Auction Necklace

I am leaving tomorrow for Santa Fe to attend an artist and writer's conference. They are having a scholarship auction so I made this necklace especially for the event. Now I want to keep it. I boxed it up nicely so I won't be tempted.  I am taking solace in the fact that I took pictures of it.  I think I will make another necklace similar to this one.

What's New!

I had such a fun and successful last minute trunk show at my mom's home in Sarasota.  Everyone loves the new line so I am encouraged. Now I am working on a press release about my winter collection. I love the irony of mixing plastic with my beads, semi-precious stones, and silver.

Barbie Girl Steps Out

Thank goodness Susie's daughter saved all her Barbie shoes so we could make this necklace!  Apparently she used to play "Barbie Shoe Store." There is a clear crystal in the middle and it is on a chain of teeny tiny seed pearls.

Plastic is the New Pink

The Susies came over today and played with plastic.  I played bowerbird again and made this necklace complete with vintage shell bead, key, coffee pot, and branch coral to compliment a recycled plastic and crystal flower.

Pearls, Crystal, and Plastic

All you need is the little black dress. My friend Susan came over to play in my studio and we came up with this recycled plastic necklace. Natalie snagged it as soon as she saw it.

This second one turned out so well we are going to have to start drinking more Propel.

Mold Making! Easy Peezy Lemon Squeezy...

 When we were at the beach I collected broken shells to make molds out of so that I could turn them into PMC silver charms.  Ooops, they got lost in transit, so I took these 'new' vintage shell beads and one of my clear glass 'Marilyn Monroe Skirt' beads and am making molds out of them.  It will be fun to see how they turn out. I also found some cool conch beads. Since I was born in Key West and therefore am a 'conch' I am eager to incorporate them into my jewelry collection. 

Fun fact from urbandictionary.com regarding Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy : It comes from a 1970's british TV commercial for Lemon Squeezy detergent. They were with a little girl who points out dirty greasy dishes to an adult (mom or relative) and then this adult produces Lemon Squeezy and they clean the dishes quickly. At the end of the commercial the girl says "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy".

Branch Coral Bliss

Don't you love branch coral? I bought a graduated strand and I was worried, since the branches were tiny, that wouldn't add much and it wouldn't go very far, but a little is all you need to add a delicious

   organic 'pop' to a jewelry design.  I am still playing with my new camera and I confess, I ordered another one to try out before I commit. It reminds me when I was on a Zappos bender, and  I must have had 10 or 12 pairs of shoes in the running. I came home one day and my husband had created a  giant pyramid of shoe boxes in the foyer to greet me.  Everyone that sees my cute little Elph wants it and I have to say it is fun to use. I am trying to get more things up onto my etsy shop  so I need to keep clicking away. I bought this nifty light box a couple of years ago off of eBay. I like that the lighting is consistent since I am not much of a photographer and the light is soft so the silver doesn't shoot off blinding reflections, but I need to experiment with natural light . Thanks Kellie, for showing me some features on the camera I didn't know I had. 

    

I was a teenage Bowerbird

I love bowerbirds. They are those nest interior designers that tweak their abodes to attract the ladies. They collect flowers (that they refresh when they wilt), bottle caps, scraps of ribbon, berries... anything to make their bower an adequate expression of who they are. When a potential mate comes along they dance like banshees.

I am not much of a dancer, but one day I had my jewelry findings, glass bead remnants, and odds and ends spread out before me. I left my unhealthy production mode and entered the bowerbird worldview picking and weaving bits and pieces to make a necklace just how I wanted it. It was a little nutty but fun and I love my new necklace.