All posts tagged: jewelry

jasper and gold. 

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Michaels held a free collar necklace making event, and the first fifteen guests scored a free gift. I’m a sucker for freebies so of course I went. Plus, I was hoping to pick up a jewelry tip or two! I might have arrived early to shop and be one of the first in class to snag a seat and a prize. They gifted us a Glam and Go bag and a create necklace – perfect for all crafty days! It ended up being a small class so they gave each of us a freebie second helping. Double score! I dabble in jewelry making, but I never officially learned, nor have I ever made a bold statement piece like a collar necklace before. This class was a good introduction to larger bead/stone use. I chose the above green stones, which we’re guessing are of the jasper variety. Michaels provided the rest of the materials and tools for our projects. Our instructor for the evening was Cindy, an avid beader and overall fun lady! She’s got an awesome collection of …

the ladies of blue door. 

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Blue Doors Beads features a jewelry artist each month (Remember when I debuted my Elmwood line?). Last month, the Blue Door Beads staff shared their creations with us and everything was gorgeous! These Ladies are so creative and skilled in their craft. Briana I had purchased one of Briana’s pieces before as a gift so I was excited to see what new creations she had for tonight’s event. I fell in major like with this piece. I was sold when I found out she created the metal piece by hand. Dara / D. Lea Studio Dara is an artist extraordinaire. She teaches a number of classes at BDB and she’s got mad photography skills. I’ve been eyeing her electroforming class on the BDB class calendar. I can’t wait to take it! Lydia / The Patina Project Lydia is one of the friendliest faces you’ll ever meet! Her pieces are both light and airy, and bold and show-stopping. Rumor on the street is she’s opening up an online shop soon. Sydney / Tropikali I just met Sydney on the …

elmwood.

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Ah! It’s been a while but I was busy prepping for a jewelry show! Yup, yup, I have my own jewelry line now. Welcome to Elmwood! In 2011 I decided “Hey, I’m going to make jewelry for myself.” I walked into a bead store and simply asked them how to bend and curl wire. I took a liking to the process and the rest is history. I started with earrings and worked my way to bracelets and necklaces as I learned more about jewelry wires, cords, and findings. The name Elmwood comes from the neighborhood in Berkeley where I used to live. My crafty jewelry friend Linda and I would make jewelry together when she came to visit. As you can see, I love earth tones with pops of colors, particularly pinks and golds. I like making asymmetric pieces meant for layering. Blue Door Beads featured me at their Third Thursday event this month. Who knew I would ever be a featured jewelry artist! Though I don’t see myself selling my jewelry full time, I do plan on continuing to create, gifting pieces …

golden dishes.

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I was in the market for a ring dish, but I thought hey, why not make my own? Here’s what ended up happening… Materials & tools: Decoupage glue – Art Minds is my favorite brand (from Michaels) Contact paper – I chose gold. (Remember when I made my treat containers?) Dishes – Surprise! I found these in the kitchen section of Ranch 99. Scissors Foam brush How to: Cut out shapes. Try triangles, squares, lines… Peel the protective coating off the contact paper and stick onto dish. Apply an even coat of decoupage glue. Allow to dry. Repeat. Simple shapes make these jewelry dishes look real fancy. I like the Art Minds decoupage glue brand over other brands because it’s more matte and not sticky feeling when it dries. Tahdah! A place for my rings to live for when I’m not suppose to wear them. Now you try! 🙂  

hey crafty lady!

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Ooo wee! It’s workshop recap time! A few lady friends and I spent an evening at Iris Willow‘s studio to learn the art of enamel jewelry and it. was. fabulous! Iris is a super talented artist and she creates enamel and mixed metal jewelry in all the fun shapes and colors. She is new to the teaching game, but we couldn’t tell. Her workshop was super fun and easy to follow. Iris made the whole process novice friendly. The hardest part was deciding what piece to work on and what color enamel to use – we could pick up to three colors. There were over a dozen shapes and 24 colors to choose from. You do the math – that’s a lot of combinations. We started by reviewing all of the materials and tools. We got to use some really fun stuff, like a 1200 degree kiln. O_O Iris demoed each step, we sketched out our designs, and we were off to create! The process: clean, hairspray, add enamel, bake, pickle, clean, hairspray, enamel, bake. …

brilliant!

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Today is our wedding day! Yup, Feyoncé and I are tying the knot. Oh you bet I can’t wait to share all the details with you. But for now, I’m sharing our wedding ring shopping experience and revealing the bling that made the cut! We decided our 8th love anniversary would be a perfect day for ring shopping. I had my heart set on matching rose gold bands. We chose to shop at Brilliant Earth because they have a large assortment of rose gold options, ethically source their stones, and use only reclaimed metals – love it! Lucky for us, there is a Brilliant Earth show room nearby and we got to shop in person. Making the appointment was simple and despite the pressure to pick rings to last a lifetime, our ring guide and the overall comfortable spa like atmosphere in the show room made ring shopping so much more enjoyable. We tried on a number of styles and our ring guide was able to offer suggestions. All of their rings were made to order and customizable. If …

shop feature: beadweaver

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Solo adventures in Santa Fe mean less outdoor nature explorations (I could get captured by wildlife! You never know!) and more safe activities, like going to the local bead store. #whatsnew I spotted Beadweaver while driving down a main road in Santa Fe and made sure I added it to my itinerary. The ladies in the shop are super helpful and entertained all of my bead inquiries. They had a great assortment of beads, including shapes I hadn’t seen before. Those were appropriately displayed in the “Fun Shapes” section. Check out these decorative finds and imagine all the lovely pieces you can create with them. There were walls of bead tubes. And walls of bead strands. If you think you can only make jewelry with beads, think again. These bowls, animal figurines, and flower garlands are made with tiny beads. Beadweaver has lots of inspiration pieces on display and bead books for purchase. Unfortunately, they do not hold classes in the shop. They do, however, have relations with bead artists who teach elsewhere; just ask. …