Getting Organized

1. DIY Jewelry Frame 2. Modern Branch Jewelry Stand

3. Joel Yatscoff & Umbra Design Group

4. Jewelry Holder, Rustic -SugarPlumCottage

I have a number of organization projects planned for this year, this is the first. I have a jewelry display system in place but it is far from comprehensive or complete. I still need storage for my rings, and the hooks where I hang my necklaces are “loose”. My system is cumbersome and by this I mean, sometimes it falls over, which makes a HUGE mess. So, today I decided to look for inspiration on how to either fix up my system or scrap it and start over.

Above are a few of the simple jewelry display solutions I found. The first is a light wood frame, spray-painted black, with standard household screen stapled onto the back. The entire wood frame sits on an easel. The second and third are metal stands, and the fourth is a rustic wood frame, with linen backing, and beautiful antique accents on which to hang necklaces. Click on the links to go directly to the original sites.

I am leaning toward a combination of 1. and 4. to solve my display needs. Stay tuned for progress reports.

Happy Organizing!

Happy (almost) 2013!

Let your 2013 resolution be...To Stick With Your Resolutions!

I love a good New Year buzz! And no, not the kind that leaves me with a headache the next morning (although I’ve never met a mimosa I didn’t like!) I am talking about the energy, excitement, and over all “can-do” attitudes the New Year seems to inspire in even the most reluctant and defeated December souls. With this new found hope and energy people commit to all sorts of life-altering changes, for example they will join a gym, buy a bike or running shoes, eat healthier food, quit smoking, drink less, write consistently on their blogs (ah-hem), call their parents weekly, maybe even finish a project they put off the previous year…but phew, even reciting this list is tiring. How can we possibly accomplish all of our challenges throughout the New Year?

My wish is that for every difficult resolution you place in front of yourself, you commit to an equally important but less challenging task to go along with it. So, if you joined a gym, fantastic! Workout as much as you can but also implement other forms of exercise in your day-to-day life, like walking with a friend on your lunch break, take the stairs when you visit the mall, or hell, while you’re at a stop light practice your kegel exercises…28, 29, 30 (sorry guys!). The important focus here is follow through. Select a very doable task and resolve to stick with it!

I will let you in on a little secret; one of the aforementioned resolutions is mine, (“No mom, I’m not going to stop drinking my mimosas!”). I would like to be a more consistent blogger. This has been a difficult task for me given the time commitment it requires. Therefore, my doable exercise to go along with blogging more consistently is to jot down ideas (as SOON as I get them) in the notes section of my phone. I should have a stack of thoughts to pull from when I finally do sit down to write, voila!

Have a wonderful 2013 everyone and don’t hesitate to keep me posted on your progress!

Thoughts On Inspiration

Radda in Chianti 

Inspiration can strike anywhere: on a walk the other day a line of cypress trees cast a striking pattern of shadows on the road. Long, dark, linear shapes crossed my path and as I passed over each one I started making mental notes about the contrasting colors, number of shadows, and angle of lines. A vision came to mind; this could easily work itself into my next project. On this particular morning my inspiration began on a walk up a quiet, country, road surrounded by nature.

When I was an architecture student at USC and was given an assignment, I recall having only a few hours to develop a concept, in other words…inspiration HAD to strike. I would exhaustively research the topic and location assigned (i.e. history, community, environment, geology) and then I would start sketching. My project’s story would begin to unfold and over a short period of time a building and its details would take shape.

I rely on my architectural training now and then with my jewelry design but it can become static. For this reason it is absolutely necessary to shake things up. And sometimes for me, shaking it up means doing nothing at all! Like my morning walk where I decided to put everything on hold and escape, freeing my mind from life's chaos. If you are ever in need of inspiration I suggest taking a break to let your mind wander. Maybe, just maybe, it will lead you somewhere you could never imagine.

Bracelet Love

Carnelian, Sterling Silver

For the longest time I made earrings, lots and lots of earrings. All shapes, sizes, and colors. Once I felt confident making earrings I experimented with bracelets. Lots and lots of bracelets. Here is one very simple carnelian bead bracelet which I still enjoy today.

Beading

Sterling Silver, Blue Amazonite 

Playing around with beads...

Impetus

Wood and Sterling Silver Earrings,  2004

When I started making jewelry I did so out of necessity. Our home had been burglarized and the thieves made off with just about everything.  The hardest part was losing the jewelry and trinkets I had inherited. The monetary value was insignificant but I would have labeled these items priceless. I was most sad over losing a trinket box from the “Mohawk Trail” that my great-grandmother had given me as a young girl. Broken-hearted, I mourned my losses for months.

With very little to adorn myself with, and no money to buy new things (sadly I wasn’t insured), I decided to make myself a pair of earrings. I have always considered myself a creative person and having recently graduated from USC’s architecture program I convinced myself that I could make whatever I needed to get by.

And so, a very rudimentary process began. I bought a pamphlet. Just one. I first taught myself how to wire wrap. I bought one pair of ear wires and a few feet of wire. I picked up beads here and there. I eventually took a two hour class, which lead to a semester long class and before I knew it, I was completely hooked. The burglars may have taken my jewelry, but they couldn’t have my spirit!

Making jewelry has become such an important part of my life. I enjoy the process as much as the product and I feel empowered each day I sit down at my bench. I truly believe all things happen for a reason and I am very thankful that this sad experience has had such a wonderful “silver” lining.

Reticulation Silver

Once upon a time I had promised to photograph a sterling silver ring I was working on because it had a reticulation silver accent. This little number was part of a series I was exploring whose concept was based loosely around the Meiji Shrine gates in Tokyo. Sterling silver, reticulation silver, and resin.