One of a Kind Show Chicago

Here are some photos of my booth and my neighbor's booths at the One of a Kind Show and Sale in Chicago. I had such a great time and I was so lucky to meet some amazing folks at the show. The colorful prints are the work of Julie Sola at Fat Crow Press. Robyn from Shibang Designs created the beautiful bags.

I Lost My Buddy Yesterday

My boyfriend's dog, Buddy fell asleep for the last time yesterday after a battle with lymphoma. He was a true friend whose only goal in life was to keep my boyfriend and I close to him. We were with him to the end and held his little body as he fell into a deep sleep. There is a huge hole in my heart now that he is gone. I miss his barks and how his face, looking out of the glass door, would be the first that I would see as I pulled into my boyfriend's driveway. I miss how he hated sneezes and would bark to let us know. I miss how he would hug your leg and bark at you when you left the house, as if to say don't leave unless you plan to take me with you. I miss how he used to stop in the middle of a walk and take the time to roll around in the leaves or the snow. Buddy was truly a loyal and sweet friend and I will forever miss having him in my life.

My Cluttered but Productive Work Station

Just thought I would share a couple of photos of my currently cluttered work station. I am working every day to get ready for my two big holiday shows and time is flying by. I'll be spending most of my time in front of this work bench for the next two weeks.

Don't Worry Rudolph, They're Not Real Antlers

I must admit that I am addicted to hair pins. They are the simplest way to put hair up quickly and stylishly. It dawned on me, that I should make one, so I sat down and made a hair pin perfect for the holidays, but still wearable all year round. Here is an early pic of my antler hair pin.

Coming Soon: Beaded Rings

Check out my new Orb and Orbit rings. The orb rings feature a single bead and the orbit rings feature two beads, one smaller than the other. I love these rings and can't wait to experiment with this style some more.

I Made Etsy's Front Page

I am so excited to announce that I made it to the front page of Etsy today. I never thought I would be featured on the front page so it's very encouraging. Below is an image of the front page treasury that included my irregular hoop earrings.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

I'm currently making a ton of fun jewelry to get ready for a holiday show in November in Bloomington, Indiana. The Bloomington Handmade Market is my first juried art show and I'm so excited to be a part of it. I'll post more details about the show as it approaches. For now, check out the show's blog.

I Make Like I'm a Little Deer

I am so excited with the new direction of my silver work. I am trying to create little scenes made of silver. I was really pleased with how it turned out. I'm still experimenting with this style, but right now I'm really enjoying it.

This particular pendant was inspired by lyrics from a song by one of my favorite artists, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. In the song, "Babe, You Turn Me On" one of the lyrics is, "I make like I'm a little deer, grazing on the flowers."

The pendant is made completely of sterling silver. The birch trees are made of varying gauges of silver wire that have been hand filed. The deer is hand-drawn and cut out of sterling silver sheet. A patina was applied to the piece and then the raised areas were hand polished to produce a bright silver finish. The entire piece was then coated with wax to seal the patina.

It can be purchased at www.quiteclever.etsy.com

Getting Creative With Displays.

I recently submitted an application for an art show that required a picture of my booth display. Since I have not yet participated in a traditional show, I had few display items prepared and I only had a couple of days to put the entire display together. This means I had to get creative.

I ended up going to Jo-Ann's and I found a bobbin rack, a wooden Halloween tree decoration and some wooden boxes. I also found some small ceramic dishes. I ended up painting the Halloween decoration and the bobbin rack black. I placed necklaces on the Halloween tree and rings on the bobbin rack. I painted the ceramic dishes black and silver and set river rocks in the silver dishes.

I used some of the earring trees, busts and bracelet displays I had to fill in the rest of the table, and I think it turned out pretty well. What do you think.

What unique display ideas have you tried? I would love to hear ideas.

Birch Bark Studs

I am so pleased with the way these birch bark earrings turned out. They are made out of one piece of extremely thick sterling silver wire. The wire has been filed to create notches all around the surface. The silver was then blackened using a patina. The patina was then polished off of the smooth exterior to create a silver finish with black notches. The result is little earrings that look just like birch bark tree trunks. These can be purchased at www.quiteclever.etsy.com.

Quite Clever Etsy Shop Finally Open

I officially opened my Quite Clever Jewelry etsy shop for business. I am currently posting an item a day to get better exposure and to ease into my selling. I will be creating and updating a lot over the next couple months.

Other than that, I am still finishing up the painting and arranging of my studio. Right now half of the studio is functioning and the other side of the room is filled with paint cans and tarps. With a little work every day, it should start to look great though. I will post pictures as soon as I get the whole place up to snuff.

New Geometric Brass Earrings

I love, love, love these geometric brass earrings. They came out even better than I thought they would. They are made with a sterling silver post so they won't discolor ears. They are very sleek and sit perfectly on the ear. Actually, I am going to start making a matching necklace today. I will post the results when I'm finished.

Assembling Your Own Metals Studio

For those who are interested in assembling a metals studio in their homes, I have written a how to article that explains some basics about getting started. Creating a studio is not very simple or inexpensive. You need to have a basic understanding of metalsmithing, so you need to take at least one metal jewelry making class before you get started. Remember that you will be working with different chemicals and flammable gasses, so it is very important that you know what you are doing. If you want some simple tips though on supplies, shopping and basic set-up, check out my article.

You might also want to purchase some jewelry making books. The Art & Craft of Making Jewelry by Lark Books is my personal favorite. It gives you an overview, but also shows specific projects that you can attempt as your skill level advances. I have placed a link to this and other books on the sidebar of this blog.

Organic Earrings

I just finished some fun organic earrings in sterling silver and copper. They are hand-hammered, sawed and soldered.

My First At-Home Product, In Memory of My Grandpa

Well, I made my first items out of my home studio for my two uncles. They are keychains with an airplane and clouds and I made them in memory of my grandpa who was an avid flyer. He passed away last year after being very ill. I had made a pendant earlier for my mother with the same image. The propellor spins and my grandpa's initials are engraved in the back along with his birth and death dates. I enjoyed working on this project and thinking about my grandfather's life while I was making these keychains.

The keychains are both assembled using rivets and the individual metal pieces were hand-sawed by me. The backing is sterling silver and the airplane is copper.

Light My Fire

I am so exhilirated right now. I lit my home jeweler's torch for the first time last night. Though I have lit torches in classrooms and art centers, there is nothing quite like the experience of using your own torch in your house. It opens up worlds of possibilities. I can't wait to start making jewelry.

My studio is still in the process of being completed. I need to add some shelves or a stand for my pickle pot and patina station. There is also a patch of carpet left in the corner. To explain, I pulled up most of the carpet and cleaned the beautiful wood floors underneath. I did leave a patch of carpet in the corner though because the corner wall needed patched. The wall still needs a couple more layers and then I can pull up that piece of carpet.

Other than that, my studio has surpassed my wildest dreams of how wonderful it would be. It is a rather unique jeweler's studio. My bench was created using two old high school science cabinets and an aspen countertop. My dad is a retired science teacher and they were getting rid of the cabinets during his last year. Luckily for me, he decided to take some home. Now they make up the most beautiful and spacious work station.

I'll post again soon with pictures and some info on how to set up your own jeweler's studio for those who are interested.