cold to stand outside all day. It's so sad when the market season ends but it also means my schedule eases up a bit which is quite welcome. The rest of the weekend was friend filled and fun! Now I have a little break before the holiday shows. As I write this, it is SNOWING outside. It's not sticking but it is still a shock to see the whirling white outside my window. I'm not ready for this. Fall feels like the firework finale of summer, very intense and it's over way too soon. Now I'm working on a few special orders, my fall catalog, and more Modern Relic silver and bronze pieces.

What a weekend

2008-10-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

I spent much of last week making the bridal jewelry for my good friend May. I've made bridesmaid's jewelry for other weddings but never jewelry for the bride. So it was an honor, as well as a bit of pressure! I made her these necklaces and matching, single leaf earrings. I made her mom, sis and lovely bridesmaid Kina matching single leaf necklaces. My good friend JP (JP Candelier) was her wedding photographer and we went to her beautiful home, before the ceremony. I got to place the jewelry on her once she was in her dress, as JP documented:

May lives an hour and a half South of me and for that reason, we always meet half way when we get together. This was my first time visiting her at this house and now that I've been there I know it's worth the drive and I'll be visiting again. The scene couldn't have been more picturesque and it couldn't have better captured Vermont at its fall finest. It was a sunny, blue sky day and the temperature was just right, warm with a slight breeze. The trees were at their peak, the rolling fields still lush and green.

May and Justin live on a farm and there were chickens and cows and lovely old buildings and a pond and the house had a great long porch. Just breathtaking. The actual ceremony went by in a flash and then it was back to the farm for the party under a huge tent. It was fun spending time with many of the friends I used to work with. The food was delicious, there was a fab bluegrass band and everyone was full of smiles, including the blushing bride. I have an amazing photo of her that will be in my upcoming catalog.

It was one of those rare days that I took a deep breath and soaked it all in. Time slowed down a bit and I could feel all this positive energy renewing my spirit.

By late afternoon, as the party was wrapping up, I had the bright idea of calling my friend Lauren in MA, since I was half way to her home and have been meaning to visit her. As luck would have it she was all for it and my wonderful weekend continued. We had dinner in Northampton, MA, a town that I've got to go back to, it felt very similar to my favorite place - Burlington, VT. The next day we met up with JP and his girlfriend Meghan in Brattleboro, VT (another favorite town of mine) for brunch and a photo session of Lauren and Meghan for my catalog. I spent he rest of the afternoon wandering around the town, then leisurely driving home. It felt like I'd been gone a week! Now I've got a bit of catching up to do...

Fall

2008-10-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Amidst making lots of pieces, I managed to make time to make something for myself and take some photos of my world. These things are important to do. Last Saturday I purchased a lovely wallet/clutch thingy on clearance at Urban Outfitters because it was missing part of its closure. I thought it was fine the way it was but after showing it to Celie we both realized it was begging for some bronze. So I made 2 bronze 'plates' and riveted them together and now I have the coolest wallet ever!

And now it is Peak Fall, even though fall just started. It seems each gust of wind blows color into the leaves. Gotta soak it all in before we settle into the long gray. View from the yard: It was blustery outside and the wind began blowing the leaves right off. I felt like a kid, staring up in wonder and awe. It was raining leaves! I gazed up and it looked like a flock of confused birds.

EtsyMetalClay Team

2008-10-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

I'm part of a great new group of Etsy Metal Clay artists called "EtsyMetalClay" or EMC. As of now it's a small group but the numbers are growing as is the excitement and enthusiasm. In just 2 months the group has come up with a logo, banner, website, mini mall, blog, and a flickr group and we're always making Treasuries. Today our team is being featured in Etsy's blog the Storque. Thanks to Lora Hart for creating this team and all the talented members that have moved this team so far in such a short period of time.

And then it was Fall

2008-09-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

When did this happen? I do have to say, this might be the first fall that I'm okay with, even a little excited about. I usually dread this season as it is the messenger that whispers winter's on its way. After so much heat and humidity though, the crisp air and lack of bugs is quite welcome. The changing landscape isn't bad either.

Saturday was a frigid but fun day at the market. I embraced the day decadently with raspberry hot chocolate topped with fresh whipped cream. The response to my new bronze and silver Modern Relics has been wonderful. I just made this pair of bronze earrings and they sold seconds after I put them out, luckily I remembered to snap a photo of them. I can't believe I only have a few markets left. I'm already filling my holiday schedule up with craft shows and trunk shows. AH!

This photo is from a few weeks ago but I forgot to post it then. Fall pics coming soon...

Modern Relics come alive

2008-09-14T06:18:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I last posted, I've been busy making these!

Blue Buddha pendant (well, blue/green). Bronze set in Silver, with silver beads and Peruvian Opal.

The back features the 8 auspicious symbols of Buddhism.
Unearthed Ring (aka Bronze Knuckles). Bronze set in silver spanning two ring bands.
On my hand.
Patched Tablet Ring. Bronze set in silver.
Fern Fossil Pendant. The bronze came out with a beautiful rainbow of patina. I polished up the surface and this fall leaf 'emerged'.
It is set in silver and it is reversible.
Round Fern Fossil Pendant. Love that patina!
Back.

Work with what ya got...

2008-09-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

As I worked on a pair of new Raga earrings today, I contemplated how these evolved and how many of my creations have come to be. For so long I COLLECTED. All of the beads and treasures that I was finding and buying amounted to more than I could make with them. I was taking in more than I was putting out. At a certain point I had to STOP the madness! I was running out of room, I was forgetting where I put things and I felt overwhelmed by all of this STUFF. It was time to start using it, 'to work with what I got'. Now there's a certain rhythm to my work. The excess from my "Rags and Riches" necklaces becomes a pair of Raga earrings.The trinkets and charms that don't make there way into Journey necklaces become little "Key Chain" necklaces. Only a few beads leftover from stringing a necklace? Those get wired together to make a little charm. Leftover bits of chain become chain extender. I get a sense that I'm finishing what's on my plate. Sometimes just sorting through what I already have leads me in totally new directions. All these things that I've hoarded and admired get to become new things and go out into the world. It's better for my wallet, for the environment, for my living space. All this 'working with what I got' reinforces that concept within my life and its not a bad thing to be reminded of.

Tomatoes, a flower and a stone

2008-09-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

I had another amazing market day! It started out drizzly but the day soon became sunny and warm. The past 2 markets I sold 2 pairs of my Peruvian Opal earrings. I've never had an item sell like this! So this time I made 3 pairs and all 3 pairs sold!
The day concluded with me scrambling at the farmer's market for some last minute treats. I was given a heaping pint of tomatoes at one stand and after purchasing some sunflowers at another booth- a free flower for my hair, which is right where it went. Then while packing up my work, a lovely gentleman handed me a jasper stone- just because. In this short period of time, these simple gifts filled me with good energy and such a sense of connection to the market and Burlington and Vermont...and to being alive! Doesn't take much to make me happy!

A Visitor at the Market

2008-08-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

For over an hour this little dragonfly kept landing on this earring stand, flying off and coming back.

This came just a bit after I had told someone with a lady bug on their sunglasses how last year a dragonfly chilled out by a pair of my hoops.

Maybe a theme for a new catalog?

New work on Etsy

2008-08-18T17:04:00.001-07:00

I'm sort of catching up a little bit... maybe not. I did make a lot of new pieces and add them to my Etsy shop. This ring is part of my new line of bronze and silver called "Modern Relics" It features a subtle spiral that looks like an ancient, unearthed treasure. The bronze has a slight green patina. I'm all about setting weird and wonderful things and it's so great to be able to make the piece that I set.

Here's some more set pieces. Most of my pendants are reversible and if not, a lot of care has been put into the design on the back. They're all very unique and have a very organic feel.

Sometimes I go outside. The other day was pretty magical. I could spy showers in the distance leaking out of the sky. A bit later I felt the sun come in my window while it was raining. I knew there must be a rainbow out there so I ran out with my camera and there it was...Back to work...

New rings and things

2008-08-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

I just finished an assortment of Chinese turquoise, gaspeite and shell rings in a variety of sizes. I'd been meaning to make them all summer but could never eek out enough time. There was no market last week so I was able to play catch up. I'll be posting a lot of new work in my Etsy shop on Sunday.

Last weekend I still went to Burlington, to attend the Seven Daysies event on Friday night and

to spend a gorgeous Saturday with friends, strolling the Farmer's market, eating fab foods and relaxing on -and in- the lake.

I won the Seven Daysies for Best Craftsperson!!!

2008-08-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! I'm so honored and excited! It really means so much to me. You can read about it HERE. I was even inspired to make a "Seven Daysies" ring to wear to the event - gotta represent yo!

The best part - it spins!

The petals are silk and leather. They are riveted in place with sterling wire between 2 disks of copper. The whole thing is riveted to a sterling band. Engineering this was a lot of fun - thanks to Celie for all of her help!

Thank you to anyone/everyone that voted! I really appreciate it.

Catching up

2008-08-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

Whoa, 2 weeks have passed since my last entry... been so busy! I had a lovely vacation with my family, including 2 days in Montreal. Now I've got to get to work! So, I'll keep this brief, in an effort to get me away from my computer and into the studio! Must share these photos though:

I made these earrings for the Market and then decided to keep 'em. They're bronze with sterling wire and I'm so into them! They've inspired a whole new direction.

Market pic of the day from last week - Sherri and Emma after switching sunglasses! Too cute!

Market pic of yesterday, a Japanese Chin in a bag! (It looks like a cross between my little long-haired Chihuahua and my last dog, a Pekingese.)

Thank you everyone who left such sweet comments on my last entry!

Bamboo Tattoo... at Purdue

2008-07-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

For years I have wanted my logo (the Chinese Kanji for "forever" which also happens to be made up of my initials) as a tattoo. One reason or another always prevented me from getting it. Then my friend Lauren lead me to bamboo, I was looking at her photos on Flickr and spotted what looked like a bamboo tattoo on someone's arm. I instantly knew I wanted bamboo, in a sumi-e style with my Kanji as the red signature.

I got to accompany Celie on a teaching trip to Japan 3 years ago, we visited the bamboo forest in Kyoto - the most magical place I've ever been.I did a bit of research: Bamboo symbolizes longevity because of its durability, strength, flexibility, resilience and grace. It survives in the harshest conditions and it always stands tall and stays green. Not bad.

I knew I wanted to get it on the back of my right shoulder. I decided I wanted to get it while at Purdue, in Indiana, at the PMC Conference (PMC being my life, it just made sense). Celie was thinking of getting one too, one she's had in mind for awhile.

On the flight, I began drawing it out but a pen wasn't going to do it justice. I moved to liquid eyeliner which worked pretty well! Over the next few days, I obsessively "painted" over and over and over and over, more than 100 attempts at a sumi-e like design. I came up with one that I thought was quite good.

I started telling friends in our pre-Conference BronzClay class and 2 more people wanted to get tattoos too! This became my only topic of conversation for days. For every person I told, I was met with either enthusiasm or tattoo horror stories. I started looking for "signs" that I should get the tattoo while on this trip. Then, standing outside the hotel restaurant, I glanced at their signboard and to my shock, it read "ink special". I realized that someone must've accidently erased the "Dr" in "Drink" but to me, this sign was a SIGN.

So then it became a matter of finding a tattoo shop and a time when we could all go. Another sign occurred on the first day of the Conference, at the beginning of Bill Struve's fabulous BronzeClay seminar. Before his power-point-type presentation started, his computer was on his screen saver - of a bamboo forest. (!) He started by showing the Linear B symbol for Bronze. I thought that would be the perfect tattoo for him and mentioned it to him and Lacey Ann (his wonderful wife) at dinner.

We were thrilled to see our good friend Reiko at the Conference. We spent much of our time in Japan in her company. We had a lovely lunch with her and I showed her my bamboo rendering to which she shook her head "no, no." She looked in her bag and took out her own brush-pen and delicately, precisely and effortlessly stroked the page. PERFECT! I asked her to write out my JK/Chinese symbol as well. I told her "this might be on my shoulder at the end of today!" During our lunch, Bill and Lacey Ann came over to us and Bill quietly said "I want to get a tattoo too!"

All aboard the tattoo train.

Later in the day we went to a tattoo shop called Custom Creations with Bill and Lacey-Ann. It seemed really chill and clean but I wasn't sure about it UNTIL:

I saw my symbol on the wall...

...and noticed it was right next to a bamboo frame...
...and within that frame...
...a woman touching her shoulder.

I guess this was the place.

Somehow hours passed between me deciding to get it done and actually hearing the buzz of the tattoo machine. It took about 30-35 minutes and it hurt but it was bearable. It's not my first tattoo but it's been 11 years and the pain of the first one is one of the reasons I waited so long for another.

Bill went next... (check out his arm!)

It was almost 10:00 and we were all starvin'. The plan was to come back the next day so the other four peeps could get their tats. So we went out for Chinese food, followed by ice cream and noticed that it was a full moon!

I barely slept that night, jazzed from the new tattoo and all the adrenaline still coursing through me. The next day there was no time to go back to the shop, we were on the move with Conference madness. (The Conference was great btw, but it went by in such a flash!) So our tattoo train had disbanded but I'm so happy that I got mine.

Oh, and I gave my bronze bowl (see below) to Reiko, as a "thank you" for her gift to me.

Pre-PMC Conference BronzClay class in Indiana

2008-07-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

We've been preparing for Celie's "Almost Alchemy - Intro to BronzClay" class for so long and now its over! What a great class it was, everyone was really excited about this amazing material. Celie started the class by ringing my little bowl with one of her bronze ball pendants. I started making bowls a few weeks back in an attempt to make singing bowls. This was one of the first ones and I loved its natural edge too much to smooth it out but its still carries great sound when 'dinged'. The patina on it is just from firing - beautiful. Celie made these solid bronze balls and the patina on them was extraordinary, speckled and multi-colored. They looked like little eggs so I took a photo of them in my nest-like bowl.

Ah, life on the road. Attempting to eat cereal in the hotel room. I had a spoon but no bowl and the coffee mugs were tiny - hence 'breakfast of champions' a la coffee carafe.

More soon...

Saturday was an amazing day

2008-07-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

Everyone at the Market was eating these giant blueberries from Adam's Berry Farm, so good!

These two little angels were getting adorned with glitter by henna artist Rebecca Freedner.
I went to a lovely wedding party right on the Huntington gorge. Such a great time, great friends, food, music, swimming...even volleyball! Topping the cake: the best bride/groom/dog figurines ever -Polly Pocket!
This little cutie was all about the watermelon!

Reveling in the beauty outside

2008-07-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

Last week I ate fresh broccoli from the garden. Ashamed to admit, I didn't even know what growing broccoli looked like, it is such a beautiful color! Never have I tasted broccoli so good, full of vitamins and energy and life.
I was taking photos of poppies and one of them had a bug in its center. I blew on it to remove the bug so I could take a more 'pristine' photo and the force of my breath caused all of the petals to fall off! Moral of the story: don't mess with nature, yo.
I could feel my pupils widen when staring into the lilies. They line the path in front of the house and they are so bright and orange and cheery, an explosion of summer.

Summertime...and the livin' is BUSY

2008-07-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the summer solstice has come and gone. This merry-go-round is just going by too fast and I need to be sure to make time to pick wildflowers, watch fireflies and feel the grass between my toes. The other day, while playing with the dogs on the lawn we spied this colorful little froggie all camo-ed out and deserving of a photograph.

The Market was lovely, but maybe a bit too hot. At least there was no rain! I sold a pair of my large crescent earrings to a woman who recently pierced her ears for the first time and I was honored she chose a pair of mine as her first pair.

I like to hand out stickers to the kids who come by my

booth. It always puts a smile on their face and it doesn't hurt to keep them occupied while their momma's have a look-see at my work ;). I gave some to this little cutie while his mom was trying on some of Claudia Venon's clothes and thus came upon the "market pic of the day".

Franti in Vermont-y

2008-06-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

For weeks I had been wanting to get tickets to see Michael Franti and Spearhead but it wasn't until the day of the show that I got it togetha. It was an outdoor concert at Shelburne Farms and part of what held me back from buying tickets was the fear of thunderstorms rollin' in (as is is customary in the afternoon/evening round these parts as of late). On Friday I checked the weather report and there was no sign of storms, so I made a half-hearted attempt at getting my friend Sherri to come, writing: "I prolly shouldn't go anyway, I have a lot of work to finish for tomorrow but it would be fun". To my surprise, she was up for it. Then I had to decide - was I? Did I really want to fork over the duckets? Did I really want to sit in a field, with bugs, and hundreds of people... and use a porta-potty (eek!)? More importantly, could I really finish all the jewelry that was very close to being done for the Market, pack up, doll up and drive there in time? I guess the answer was YES!!! Just as we decided we would go, they stopped selling the tickets online, so Sherri went all the way there to buy tickets (we thought they might sell out).

Being at a concert in a field took me back to my college days, I think the last such event I attended was - (yikes) 8 years ago! We snagged a spot right up close. We caught a bit of the Bread and Puppet show, then walked around, ate burritos and ran into lots of friends. Neither of us had ever seen Michael Franti and Spearhead before and they were just amazing. So soulful and so full of positive vibes. We danced our butts off and boy was it hot out and sooooo humid but that didn't stop us! While dancing, my friend Meghan (McCormick) took this sublime photo of Michael with my camera. Since this was an early show (6-9:30) there were children and families all around. People were dancing and eating and hoola-hooping and smiling and... enjoying life. The setting sun provided a lovely backdrop to this already ethereal scene. The whole experience just felt so wholesome and nourishing and Vermont-y. This is why I live here.

We even had a "My Blue Heaven" moment. I had recently watched that movie (for the, I don't know, 100th time) and I love the scene where Joan Cusack just lets loose dancing to the Meringue at dusk. Once the sun went down, it felt easier to dance and Sherri and I went skipping and spinning through the fields. And to think I almost missed this.

I[don't]Pod

2008-06-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm probably one of a handful of people (of my generation) who doesn't have an ipod - not even a nano... or a shuffle. I never wanted one. The idea of listening to the same songs again and again doesn't do it for me. Songs get so easily stuck in my head and spin -"right round baby right round, like a record baby..." (d'oh, now that will be in my head all day!). It's madness and it can keep me from falling asleep. Sometimes I wake up with the same song I fell asleep with, on repeat in my mind, right where I left off. Does this happen to other people?

For years I was doing just fine listening to a local, commercial free radio station that played international music. One day, the station vanished and in its place - just static.

I don't drive too often but when I do its for long rides, rides where I get so tired I worry about nodding out - BAD! I kept buying comedy CDs on Itunes which would keep me awake but, like the songs, I could get whole routines stuck in my head if I listened to them a few times. Plus, at $9.99 each, they really added up.

The solution: XM Radio! I LOVE the idea of a constant, fresh, stream of music and comedy. It is literally refreshing. I tried it out for the first time today and it was great, it may not be life changing but it improves the ride.

Blogger's block

2008-06-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Every few days a blog idea seems to effortlessly formulate but it's been over a week now and the pressure of THE BLOG is getting to me. I've been really busy but nothing really comes to mind to blog about. So I guess I'll keep this brief...

It was so great to be back at the Market. The

rain held off until late afternoon. The weekend was fun and friend-filled. Now I'm taking photos of new work and then... making more work. I just listed several pieces (including the 3 posted here) on Etsy and I'll add more tonight.

I'm not in Kansas anymore... I mean Milwaukee

2008-06-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

A Twister, a twister! Ok, there were no twisters but there was lots of potential! Our last class on Friday was interrupted by sirens and the threat of having to seek shelter. Everyone was too busy making luscious silver and gold pendants to heed them and we felt pretty safe where we were. The warnings passed and then there was the fun of having to pack everything up - for 5 hours! Ugh!

We spent Saturday shopping at the Bead show (woo-hoo!) and shopping around town. Little did we know that we would be smack straight in the middle of another storm - what felt like a hurricane. We leisurely lunched and hit up a thrift store and boy was it getting dark out. We walked outside and it was just downpouring. We thought we could wait it out in the best shop in Milwaukee, ArtAsia. This place has transformed in the past 2 years. It is now a ginourmous gallery/museum. We saw it being set up last year and now, like magic, it is all done and fabulous. Deep in the bowels of the dimly lit store, I was surrounded by the drone of monks chanting through the speakers, followed by huge thunder crashes. Suddenly the experience was very heady and I felt connected to my time in Japan, and the same feeling as when I play a singing bowl. OmmmmmmmmmmmmmCRASHmmmmmCRASHmmmmmmm.

We called a cab to take us back to the hotel and got drenched racing from the store to it. The streets were flooded, the lightning as if we were under a strobe, I WAS TERRIFIED! Was this the apocalypse? We made it back to the hotel and crowds of people were in the lobby and standing by the doors. The roof was leaking, cars looked like they were about to float away, things were chaotic. And then it was over.

Until yesterday when sheets of rain were coming down before we left for the airport. We were so lucky that are plane wasn't delayed, until it was. We sat on the tarmac for 2 hours waiting for a new route to get us around massive storms in Michigan. Ugh.

All was forgotten when I was reunited with my little pup! We got home late last night to an enchanting star-filled sky and fireflies and apparently a jungle that was the yard. Everything shot up 2 feet or more and its a little intimidating! I'm writing this inches from a fan cause it is crazy hot. I plan to finish many of the pieces I started out there and have them in my Etsy shop at the end of the week.

Here's a few random shots from the trip.

Here's me, dog tired, at the end of the day.

This was the view from our hotel room (not bad).

I took the last shot on our walk downtown, someone placed a bubble machine in a window (awesome!).

Life is just what happens in between Bead and Button Shows...

2008-06-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

This is my 7th year assisting Celie with her classes at the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee, WI. What an intense way to spend 9 days! We spend 11 months and 2 weeks of every year either recovering from or getting ready for this show. We teach 5 classes which have up to 25 students in each class so a lot of preparation is involved (ordering, packaging student's work kits, packing supplies, writing handouts...).

As I entered the revolving door of the hotel, I had the sense of the cumulative years of entering through that door revolving as well. How fast the time goes! The hotel is connected to the convention center via an enclosed 'skywalk' which means days can go by without breathing an atom of fresh air. Yikes. This year we're making a concerted effort to take 'air' breaks every now and again!

We have come to really enjoy Milwaukee. There are great restaurants and shops, the people are very kind and over the years we've found all of the places to get all of the things we need when we're here. We usually have a free afternoon during our stay and spend it in the "Historic Third Ward" which is a kind of pedestrian marketplace with fabulous shops and boutiques and lovely cafés. Its always hard not to spend the money I've saved (for buying beads at the show). Which is to say that I did, in fact, drop some dough at the new Anthropologie store. Oops.

So far the classes are running smoothly. My job is to do everything I can do (readying the students spots with kits/handouts/supplies; loading/unloading kilns, setting up supply tables, displaying Celie's jewelry and being 'on call' for anything she might need -including coffee) so that she can concentrate on teaching and working with students. We've got our routine so down that we barely need to communicate when setting up/cleaning up for a class and we're getting faster and more efficient. Phew!

I brought so many pieces and projects to work on and I'm actually getting more work done here than I get done at home! I've been keeping a list of things I have to buy at the show which starts on Thursday - my 'kid in a candy shop' day, can't wait!

Guess I should get back to work. I'll write more about the show later in the week. It's been wonderful seeing so many familiar faces here and many people have told me they've read my article and they've been reading my blog which is great to hear because I have no idea if anyone is reading this. I was told that several folks tried to leave comments and couldn't so I just changed my settings and now anyone can post one (I had it on the wrong setting). I'd love some comments! Be well!

Oh yeah, so these pictures have nothing to do with this entry but what is a blog without photos so I thought I'd showcase one of my new designs; my "Rags and Riches" necklace/bracelet. I love to make things reversible, why not transformable? Each necklace, made up of coordinated strands of silk, chain and beads becomes a bold bracelet when wrapped around the wrist 3 times. I've sold all 3 pictured here but I'm making more now!

2008-06-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

What a magnificent year for lilacs! Never have I smelled such perfectly perfumed air. Walking outside I felt like I was in a commercial for lilac-scented...lilacs. They surround the yard in a wall of purple and pink and you can hear the buzzing of bees and hum of hummingbirds and everything seems so alive and living! As you can imagine, it was a hard to leave (I'm in Milwaukee with Celie, teaching at the Bead and Button Show). So before I left, I took in a sharp inhale, trying to breathe it all in because when we get back, they will be gone. Its a sight and smell I'll never forget and always cherish.

It was also oh-so hard to leave my little Kiwi. In this pic she was sunning herself and watching me outside take the lilac photos. She's happy though, she's with Celie's dogs and their doggie relatives staying with friends in Boston. I have so many photos of her, I might just add a 'Kiwi Gallery' to my website. Okay, I can't write any more about her or I'll turn to a weeping pile of mush. I'll write about the Bead and Button Show soon. Happy June!

2008-05-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday was another lovely day at the Artist Market. I managed to finish lots of new earrings, including several pairs using the Bronze Clay. I tried out a few of my silver designs and they transfer really well to bronze. They are much harder to hammer but the result is a very light earring, even lighter than the silver, which means I can go even bigger with my designs! It was such a fun day and the weather was perfect. There was an occasional gust of wind and at one point one of my earring stands blew over and sent two earrings flying. I fixed the stand but I didn't notice for a few minutes and suddenly, in a panic wondered why I was missing a pair. It occurred to me to look in front of my table and there they were, about a foot in front of the table and a foot apart from each other, just lying there, helpless. Luckily they had not been stepped on and it was as if I could feel their relief when I rescued them. I imagined they had been crying out "MOMMY!" I know, I know. They're just earrings, but they're all my babies!

Speaking of babies, there were so many puppies around. This adorable little one was just chillin' in a bag. Thus the Market pic of the day.

On Sunday I went for a bike ride with Claudia and sadly realized that it had been 7 years since I was last on a bike! But, it was just like riding a bicycle so it was all good. We rode on the causeway and the lake was just magnificent!

The first shot is looking to the left and the second is the view on the right.

Bronze Clay!

2008-05-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

I had such a blast working with Bronze Clay this past winter! I eagerly watched over Celie's shoulder as she worked with Bronze Clay but it hadn't occurred to me to ask to try some. I was busy setting things in PMC. I was searching high and low for interesting things to set (unusual stones, coin, shells, beads). I got frustrated and wished I could find (or make) some kind of tribal artifact. Then a bell went off and I asked Celie if I could try the Bronze Clay. She generously gave me a whole package!

Making my PMC settings is very precise and

working with the Bronze Clay was very freeing. The pieces I made were very primitive but I loved the outcome. I think the combination with the PMC setting results in this "modern relic" style and its a direction I'm very excited about pursuing. I'm so thankful to Bill Struve for inventing this wonderful material. I feel so lucky to have gotten to work with it.

I feel even luckier to have 3 images of my work (the two rings featured here and the other side of the pendant shown left) in an article in the June issue of Art Jewelry magazine titled "Now Entering the Bronze Age". Its such a great article and it begins with a giant and amazing photo of Celie's spectacular carved bronze snake chain.

I've wanted to make myself a cuff bracelet similar

to my patched rings forever but the cost of PMC prevented me from ever doing so. I finally got to make one using the Bronze Clay and I just love it! I've also started making several pairs of Bronze earrings to sell at the Artist Market (which I will soon post in my Etsy shop).

Celie will be teaching Bronze Clay classes in the fall, check out her website for more info.

A new Bronze Age is here!

My New article in Jewelry Artist Magazine!

2008-05-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

The June issue will be on sale on June 3rd, subscribers will get it earlier - mine came in the mail today!

Three years ago I wrote a project called “Metal Clay Bezel: Setting stones in PMC after firing” (Lapidary Journal, May, 2005). I wanted to find a way to set stones in PMC that could not be fired in place. In it I describe how to make an entire setting out of PMC by making the setting big enough in fresh clay so that after firing (and shrinking) the stone fits. (I didn’t want to make a mold of my stone and a plaster replica to fire in place, I just wanted my stone to fit.) Through trial and error I found that if I scanned my cab and enlarged the image by 118% (to account for the 15% shrinkage), I could print that image and use it as a template to make my setting.

I have set over a hundred stones, in all shapes and sizes using that calculation. In that article I used PMC Sheet for the bezel wall, which works very well. The technique did not require soldering, so it provided those without metalworking skills a way to make beautiful jewelry out of their stone cabs.

I recently had the honor of contributing a chapter on setting stones for Tim McCreight’s book “PMC Technic”. Writing that chapter caused me to think more about settings and to create some pieces that go beyond surrounding a stone in silver. I wanted the settings themselves to be compelling.

I wanted the backs to be beautiful, in fact, why not reversible? I wanted the sides to be decorative too; why not textured even? In that chapter I touch on the techniques that I expand on in the article.

Instead of using PMC Paper, I use very thin strips of textured PMC3. This comes with its own advantages and challenges. This project also features an open back setting, a lovely option if you’d like to show off the back of your cab. In the first article, the bezel wall was attached to the edge of the backsheet, in this project the backsheet is extends beyond the setting and I use a PMC syringe to help support the bezel wall on top of the backsheet.

I hope you enjoy the article!

"You should have a blog"

2008-05-18T06:07:00.000-07:00

This remark was made to me yesterday at the first Market of the season. "I have a blog" I responded, "only it's horribly outdated." So I've decided to create a brand new blog. One that I hope to keep exciting and current and full of bloggity goodness. So here we go...

I'm really not fond of the winter and this past winter was especially cold and snowy but the best thing it had going for it; it went by really fast! I can't believe that it's May and that the trees are almost full and that there's flowers everywhere and how green everything is! It's as though my eyes are still having trouble adjusting to the color after so much white. I'm in sensory overload and its grand!

This feeling was experienced at its fullest for me yesterday, at the first Artist Market. I got to reunite with old friends and see all of the wonderful art that they have been busy creating all winter. I got to gorge on yummy market food, including a root beer float!

I saw kids and dogs and smelled basil plants and flowering trees and witnessed the smiling faces that were also taking in all of these amazing things. It's graduation weekend and there was a kid's day parade and I think it was the most crowded I've ever seen this scene! So many friends and loyal customers stopped by, and it was just the best day.

I enjoyed showing many of my new designs (like the earrings shown above) and introducing my jewelry to new faces. I also realized how much work I need to make! Between the Market and a lovely Trunk Show that my friend Jamie hosted the night before and my Etsy shop, I'm quite low on work. So, I should probably stop writing and get to it. More soon though... I promise!