children playing = designing!

Okay, another video but this one is so much fun to watch.

Remember when you were a kid and the possibilities were limitless? Let's try and be like that everyday.



got this video via design mind | business.technology Pin It

Where have you gone?

in the clouds...this song is perfect for staring off into space, contemplating life.

Pin It

new earrings

Here is my initial sketch and stones for a pair of earrings. The stones were actually one...but they broke! Why waste such a pretty agate stone? I plan on prong setting them in sterling silver. When I left the studio the prongs were already in, next step is soldering the back hooks for chain earrings.
Here are 3 of my 'paper lantern' coral earrings. I'd been contemplating how to make some sophisticated, funky and unusual earrings. I take a small piece of already used or scrap silver and roll it out to a very thin sheet and then pierce out swirly/curvy designs and lastly attaching a large piece of coral. Overall, I'm very satisfied and plan on selling these on my website and future etsy site.

I'm taking photos tomorrow, with the help of metals grad student, Laura Wood. I'll finally have some decent ones! Pin It

did someone call for the doctor? the jewelry doctor?

I began working part time this week at the jewelry doctor and I'm already learning so much!

I'm really loving it. Such a breath of...jewelry dust (not fresh air)...to work with my hands and be away from a desk and computer.

Ellis, the owner, will do the repairs (sizing, chain repairs, checking prongs and/or settings stones) while I clean them up. I grind down the solder seams, file, and file some more, more filing and then polishing.

My bench at the repair shop

Ellis is a really patient and good teacher. Before even working part time, I came in once a week for an hour to get trained. Ellis gave me several tests and had me take in orders. It's such a great experience to learn this side of the jewelry business. Repairing jewelry is very different from actually making a piece.

In that you have to understand the properties of whatever your repairing, in addition to assessing the type of repair it needs.

Here I am with my magnifying glasses; looking completely dorky and happy!

Pin It

Ring 70.6 (2008, IT) Public Treasure Poison Ring

Ring 70.6 (2008, IT) Public Treasure Poison Ring
Originally uploaded by Blind Spot Jewellery

Blind Spot Jewelry is....AMAZING! When I checked out Janos Gabor Vargas website, my jaw dropped. His steel rings are incredible, twisting steel and bending them backwards is just amazing. His series of poison rings are fascinating and intriguing.

You can view more of his work here.

Blind spot is also on flickr.

And something I really appreciate on his website, is inviting the viewer to see the process of how he makes his rings.

Pin It

music to sketch to

Bibio - Fire Ant

Music and making art go hand in hand to me.

Pin It

Etsy finds - Red Hot Pottery

I love getting my Etsy Finds (Daily Shopping guide) email, highlighting sellers based around a theme. Such as Twilight, Mothers Day, Emerald colored items etc. And tho I'm guilty of not yet purchasing anything, as I'm a student, I add some sweet sellers to my favorites.

I'm currently lusting for Red Hot Pottery's vases, they're so delicate and pretty

::::RED HOT POTTERY::: Handmade stoneware and porcelain by Arizona artist Christine Tenenholtz, who keeps herself busy inventing new ways to play with clay, beads, the camera, the computer, learning to drum, bellydance, and speak Spanish.

Florapalooza vase

Love Birdies Vase (oooh so pretty)

She even sells jewelry!

Pin It

ECU metals charm swap

Another fun charm swap! And this time, with my friend/fellow metals student, was able to get Jim Cotter and Bob Ebendorf to provide pins! We were all very excited about this and were anxious to begin the swapping.

Mine is in the top row, middle one with the round object/shell from Panama with dangling coffee beans. Jim's is to the left of mine with the large golden clothes pin.
Bob's is in the bottom right corner.

The other charms are Laura Woods (of course the large print makes it stand out). Marissa Saneholtz's is the small hand grenade, very unexpected for her style. Kat Cole made her charm with tin and beach glass, I really like the glass.

Tara Locklear made hers with cut out skateboard hammered brass (I got Tara's charm). And of course Sarah West's geometrical steel wire charm. I really like the new work Sarah's been doing.

Tara has been the force behind organizing the charm swaps, which I'm very happy she has. It's so great to share a small pieces of our work; despite our busy lives it creates community within the metals studio (grad and undergrad). Tara has an awesome goal of continuing a tradition of inviting professional metalsmiths to participate in the charm swap even if they are not present for the swapping...hence Jim Cotter, whom recently visited our studio for a demo and critique.

We've already set a goal to have our next one in July and I'm already looking forward to it. Pin It

Jewelry of the Day: Cleo and Cat Jewels

Aren't these pieces wonderfully organic? Like something you'd find at the shore's edge or maybe stuck to a giant rock on the ocean.

Claudia and Catalina are behind Cleo and Cat jewelry. Which they create using polymer clay and semi-precious stones, along with metal and organic materials. Each piece is handcrafted. You can shop and learn more about that at their website www.cleoandcatjewels.com. Pin It

David Bowie sings "eewwwww, ewwww fassss-shion"

I had that song in my head as I was writing this post. Clothing and textiles have always had an influence on me, artistically as well as how I dress.

When I was about 10-12 years old I wanted to be a fashion designer, I even had an inspiration board and wrote a paper for my class submitting some of my designs. I got an A on that paper and my teacher supported my aspirations...she was one of those awesome, nurturing teachers.

Anywho, I thought I'd share some recent fashion show outfits.

Lovely patterns provide ideas for layering metal, fabric and organic materials.

Purple and black - 2 of my favorite colors!
Anna Sui Spring RTW from Style.com
Any shot of black with a shot of peacock feather automatically gets attention for me. That is what I love about black.

The way Bibhu layers squares of fabric near the bottom of the dress is beautiful.
Bibhu Mohaptra from Style.com

When I look at new runway looks and just fashion in general I begin to think, how it may apply to metal/jewelry. How would I reinterpret the same look but with jewelry?

Pin It

Logo

As you can see I changed the title/image for my blog.

This is the logo my very talented cousin, Lorena Carrasco, created for me.

I really love the cursive, swooping font and the font she used for jewelry, unfortunately I can't use the logo on my own website! Oh well, I still have some time to toy with putting an image of my work around it...I just need to get good images...grr. I will, definitely this summer.

I'm curious to hear what you, my very few readers think? Do you like it?

I'm also going to order new business cards with the new logo, any good recommendations?

Thank you for reading! I look forward to hearing from you. Pin It

Inspiration boards

stim board
Originally uploaded by futuretribe

I love looking at artists & creators inspiration/mood boards. You can see some of the process, the wheels turning in their head.

Check out some of these I found on flickr's Inspiration Boards group.

I'll add more and take a photo of mine in the next several days.

unfortunately I can't hang my cork board in the student studio b/c the walls are cement but I hang lil' clippings and postcards on my bench.

Oh and I have to share this photo of my new henna tattoo that my friend Lisa did in exchange for jewelry. It's pretty cool eh?

Pin It