The eye has to move

As I'd mentioned in my post about layering jewelry, I've always been a bit of a fashionista.  When I say that I mean more that I've always loved fashion and design.

In elementary school I can vividly recall watching the early 90's shows like Fashion File and MTV's House of Style and loving the way they dissected new fashion designers and how to combine outfits.  I also recall writing an essay on how I wanted to be a fashion designer and provided several drawings in color of my creations.  I still have that essay and cherish that my teacher said 'maybe one day I'll be wearing Lisette Fee designs'....perhaps it was an omen?

With that said, I'm excited to write a post about personal style and how to cultivate your own personal style. I believe fiercely that personal style speaks volumes without having to say a word.

Me, finally with purple hair! 

It's in my Pisces nature that I'm all over the place when it comes to personal taste (food, clothing, music, movies - you name it!).  So I love  mixing it up, one day I'll be grungy the next day punk and the day after that vintage old school.  You can see the difference in the above two photos.  I believe the key to owning your personal style is to be unapologetic.  Case in point, my love for the color purple is well known, so I finally had my hair colored purple and I loved it - but that didn't mean I dressed in head (literally) to toe purple.

Wearing a vintage dress I got in Atlanta, and all vintage gold jewelry from my Mom's stash

So here are some basics on developing your personal style. 

• Embrace what makes you unique, whether it's your red hair, wide smile or deep blue eyes.  Play them up! Case in point, I still get a bit worried that I smile too much.  I've been reminded though that I have a great smile - so why not smile more often!
• Use your best color to your advantage.  If red or blue looks good against your skin, wear it more often.  I've found that turquoise matches my olive skin beautifully. 
• Match your style to your personality.  If you're a quiet person, go with monochrome pieces, like a vest in black or camel.  Or if you love punk music or the entire movement, wear black tanks or animal print. This is not a rule by any means - you can dress in any style daily.
• Mimick or shadow one of your idols/mentors/shero.  One of my all time favorite stylish woman/designer is Diane Von Furstenburg.  She exudes glamour and class. I pay attention to how she accessorizes and styles her outfits.

With my cousins, Mom and Abuelita in Panama.  All of these ladies have influenced me in style and design.

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Not Just a Label in Dubai for d3

One of the reasons I really love working with Not Just a Label is how much they work to expose small yet emerging designers (fashion and accessories).  So I was not surprised when I learned they were working with new designers and the luxury fashion industry in Dubai, a region of wealth and appreciation for creativity and culture.

NJAL is primarily an online platform however since last year with the Origins fair in Vicenza, Italy they've been working to establish relationships in key locations to bring the online in person.  I was very excited to send several select pieces from the Hunted collection to the Meet at d3 event.  You can learn more about it here.

Below are some images NJAL sent over of the event.  Specifically images with my pieces displayed.  I do feel quite fortunate that my jewelry could participate in this wonderful event.  If I can't go to Dubai at least my jewelry can!

And here is a great video of the behind the scenes look of how it all came together and the fantastic team of NJAL d3 Dubai (Stefan Siegel, Rob Cavell-Clarke and Sara Qaddoura).


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All you need is a wishbone

As this year comes to a close, of course I'm reflecting, but also feeling incredibly grateful and blessed.  I don't think most people do that often enough or take the time to say everything is going to be alright.

So with this new year coming, I wish you many blessings and to take the time to meditate and appreciate.  I searched for something that was appropriate but unique.  I came across this lovely design card.   It's serious and humorous.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR  dear friends and followers! Cheers to you!!

Jasmine design card.  Available here.

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Moving On Collective - Help them get to Milan Design Week

An exciting project my friend Sophie Main is a part of, I met Sophie at Penland last year and she is so talented and inquisitive.

Make a pledge and help them get to Milan Design week. 

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Oh Coco Chanel, how I admire thee

Early this evening, while reading through the Wall Street Journel's, Spring 2011 Design issue, I was reminded, once again of my adoring and utmost respect for Coco Chanel. She was, in my opinion (perhaps there were earlier), first womens' fashion designer.

Coco made a movement, for women to dress in casual outdoors wear but also many other fashion 'taboo's, such as wearing costume jewelry instead of real gemstone jewelry in the daytime. She was a pioneer in so many ways. As you can imagine, I have a bit of a girl crush on her, one of my many crushes. It's so important to have role models and women to admire and know that if they made it, I too can make it!

Okay, so back to the other reason why I'm posting this; the WSJ article also writes about how Karl Lagerfield went back to, and employed, the custom embroiderers, shoemakers, jewelers and textile artists of Paris to work on this Meteiers D'Art design collection. What a revelation and celebration for Lagerfield to return or perhaps concretely employ of true artisans to create the line.

About a year ago I watched several movies on Coco Chanel, her life and experience of being a fashion designer. She was so resolute and unyielding in her belief of true fashion and art. She never married and had several passionate relationships; you can see the wistfulness but also deep dedication to her art.

It's ironic yet amazing that I've met women in my own field of metalsmithing, just like Coco.

Well, thanks for reading and hope you had a great weekend!
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Sketched out

Before the ECU symposium the metals grad students had a brilliant idea to create a book compiled of drawings and designs from attendees own sketchbooks - and now the book is up for sale on Blurb!

Abigail Heuss and Joshua Craig put alot of work and effort to make it happen and I'm so happy they did. One of my sketches is in the book. I'm always fascinated by sketches from artists and how they develop their idea.

I hope you purchase a copy and enjoy soaking in the process as much as I do!

Thank you for reading.
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cuttlefish casting

(photo courtesy of Greenpeace)

Today was the 2nd day of my Casting I class and it was SO much fun. For the first part of class we're learning about casting with cuttlefish because it is very simple and basic.

Via Wikipedia the Cuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda (which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses). Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs. Recent studies indicate that cuttlefish are among the most intelligent invertebrates.^[1] Cuttlefish also have one of the largest brain-to-body size ratios of all invertebrates.

The great thing about cuttlefish is you simple design a negative relief design in the bone (it's a powdery substance) and what you pour in (silver is best) is your positive relief.

This is just one of my designs that is going to be a brooch with black coral (perfect timing!) and red coral.
Irene, my classmate, is heating up the silver. Our larger torch kept blowing out so grad student Abigail Heuss (our instructor, Tim Lazure's assistant) loaned us hers. She's a great teacher!
Above are sketches of my three projects; a brooch (the cuttlefish carve out above), a brooch/pendant and a black coral ring.

I completely forgot to snap photos of the casting I did, I'll get those tomorrow. I can't wait to get going! Pin It

Anna Sui

Yes I'm on a video tangent again.

Here's a short video of Anna Sui talking about her evolution in fashion design. Since I was 12 years old, I've loved Anna's work. Very much gypsy/bohemian.

American By Design - Anna Sui from Edward Bishop on Vimeo.

The beautiful comparison of fashion and jewelry is that it's very much alike in how the designer conveys a message. Pin It

wonderful article on design...

David Sherwin of frog design reflects on how being in the moment and observing life can bring about a breakthrough and ideas for design.

Read at Design.Mind's. Pin It

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

250

Here are more projects from the 250 materials assignment from Bob Ebendorf:

I was especially impressed with these 2 projects. the above made of felt twisties and the other of black tea bags. Isn't it amazing what you can make with ordinary objects? Pin It

cupcakes and toothpicks

Last weekend I was in the mood for dark chocolate...cupcakes so I found an awesome recipe online on Cast Suger blog. And these cupcakes came out sooooo good, though my arms were killing me from mixing all day.
I decided to add my own lil' addition of yummy hazelnuts!
Buttercream frosting with irish cream mixed in...deliciousness.
And the voila! my cupcakes!

These were a payment in exchange for a trim to my new haircut, you can see in my previous post.

Okay, now onto a design project I've been working on. Bob assigned us a project to construct something with 250 of any material we want. I decided to use toothpicks because they contain the perfect amount of 250. My idea was to create a watchtower...sorta looks like one.

or a hand? Pin It

what I've been working on lately

Most of my recent posts have been about other people, while I haven't really written much about what I'm doing. So here's a brief update!

My drawing class is going well, I draw really well when it's a bone or imitation drawing but I struggle with drawing nude models.


Bob Ebendorf has been gone for a week to the west, for the Yuma symposium. While he's been gone our assignment was to create an object 2D or 3D object using folded paper.

After my sub-par spoons I really wanted to kick ass on this project, I thought I was with my grand idea of imitating a birds wing but now I'm not so sure. I find it boring...you can see for yourself.
I like the colors but perhaps I could've gone smaller with the feathers at the top?

As for jewelry, I've been gearing up for my weekend trip to VA/DC to visit friends and host a 'jewelry/brunch' with my girlfriends. I'm very excited to see all my old friends and show them what I've been working on.

I decided to continue with the hearts, they're easy, fast and fun!

The threading is working really nicely with the entire heart motif.

I am also making some nice silver jewelry, rings and pendants with some new stones I bought. I didn't take a picture of those but I will soon.

Happy Monday! Pin It

graphic design and branding

So one of my goals this year, more like the first half of this year, is to create a banner/logo for my production work specifically an etsy page.

I'm in this weird/odd artistic state as I'm slowly finding my aesthetic meanwhile attending art school has opened my eyes to all sorts of new and fun materials and methods. I'm trying to find a consistent look and pattern to my production work. Preparing for the Valentine's Day sale is definitely spurring me and I'm feeling comfortable with cranking out pieces along with my look.

However at the same time, I'm at a loss with describing and identifying what I want my work to convey.

My cousin, Lorena Carrasco, is a graphic designer and she's definitely helping me hone in on that. I've solicited her to develop my banner and logo. Lorena is very talented and I trust in her skills.

Of course, I naively thought she'd just conjure exactly what I was thinking... crazy, I know! She in turn sent me several questions probing me on what my target audience is, 3 words that describe my jewelry, etc. Jeez, I have SO much to learn.

I'm excited to see what she designs!

Oh here is a recent drawing I did for my figure drawing class.

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preparing for the next sale!

ECU's School of Art and Design just had our Holiday sale and most of the grad students made bank! So I'm on a mission to crank up my own productivity, I sold several pieces but not enough to leave a big cushion in my bank account. Not only that, I really need and want to push myself in creating my brand, style and look.

So I got started last night preparing my first hydraulic press dye for my shattered heart pendants and other jewelry.

Here are several shots from my bench and sketch book. Pin It