New necklace design-Vinyl heart necklace

I'm usually not one for sappy stuff but I just couldn't help myself when I found this translucent cherry red record. I made the cutest heart shaped pendant with it. It's dripping with sticky sweetness and I love it! The red color is super vibrant. I polished the silver behind the vinyl to a high-shine to help reflect any light hitting the back of the necklace. After all, if I'm going to do the lovey-dovey thing, I'm going all out. It's posted up in my Etsy shop now, and was featured on Modish last week!

New pendant: Sterling and vinyl lotus

Here's the new custom piece I just finished last week! I riveted hand pierced sterling silver sheets to vintage vinyl. There was a lot of precision cutting to do on this piece and I was skeptical that I would be able to recrate the vision I had for the design. I usually don't try to pierce areas that are too small for my file to fit into, but this particular design demanded it. I utilized my saw blade as a make-shift file and it worked really well to clean up those small areas. In the end, it turned out a lot nicer than I imagined it would. I hope the recipient loves it as much as I do!

Etsy Pick: Soku

Soku has been an Etsy favorite of mine for quite awhile. I think a lot of their designs are fresh and unique (and sometimes a little traditional). With this design Soku manages to embody the delicate aesthetic of wire with hardwood. Anyone who is familiar with my style knows earrings like these are right up my alley. In fact, this is the very design that made me check out Soku's shop in the first place.



I also really like the juxtaposition of materials in this acrylic and wood design. It is put together using acrylic rods as rivets. Being someone who uses rivets often, I can appreciate the precision needed for this type of construction. You can find both of these pieces and other Soku designs in Soku's Etsy shop.

My necklace: Flawed and I love it.

Here's the flawed necklace that I decided to keep for my own since I haven't found the time to make anything specifically for myself. I ended up making another unflawed version that now belongs to someone else.


I set two of the rivets and was drilling the rest of the holes for the remaining rivets when the drill bit snapped off inside one of the holes! I tried ripping it out but it was stuck. I ended up having to widen that hole which was really hard to do since the new drill bit was reluctant to drill into another bit. After finishing the riveting I sanded the face and rest of the bit down as far as possible. In my attempt to sand the flaws away I ended up exposing the rivets a bit too which is something I've been trying to get under control lately. The original flaw is barely a speck now...but the finish is still marred . All flaws aside, I'm happy I eventually decided to finish the pendent completely rather than destroying it (as I tend to do) because now I have one too!

Sterling and vinyl pendent.

Here's a revamp of an older design of mine. I have finally perfected making the rivets disappear and it has improved the design tenfold. The prototype of this design was originally intended for ME but I gave it to a friend as a gift and ended up taking a different design for myself. Yes, I took the one with the flaw. A drill bit broke off in the metal and I wasn't able to remove it. So, that's the one I wear (no pics of that one here with me, unfortunately). So, this one will have to find a new home. I listed it on Etsy last night:

New earrings!

Here's a new pair of earrings I made which are now up in the shop. This shows the 5th and (hopefully) final alteration to the pattern. The last pair I made (which I own) are a bit bigger than these (1.25" diameter) and tend to weigh down the ear. I made these a little smaller so they don't tug as much. They're my favorite earrings!

The fruits of my labor and a softbox tutorial!

Guess what I did tonight? I stayed home and made this:

It's a softbox! And it literally cost me $10 thanks to a very easy to follow (and funny) tutorial on Strobist that I found today. I have a box of about 15 pieces of jewelry just collecting dust because I've lacked the ability to take high quality photos of them for my portfolio. I knew I needed a solution; I've been meaning to make one of these for a long time. It was ridiculously easy to create, even if it was a bit time consuming.

Here's a before and after photo of the earrings above. The after photo only has alterations to the brightness/contrast and I rotated the canvas since my camera was at an angle.

For my first go at it I'd say it was a success! The original photos are still turning out pretty dark so I'll need to tweak the lighting. Though, with a little help from PS everything looks beautiful. With some practice, I hope this light box will eliminate hours spent in front of the computer removing backgrounds from photos. How exhausting!

Etsy pick: Margaux Lange

Jewelry rarely makes me sigh but I actually released an audible one when I came across the work of Margaux Lange. I LOVE the originality and craftsmanship of this jewelry! In addition to using the doll face parts and sterling silver, the pieces have epoxy resin detail-a medium I've been dying to use. The purple lips really POP in this setting (which, by the way, has been sold to some lucky person). This purple face ring is one of my favorites but every time I check her portfolio I find another. You can see this design and more at Margaux Lange's Etsy shop, her website portfolio, or on her blog, Midge's Mind, where she also discusses her work.

Etsy pick: Lake

Yesterday I found this ring by Lake on the Etsy home page. This is a very playful industrial design called Rolling Ruby which was created in lightweight aluminum and strengthened with sterling rivets. I love the color choice for the stone though it looks a little more fucshia to me than the blood red I naturally associate with rubies. I think the contrast between the metals is beautiful-I like the shiny sterling bars and steel spring against the matte finish of the aluminum ring. I've never worked with aluminum, which is surprising because I find aluminum fascinating. Aluminum is very soft so I imagine this ring would get dings pretty easily, though, in a design like this, it would only add to its character.

New stuff!

I made some new stuff for the Art vs Craft show that I completely forgot to post! ¡Ay, caramba! Here are a couple of the flex-frame clutches/wristlets that I adore so much. I got a lot of positive feedback on them at the show but nobody bought any...The blue floral clutch is on my Etsy page and the neutral clutch is at Niche.
Though neither of those are my favorite as far as print goes, they ended up being the most popular style I brought to the show. The bag on the right was made with vintage floral fabric that has splashes of neon pink, which I love.

I also made some of my sterling and vinyl pendants for the show.
I sold this one at the show. The other design I brought is currently
at Niche.

Simultaneous Inspiration?

I notice, sometimes, before things become trends, that a few people will become inspired around the same time to do similar things. For instance, I've been infatuated with gears for a very long time and have been designing some riveted gear jewelry over the past year or two but I just haven't had time to put the designs into production. Sometime earlier this year I stumbled across Katrinabird's shop where she is sells her gear inspired jewelry. My designs are a bit different than hers but one fact remains clear: it's basically the same idea. I also have designs drawn up for gear screen prints; weeks later I stumble across Moxiemadness' shop where she sells a neon pink gear shirt. Weird; she's doing it, too. Prior to seeing gear stuff being produced I truely don't recall seeing it done elsewhere. Granted, I'm probably wrong. Gears certainly aren't new and I'm sure they've been repurposed a hundred times. Maybe I never noticed those designs before since I wasn't looking out for them. Maybe they weren't there after all. I can't help but feel it's a case of simultaneous inspiration. Another example: a clothing designer friend of mine once saw a design in a fashion show nearly identical to something she had recently made. Neither of those designs had seen the light of day prior to the Fashion show. Neither of them ever accused the other of thieving the idea; they were simply in awe over the fact that they both were feeling the same stuff at the same time.

Kyo Hashimoto Jewelry

I have a weakness for acrylic, especially when paired with metal. It's a wonderful juxtaposition of materials that don't really belong together, especially in jewelry, yet they look brilliant when combined. The acrylic looks lace-like and delicate, with a translucent quality when worked properly- which is lovely considering it's simply plastic. These earrings are some examples of a few of my favorites out of Kyo Hashimoto's newest collection.

Coffee and cigarettes

Fantastic! I love the detail
and originality of this design.
D-Licious @ elsewheres.com

I love it!

I am head over heels for the Lola & Bailey acrylic line, especially this round pendant. I think it just might have to be my birthday present to myself. @ modamuse.com