Its okay to LOVE other peoples' stuff!

As a jewelry designer, artist, and down right creative person, you tend to really love your designs. You get selfish and mad when someone doesnt love it the way you do.  I attend several events a year where I display and sell my jewelry. I absolutely love it when people come by and say... "this is the most beautiful thing i've ever seen!" And then they walk away with a smile on their face with my signature hot pink organza bag in hand. What gets me are the other jewelers that come bt to see what all the hoopla is about. Its almost like they are sizing up what they are up against.

When I take part in these events, I like to walk around and see what other people do...not to see how I can beat them out. I LOVE art. And every form of it! Whether its paintings, or photography, sculpture, lighting installations...it all works for me. I appreciate other artists' work. I also appreciate other jewelers work and let them know how much I like it. And if I LOVE it, darn it, I will buy a piece from them and wear it proudly!

We all have a different style, and things that call our attention. Its okay for artists and jewelers to like what you do and visa versa.  There is so much business for everyone in this world. We are one community of crafty and talented people and we should help and appreciate eachother as often as possible. And always remember its okay to love other peoples' stuff!

Seeking Inspiration

For the past week I have been going crazy trying to motivate myself to finish a few pieces that I had lingering in my studio.  Every day I would walk into my office, sit down at the desk and stare at my model neck to gain momentum and begin the project.  I finally threw in the towel and gave it a rest. 
(No not out of my house...My BODY!) I exercised, did some Yoga, and even created an entire landscape scene in my front yard!  In the middle of the digging I found this really cool piece of rock that had a few shells embedded into it. This is actually a pretty normal occurrence in my area since only about 100 years ago it was part of the everglades.  Upon further inspection I began to see traces of tiny bones that looked like a fossilized fish.  I finally knew what I had to do for my next piece.  After two days of meticulous toil, I came up with some incredible pieces all simulating the rock I found outside my house.  I was able to take some clay and press portions of the rock into it to show the fossilized fish bones. I used the shells in another angle to give it some more depth. I also pressed in a Celtic knot bead to add some whimsy to it.  After it was all said and done I was extremely happy with my finished product and got that sense of accomplishment that sets off a totally new bout of inspiration!

Inspiration can come from anywhere. For me it seems to always be through nature.  You can tell just by looking at my jewelry and my paintings.  If you ever feel you are stuck in a rut, go outside. Take a breath of fresh air and a long walk, and maybe you'll find something that will inspire you to do something special. Three days later, I had 5 new pieces completed and just in time for a large art festival I have this weekend!  Thanks again mother nature for being my muse.

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Getting GREEN with Jewelery~!

okay, so times a tough. People everywhere are taking loads of shortcuts in order to spare any penny they can and conserve what they have.  My favorite saying is, "Invention is the mother of necessity" and if you NEED something, why not MAKE IT!

Fashion is simple.  Don't base it on what you see in a magazine or on runway shows.  That stuff is over played and way over stated!  No one is going to go out with half a chicken in feathers on their heads or hanging from their ears. BUT... If you have a little ingenuity, and a little creative bug in you, then you can make yourself some really nice pieces that you can wear and be proud of!

To start thinking up of ways I can reconstruct jewelry to fit my needs, I love rummaging through garage sales.  You would be amazed at what you will find that people are selling.  Most don't know what they have.  In the recent weeks, my mom found me loads of great natural stone jewelry, that although may have been outdated, could be recreated into something spectacular.  I also like going through ebay.com and looking for those big bundle deals of findings and nik-naks.  These are usually people that are asked to get whatever they can on estate sale items.  Most of this broken, tarnished or down-right old pieces are not looked at twice for resale value. They are bunched up in grab bags and sold for pretty much anything they can get for them.  I have been extremely successful in finding some incredible pieces with this method.  Of course you are going to get a bunch of duds in between.  But if you get creative, you can make some pretty cool stuff our of what you get.  For example, I ordered this bag full of gold-tone findings that came from northern maine.  The photo on ebay showed a few promising pieces like this white enameled pin that looked a little like a cameo of a sail boat.  Another piece that caught my eye was another old broach in the shape of a rose stem. Although the color looked to be chipping in certain parts, I figured I can use it somehow or refresh the paint.  When the auction winnings came in, I was in shock to find some incredible pieces I never expected to get...  an authentic Canadian Army crest, Civil War buttons (even if they were copies, they were still pretty neat to use in a design), and couple of real gold earrings missing their pairs.  The sail boat cameo (or at least it's what it looked like in the photo) was a hand painted pendant on ivory with a gold-fill frame. After doing some research, it turned out to be an original and unique piece made by a local artist and I was able to fashion it perfectly on white cotton rope to complete the whole nautical look.  The rose was a bit of a disappointment. It was just a metal pin that was cheaply sold at dime stores all over the U.S. back in the 70's.  It was beyond repair and couldn't really be used for much other than to melt it down for future use.

At the end of the day, I had spent a total of $4.25 with shipping cost and all on this grab bag. I was able to create 6 different fashionable pieces of jewelry out of the buttons, pins and earrings that were in good condition. The best part of all this is that I was able to sell all the pieces for a total of $120.00 at a local craft show.  Now thats what I call getting GREEN!

So next time you are driving around and see an estate or garage sale sign, pull over for a few moments and see what possible treasures you can find.

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