Monday, March 21, 2011

Do You Hear What I Hear?

What do I listen to in my studio while I work?  Well.......okay, my studio is in my basement, so there are lots of interesting sounds down there.  There's the clanking of the ancient furnace, the on/ off hum of the dehumidifier.  Then, there's the trickling sound of the french drains emptying into the cistern to be pumped out by the sump pump.  If you really use your imagination, it almost sounds like a fountain.  And most of the time, I hear the soft buzz of the baby monitor since I sneak in most of my bench time while my daughter naps.  Glamorous, huh?

While that's the literal lowdown, I'd like to speak to the more figurative.  I devote a lot of my attention to my inner creative voice, my Jiminy Cricket, if you will.  I listen to my gut about my designs.  I keep up with the trends, but it's really the original OOAK pieces I love.

With my Resurrected line, the pieces of silver speak to me, sometimes loud and clear as in this case.  The second I spied this gorgeous spoon, it screamed "I'm a pendant, a big, bold, beautiful pendant!"




This piece beginning its life a soup server, the bowl was very deep, so it took much annealing and hammering.  But with every fall of the hammer, I could hear this spoon coming closer to its new life as someone's fabulous pendant.

Sometimes the voice of the silverware is more subtle like this one.  This tiny little pine branch demitasse spoon said, "Buy me.  I'm different."  So I bought it, but it took six months of listening to its careful whispers before it finally revealed, "I'm a necklace."

 




And sometimes, as in the case of this ring, the pieces continue to speak to me throughout the creative process. I had already sawed off the bowl of this tiny Mexican souvenir spoon when I heard it say, "Use my handle for the band."




So even though I'm not sawing in rythm with Beethoven, I love my work and the melody it makes.  Do you hear what I hear?



 Here are some other blogs from my fellow Aspiring Metalsmith Teammates:
Kat - http://artistikat-scratchingpost.blogspot.com/
Stacy - http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/
Clarity of Scrollwork Designs - http://www.thesquarepegnation.blogspot.com
Brandy - http://thefrogspond.wordpress.com/
Happy Tortoise Designs - http://happytortoisedesigns.blogspot.com
Claire - http://brightstar109.blogspot.com/
Silver Pearl Jewelry and Metalworks - http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com
Autumn - http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com/
hemlockhollow - http://gloria-hemlockhollow.blogspot.com/
Beatriz Fortes - http://cjbf.blogspot.com/
Resurrection Silver - http://www.resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com
RadianTrace - http://radiantrace.blogspot.com/
nancycreations - http://nancysjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/
Jessica @ Abella Blue - http://www.abellablue.com/blog





Saturday, March 19, 2011

2011 Spring Jewelry Trends

Finally, Spring!  It's time to start swapping out the winter duds in your closet for spring and summer and buy a few new trendy pieces for the season.  But don't forget to update your jewelry wardrobe, too!

According to fashion experts, the hottest jewelry trends for Spring 2011 are tassels and big, bold mixed metal pieces.  While I typically march to the beat of my own style drum, I also like to keep time with the current fads to offer my customers the latest and greatest.  Here are some of my new Spring offerings:


This great necklace combines a vintage green glass bead with sterling silver chain and a handmade lariat.


I also have some of those chunky mixed metal pieces in my shop like a coordinating set of Buckle Style Sterling Silver and Copper Bracelet and Ring.


Thank you for taking a moment to read my first blog.  I'd love it if you'd like to browse my little shop, too!


HAPPY SPRING!