Mod 70's Cuff

Made by Van Der Straeten in the 70's, this cuff bracelet is sterling silver with a gunmetal finish. Isn't it great?!

Wax on, wax off

No, this isn't one of my wax-carved rings. My filing & piercing class at F.I.T. is finally over.

I took the class as a way to break the monotony and hone my skills. And honestly, how hard can it be to file? I've been doing this for over 10 years, right?

Within the first two weeks I was getting Ds and Fs on my projects. I couldn't file a flat surface and keep it completely flat. And I couldn't keep a surface 90 degrees from it's side. And after filing the same thing for 3 hours in each class, your fingers numb, your eyes blurry from staring at a tiny piece of metal... and to know that I was getting Ds... I just wanted to give up. I was a terrible jeweler, what was I doing trying to make a living doing this? My work stinks. I stink.

I felt like a failure, but I also knew that I was learning a lot about myself. I learned that when I'm not 'the best' at something I will give up quickly so that I am not seen as a 'failure.' I also tend to make excuses why I'm so bad but everyone else is so good (I have a kid, I don't have time, they have plenty of time, etc.). The truth is that everyone has something that could keep them from being great at what they do. The truth is that the ones who succeed are the ones who don't give up.

And eventually, one day in the middle of a 3 hour filing torture-- I came to accept these things as part of who I am. And I embraced them. Yes, I'm not the best but I can work hard to get better. Yes, I don't have a lot of time but no one else does either-- they make time and I need to make time, too.

Today I marched in with my final project. There were a lot of mistakes but I worked really hard to make the piece, spending over 20 hours on it, and was so pleased of how far I came in the class. So I proudly handed my ring over to my teacher. A smile slowly formed as he turned it overatnd over in his hand. He pointed out the mistakes and I nodded in agreement. Then he said, "This is some really good work." Then he leaned over and wrote in his book, "A."

Trunk shows!

Upcoming trunk shows:

Sunday, December 14th 12-6pm
Artez'n
444 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

Wednesday, December 17th 6-8pm
Fact & Fancy
75B Hoyt Street, Brooklyn, NY

New stackable set!

you get 3 rings...
Originally uploaded by metaliciousjewelry

I'm so excited to present the latest in Metalicious stacking sets. A gorgeous blue iolite twinkles on a softly squared band. On each side are textured wink bands I carved from wax and had cast into silver. Available in my etsy shop!

Cyber Monday

Are you ready? All this talk about Cyber Monday has me all revved up for some sales! I'm having a 20% off sale on my website. All you have to do is enter HOHO2008 upon checkout.

And I have a special sale section in my Etsy shop. Some great holiday deals, stocking stuffers, etc.

Come on by for super Cyber Monday Metalicious style!

Geometry ring

Geometry ring1
Originally uploaded by metaliciousjewelry

I love geometric designs with an organic twist, that's how this ring was born. It's featured in my etsy shop.

Check out the bangle that goes with it!

Metal madness!

It's getting down to the wire (ha. ha.) for holiday shopping. Black Friday is coming up fast and furious and what do you have to show for it? A discount code for some fabulous jewelry at Metalicious.

That's 20% off everything on my site!! Get on over there and place your order before Dec. 1st to be sure to get your pretties in time for the holidays.

And thanks, as always, for your love and support.

ETSY here I come!

I'm really excited. For 2 reasons.

One: I'm going to meet a cyber-friend and fellow jeweler Madelynn Smith-Cassin aka OneGarnetGirl in person for the first time tomorrow night! I bought her blue iolite ring above and LOVE it. If that's not good enough...

Two: We're going to do a Virtual Lab at Etsy, the site where we met! It started out as a whimsical "Let's go visit Etsy because that's totally hilarious and dorky" and turned into a workshop about polishing techniques. Wahoo!

Look for us on Friday at 2pm at the Virtual Lab link above, hope to see you there!

Lalique

Did you know Rene Lalique made jewelry? I saw a show featuring his work and was amazed by the beautiful details and creativity in every piece he made.

This one is calle "La Princesse Lointaine" and shows a medieval female figure with a greyhound in a wooded scene. It was named after the central character, played by Sarah Bernhardt, of Edmond Rostand's 1895 play. Click on the picture to see the detail, it's breathtaking.

Ah, the drama.

Tarnish-buster

Here's a quick and easy way to remove tarnish from your sterling silver jewelry, it's safe for most gemstones and pearls.

Tarnish-Busting Formula
1. Choose a plastic or glass (never metal) pan that is deep enough so that when filled with water your tarnished jewelry will be covered.
2. Put a piece of aluminum foil in the bottom of the pan.
3. Pour near-boiling water into the pan.
4. Add a couple tablespoons of baking soda to the water.
5. Place the tarnished jewelry onto the piece of aluminum.
6. If necessary, add more baking soda to the dish until you see the tarnish coming off your piece. You should get a slight bubbling effect with an odd metallic odor.

Let me know how it works for you!

Introducing... MODERN ROCK

I'm officially unveiling my latest collection right here, right now. Every woman deserves diamonds, I've made them affordable so you can have more than one!

My collection is made from sterling silver, I carved the 'gems' to look like faceted diamonds-- the big guys are over 2 carats in size!! Stack 'em up and wear 'em proudly. These aren't your Mother's diamonds.

Jena at Modish.com was kind enough to give me a shout out. Thanks Jena!

Coming down from vacation

*sigh* We just got back from spending a week at the beach. "Down the shore" is what the Jersey girl in me says. Any way you say it, it was a blessed, gorgeous, relaxing, sunny, crazy ole time!

Time to start up the gears once again and get moving on toward the end of summer. Boo.

Can you see me?

here's a cool, new widget:

Excitement for the day!

I was on the front page of one of the sites I sell my jewelry on! Whoo hoo!!!!

Why is this exciting? Because it brought me 500 views to my one piece of jewelry and about 40 people made me one of their favorite shops there.

Look here.

Bubble Magic

More delicious bubbles, fun fizz for the fingers!

I'm taking the summer to enjoy my family so productivity has slowed. This, however, does not stop creativity. I'll be back to full blast for the Fall.

I am obsessed...

with watch fobs. Help me.

Trunkt Amazing Artists

I am honored to be a part of the Trunkt Amazing Artists book series. I am featured on page 14 here.

Very exciting! Thank you Trunkt!

Riveting.

I've always loved rivets. And lots of texture. Years ago I made a set of wedding bands where I riveted 2 bands together with 6 tube rivets evenly spaced all the way around. The inner band was silver and the outer was brass. I used silver tubing as the rivet to contrast against the brass. They turned out really cool but I learned that you have to shape the metal into a round ring first, then rivet through the bands.

So here's another take on the tube rivet using brass tubing on sterling silver sheet that I carefully pounded using two different striking heads.

Available here: at my etsy store.

Studio Jewelers

I am constantly coming up against a conundrum. Do I want to be a studio jeweler or do I want to be a production jeweler ?

My training was in studio jewelry, however most of my work experience has been in production jewelry. These are easily reproduced items made from wax carvings I make myself. Or I reproduce my pieces from a handmade original that I then mold for casting.

So my heart and eye is with studio jewelry, but my mind and wallet are with production pieces. It's definitely an internal struggle but it pushes me to find a way to combine all my skills. I'm taking some time to think about my next steps. I have fleshed out my bubble collection and need to photograph it. Then I will make a focused mailing to boutiques I think my stuff will fit into. I'm really excited about the time I've had to work on my collection this year, no matter what happens I'm proud of my work.

Spring shows

It's time for some Spring craft fairs! I'd love to see you there, I'll be debuting some brand new collections that you don't want to miss!

Hoboken Art & Music Festival
Sunday, May 4th
Washington Street, Hoboken NJ
11-6

In Good Company Shop for a cause
all proceeds benefit Nest
Thursday, May 8th
16 W. 23rd Street, 4th Fl
6:30-9

Bleecker Street Art Fair
Saturday, May 17th
Bleecker Street, NYC
noon-6

BBC American Craft Fair
Sunday, May 18th
Bedford Street, NYC
noon-6

Brand New Foam!

I'm proud to introduce my brand new Foam necklace! It is part of the expanding bubble collection at Metalicious and is available in 3 Spring colors. Take a look!

http://metalicious.com/foam-necklace-p-770.html

Coming to a website near you...

Bubbles. I'm expanding the collection and I'm thrilled with the new pieces! I can't wait to share them with you, stay tuned!

The price of silver

Once upon a time, a young woman who never cared much for jewelry fell in love with the process of jewelry making. It was a complete accident-- because the ceramics class she wanted to take was closed. The only thing left was metalsmithing and she was hooked. Tthe price of silver was around $4/oz. That's a lot to a young woman with not much money in her bank account so she scrimped and saved and savored every scrap of sterling she could get her hands on.

Today the not-quite-so-young woman has started a jewelry business. It's a small one, but a business nonetheless. Silver is now $20/oz and will be even more by the end of this month. As fate would have it this woman has started her business when the cost of goods has become more expensive than anyone has seen in 15 years. 5 times as expensive. I've got the most uncanny timing, huh?

Here are my latest prized creations. The crinkle hoops-- brightly textured and handmade by yours truly, the not-so-young-woman with the increasingly more expensive business habits.

What is it?

Rough yellow diamonds. Tiny ones. Embedded in resin and presented in a sweet pendant so anyone can bling it up.

NEW!!

This piece is a new take on a very old piece I made. The square with the triangles was made about 10 years ago, however I just cast it in bronze and hung it from earwires. Voila! A gorgeous pair of everyday earrings with a little bit of shine to them. They are on Etsy.

TAD: 2-08-08

And you can find it here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9457748

Thing-a-ling

Day 5. Not inspired. So i baked a pie.

Apple Crumb Pie

INGREDIENTS

1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust
5 cups apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter
DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.) Arrange apple slices in unbaked pie shell. Mix 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples.
Mix 1/3 cup sugar with flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Spoon mixture over apples.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until apples are soft and top is lightly browned.

Day 3 & 4

What happened to 2? You'll have to go to thing-a-day.com and see.

The site is down today, too much traffic. But here are my things from 3 & 4...

I took square silver tubing, filled it with wire for strength and hand-stamped them. This is before polishing. Raw and I love them.

Thing-a-day

I've signed up to create one thing a day for the entire month of February. And it's a leap year so there are 29 days of creation that have to happen. Yikes.

Track my progress here. I had a helper on my first day. ;-)

My Mom

aka: Mama, Mamacita, Abuelita, Grandma, Rinuccia, La Mama, Mother, Rinuch, Rinold...

Everyone says it, but it's really true: my Mom is the best.

Through all of the trials of her life Mom has been one of the strongest people I know. She loves me and my siblings so much and lets us know whenever we're together how much we mean to her. I can't tell you how nice it is to know she loves me no matter what happens in life.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her, taken on a recent trip to L.A. It makes me laugh because you can see how goofy she is, with her nerdy-teacher glasses, trying to seem mad but cracking up at the same time. I think she didn't like her Jamba Juice.

She's an inspiration to me to always keep laughing through adversity. Thanks Mom!

Old is New again

Just when you thought the latest jewelry trend was something new...

this ring is from 1721, and American Mourning Ring made by John Edwards.

Pretty cool.

Teacher's Pet

About 8 years ago I took two classes with Lola Brooks at the Craft Student's League (now closed, sadly) in NYC. She is one of the few who is incredibly creative and talented yet is personable and intelligent enough to be able to teach others. Her students adore her and she is one of my heroes. She's also a rock star in the art jewelry world.

This piece is called Rose Cut Neckpiece and it's made from stainless steel, 18k gold, and rose-cut smoky quartz gemstones. You can buy it here: http://tinyurl.com/3922lo

She kicks a##.