Collaborations

I have been an admirer of Mary's Granddaughter's (Cindy Steiler)

work since she joined the Etsy community.

I always thought that her embroidery pieces would pair well with my work,

but how and when was the question.

Then, I started my series of pocket watch crystal pendants.

It was Cindy who contacted me.

How about a collaboration of sorts?

I sent her a crystal and she made this embroidery.

She sent both back and

here you have the finished piece.

This is now Cindy's personal pendant.

See her wear it when she teaches a class

at Etsy Labs on Monday, December 13th at 5pm.

For more information, click here.

Trunk Show this Sunday!

Here's my next show for all of you in the Central Maine area.

This Sunday, November 21st at Higher Grounds

in Hallowell, Maine.

11am-5pm

Buy local, support handmade, and have a Bloody Mary while shopping

with these super talented folks:

Helping Hands Pottery

Quench Metalworks

Jamie Ribisi- Braley

Brian Braley

Sweet Mojo Apothecary

Cozink Printed Goods

Constant Galore

Prepping for the trunk show...

works in progress at the bench.

Earrings and the start of a pendant.

More pieces in production....

These finished pendants will be among all sorts of lovely

works at the Artisans' Trunk Show.

Hope to see you there!

The Return of Quench

butterfly pendant

So, I am coming back to my blog. Really. I am.

Fall was seriously busy, and, well, late 2010 is gearing

up to be nuts as well.

But, I've missed sharing with you dear people.

So, hello, I'm back.

soaring bird pendant

These are some new pieces I created this past month.

Magpie Pottery's porcelain cabochons are finding elegant

new little homes. I LOVE working with these fantastic pieces.

In other news, I thought I would share an article from a local

paper up in these parts.... which ran today... hence the catalyst to

restart my blog.

I'm thinking that the blog will have a bit more structure.

I need to fine tune the schedule, but I have some ideas.

For now, it's good to be back :)

Taking a Break, Officially

Summer is making her graceful exit.

Looking back at my summer posts,

I am embarrassed by my LACK of posts.

I guess the season was far too busy to adequately commit time to my little blog.

With a quick glance at the calendar, autumn appears to be jammin' as well.

I will be selling my wares at the Common Ground Country Fair in a couple of weeks.

I have a feature show at the

Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts

museum shop starting in mid October.

I'm taking a pottery class for most of the fall.

Re-doing our patio.

Fencing the garden.

Restocking inventory.

Baking bread.

So that being said, drum roll please,

I'm going on a blogging break. It's official, folks.

By stating that here,

the nagging "you've got to blog, Jen" mantra fades away.

I'll be back in a couple of months.

Pinky promise.

New Pendants

And now it is August. Have I mentioned that summer is nutty busy?

Anyhow, life is good, sales are steady, and

custom orders are piling up; hence, my blogging absence.

I'm going to take advantage of a rainy day today

and get some listings up in my shop.

Here's a preview for you...

All pendant are sterling silver with fine silver bezels.

The porcelain cabochons are the creations of Magpie Pottery.

Kale, Shows, and Cabbage

Summer is precious.

The days, even though longer than our dark winter hours, fly by with reckless abandon. Balancing studio time, family outings, gardening,

relaxation, and other nameless projects is a daily task.

I just (well, the past Sunday, but it has taken me days to recover) finished my first show of the season.

It was unnaturally hot and humid for a coastal Maine weekend.

The crowds were light in attendance, but my sales were wonderful.

Which brings me back to studio to restock my inventory for my future shows.

Onto garden news....

While padding around the garden during a much needed studio break, I snapped some

photos of happy growing things. I started a whole bunch of seeds this spring,

and the only survivors are these nasturiums.

Bravo, little plants!

I have never grown kale before....wow! Such healthy, disease resistant plants these kale are...

perfect for a sausage and potato soup!

Purple cabbage...the family (namely Mr. Quench) is not a fan of cabbage.

I desperately wanted some color in the veggie garden and those purple seedlings

just had to come home with me.

Purple cabbage rolls, anyone?

Ready, Set....

Summer has been busy. What summer isn't, right?

Trips to the beach, gardening, home improvement projects,

and LOTS of jewelry to be made.

This coming weekend marks the start of my summer show schedule.

Harbor Arts Fine Art Festival

July 17 & 18

9am-5pm daily

Camden, Maine

The fruits of my toils.

More still to make.....

Have a wonderful week!

Oh Hello, June.

Wow, a full two weeks since I last blogged.

Gardens, motherhood, and wholesale orders

have kept me away.

I have missed it here.

A new brooch from the bench this week.

Well, two brooches actually as I will be

selling these as a set.

Fun, huh?

Another reason for my blogging absence.

My sweet Lab, Satchel, passed away this past week.

It was unexpected and the grief has

been great.

If you are a pet owner, words of wisdom for you:

always be patient

give an extra treat

love your friend every chance you get

take lots of pictures

cuddle everyday

Make Me a Butterfly, Again

Just when I think I'm reaching the finish line, someone tacks on another 10 miles.

Or I twist my ankle.

Or I decide to take a longer route.

Such was the case with the butterfly pendant.

I promised a reveal last week, but in the final steps to completion,

the _________ (enter your choice of expletive here) wing broke.

*sigh*

Thankfully, my client had supplied me with two pairs of wings.

Note to self: agate is fragile and cranky.

Here is butterfly #2.

I had to remake the whole sterling frame

as the wings were not the same size or shape.

You see my frustration, right?

But all is well and little butterfly is

packed away ready for shipment.

Happy Sunday!

Make Me a Butterfly

This is one of many projects at the bench this week.

Agate butterfly wings to become a pendant.

When finished, this piece heads to the

Salty Teacup in Portland, OR.

Recycled silver body and head.

The sterling wing bases were hand pierced.

Ready to solder.

Soldering completed!

Freshly soldered prongs.

If all goes well, I'll have the finished piece ready to post tomorrow evening.

Tiny Dots

New dot pendants with 22k gold bezel set gemstones.

The dots are 100% recycled sterling scraps from my own ever growing

collection. The jump rings are 18k gold.

The chain is sterling silver.

Peridot...I think the stone measures about 4.5mm in diameter.

Padparadscha sapphire, 3.5mm. The color is fantastic!

Apatite...diameter is 4mm.

New Work

Two new pendants from me this morning.

I am scurrying around trying to get a gazillion things done this morning.

Photographing these was one project.

The light is good this morning, so I'm glad I found new batteries when the camera shut off halfway through the photo session!

Vintage self-shanking mother of pearl button

set in a serrated fine silver bezel

with a sterling and 18k gold bow accent on the bail.

Vintage watch crystal set in a scalloped fine silver bezel

with vintage mother of pearl button sewn to linen.

I'll be listing these yummy pendant later this afternoon

in my Etsy shop!!

Bee Ring

As promised, here's the completed ring from my early post!

Porcelain Bee Cab from Magpie Pottery

Maggie's work rocks!

Fine silver bezels, all other metal is sterling

Vintage mother or pearl boot buttons from the 1930s.

Sterling rivets and florets.

Front Page

My text ring made Etsy's front page yesterday!

The ring sold within the hour.

Thank you, Etsy and the curator,

Illuminated Perfume!

Bee Thankful

Many thanks to all who sent positive vibes and

encouraging words my way after yesterday's rant.

Today is better.

I sent out some emails,

decided it was OK to say 'no', and readjusted my workload.

Still large, but I can approach it now with some confidence.

Also, I spent a quiet morning working

on a customer's bee ring and a new pendant for my shop.

I took some photos to capture the process.

Photographing while holding a flaming torch is a really, really bad idea.

Seriously, don't try this at home.

Rolling out my bezel to make it round after soldering.

No need to hammer as the pressure of the bench and mandrel

rounds it out perfectly.

To stretch and make the bezel larger,

roll on a steel surface.

The bezel cups, edges getting filed...well, the edges

were getting filed until I had to put down the file to take the picture.

Ready to solder the two smaller cups together.

Again, soldering and photographing not the best multitasking combination.

Finished bezel cups trio

Later this week, I'll have the finished piece!

S.O.S.

Do you ever get that feeling that you are drowning in work and responsibilities?

Like you are always on the edge of some great abyss,

trying to catch your breath,

searching a moment of calm and contentment?

Welcome to my world.

I try to keep my blog postings

brief, pretty, and positive

(Pretty we have today with pics of a new ring I just finished).

But, this week has brought a crushing workload

and financial burdens to boot.

So, I need to vent today.

I'm not going to talk about what my specific burden may be at the moment.

Simply, I'm overwhelmed, anxious, and irritated

and that I crave a week alone with no phone, no computer, far away

on a beach with a frosty beverage at hand.

Thank you for listening.

Next posting will be in better spirits.

Pinky promise.