Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas!

For those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas!  This is the Fallingwater gingerbread house by Melodie of Garden Melodies.  


And for everyone else, enjoy your day of peace, rest and Chinese food!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A quiet moment

I just finished a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Baking them, not eating them.  That will come later.  The boys are playing in their room (and they are making noise so I know they aren't dead).  So I have a minute or two to myself, which is a luxury when you're a work-at-home-mom.  Or a working mom.  Or a stay-at-home mom.  A minute of peace is luxurious. 

And in quiet times I start thinking about how lucky I am.  Looking at the tree (we have a tree!), baking cookies (without breaking the mixer) with my boys (I love my boys) and being able to write a blog (I have a wireless laptop-- whoo hoo!).  I am so lucky and thankful for all the things that make me so happy in my life.


Over the past year I've learned so much about my business. Who my customer is and why they buy from me.  What will make them come back.  Where I want my business to go/grow.  I've also developed some really strong wholesale accounts that are taking care of me during slow times with my Etsy shop and my website.  Again, it has been a lot of hard work and research and soul-searching but I'm at a place that makes me ecstatically happy.  Yes, I've got a long way to go but I'm on a path that I've chosen where I make my own choices and that makes me content.

I'm looking forward to continuing to recuperate from back surgery and childbirth and all the physical stuff I've gone through this past year and a half.  I'm also looking forward to re-designing my website to be super awesome and jam-packed with bejeweled goodness.  New designs need a new platform to show them off!  And continuing to develop my business in a way where I can be a metalsmith and a mom and a wife and a daughter and it all makes me, well, happy.

Happy holidays, thank you for a wonderful and fulfilling year!  And whatever you celebrate this year, and I wish you all the joy in the world.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Hot off the bench!

I don't know if it's the fact that I'm getting sleep (now that my soon-to-be-1-yr-old is sleeping through the night- hallelujah!), or the energy of the holiday season...  but I have been cranking at my bench the past few weeks!

This piece is sooo luscious!  It's part of my wrought collection that is inspired by the wrought iron gates on some of the buildings here in the city.  I love metalwork-- here I combined that with my love of juicy colorful gemstones!  It's available to come live with you right now, for $138 in my Etsy shop.


I've also been putting together a kickass men's collection.  After thinking about what guys like and what they wear I created some tough looking nature-inspired pieces.  Check 'em out:

This ring reminds me of a coin edge or a bottle cap.  In any case, I hand-carved it in wax and had it cast into sterling silver, then I finished it up to look sa-weet!  It turned out really cool and I'm proud to present it to you, for $52 here in my Etsy shop.



And this one is probably my favorite.  It looks like a weapon, a spear or knife.  But cooler and not as obvious.  Solid sterling silver, $52 here in my shop.


There are lots of other rings and necklaces for guys in my men's section.  Check 'em out.  I'm so psyched about finally having a real men's jewelry collection!  

Let's see some more lovely items for ladies, because let's admit it, we love jewelry!!  It's totally an addiction, am I right?  

Okay, okay, this one is a one-of-a-kind piece I made last week.  It's recycled sterling silver that I melted and re-formed into a sweet pendant and I set 4 blueberry-colored sapphires into it.  I adore it and hope you do, too.  It's available for $58 right here.  



And another necklace, because a woman cannot have too many of them, a precious sterling silver hand-carved and textured circle necklace.  I love the eternity that a circle represents, and this one is organic and still modern all at the same time.  It's $68.  More pictures are available in my shop.


There's more coming, too!  Check out my shop for new stuff each week... and more... and more....

Here's a sneak peek so... keep your eyes peeled!!