Just a little coloration to the sterling, sanding of the rivets, and a modern sterling cable wire to replace the chain. A vast improvement, wouldn't you agree?
Oh, shame on me! I have neglected my blog...I apologize and promise to post more often! You see, spring is here and there is much to be done in the way of gardening...mostly, weeding. And when the sun shines, my girl and I take to the outside to play, plant, and frolic about. When not outside, I have been furiously working at the bench preparing work for two retail opportunities and two craft shows. Busy, busy, busy!
More rings for the Candy Dish Collection were made this past week. These rings along with lots of earrings will find their way to a new multi-purpose space in Belfast, Maine. Meg of Love Light Studio and her musician husband are converting a great old retail spot into a gallery/ shop/ performance space. Cool things like a stage that doubles as dressing rooms and collapsible display case to make space for the evening shows are just a few excellent ideas at Roots and Tendrils. Their opening is June 5 th!
Self portrait...that's as much as you will see of my face today!
periwinkle blue forget-me-nots.
a 2am Etsy Front Page appearance chosen by Etsy adminstration...also accompanying my pendant is a vintage brooch from 5 Gardenias and earrings from fellow Mainer Posy Studio..JPG)
that silly tiara that she never takes off.
my latest Etsy purchase from Little Pink House.
Our unexpected guest (a gray tree frog) who made a home on our new wicker rocker for a few days this past week.
Introducing my new collection: the Candy Dish. This is a 'rings only' collection: colorful vintage plastic and glass buttons and stackable, too! Many of these lovely buttons came from Nicole at Brizel Supplies. 
However, I will not be selling these in my Etsy shop until October. For now, they will appear at Roots and Tendrils in Belfast, Maine starting in June and the 2 craft shows I'm doing this summer/fall:
Never in all many years of making jewelry have I mass produced...all my jewelry is made with my own two hands. Now that this little business of mine is picking up speed and customers, I decided to make some models and get some pieces cast! What a time saver this will be...hand piercing all that filigree stuff takes FOREVER and I can't even charge enough to make enough to cover my labor. By having these little babies cast, I can keep my price point down (good for the customer), spend less time at the bench (good for my family), and more time on new pieces (good for me)!
Here's a few that I'm bringing to Maine Precious Metal Casting tomorrow. They will make a rubber mold of these metal pieces. When I order, say, 25 of a particular design, they will inject wax into the mold, sprue the waxes onto a wax "tree", burn the wax out in an oven/kiln, and inject the molten sterling into the negative space cavity left from the wax....Lost Wax Casting!!!
I guess you would say that I'm not your average girl. I would take a hosta nursery over a department store any day; comfortable Dansko shoes over strappy, glitter encrusted heels; a nice, smoky bourbon over a fruity cocktail (well, in a pinch, a Cosmo would do). Perhaps it was my upbringing...my parents encouraged my sister and I to play outside (a far better choice when the family TV only had 4 viewable channels and not a video game within a 10 mile radius). We had dolls, but, usually, you would find us hauling the Barbies into the wilds, building cabins for them until the sun went down. So, in a nutshell, I'm not your average girly girl.
One of my all time favorite places in Maine is also not girly, and I thought what a fun way to spend a Sunday with my daughter...who is leaning towards the girly side of things. Examples: screaming when she spies a bug (gets this trait from her father...and, all of you who know him are snickering right now...), favors pink, wears a tiara around the house, and her pajama top and bottoms must match or she won't go to bed. So, bedecked in her funky little pink and pewter hat from my friend Dory at Worthy Goods, her pink, glitter sneaks, and her purse in hand, Annabelle experienced the Liberty Tool Company for her very first time. A success, you may ask? If repeating "Mama, can we go now, please?" thirty times is success, then yes, it was tremendously successful.
Since I had not visited the Liberty Tool Company in many years (and this is a pity, because it is a mere 20 minutes down the road), I had the best time rummaging through the hundreds of bins full of old tools, searching for just the right old file or hammer. In the past, I walked away with a crate full of mini-vises, hammers, awls, files, letter stamps, printing press typefaces, and engravers. Today, I managed to buy 3 files each with lovely worn handles, perfect props for photographing jewelry! Other delightful finds, but not purchased, were oodles of old photographs and dozens of figurines from "Grandma's Attic" upstairs. If and when in Mid-coast Maine, by all means make a pilgrimage to the Liberty Tool Company. You'll walk away happy with assorted old tools, dirt on your hands, a smile on your face, and, perhaps, a little less girly :)
Posts
All Comments
.JPG){kind=link}