The Wintry Ocean

As a kid I used to spend part of every summer at the beach. The Jersey Shore to be exact: cheese fries, Wildwood piers, Atlantic City... but I wasn't anything like Snooki. I can remember building sand sculptures with my dad for the yearly competition and we came in 1st place one year for building a giant sandragon. The smell of coconut will always me of suntan oil. As an adult I have tons of freckles from all the sunburns I got for spending all day, every day in the sunshine at the beach.  Such good times!

It goes without saying that the ocean is a big part of my inspiration. A horseshoe crab, a jellyfish, the foam created by waves crashing on the shore, I love it all.  Especially in the winter. There's something peaceful and silent about a winter beach, without all the crowds, and it makes it special. Like it's all mine. A welcome solitude.

A few weekends ago we were lucky enough to spend some time in Martha's Vineyard at a very generous friend's house. It was already Spring but one of the coldest weeks where the wind whipping off the ocean makes you shiver even if you're wearing a full length winter coat (which I was).  We made a trip out to a pier in Menemsha where we climbed 'treacherous' rocks.

Later that afternoon we made s'mores.

And the next morning we ran around the beach in our winter coats and bare feet!

I love that my kids took off their shoes and socks to run around. Little sand crabs.

Coming soon... some new additions to my ocean-inspired collection. I'm so excited to share them with you!!!  Soon... soon... soon.

Gemstones are like candy

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest jeweler in the world. My trip to Tucson, AZ was a blast! I went with 3 of my favorite women, also amazing jewelers, and we shopped for gems. every. single. day.

I came home with a Pirate's Booty bag of sparkly rainbows! Here are some of the gems I bought and how I made them into Metalicious jewelry!

First up are purple sapphires, I set one into a sweet Bling ring where I facet the metal around the stone for a unique, handmade modern ring:

How about this one-of-a-kind blue spinel necklace. The color goes from navy to cornflower blue, it's absolutely stunning. I kinda want to keep it for myself, but then I remember the booty and that someone needs to pay for it. Here's my Wrought necklace in navy blue spinel:

I also found super sparkly, bubblegum pink sapphires so I had to set them into my Tiny Sweeties:

When I found these London blue topaz squares, they reminded me of little pools and I had to have them. They are so beautiful that they don't need much else, so I carved a modern square slide necklace and cast it into recycled sterling silver.  Look at the color and clarity of the gemstone in this necklace!

There will be more to come, I also bought some one-of-a-kind kunzite cabochons, some light pink morganite cushions, golden citrines, teal turquoise slabs, opals, and tiny smiling sapphires!  Thanks so much for supporting my business and my Metalicious shop.  You totally rock!

Is it bad to drink during lunch?

I mean, really.

Rules of parenting: Tips on feeding children

Children are such angels, aren't they?  Yeah, mine are, too.  And they eat everything I make for them!  How do I do it?  By following these no-fail tips on what to feed your sweet angel:

1)  Basically if it has parsley or any other tiny green, black, brown or red specks in it you might as well throw it in the garbage.  Because no one is going to eat it.

2)  Any kind of soup or sauce had better match the color of your toddler's shirt.  Trust me on this.

3)  If it's got any kind of string, leaf or seed in it, it will end up on the floor.   So if you think they are eating it, take a look under your child's chair.  As my great-grandfather used to say, "Now you see it, now you don't."  Oh, you'll see it.

4)  Chicken nuggets are a food group unto themselves.  So are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  And pizza.  If your kid doesn't like any of these then you'd better take him/her to the doctor because there is something very wrong.*


5)  Even a 'little bit of cheese' is too much.  A 'little bit of...'  well anything is also too much.  The exceptions are butter, salt and sugar.  Kids love these spices so don't be afraid to use them.  They're on the food pyramid somewhere.

6)  Bread and butter is a great dinnertime option.  Mommy needs to feel like you ate something today, sweetheart.

7) Macaroni and cheese is best when it's the boxed kind.  Don't bother to make it from scratch, you will end up crying alone in your room. 

8)  Don't make anything from scratch.  Only use pre-made, frozen, boxed or canned foods.  In fact it's best if you just have to add water and microwave the damn thing so you can feel like you've cooked something.  Kids love preservatives and it will make them live longer.**

9)  Kids love to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for mealtime.  So feel free to indulge them that one request.  The grandparents love this and will probably feed your kid something healthy like an ice cream sundae.  Win-win!

10)  When all else fails put the kids to bed and drink a few glasses of wine.  That's mommy's best medicine.  Oh, you thought it was hugs?

*I am not a doctor but I like to google things on the internet so I can pretend I am.
**See?

The importance of good craftsmanship

That is a really boring title.  But hopefully what I have to say is not boring.

My mom came to visit last week and was wearing a cute necklace by a mass manufacturer.  "Oh this?  I've had it forever, I just never wore it before."

By the end of the 2 hour visit, the glass heart in the center had fallen out.  I offered to fix it for her (what good is it to be a jeweler if you can't fix your mama's jewelry?) but she said, "Oh this wasn't expensive, don't worry about fixing it if you don't have time."

 Garden marker by MonkeysAlwaysLook

WHAT?!  No matter how little something costs, you should be able to expect to wear it a few times without it coming apart.  But it started me thinking about hand crafted work vs. mass manufactured work.

Once I started my own business selling jewelry made with my own hands, I started to seek out a higher quality of merchandise for myself and my family.  Whether it was a coffee table or a new rug, I found that instead of going for cheap and not caring if something broke I felt much better buying handmade, hand crafted, heirloom quality items.  I know it's a tough economy, and things are tight over here in Metaliciousland, but I'm finding that I don't have to replace things when I go for high quality from the beginning.  It costs more right now, but when I still have it in 5 years it is actually saving me money because I don't have to replace it each year, or every 2 years. 

Our coffee table from a large manufacturer lasted 6 months before the leg started to wobble so badly we needed a new table ASAP.  So I paid 2x the amount of that coffee table for a hand crafted, USA made, beautiful solid wood coffee table. AND we were able to work directly with the artist to get the size we needed.  He was super nice, delivered it in person and it made me feel good to support another artist's business.  A year and a half later and it's still beautiful and solid even though my 2 boys and 2 cats give it a daily workout.  It still holds up my feet at the end of the day, no wobbles.  I have no doubt it will last for years.

This is in our entryway from RecycledBrooklyn.

 

So reason #1 to buy handmade, high quality items?  It saves you money.

Reason #2 to buy handmade, high quality items?  You're supporting a real, live person.  And his/her family.  Who will in turn support their local people, and their families.  And so on... 

And reason #3 for buying handmade, high quality items?  Customization.  You can have whatever your heart desires if you just ask.  You get real person, who gets back to you in real time, who takes pride in and loves what they do and it will show in how your item is made, how they communicate with you and the longevity and quality of the piece.

So before you go to your big-box retailer please consider buying handmade first.  It's good for all of us!

9-11

Every year, for 10 years, this date still makes me catch my breath.  I worked about 20 blocks from the Twin Towers, and lived close enough to where I worked that I could walk there in 5 minutes.  That morning I stood in the middle of Varick Street staring South taking pictures of the first burning tower, as the 2nd plane hit.  Our boss told us to come inside where it was safe, we had no idea what it all meant, or what it would come to mean.  The panic, the bewilderment, the terror, the heartache all unfolded as the whole world watched those beautiful icons and the almost 3,000 people trapped inside crumble before our eyes.  My city, my country, the whole world had changed in the blink of one sunny September morning.  The heartache is still palpable, the people are still gone, the war is still going.

I've never written down what happened that day, it's not necessary, I'm alive and that is more than enough.  I still cringe whenever I hear a low flying plane, but was a horrific day for everyone, whether you were here in the city or not.  Everyone remembers where they were, wherever they were, when the towers were hit.  My heart goes out to people who lost loved ones in the attack, almost 3,000 brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandfathers, grandmothers died that day.  That grief will never ease.

We all lost something that day, and I, for one remain shaken.  I can't forget that day, and I can't forget the sacrifices of all the people who fought that day and are fighting still to this day.  I am forever thankful to everyone who has given their life, and continues to put their life on the line for me, for my country, for my children's future.  And amid the devastation I have learned that resilience is the single best thing about being human.

Writer's Block

If I could make my blog in metal, I would.  It's not that I don't like to write.  Or that I don't have anything to say.  But writing isn't my best medium of expression.  I will sit and stare at the blank screen and it's as blank as my mind.  But put me in front of a bench and I'll make you an entire encyclopedia in metal.

Photography also makes my blog more interesting.  But then I have to photograph stuff and upload it and edit it and then upload it to my blog... are you bored yet?  Yeah, that makes two of us (hi mom!).  If you really want to see what I'm up to more regularly make sure you 'like' Metalicious on Facebook by clicking HERE.

I think it's been a little harder because I've been out of my studio for almost 2 weeks.  That's like putting a muzzle on me.  I was able to do some work today, but it was sllllloooooowwwww because I wasn't able to bring all my tools with me.  My flex shaft in particular, it's like my right arm.

So I have 3 more weeks of working without my flex.  Oh and having my boys around all. the. time. kinda gets in the way of any work time, too.  But honestly I'm treasuring having them around, it's summer, we're chillaxin' and swimmin' and travelin' and it's a blast.  I'm so happy to have this time with them and my mom (who has been kind enough to allow me to take over her dining room and turn it into my temporary studio).  I feel like the luckiest gal, sans flex shaft.

Talk to me in 3 weeks.  We'll see how hunky-dory I'm feeling after 24-7-nonstop-mommy-all-the-time-barely-makin-jooray.  I'm sure my own mother will hate me by then.


Well, that's all my