New Colors

Last night I decided to play around and mix some new polymer clay colors to incorporate into some new designs. I love the look of shimmery metallic polymer clay, but the metallic colors are a bit harsh for my taste. So I mixed these seven colors using mostly Fimo Soft gold for the metallic shimmer. The colors I came up with range from dark golden olive to frosty gold to dark supple suede. I really love how they've turned out. These samples remind me of the eye shadow pots at M.A.C.

Be sure to keep an eye out for these new shades in my Etsy shop!

Stunning

Stunning. That’s all I can say about this gorgeous necklace that my friend, Lorelei Eurto, of Lorelei1141 has created for me. I sent her the pendant and she sent me back this finished piece; I could not be more thrilled with it.
Her work is amazingly well crafted. The individual links are reminiscent of the delicate rosary beads my grandmother used to collect, yet the piece is surprisingly substantial.
Check out Lorelei’s shop for more of her amazing work and keep an eye out for more collaborations!

Moody Treasury

Special thanks to PicturesofLily for creating this wonderful treasury that made the front page today! The list is lovely and I’m and thrilled to be a part of it.

The Blues

Blue is my favorite color. Here is a sampling of my favorite earrings in my favorite hue, available in my Etsy shop.

Be Festive!

I’m not a fan of the typical red and green xmas color combination and this time of year its pretty hard to avoid. There are so many beautiful shades of the two colors that coordinate so much better than primary red and green. So this is my variation on typical xmas colors.

Just in time for the holidays, I’ve created a new series entitled Be Festive!. The pieces in this series are characterized by a subtle festive feel, but are cool enough to wear all year round. In fact, they will probably be offered year round with different, coordinating ribbon.
So check out the shop and get festive, without the light up, blinking Rudolph gem sweater!

Autumn (it still is autumn, no matter what Macy’s and Wal-Mart tell you) is a time for change. Sometimes it seems the leaves take forever to reach their brilliant hues of gold, yellow, orange and red. Then it seems, almost over night, the tree’s are on fire with color. Then, an over cast day leads to a windy and rainy evening storm and over night the trees shed their leaves and blanket the ground with color.

Quirky Crafters Holiday Bazaar

I hope every body's Thanksgiving was fantastic! This past weekend I was in Rhinebeck, New York vending at the Quirky Crafter's Holiday Bazaar. It was a blast! Leah, of gomonkeydesign.etsy.com organized the whole thing and did a wonderful job. It was great to be in Rhinebeck, a community that truly appreciates unique, handmade and handcrafted goods.

I look forward to doing more shows in the area and hopefully the Quirky Crafter's Holiday Bazaar next year!

Also at the show was fellow Connecticut Etsian Sharon Jenkins, of morganstreet.etsy.com, maker of amazing handcrafted soap and body luxuries. Her soaps were so fragrant, they were actually making me hungry! I indulged myself and bought her patchouli bay rum and lily of the valley soaps.

Classical Day

I've recently discovered one of the most awesome websites, in my opinion, Pandora.com . It is a website that curates up to 100 radio stations based on your suggestion of an artist or song that you like. It also has tons genre radio stations to choose from, which I've been really into lately. Yesterday was New Orleans jazz day, today is classical symphonic day.
I'm becoming a huge fan of classical music, its extremely relaxing and makes you feel smart. Really, you should try it. Check out Pandora and discover some new music, its totally free and worth a listen.

Pretty Little Things

Some things give me such pleasure. These photos depict some of my favorite things, which are lovingly displayed in my little studio area. I love to look at them while I'm working, or when i need a bit of inspiration. To me, they are like little treasures.

Shows...

I had booked this past weekend with two shows and was expecting to be raking in the dough. With Christmas right around the corner I figured everyone would be out shopping for cool, unique, handmade gifts. Well I was wrong. I ended up loosing money at both shows and was pretty disappointed.

Looking back at the whole experience now is enlightening. Both of the shows I did were weekly markets, so I've decided to try to sick to annual shows / fairs. Although I didn't make any money, I did meet some wonderful people, did a bit of networking and of course handed out business cards. I even had a wholesale inquiry.

I learn something new every time a do a show.

Organizing

I am constently struggling with keeping my studio area clean and organized but i seem to have the most trouble organizing and storing completed pieces. I hate to put them away because a lot of them provide inspiration for new pieces. I've toyed with the idea of buying jewelry trays, but never thought they would completely solve my problem; it seems I'd need so many different size compartments.

But I believe I have found a great solution: antique type set trays. This one is large enough to hold pretty much all of my pieces and makes such a beautiful storage unit!

Gray, Grey

I love the treasury that addorns the front page of Etsy right now. So many shades of grey (or gray).

Keep Looking

I have two shows, back to back this weekend and another next weekend, so I've been working hard to create inventory.

I've stared a new series entitiled "keep looking" featuring images of beautifully forlorn looking Victorian Era women. I'm hoping the series, which is mostly sterling silver, becomes a hit over the next few weeks.

Kitchen After

My wonderful boyfriend worked so hard demolishing, assembling and installing this beautiful new kitchen. We are both so happy with the end result...what an improvement, huh? Of course, it's not finished yet, a subway tile backsplash will be put up this weekend.

Kitchen Before

This is what I've been up to

Amidst the mess of my full kitchen renovation, I've been attempting to assemble 25+ pieces for an opening at d.Art Gallery in Easthampton MA, revamp my inventory for the four shows I have scheduled this month and update my etsy shop. Its been quite a challenge, but I think I've done well and the kitchen is coming along beautifully. Before and after (and every where in between) pictures to come...

So my first week self employed has been very fulfilling. We are in the process of redoing the kitchen so my house is a disaster. But so far so good. Very exciting times ahead I feel...

somthing sparkly

i don't usually wear (or own any for that matter) sparkly jewelry, so when i was invited to a fancy schmancy ball saturday night i was at a bit of a loss as to what to wear. i decided to challenge myself and make a piece to wear and this is what i came up with. not as sparkly as some of the pieces i had seen on other lovely ladies that night, but it suited me perfectly, i think.

I'll be back, I promise...

Hello my darlings, i know its been forever, i know. but i will be back, i promise. i've given my notice to my soul sucking job and my last day is fast approaching. in the meantime, i'm dragging myself out of bed every morning and being as miserable as possible at work.

But, fret not, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! when i leave this taupe prison cell some people call an office, i will be free to focus on my work, my jewelry.

That's right, i will be designing and creating jewelry full time and i couldn't be happier to have this opportunity. I will be working part time, a few hours a day hostessing at a local restaurant and i'm even looking forward to that.

So stay tuned, there is more to come, i promise...

thrifty finds...

i love thrifting. if i had a bigger house, i'd be in some serious trouble, since my lack of space is the only thing that prevents some pretty outlandish purchases. i love the goodwill and the one where i live is phenomenal. thats where i scored those awesome, vintage green flat boots. so cool and so comfortable and so $8. during that visit i also scored some great vintage books, some mid-century kitchen tins and a etched glass pitcher.

The coffee table and chair were from a church tag sale that i happened upon completely by accident. The chair was $3 and the table, $18...what a steal!

another view...

As an afterthought, i'll add this picture as well. Because it was just that beautiful.

it has been a while...

Hello folks, i know, its been a while but i have been busy! I visited miami, which was beautiful (see the view from our hotel room above) and i can't wait to go back. I've been doing some shows (the Brooklyn Indie Market this past weekend) and gearing up for more (the Atlantic Antic this coming weekend). I've also been doing some thrifting, which i'll post about later on. Just wanted to pop in and say hello, happy fall!

this is where i live

summer is quickly coming to an end and i'm feeling nostalgic. chris and i went out for a ride on the bike saturday and i decided to take some pictures to remind me in the months to come of our lovely new england summers.

we are fortunate enough to live a few blocks from this beautiful park, situated right on norwalk harbor. i love to just sit and watch the boats come in and out and on a clear day you can even see long island. right down the street is down town south norwalk, where all the bars and restaurants and little shops are.

i really do love the area and will hopefully be posting more about it.

this is how i work...

i really wish i was more organized, but i feel more creative when i'm surrounded by comfy, pretty things. this is how i work: sometimes on my desk, sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on an ottoman in front of the food network.

All Things Vintage

I love all things vintage. vintage ephemera, vintage clothes, vintage house wears, you name it, i love it all. I recently expanded my love of vintage to include vintage motorcycles, specifically the one pictured above (not to mention the man on it!).

Chris has been wanting a motorcycle for so long, and although i do think they are dangerous and not very practical, he really connected with this one and i must say, its a perfect fit. The paint job is original to the bike and in great condition. Chris even got antique plates for it!

Indie Blogs

My friend Kristin Eno of Pixie Petals and Halflight at etsy has turned me on to a great blog. Run by Kpoene of Miss Mignonette on etsy, La Mode D'indie is a wealth of information not only about Kpoene's wonderful work and design, but of other fine designers as well. I love her style of writing, fun and entertaining...you really get the sense that you are sitting down and chatting with her.

If you are on the lookout for a new favorite jewelry designer, some fresh stationary, or a one of a kind piece to complete your Saturday night date outfit, I strongly suggest checking out this blog.

Cheers!

Wabisabi Brooklyn

while at the Brooklyn Indie Market, i had the pleasure of meeting 1/2 of the new, very wonderful design team Wabisabi Brooklyn, MaryAnne LoVerme. MaryAnne invited me to stop by their trunk show, held to celebrate the fact that Wabisabi Brooklyn is a newly minted LLC. I was thrilled of course and brought my sister along for the ride. i got to meet the other half of the teem, Naomi in addition to checking out all their beautiful work in person. I purchased the necklace above and i love it, wood is my new obsession. you can check out their etsy shop here.

New Designs

i call this necklace (above) Four Maps; each little glass gem features a bit of a map of coastal California and encased in polymer clay. i plan on making more with different themes. this one in particular has just been listed on etsy, so we'll see how it does!

i have committed myself to a few more shows in Sept. including the Brooklyn Indie Market and the Atlantic Antic on Atlantic St in Brooklyn. i am really excited, so i decided to come up with a few new designs. i don't have a name for the necklace pictured above, but i absolutely adore it. the pendant features and image from an antique map and hanging from the chain is a beautifully carved wood flower, a tiny glass vial (from my friend aminyitray.etsy.com), a piece of white turquoise and a black cathedral bead.

I really love the look of this necklace, and it looks stunning on. i may not be featuring this style just yet in my etsy shop, but definitely plan on making a few for my upcoming shows.