Leftovers

So my mom sent me a bag of beads a few weeks ago and asked that I make her a necklace out of it's contents. Usually I wouldn't mind such a challenge, until I saw the beads. Hematite. Now, not to step on any one's toes, but let it be know that I am not a fan of hematite. I actually can't stand the stuff. Something about it just screams rave, or 7th grade magnetic bracelets, or fake and trying too hard, or just plain tacky tacky tacky. I would usually feel inclined to apologize for my coarse opinion, but I won't. I just can't pull myself into liking this stone. And don't think I didn't tell my mother this, either. I was pretty blunt with her as to my opinion of the beads and the centerpiece she provided for a necklace. Her reaction? "If you are really good at your craft, you will make something nice out of this, whether you like it or not. See it as an artistic challenge." Fine, I will. Mom said she liked wire wrapped beads and necklaces that fall at the collarbone. Sunday night I finally locked myself in my craft room (which I rarely use thanks to the card table in the living room) so as not to get distracted and to finally finish this necklace. I came up with this:You can see the matching bracelet in the background. I didn't even like the look of it when I was wire wrapping it, but when I put it on to measure for length and looked in the mirror, the thing looked more sophisticated than I had imagined. Huh. I kind of like it after all. KIND OF. Meanwhile, I made a few other things out of "leftovers" this week. A friend of mine from seminary is pregnant with twins and has been ordered to be on bed rest until December. Worst of all, she already has a 3 year old at home and her husband is in the military and has to spend the summer at base in Colorado Springs. I just had to spread the love with this lovely and very strong gal, so I looked around my supplies and noticed two "leftover" word rings that had never sold.I figured that, together, these two rings represent the two babies in her womb that can't show their appreciation yet! I hope my friend will wear it as a reminder that she is doubly appreciated and that her babies especially appreciate all that she has sacrificed for them! I have renewed several similar items on my Etsy site if you are interested. These rings are available in an assortment of styles and come in the words "Joy," "Faith," "Honesty," "Respect," "Appreciate," and "Harmony."

Joy ring necklace, $15

Honesty ring necklace, $18

Faith ring necklace, $12

Lastly, look who is featured in another treasury?! Check it out today before it expires! Thanks, Ettarose!Note: mine is of the 314 kind!

I made this and this Pi necklace for my sorority sisters and have sold 2 to non-ADPi's, including a customer in Spain! Etsy never ceases to amaze me! And finally, last week's giveaway went really well. So well, in fact, that my friend Karen, who happened to win, wrote a lovely little summary of her giveaway experience on her blog! Check it out here!

Andy Warhol = <3

A little background: my parents are in town visiting for a month. They drove from Kentucky to Los Angeles to both explore the area and visit the Hubs and myself, see our places of work, our house, etc. My mom likes to think that she gave me her "designer jeans" since she herself is an interior designer and quite the painter/illustrator (my brother also went to art school and is in the film field). That said, yesterday I went home all excited about discovering the name of my beloved fabric (see yesterday's post). I showed my mom my new blog entry and, before I told her the story behind it, she said, "Oh, yeah, that's Marimekko." Turns out she knew it all along. Arugh. Anyway, Mom had a gift waiting for me from her recent trip to the Getty: an Andy Warhol book! You can imagine my excitement, especially since I, as stated yesterday, LOVE big and bold, and REALLY, really love modern and pop art. The book was laying next to a pair of earrings I recently made. My mom and I did a double take when we noticed them next to each other - they went together PERFECTLY! Needless to say, I got a little carried away with the idea of combining pictures in the book with some of my new jewelry items :) Come to think of it, I am pretty sure I have enough Andy Warhol prints, dishes, bags, postcards, etc. to exclusively photograph all my future jewelry on top of Warhol art. I am sure the copyright police wouldn't mind ;) Click on the image to see the corresponding Etsy listing.

My, Liz, what beautiful earrings you have! Liz, 1963

Flowers, © AWF, 1963

Elvis © Andy Warhol, 1963 Daily News, © Andy Warhol, circa 1967 Flowers, © Andy Warhol, 1970 Gee, Merrie Shoes, © Andy Warhol, 1956-57

Flowers, © Andy Warhol, 1970

Whew! On top of that, I had some fun with color today and made an Etsy "poster sketch" around my new Lime and Cherry red Turquoise, Cinnabar, and wood necklace (click here to make your own Etsy collage - this is how treasuries are made, my friends). I love these colors! Can you play Where's Waldo and find my item? I not only made the necklace and the poster in these colors, but have these colors all over my house, too (call me OCD, I'm fine with that!). I never used to care for red and green, but, like your taste buds, visual tastes develop over time! (These roses and Pods were my Christmas centerpiece!) And speaking of taste, ArtGrants has it - she included me in one of her latest treasuries! Thanks, Bari!

(Eye-Spy Bead Up's Chinese Coin earrings!)

I am headed to my alma matter in Berkeley and San Francisco this weekend. Sure, I am going there technically for a conference, but REALLY I am going to do some M A D S H O P P I N G in Chinatown's "going out of business" jewelry stores (they seem to all be going out of business, all the time). Alas, I didn't know the great resource I had in these stores when I lived in Berkeley. We are talking pearls, findings, crystals, beads, etc. Watch out, Chinese ladies, here comes a white Chinese-speaking super shopper! Can't wait to see what kind of things I buy and subsequently create!

(Me and the monkeys at the entrance to Chinatown on Grant Street. Silly, San Francisco).

Prom Jewelry and Treasury

Well, looks like the bracelet and ring I made for Courtney's prom worked out well. She said she got more compliments on the bracelet than the ring, which is fine by me since it was the first ring I ever made! Glad to have helped. Next on the list is still my friend Kelly's wedding necklace and her bridesmaids necklaces. I have been going back and forth with the design of her necklace in my head for months now, especially since she was on the fence about her dress and then ended up getting a different one with a different neckline. This new one is all lace - beautiful, thick, creamy lace. In my opinion, such detail should be the centerpiece of the outfit, so I am thinking twice about the wrap-around necklace I was envisioning before. Though I am totally inspired by this necklace I noticed in my friend SoMi Speak's wedding picture (click it for a link to her photographer's site): What do you think? I would probably use some kind of a crystal or pearl pendant. I think it's close enough to my first design idea, yet simple enough to not take away from the dress' detail, too. Meanwhile, a high school classmate asked me today via Facebook (an admittedly great marketing tool!) to make her a bracelet for her wedding. Also got asked to do a swap of goods with my friend Chrissy, who needs several pieces of jewelry to go with a Indian wedding bridesmaid's sari. In exchange, she's going to either make me a purse or some screenprinted t-shirts! Me like! Finally, I was informed that I was listed in an Etsy treasury this week -- my first! Thanks, VintageEmbellishment!