i dream i can fly

spiked

2012-02-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

This spiked ring is my new one true love. I can't image worrying about walking around the city after dark while wearing this ring.

It may be a wee bit intimidating once it's cast in metal. But now that I've started making rings, I find myself wanting to make more and more dangerous jewelry. Maybe it's all that martial arts training?

london star

2012-02-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

While I was in London over Christmas, I fell in love with these incredible silver stars that were hanging by the thousands all over Liberty of London. I desperately wanted to buy some to decorate my loft, but unfortunately they were made just to decorate Liberty of London for Christmas and weren't for sale.

Never one to let that stop me, I decided to make my own star. Won't it look gorgeous cast in silver?

I also found these great instructions on how to make my own paper stars. Guess who's going to have a magical star filled house next Christmas?

to the point

2012-02-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

This year I'm designing four pieces each month that run along a common theme. It's a project called Four a Month which a group of us metalsmiths are all participating in. My first theme is pointy, sharp, and otherwise dangerous jewelry. Where else to start but with a spearhead?

flower necklace

2012-01-31T10:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's another new flower necklace. (I admit I have a bit of an addiction.) And if you're as addicted to flowers as me, you'll be happy to hear there are more flowers in the works. Stay tuned!

box bags

2012-01-30T09:44:00.000-08:00

Alexander McQueen

My current obsession is box bags. I've collected interesting little boxes for years, and I'd love to have a collection of fantastic box bags to carry around.

Kenzo Limited Edition Candy Box Bag

Unfortunately these two seem to be a wee bit expensive...

Do you share my obsession with box bags? Head on over to my Pinterest page to see my current wishlist.

fashionably transparent

2012-01-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

My wardrobe has been neglected for far too long, so I've decided my goal for the year is to rebuild it - from the ground up. First priority? A few of the lovely boho-inspired sheer pieces that I've fallen in love with.

I have a love affair going with Free People at the moment, but they're so incredibly popular that a lot of their pieces seem to sell out the minute they hit the website. Happily I finally managed to get my hands on this fantastic tiered mesh skirt in my size. Can't wait til it gets here! After all the anticipation, I think I might cry if it doesn't fit, so fingers crossed...

Want to window shop with me? You can see my ever-evolving wishlist on my Pinterest page.

giraffe necklace

2011-12-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

My beautiful giraffe necklace has made Etsy's front page, as part of a gorgeous collection in silver and blue. Thanks to Daphne of Octopurse for putting this collection together!

flower necklace

2011-12-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

Loving my new flower necklace. It cheers me up every time I wear it!

hello mr. duck

2011-12-03T10:24:00.000-08:00

It's not every day a duck walks right up to you...

elephant necklace

2011-11-28T11:43:00.000-08:00

The elephant necklace has arrived! Everyone needs an elephant, right? This little fella is curvy in all the right ways. I think I'm in love.

a few of my favorite things

2011-11-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

A shout out to Jessica, who counts my necklaces among her favorite things!

Do you love them too? You can find my Bear necklace and my Giraffe necklace in my shop.

flower nose ring

2011-11-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

When I found this flower, I just knew I had to make it into a nose stud. Isn't it fabulous? Who needs a flower in their hair when you could be wearing this beauty?

It looks like other people love it, too, because my flower nose ring was featured on Etsy's front page this morning. Isn't that a gorgeous collection of handmade treasures?

bangles galore

2011-10-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

My first carved wax bangle! If this comes out the way I envisioned it, they'll be fantastic all stacked up your wrist in a luxurious display of jingly-ness. I'm picturing alternating shiny and brushed bangles. How fantastic will that be? Now to cast it, and see if I figured the shrinkage correctly...

Here's how the bracelet looked after I drilled it out of the wax block and before I started hand carving it. I love this look, too. Maybe one day I'll cast one rough. What do you think?

spin

2011-09-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

My sexy Spin necklace has finally made it into my shop! I turned this piece on a lathe, and it's so symmetrical that before the chain is attached it will actually spin, perfectly balanced, like a top.

flower writ large

2011-08-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

This is the flower that started it all. I've been wanting a large flower necklace for a while, so I finally decided to indulge myself and make one. I can't wait to see it cast in silver! It should be a pretty substantial piece.

* Now finished and available for purchase in my shop.

Wondering why these wax pieces are suddenly gold when they've always been green? I've been testing out a new type of carving wax, and I think I'm in love. I see more gold wax pieces in my future...

mod flower : reclaimed

2011-08-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

I am, I wholeheartedly admit, a big fan of Project Runway. It's hard for me to decide what I'm more excited about - the new season of Project Runway or the return of Etsy Metal's weekly Project Runway challenge.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, every week we get a new jewelry challenge based on the newly aired episode of Project Runway. We have a week to design a piece, crack it out, photograph it, and post it, all before the next show airs.

This week we were challenged to create something from the scrap materials sitting on our workbenches. If you've ever met a metalsmith, you'll know our workbenches tend to be covered in scrap materials, so I certainly wasn't lacking for choice...

I made my flower necklace from the block of wax you see in the foreground. I had already cut the flower you see in the background out of this piece of wax. (Photos of that other mysteriously-out-of-focus flower pendant are coming soon.) I admit I've been eyeballing this leftover wax for weeks, just because it looks so cool. I'm awfully happy I kept it!

* Now finished and available for purchase in my shop.

it's all about the costumes

2011-07-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Every year during Comic-Con, we head out with our cameras and grab a few shots of the spectacular costumes. Not everyone wears a costume - not even close - but there are people who have fantastic costumes. And often they're walking casually down the street, or standing in line in front of me at Starbucks.

Yesterday we saw a blue alien walk by our window. The man walking with him was carrying his feet. I wish I'd had a camera handy for that one.

The riot gear is a pretty good idea. You'd understand that if you could see the crowds. Comic-Con is our biggest convention of the year, and if you're going to walk around out there you'd better watch your toes.

I know, let's go to Jake's Sweet Brains Shop! What, nobody?

haven't you always wanted a monkey?

2011-07-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Two of my most popular designs are back in stock! You can find my brushed Monkey necklace and my polished Bird necklace happily perched on the front page of my shop.

comic-con cometh

2011-07-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

We happened to catch a passing trolley car this morning decked out with the new Batman ads, which are beyond cool. Comic-Con time is the only time of the year where I'm completely in love with the advertising. The whole city becomes a piece of art.

This is what the signs looked like this morning at our local trolley stop. (That's a tram station for you Brits out there, not a place to leave your shopping trolleys.) According to the American Comicon site this is Klingon, and the rough translation is “Security Sector! Permit Transport! To embark inside this space station today, you need to have a permit or you need to purchase them!”

Because it's not Comic-Con unless the trolley signs are in Klingon. Right?

american idol auditions

2011-07-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

They're holding American Idol auditions today just around the corner from here. I guess it was an early morning call for the masses - we woke up this morning to a trickle of not-very-awake people in spangly clothing wandering past our window with their Starbucks...

The security people very kindly let us in close enough to get some photos of this seriously cool boom camera, which they were using to get shots of "the screaming masses lined up to audition" which you see on the show.

You always get the impression on the show that the masses are incredibly excited to be there and screaming at the sight of the camera. But really it's a guy with a megaphone going "OK, on the count of three, hold up your signs and scream!"

They're doing the same thing in the ballpark now - presumably to get those "crowds of hopefuls screaming in the stands" shots that they need for the show. I can hear them giving instructions over the loudspeakers as I write this.

I always love getting a glimpse behind the curtain. That was my favorite part of working for Warner Bros. - getting to go behind the scenes and seeing how it all ticked.

There's never a dull moment...

a streak of light

2011-06-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

"Dogs don't know about beginnings, and they don't speculate on matters that occurred before their time. Dogs also don't know - or at least don't accept - the concept of death."

"With no concept of beginnings or endings dogs probably don't know that for people having a dog as a life companion provides a streak of light between two eternities of darkness."

- Stanley Coren

we all go through it

2011-06-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

"So where's the other one?" asked the guy with the twinkly eyes and the sheepdog, looking at my dog Kenya.

"I had to put her down on Wednesday," I replied, welling up all over again.

"It's all right," he said, "we all go through it."

I struggled to put it into words. "It was such a tactile thing," I finally said. "I carried her for the last few months."

He looked down at his sheepdog, then looked up at me again. "The morning after I put my last one down, I went running," he said. "And I realized my hand felt strangely empty. So I went home and did the math. And you know what? I realized I'd run 11,000 miles with that dog. No wonder my hand felt empty, hey?"

"We all go through it," he said gently. "You'll be OK."

You know, dog people are the nicest people.

The top picture is Ditto with the bumper (that incredibly desirable orange thing), looking as pleased as punch. Kenya was always faster than her, so she'd let Kenya go get it, cut her off at the pass, and steal the bumper out of her mouth. The bottom picture is my two soggy girls waiting for Andy to throw the bumper again. "Throw it already!"

RIP sweet Ditto girl - 12/16/96 to 6/22/11

2011-06-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

‎"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us." - Robert Louis Stevenson

outblush

2011-06-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

A nice little feature on Outblush. My giraffe is feeling very popular!

NotCouture fashion roundup

2011-06-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

And I made it into NotCouture's monthly fashion roundup. Could this week get any better? Nope. I thought not.

NotCouture front page!

2011-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

My giraffe necklace is up on NotCouture's front page, right next to Paul Smith's new off field uniforms for Manchester United!

I'm pretty stoked about being featured next to Paul Smith. And for those Americans out there who aren't big soccer fans, Manchester United is as huge in Europe as the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys are in the USA.

According to Andy (who happens to be British and knows these things), Manchester United is the biggest sports franchise in the world. Who knew? Not I...

of monkeys and hamlet

2011-05-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, my monkey necklace is now up in my shop with a polished finish. So if shiny is your thing, this is the monkey for you! Is here where I admit I've been wearing my monkey almost every day, just because it makes me happy?

"Ford? There's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for 'Hamlet' they've worked out."
- Douglas Adams

"Why do an infinite number of monkeys always want to type 'Hamlet'? What's wrong with 'Macbeth'? Why not something by Dickens or Poe?"
- Tom Knapp

Etsy front page!

2011-04-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

My bird necklace has made it to Etsy's front page! What a gorgeous collection of silver and fresh spring greens.

all you need is love

2011-04-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

My bird necklace was featured in a blog about love! Check it all out in
All You Need is Love on pobox607.

a rare bird

2011-03-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

I usually cast my birds as thick-walled hollow form pieces, where the two halves are cast separately and soldered together. But when I had a special order from a customer for a bird that was solid silver all the way through, I decided to cast a second one for my shop.

This rare bird weighs over 13 grams. That's 13 grams of solid sterling silver! If you're a purist, and you like your pieces solid, this is the bird for you.

Longing to own this weighty little bird? No need to look all over the web. You can find it right here in my shop.

modernist giraffe

2011-02-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

I'm sure I couldn't say why, but I've wanted a giraffe for ages. Not a real one - I don't think my loft is big enough for that! Just a little one to keep me company.

A few months back I finally sat down and carved a giraffe, and now I have the first few cast and ready to go out to new homes. I get the feeling this design is going to be popular. The first one sold about ten minutes after I listed it in my shop. Good thing I have several made up!

Here's my original carving in wax. I love how his neck curves differently in every photo I take. Every time I turn this little guy to a new angle, there's a new curve to please the eye. I love that in a sculpture.

This little guy is 1 1/2" tall x 1" wide x 1/2" deep, cast in solid sterling silver, and dangles from an 18" (40cm) sterling silver chain with a secure lobster claw clasp. Other chain lengths are available upon request.

haven't you always wanted a monkey?

2011-02-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

Every time I look at this little guy, that Barenaked Ladies song goes through my head.

If I had a million dollars
I'd buy you a monkey
(Haven't you always wanted a monkey?)

Why yes, I do believe I have. :)

This crazy little guy is solid 925 sterling silver with a brushed finish and polished accents on his ears and the soles of his feet. He's 1 3/8" tall x 3/4" wide x 3/8" deep, happy as a clam, and ready to head out on new adventures. He's also available in polished sterling silver, so if shiny is your thing, there's a monkey for you, too!

This is the original sketch for my monkey necklace. I usually do a page or two of sketches to refine a design before I start carving it in wax.

I still make changes during carving though - you'll notice that I changed the design of the bottom hand, because it was too bulky once I got it into wax. I never really know how a design is going to work out until I start carving it, so I'm always open to making changes. I love wax carving - I never get bored!

my favorite Etsy shops

2010-12-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

After my last post, where I mentioned how Tobie of LuLu's Woobies had listed me as one of her three favorite Etsy shops, my friend Wendyness challenged me to list my favorite Etsy shops.

I'm sure given a little time, I could come up with at least twenty. But since I'm still running around insanely filling Christmas orders, I've settled for the first five that spring to mind. I think they make a lovely sampling of the fantastic handmade treasures available on Etsy.

Irene Suchocki because she makes me dream.

Kerry Beary for her insanely cool mid-century style.

3 Dots who makes furniture by day and incredible wooden jewelry by night.

Eva Funderburgh's woodfired beasts, because how could you not love them? I want to take them home and feed them cookies.

And last but not least Kreativlink's incredible handmade books. I want them all. No, really. All of them. If Santa's very nice to me this year, I might even find one of these under the tree.

LuLu's Woobies

2010-12-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

Tobie of LuLu's Woobies, who creates the cutest knitted hats for kids, just named me as one of her three favorite Etsy shops! Here's what she says about my shop:

"The best service I’ve EVER received along with beautiful product was from idreamicanfly.etsy.com."

Thanks Tobie! You can see the full interview on AnAlliteration's blog of Unofficial Etsy Featured Sellers.

out of africa

2010-11-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

A first casting of my giraffe and monkey, still on the casting tree. The giraffe has five - count 'em, five! - sprues*, including one right in the middle of its face. This one's going to be a lot of work to finish.

I'm still enjoying building my menagerie of animals. The quandary, as always, is what should I make next?

*Sprues are the "branches" on the casting tree. These are the path the molten silver takes through the mold to reach the giraffe and the monkey. The larger and thicker a piece is, the more sprues you have to attach to make sure enough silver gets through to cast the whole piece. My poor giraffe has one on the bottom of each foot and one right in the middle of his face, all of which I'll have to remove by hand...

mod pod

2010-11-28T18:29:00.000-08:00

My modernist pod has finally made it to my shop! And just in time for Christmas, too. How's that for timing?

I admit it looked a bit like a green bean in wax form, but luckily in sterling silver it resembles the cool modernist pod I saw in my mind. I'd love to see a tree covered in these, wouldn't you?

the 18K gold is here!

2010-11-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

The 18K gold is here! By popular demand, I'm now offering my gold designs in solid 18K yellow gold. It will take me a while to get them all photographed and up in my shop, so if you're interested in something that's not listed yet, just contact me for pricing.

bear necklace

2010-11-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

My sweet little bear has finally made it into sterling silver! I have three of these little guys all finished and ready to go out to new homes. I may be able to finish a couple more before Christmas, but no guarantees...

This charming little guy is modeled after my own stuffed bear, who has been my faithful companion for years. The bear is 7/8" long x 3/8" tall by 3/8" wide and dangles from an 18" (40cm) sterling silver chain with a secure lobster claw clasp. Other chain lengths available upon request. All metal is sterling silver.

pipped by the igs

2010-10-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take just a moment to celebrate Andre Geim, the first person to win both a Nobel and and Ig Nobel. He won this year's Nobel Prize in Physics for creating a sheet of carbon one atom thick - using scotch tape. He won an Ig Nobel back in 2000 for levitating a frog with magnets. Apparently you can repel water with magnetic fields, and a frog is mostly water. Who knew?

I'd just like to note, for the record, that the Ig Nobels found him first.

step 2: sketching

2010-09-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

I draw a lot of sketches before I come up with a final design. The trick is getting the picture out of my head and onto paper.

Curious about my creative process? I usually start by contemplating a wax block.

a lemony snickets week

2010-09-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

I've been having a Lemony Snickets week (you know, A Series of Unfortunate Events). Among my Unfortunate Events, I have two dogs with ear infections, my stove died, and I managed to yank out an inlay with a gummy bear, which my dentist previously thought was impossible.

I can't tell you how happy I was when I realized I had a three day weekend to recover. Enjoy your long weekend everyone!

modernist giraffe

2010-09-03T15:18:00.001-07:00

For this week's Etsy Metal Project Runway challenge, I snagged "50's retro & lady-like shapes" and "metallic" (see that silver chain?) from the list of styles and materials. This little guy is my homage to Walter Bosse's fabulous little 1950s brass animals. Isn't he cute?

I'm a big fan of the mid-century modernist aesthetic, though I admit I'm more drawn to the furniture and industrial design than to the fashion. Think more egg chairs and cool chrome toasters, less poodle skirts and saddle shoes.

On the left is Arne Jacobsen's classic egg chair. On the right is Walter Bosse's brass donkey. Isn't it fantastic? Bosse claimed his goal was "making as many people as possible happy." I'm in!

Looking for the finished piece? You can read all about it here or find it in my shop here.

a few of my favorite things

2010-09-01T08:36:00.001-07:00

I've been on another mid-century modernist quest this week, trolling around in search of cool minimalist designs. Apparently I'm either ahead of or behind my time though, as everything I fall in love with needs to be shipped in from overseas.

I'm absolutely in love with these faux leather animals from Zuny. I suddenly desperately need a hippo...

If you're in the USA, you can find a few of these animals on Amazon, and a few on Mollaspace. But alas, the hippo is not one of them. If you're in the UK, on the other hand, The Lollipop Shoppe has my fab hippo in stock. Could you get me one? Thanks!

hats off!

2010-08-26T17:29:00.001-07:00

This week's Etsy Metal Project Runway challenge was to design a piece to go with one of Philip Treacy's fabulous hats. The hats are absolutely spectacular works of art. Philip Treacy has made hats for people and events as diverse as the Prince of Wales, Lady Gaga, and the Harry Potter films. How's that for range?

I was inspired enough to pull out the wax lathe and make two pieces - a perfume bottle pendant and this mod version of a spinning top. I can't wait to cast it in silver - I want to play with it!

Curious which hat I used? Here it is!

party on, piñata style!

2010-08-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

The Etsy Metal team is running Project Runway challenges again this season, and since I had so much fun last time, I thought I'd play along again. This week's challenge was to make a piece of jewelry based on party store supplies. After about 30 seconds of browsing party store sites, I dove straight into the piñata section. How could I resist?

This little guy is modeled after the classic Mexican donkey piñata. He's made entirely of wax (although soon enough he will be cast in silver), and he hangs in classic piñata style from a single silver wire.

my mod flower is back!

2010-08-17T16:25:00.001-07:00

My Mod Flower necklace is back in stock! I finally managed to squeeze together a enough time to make up another one of these beauties. Each one of these necklaces take up to a week to make, since I make the entire necklace including the chain completely by hand.

Now I just need to find the time to make up a Daisy necklace and a Lute necklace...

step 1: wax blocks

2010-08-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Wax blocks - the starting point of all my sculpted jewelry. I look at these and see endless potential.

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." - Michelangelo

the bear ends

2010-07-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

A sneak peek at the first casting of my bear. You can just see his ears peeking out up top. The ring will pass through the holes you see in his back.

of bathtubs and earthquakes

2010-06-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

You'll be happy to know that the bathtub's a really nice place to ride out an earthquake. You're already lying down, completely braced, and there's nothing to fall on your head. Mind, I did feel a bit seasick between the rolling motion and the waves sloshing back and forth...

We've had so many earthquakes in the last couple months that the dogs have given up caring. Ditto didn't even get up.

If you're interested, you can find the details here. The USGS is calling it a 5.7, about 72 miles/116 km from here.

a leaf or a pod?

2010-06-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

I keep debating if this is a leaf or some kind of pod. In my mind, it resembles these really cool pods that hang from a certain type of tree in Southern California. But whenever I think of the word pod, I immediately go all George Jetson and expect a space capsule, so I'm leaning towards calling it a leaf.

One of my friends suggested it looked like a green bean, but that seems lacking in glamour, somehow...

flock of... bears?

2010-05-25T21:59:00.001-07:00

Several of my new designs made the magical transformation from wax to silver this past week. I always love casting - having started in the world of clay and big flames, I'm not afraid of molten metal.

Back when I sculpted in clay, I used to heat my pieces up to around 1500°F in a kiln. Then I'd put on a fire suit, grab a huge pair of tongs, pull that red-hot piece out of the kiln, and drop it into a trash can full of shredded newpaper which would instantly go up in flames. The result would be a spectacular glazed finish known as raku.

Casting has all of the heat of raku, but the pieces are much smaller, and nothing goes up in flames. On the bright side, I get to play with a nice big torch, molten metal, and a centrifuge, which slingshots the red hot silver into my mold.

These are my two casting trees for the week. In the top one, you can see the two halves of my new bear design in the background, hiding behind a flock of birds. The second casting tree has the second master for my elephant along with several amphoras.

I'm really having to tinker with this elephant to get both halves to join up correctly, so I've ended up making a second master, from which I'll make a new mold. This is the most complicated piece I've designed and cast so far. It's taking some time to get it perfect, but it's going to be worth it!

we love indie

2010-05-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

My Mod Flower Necklace was featured on We Love Indie and Lushlee. Thanks guys!

green snow

2010-05-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

My bottle pendant along with "snow" from hollowing out the piece. I use a ball bur to grind out the excess wax, which leaves my workbench covered in green snow.

bird necklace

2010-05-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you who asked for this little guy with a brushed finish, he's now available in brushed sterling silver in my shop. These beautiful birds have been going pretty quickly, so I only have a few left. No need to panic if you're between paychecks, though - I'll be casting some more in the next few weeks.

etsy front page

2010-05-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

My Lute Necklace was on Etsy's front page! And what a gorgeous front page it is, too. I'm really flattered to be in such fantastic company.

wordless wednesday

2010-05-05T07:38:00.001-07:00

elephant in the rough

2010-04-29T14:11:00.001-07:00

Here's the first casting of my elephant, roughly polished. It's really exciting to see a new design come to life. Next I need to finish cleaning up this little guy, and then I'll make a mold and do some finished castings. Can't wait!

wordless wednesday

2010-04-28T06:36:00.001-07:00

bear

2010-04-24T15:52:00.001-07:00

The first art history class I took covered tribal arts. I loved everything about them - the Polynesian canoes and printed fabrics, the Maori jewelry and meeting houses, the Pacific Northwest Coast Native American totem poles and shamanic art, and the incredible pottery and jewelry of the descendants of the Anasazi.

The more I carve my animal charms, the more I think about the fabulous Navajo and Zuni animal fetishes. I have a turquoise bear fetish that I've owned for years - Navajo I think. So I found myself carving this little bear out of my most recent chunk of wax.

I've really been working to make these charms wonderfully intriguing and comforting to the touch. I love wearing pieces that are as fun to hold in your hand and run through your fingers as they are to look at.

wordless wednesday

2010-04-21T17:05:00.001-07:00

elephant

2010-03-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

The next generation of wax carvings begins with an elephant. I'm really enjoying playing with simple forms, particularly my new little menagerie. Next up? I've been playing with some fish designs this week. We'll see if any of them turn out!

wordless wednesday

2010-03-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

rubble

2010-03-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my workbench. I thought I'd grab a snapshot so y'all could get a feeling for the controlled chaos that is my life...

bird charm

2010-03-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

I've finished my bird! This is the brushed sterling silver version. I'm also making them in polished sterling silver, which is the version that's up in my shop at the moment. I've finished this piece with a split ring so you can wear it as a pendant or attach it to a charm bracelet for a fabulous chunky charm.

My sweet bird is 1" long, 1/2" tall, and 3/8" across its chubby little belly.

sprued

2010-03-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

My lovely bird, all sprued up and ready for me to make a rubber mold out of it. The sprues are the dark parts in this photo. When I make the mold, it will be solid rubber apart from where the bird is and where the sprues are. The hole left by the sprues leads to the edge of the mold - this allows me to shoot the hot liquid wax in from the outside. Once the wax model is cast into silver, I saw the sprues off.

Casting my own designs is a pretty involved process, but it's a labor of love!

a wing and a prayer

2010-02-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I somehow missed posting my bird in wax form. So here it is, my lovely bird, while I was still carving it out of wax. After this I split it in half, hollowed it out, and cast it in silver. And then I made a rubber mold of it, made a lot more wax versions, and cast them all in silver, too.

Next up, some finished happy birdies! Yes, I'm overly excited about this one. It's just such a lovely bird - very tactile and wonderful to hold in your hand. I love portable sculpture!

sawed free

2010-02-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

I've sawed them free from the casting tree. The little blip on top of the egg is an air bubble, cast in silver. I love these little random air bubbles, even if I do have to pull them off when I finish the pieces.

Today I'm back in the world of flame and fortune, casting my birds. I do love this gig - it's like Christmas every time I crack open a mold.

strange coral

2010-02-17T07:58:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, I've been living in the world of wax, molten metal, and 1000F kilns. I love casting jewelry. Something about turning solid metal into a glowing liquid and flinging it around a centrifuge is very addictive.

Then comes the magic moment, when my casting has cooled and I melt away the plaster in water. Out come these crazy coral and tree forms, still warm to the touch. It's like Christmas every time...

Project Runway Challenge - burlap

2010-01-29T08:16:00.000-08:00

The second Etsy Metal Project Runway challenge was burlap. After spending three days finding burlap (not easy in the middle of a city), I roller printed the texture onto silver to create this charm. I'm amazed by how topographical the texture is. The closer you look, the more you can see the details of the fibers.

This is the first time I've roller printed a texture onto metal, and I think it has real potential. I find myself looking sideways at all sorts of things, thinking "how would that look if I squashed it into some silver?"

for emma

2010-01-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

I found this Bon Iver clip on dear cjane this morning. If I could find this version on iTunes, it would have a lovely new home on my iPhone. I'm a sucker for good a cappella...

Apparently, it was a spontaneous performance in a Paris hallway before a show. I love how the short guy on the left (who seems to be singing bass) looks so embarrassed. Apparently they don't break into song on the streets of Paris every day?

Project Runway Challenge - five

2010-01-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

I made this chunky silver "5" charm for the Etsy Metal Project Runway Challenge. The challenge this week was to incorporate the number five into a piece.

I fell in love with fontography and typography years ago in school. So even though we had the option to use five stones, or a pattern of five, I immediately went searching through fonts for a very cool number five. I wanted a modern look, and something that was wider at the ends, so I could put a thick ring around it and it couldn't escape.

I love how architectural this is, and how it could be a 5, or an S, or a 2, or just a form. To give it a nice feeling of weight, I sawed it out of thick sterling silver sheet and sanded it to a nice satin finish. I'm looking forward to watching it develop a distressed look as it gets banged around every day on my wrist.

i'm not stalking you, i just want my coat!

2010-01-21T08:01:00.001-08:00

After our fabulous stint in Virgin's Upper Class lounge at Heathrow, and another ten hours of airborne luxury (if you ever have the air miles, you really need to try Virgin Atlantic Upper Class), our flight landed, and we all lined up to get off the plane.

Andy nudged me. "You're not exactly being subtle."

"What?" I responded, glancing up and then back, to realize I'd been staring directly at Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. "No, I'm looking at the flight attendant. She has 5 empty hangers and one coat left. Where are our coats?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll have them when we get to the exit," he said, swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

They didn't, of course, leaving us like stubborn boulders at the front of the plane, with the other upper class passengers squeezing around us to get off. Eventually Fry and Laurie squeezed by, too.

"Enjoy your trip," I said inanely to Fry, who smiled at me. "I'm a big fan," I continued to Laurie, who glared at me like I'd just propositioned him and stalked off the plane.

I felt like yelling after him that I wasn't stalking him. I hadn't squished myself up next to the bar just to catch a glimpse of him. I'd had ten hours to peer at him around corners if I was that obsessed. The only thing I was stalking was my own coat.

Nevermind...

That strangely unsettling photo is me with my morning Starbucks, sitting the in the most comfortable chair I've ever met. I'll tell you all about it one of these days.

Oh, and if you missed Part I of this saga, you're probably wondering where Fry and Laurie came from, and how I ended up on an airplane. You can find the answers to these deep and burning questions in a little bit of fry and laurie.

the toofless wonder

2010-01-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

"She's doing well under anesthesia," the vet tells me, "but we're going to have to pull nineteen teeth out."

"Nineteen?!?" I squeak. I'm standing on the balcony outside my metalsmithing class with my phone to one ear and my finger stuck in the other, trying to hear over the traffic noise. "What will she have left?"

"I knew you were going to ask that," she replied. "I made a list."

Poor Kenya is a little short of teeth these days. I've taken to calling her The Toofless Wonder. Andy's gone with Gummy.

I did feel a little better when I found out dogs have 42 teeth. Somehow knowing she has slightly more than half of her teeth left makes me feel better. Of course, finding out that neither my vet nor my sister (who is a vet) have ever had to take nineteen teeth out of a dog made me feel a bit worse. You win some, you lose some...

a little bit of fry and laurie

2010-01-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

"I just saw Stephen Fry," I announced, dropping down next to Andy.

"What? Where?" he responded, craning his neck while trying to look cool. "Are you sure?"

"He's down there," I pointed, "bending over, getting something out of his bag. Cruise around the bar and come back in at the other end, and you'll be looking right at him."

Andy popped up out of his seat to make a casual loop around the bar.

"Oh yeah, that's him," Andy said, dropping back into his seat.

"He's not exactly incognito," I responded. "Do you suppose he thinks that blue suit and bright argyle sweater are subtle?"

"That's not a suit, that's a sport coat and slacks. That's a very casual outfit for the upperclass Brit," he explained.

We contemplated the vagaries of the upper class for a while, debated whether he'd be flying to New York or be on our flight to Los Angeles, and then switched to discussing our favorite episodes of QI. For those Americans among you, Stephen Fry currently hosts a sort of comedy quiz show called QI, which stands for Quite Interesting. It's possibly my favorite show and has been for several years. So I suppose it goes without saying that I'm a huge Stephen Fry fan. Andy's an even bigger fan, having loved him since the early days on A Little Bit of Fry and Laurie.

"And there's Laurie," Andy said, as Hugh Laurie popped his head in. Laurie, at least, had made an attempt at incognito, in a black baseball cap and trench coat.

"Our own little bit of Fry and Laurie," I laughed. "It definitely won't be a boring trip."

I can see you from here wondering what that photo is. Andy snapped that shot with his iPhone in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow. The blur is Stephen Fry walking by in his sport coat and argyle sweater. Yeah, you'll definitely have to take my word for it.

Burning to find out about our flight? Read all about how I didn't stalk Hugh Laurie.

raindrops and silver bells

2009-12-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

I've cast both my raindrop and my bell (or is it a pagoda?) in sterling silver, and they're sitting on my bench waiting for me to have time to file, sand, and polish them up. I'm headed to England for the holidays, though, so I suspect they'll have to wait until January.

My brain is bubbling over with ideas for more sculpted and cast pieces. I'm really looking forward to spending the holidays with friends and family in England, but I'm also quite excited about getting back to designing new pieces in January. I have so many ideas that I'm taking a spare sketchbook with me, just in case I fill up the first one!

holiday stars

2009-12-08T12:02:00.001-08:00

I absolutely adore Lucie's star ornaments. I can get in a Christmas mood just looking at them. Lucie's a furniture maker, and she makes these ornaments out of scrap wood from her work. They're not just gorgeous, they're eco-friendly as well!

We're off to England for Christmas this year, so we haven't decorated our loft, and there's no tree to hang ornaments on. I'm still feeling Christmasy, though. I'm in a last minute flurry of making gifts, buying warm and waterproof clothes so I don't turn into an icicle in England, and shipping out Christmas orders from my shop.

I love spending Christmas in England with family and friends. No one does Christmas quite like the Brits. Christmas crackers here I come! I've even put in a special request for sticky toffee pudding. Mmmmmm.

raindrops and bells

2009-12-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

I've been working away on my wax carvings in my spare time. Cast pieces take several months to turn around, so these pieces should be showing up in my shop sometime in February. In the meantime, I'll tide you over with some photos of the work in process.

I've gotten the bell carved to its three-dimensional shape here. I still need to hollow it out, though. I've been whittling wax in front of the TV in the evenings. That's my idea of fun!

I loved this raindrop shape so much that I decided to keep it this way - smooth and beautiful. Here I've sawed this in half in preparation for hollowing it out. I'll solder it back together after I cast it. Solid designs pretty much always have to be cast in two pieces and soldered back together.

i bet you guys are wondering...

2009-11-29T22:00:00.001-08:00

I bet you guys are wondering what happened to me. All I'm going to say is "Christmas orders."

See you all when I surface...

meet the guests

2009-11-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

I'm on the Etsy Metal blog today - the second interview down. I've had a lot of fun playing along with the Project Runway challenges - can't wait for next season!

my inner sculptor

2009-11-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

I took a wax carving seminar a few weeks ago, and my inner sculptor is dancing for joy. I haven't really sculpted since I picked up metalsmithing two years ago. Yet I've always found three dimensional art more intuitive - even as a kid, when other kids were drawing, I was creating worlds out of play-doh in shoeboxes. Time just seems to fly for me when I'm sculpting.

For the moment, I'm sketching up ideas and whittling away like a mad sculptor. Once I'm happy with these, I'll hollow them out and cast them in silver. I already have a perfume bottle necklace in the works, which I turned on a wax lathe. I'm really excited to see what comes of it all. You can definitely expect to see some new pieces in my shop in the next month or two!

i carry your heart with me

2009-11-06T11:10:00.001-08:00

This week's Etsy Metal Project Runway challenge was to create a companion piece to one of our previous challenge pieces. I tinkered with a series of Modernist designs, and finally decided on this one - two stylized hearts in sterling silver with a garnet cabochon.

My Two Hearts necklace is a smaller, more delicate companion piece to my eye-popping Mod Daisy necklace, which I created several weeks ago for the Create a Character challenge.

As I was finishing this necklace last night, I had ee cummings running through my head:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

It's always a good day if you have ee cummings running through your head, right?

corroded

2009-10-28T20:19:00.001-07:00

For those metalsmiths who doubt the strength of my organic pickle recipe, I present Exhibit A - my stainless steel crockpot. No, your eyes do not deceive you, the organic pickle has eaten through the stainless steel. It seems to have worked particularly well just under the rim, where the metal is completely gone. How insane is that?

I'm now heating my pickle in the microwave. So far so good! And as a bonus, it saves an enormous amount of electricity...

welcome to the zoo

2009-10-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

This is just a small snippet of one of the three, count 'em, three long lines that I stood in yesterday. Outside. In the hot sun. For two hours.

So what was all the excitement for? Were we waiting to meet Angelina and Brad? Oh no, this minor riot, complete with security, a ton of little kids running completely wild, a camera crew from Fox News, and an amazing number of attempts at fraud (apparently punishable by a huge fine) - this zoo was the line for the swine flu vaccination. Aren't you sorry you missed all this fun?

But what the heck, I've now been immunized for both the swine flu and seasonal flu. Which, apparently, is worth more than gold at the moment. And it only cost me $10. Well, and those two hours of my life which I'll never see again...

grocery store musical

2009-10-23T11:30:00.001-07:00

OK, if you need a really good laugh today, you need to read this blog post and watch the video at the bottom. Because, you know, I think everyone needs to watch people burst spontaneously into song in the middle of a random grocery store in Queens.

I laughed so hard I almost spewed tea...

Guess what new blog I'll be following?

little pot

2009-10-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

I never was a traditional bride. Come to think of it, I've rarely been a traditional anything, so I suppose that's not much of a surprise. So when I saw that the Etsy Metal challenge for this week was wedding jewelry, I was stumped. Should I go with pearls? Could I make something that mainstream?

Be true to myself, I decided. Make something that I would would wear, if I was getting married this year. So I did. For me jewelry is very personal, often quite quirky, and at its best when it has emotional meaning. A perfect piece of jewelry is beautiful, comfortable, entertaining, and reassuring. I've whiled away many an hour in a boring meeting or class, or in the waiting room of a doctor's office, amusing myself with my jewelry.

So I went back to my roots in ceramic sculpture and crafted this little pot out of hammered sterling silver. And if I was getting married tomorrow, this would be featured front and center. It's graceful, warm, and comforting to the touch, not to mention a bit unexpected - it's very, very me. And in the end, that's the whole point, right?

roots

2009-10-14T18:31:00.001-07:00

Soldering the neck onto my little pot. I'm overly enthralled with this piece. Perhaps it's the thrill of getting back into three dimensional pieces - tapping into my roots in sculpture, which I've dearly missed.

egg

2009-10-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at cutting disks, doming them, and soldering them together. Barring tragedy at the workbench, this will be the bottom of my bottle pendant before the week is out. There's something oddly appealing about my little egg...

grinding

2009-10-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today I'm working on my Etsy Metal challenge piece for the week, plus a few rainbow obsidian necklaces for my shop. This snowstorm is the result of two hours of grinding. By the end of it, my workbench was completely covered in blue sparkly dust, and so was I! Come to think of it, so were my tools, my chair, the floor...

true blue

2009-10-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

This week's Etsy Metal Project Runway challenge was... blue. That's it, just blue! So I sorted through my stone collection and found these gorgeous little blue topaz cabochons. I put together a few ideas I've been tinkering with and came up with this pendant.

The extended challenge was to design two pieces, and who am I to turn down an extended challenge? So I whipped up this matching pair of earrings. I still need to get a shot of these being worn. The long stem threads through your piercing and hangs down behind your earlobe.

I learned this faux embossing technique from one of my metalsmithing instructors. Until I can afford a hydraulic press (ha ha), I'm definitely going to keep playing with this one.

mod daisy

2009-10-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

I created this necklace in sterling silver with a lab-grown ruby cabochon for the Etsy Metal Project Runway Challenge. This week's challenge was to create a movie character, build a story, and make a piece of jewelry for that character. I chose Film Noir for my genre, which I'm sure will be a terrible shock to those of you who know me well. ;)

On to my tragic character. Our heroine, who has been sent by her country to spy on a suspected traitor, has fallen deeply in love with the man she has been sent to spy on. He is desperately in love with her as well, but she never tells him that she loves him, because she is living a double life as a spy, and she knows she cannot stay.

In the Victorian language of flowers, the daisy represents either loyal love or farewell, depending on the type of daisy. During the final scene, our noble spy wears the daisy necklace to symbolize her eternal love for this man and the tragic fact that she will never see him again.

Film Noir had its heyday in the 1940s and 50s, which happily falls smack in the middle of the Modernist period of design. I've recently fallen in love with Modernist jewelry design, which goes very well with my design aesthetic, and I designed this piece in a modernist style. Our heroine will look very dashing indeed!

organic silver polish

2009-09-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share one of my favorite new discoveries with y'all. It's an organic method of polishing silver. I found it in with a bunch of kids' science experiments, believe it or not. It's really cool to watch, so if you have kids, bring them on in for this one!

Organic Silver Polish

1 tsp baking soda (called bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
1 tsp salt
boiling water
glass or ceramic container
aluminum foil

Line a glass or ceramic container with aluminum foil, and put in a teaspoon each of baking soda and salt (you don't need to be hugely accurate with the amounts here). Fill it up with boiling water. Now drop in your silver pieces, making sure they are touching both the foil and each other. Voila! Before you know it they will be bright and shiny again - you can pretty much watch the tarnish dissolve!

Once they're clean, fish them out carefully (remember that was boiling water), rinse them, and leave them out to dry.

Of course, you definitely do not want to do this to any jewelry with stones or beads in it, since they really don't mix well with water. I'd also skip any jewelry that has been intentionally blackened (unless you want to get rid of the black bits). You'll be better to polish up these pieces with a polishing cloth, which you should be able to pick up at your local jewelry store.

If you're a silversmith, you may also want to check out my organic jewelry pickle and my organic method for blackening silver.

retro modern

2009-09-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

First thing tomorrow morning I'll be heading out to Florida to visit my sister. But before I jump on a plane, I thought I'd show you all the piece I've been working on for the last few weeks. I went through quite a few versions of this design before I committed it to metal. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Now I'm off to take a short break before the crazy Christmas rush starts. I have ambitious plans to take a ton of photos while I'm there - I've even packed a teeny tripod. On the other hand, I may just laze around on the sofa for a week...

of road trips and Madonna

2009-09-10T08:00:00.001-07:00

Last night I dreamed that Madonna was driving around in a rusty brown pickup truck wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. She was tired of always having to have bodyguards, so she bought herself this old junker and went incognito. Mind you, I also dreamed about a pot with three kitchen knives sitting in it. That one was less interesting, I suppose.

Andy, on the other hand, dreamed that we were going on a road trip with Stephen Colbert, who insisted on driving. You know what? Given the choice of the two, I think I'll take the road trip with Stephen Colbert.

And I'm more than happy to let him drive.

utterly glam

2009-09-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

I know you're thinking it, so I'm just going to say it for you - it's a glam, glam world and I'm a glam, glam girl. Mmm hmmm, I can feel your envy from here.

Yes, I wear this gorgeous outfit on a regular basis. For the curious, this fantastic dust mask and eye shield ensemble is considered haute couture for those silversmiths who prefer not to have metal dust in their eyes and lungs. But hey, we can't all look this cool every day.

conehead

2009-08-29T15:12:00.001-07:00

Poor Ditto has had to wear a cone on her head for the last couple of weeks and she is Not Pleased. Hopefully she can find a new hobby, as her current one - puncturing her feet with sharp objects - is proving to be a bit expensive. Perhaps her underappreciated party hat will cure her of the habit?

international glee

2009-08-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today I sent packages off to

New York
New Mexico
Maryland
Washington
Rhode Island
Alaska
Toronto
and
London

I love this little gig.

metalsmiths in action

2009-08-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

You can find me here today, where I'm the featured team member on the Metalsmiths in Action blog. Enjoy!

fossilized coral

2009-08-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

I adore fossilized coral. Doesn't it just look edible? And the colors are so impossible - it's hard to believe that nature can create fossils in these incredible colors.

The rusty one will eventually become a necklace and appear in my shop, but I have a strong suspicion that the raspberry colored one won't make it any further than my jewelry box...

slinky

2009-08-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

Since I spend most of my day sitting at my jewelry bench, I thought I'd start keeping my camera handy and taking some working shots. This is the start of a new batch of bangles. The wire for these is so thick that I can't use wire cutters - I need to saw it into sections.

The bangles formed and soldered, before pickling. I love the firescale which gives these that blackened look. I'm always tempted to leave them this color.

The final product - hammered, tumbled, and oh-so-glam!

Love them? You can find these in my shop.

sandstorm

2009-08-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

This is the other necklace I was working on in my last post - the picture jasper one. I love this piece of picture jasper. It reminds me of a sandstorm, or a print by Hokusai, the famous Japanese artist.

I added a bar chain to this piece instead of my usual cable chain. I think it lends a delicate, sophisticated touch that goes nicely with the pendant. I love these one of a kind necklaces - no need to worry about whether I can reproduce the piece. I have the great luxury of designing a setting specifically for each stone. How indulgent!

Love it? You can find this piece in my shop.