Lovin those Circles....

This is just a quick post to show off my latest necklace design for a local store. The hammered circles are one hot ticket this summer so I've been using them in almost all my new necklaces. I'm ready to move on to something else - but when you are working with a store you also have to listen to what the customers are responding to. In this case it's the circles!

The faceted nuggets are Aqua coloured Chalcedony. Another popular colour with this store's clients.

Have a great weekend!
Jodi

To Nepal and Back

So much for crafting - I'm still making jewelry! That's ok as I really do love jewelry and my apartment is set up for it. I have a designated table for my jewelry and this makes it easy for me to sit down for 10 minutes here and there to work on it. This is how I work most of the time as I never have large chunks of time for any of my hobbies. They happen in bits and pieces of time that I squeeze into my day. The problem with sewing is the lack of designated space. I have to dismantle my kitchen to sew and I hate doing this. I generally only sew when I have an entire day off to myself so that I can make a big mess for 6-7 hours and then clean it up. The problem with sewing is that you need a table, ironing board and cutting area ie. (space!) something we lack in our current apartment of 450 sq. feet!

This necklace and earrings is for my dear friend Norah. She is an artist and will be exhibiting her work at the Winsor Gallery starting July 19th here in Vancouver. If you get a chance please check it out! The necklace is a re-design of something she picked up in Nepal about 10 years ago. It had been strung on string and was falling apart. In hindsight I should have taken a before photo. I'm never thinking in terms of my blog....I am very pleased with the resulting design and earrings to match. I added faceted nuggets of Carnelian and Lapis that I had left over from previous projects. As well as a sprinkling of turquoise - much more interesting than the original!

Circles & Hoops

So far I'm only averaging about 1 post per month...I'll try and do better! It seems once I made a conscious decision to devote more time to crafting (check out my craft blog ChicaCraft)
The jewelry design business took off. I'm so thrilled that my latest designs are selling well at the House of Jewels boutique where they are sold here in Vancouver. She keeps asking for more. I just need more time to devote to it. Maybe it's the full time job getting in the way! Unfortunately at this time it still pays the bills.

Circles and Hoops is the name of this post. It seems to be the hot trend for this summer. Hammered circles are selling very well along with the wire hoop earrings. All shades of blue. I always fall back on the watery blues of Peruvian opals and Amazonite so this time I tried something new. The gemstones I used in the two necklaces here are Kyanite. It is a very icy blue which works best with Silver. This blue looks great combined with denim which we all have in our wardrobes!

I should add a note that the beautiful hammered circle and intricate Orchid are from the talented Hill Tribe people of Thailand.

I'm hoping to get back to some of my craft projects so it may be a while before I post again.

Santa Fe Nights

It wasn't my intention when I started working on this collection to have it end up with such a "Santa Fe" feeling. I guess when working with this colour palette it's inevitable. One necklace is more traditional with the silver accents it it very much looks as though it was inspired by New Mexico or Arizona. The other necklace with the round turquoise beads is a more modern take, with the asymmetric carnelian nugget accents.

I'm sending this small collection off into the world tomorrow and wanted to record them in photos first. I do miss my designs sometimes after they're gone. But, it also gives me so much pleasure to know people like and appreciate my art enough to want to purchase it! I love seeing people wearing the pieces I design specifically for them.

More Tanzanite!

Two new designs to share with you today. A pair of tanzanite earrings with "grape" clusters and another neckace along the lines of the bracelet I posted a few weeks ago. I love the colour combination of the gold with blue, orange and green.

Feeling Blue

Here are a few pieces from my new Spring collection. I want to post a few photos of them before they get sent out into the world! I spent the winter working with gold but now I'm itching to experiment with different metal finishes - and silver has caught my attention all over again. The hammered silver rings are from the Thai Hilltribe people. I wish I could have made them myself, but alas I have no metal working equipment at my disposal. One day!!

As usual, I've been drawn to watery blue stones, especially Peruvian Opals, Amzonite and Chalcedony. I never get tire of them and they combine well with silver and gold.

Tanzanite Inspirations

Wow, it's time to start blogging again! I took a bit of a break over the holiday season, but I'm back at it again. I just finished this bracelet for a co-worker. She loves tanzanite and that was my starting point for this piece. I decided to make it really colourful by adding orange and green and gold to it. The brilliant blue of the tanzanite really stands out.

I just opened my Etsty shop a few weeks ago so I need to take this opportunity for some shameless self promotion. You can see what I have for sale at www.astartedesigns.etsy.com

I encourage all jewelry designers to explore Etsy. It is a forum for crafts people to buy and sell all things handmade. What a brilliant concept! And its free - well almost free. You have to pay a small fee to post something for sale, and pay a small commission when something sells. It's a bit like eBay that way. It's still better than paying 50% to a store for placing an item on consignment!