the accidental jeweler

Why I'm having a sale.

2010-09-02T21:12:00.002-04:00

Here's what I sent in my newsletter in case you're not on my mailing list.

"Now for the sad news.
If you follow me on facebook or twitter you may already now that my Mother has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. This is a fast moving, hard to treat, and extremely painful disease. Generally the prognosis once you're diagnosed is 3-6 months. The majority of my time this summer has been spent driving 70 miles everyday to take care of her, while raising my 4 year old. Needless to say I have completely neglected my business, and whether it's that or the economy, I have had dismal internet sales for the past 4 months. Usually I would make up for slow sales at the many craft shows I travel to attend, but unfortunately this year I have been rejected from most of the ones I've applied to. Even ones I've done in the past.

There is a very big possibility that I will lose my house in the next few months if I do not raise about $2500 right now. I know there are so many people who are in similar or worse situations right now, and I feel horrible about even bringing this up. What I'm asking is that if you were thinking about purchasing any of my pieces before the end of the year that you do so now. You'll save 25% and get a free gift (with every $75 spent). Win-win for everyone, right?

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and for supporting my art. I hope to be able to create for many years to come."

I really hope this didn't come off whiny, or sound like I'm begging. I'm just trying to be very upfront. I don't know what else to do.

finally 40

2009-01-14T15:56:00.003-05:00

tomorrow!
I turn 40!

wowza.

To make the day the best it could be for me I decided I needed to have a sale, and that way maybe I could wake up to some money in my paypal account.
Tacky?
Maybe.

But it's a great sale. Really! I've been photographing jewelry for days now and at 11:59 EST tonight I'll be listing it in my etsy store. Everything there will be 10-40% off and if you spend $100 you get this heart for free!

The sale will run for 40 hours. Hopefully I'll be able to stay awake until midnight to get it rolling ;)

I think tomorrow after I pick Isabel up from playschool we'll go pick out a fancy little cake from Wholefoods. Much better than having to clean up the kitchen.

Happy Birthday to me!

another show, another new store

2008-10-09T17:48:00.003-04:00

omg how yummy do those look???
Those amazing looking treats are from Lavender Moon Cupcakery in Old Town Alexandria, VA.
Last weekend at Art on the Avenue the owner came to a screeching halt in front of my giant cupcake pendant display and promptly chose a fantastic selection to sell in her new bakery.
YAY!
Click HERE for more info on her new shop.

Also, this weekend I'm at Sugarloaf in Gaithersburg, MD. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come see me if you can. It's a 3 day show and I'm by myself all 3 days.

Art on the Avenue

2008-10-02T19:16:00.003-04:00

I'm almost ready!
As soon as I get Isabel to bed I'll be in the garage trying to get the car packed.
If you're in the DC/MD/NoVA area please come see me HERE.
This is always one of my favorite shows.

It's going to be hard for me to ship anything in the next 2 weeks, but my favorite online store SHANALOGIC has red hearts and marshmallow cream cupcakes in stock & ready to go.

See you later!!!

Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-30T19:30:00.001-04:00

Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!
I just found this blog through cuteable.

OMG, this woman is amazing and how cute is her daughter??
You know....MY adorable 3 year old has all the handmade jewelry to wear she could ever want....maybe a trade is in order?
HINT HINT

baby cupcakes

2008-09-29T10:26:00.002-04:00

I never make little beads but for some reason yesterday I made a ton of these little guys.

If you're coming to Art on the Avenue this Saturday I'll have a bunch of different "flavors" to choose from. For now, the chocolate strawberry ones are in my etsy store.

front page!!

2008-09-25T09:19:00.004-04:00

I never get to be on etsy's front page!

Thanks PEtra and Cath for the heads up!

almost done

2008-09-23T10:36:00.004-04:00

I'm finally taking the plunge into wholesale.
It's a little scary because basically you do all the work for 1/2 the pay, but it should cut done on the amount of traveling I have to do for shows. Although....and don't tell anyone this....since I've discovered priceline I've been enjoying some nice hotels instead of sleeping on friends' couches. Too old for that! You can get the best deals if you name your own price if you can get past the fact you don't know exactly where you'll be staying until after you pay.

Today I'm packing up my first large wholesale order for shanalogic. LOVE this site & Shana is the best person to work with. She's had my work on consignment for a year or so now, but it sells so well she's talked me into wholesaling to her.

I just need to put those hearts on the their chains and this order is outta here!!!

oh the insanity

2008-09-21T09:58:00.006-04:00

mmmmmm...where to begin??
So last post I said I was getting ready for a show in Bethany Beach, DE.
Canceled, due to hurricane.
No problem, I had actually double-booked shows that weekend so I went to Sugarloaf in Manassas, VA instead. Which I knew would be a giant mistake but I went anyway.
Let's just say that LORiOLA is not the Sugarloaf aesthetic.
By any stretch of the imagination.
And Saturday was canceled because of the hurricane.

I have NEVER lost money at a show before. I guess it needed to happen sooner or later, let's just hope this is the LAST time, ok??

To make up for Saturday being canceled the Sugarloaf people are giving us a free show in the spring, which is actually unheard of, and extremely generous. Problem is I hadn't wanted to do any more of their shows. EVER.

Now stupidly, back in March when I was super excited to be doing Sugarloaf shows I prepaid for 4. After the first 2 this past spring I realized I had made a mistake. Unfortunately once you pay you're SOL, that's why I booked a better show for the same weekend as Manassas. I have one more paid for Sugarloaf, Oct 12, 13 & 14 in Gaithersburg, then maybe one in the spring. We'll see. Even for free I'm afraid I'll lose money.

You know what else is crazy?? I have a show the weekend before Sugarloaf in Alexandria, VA called Art on the Avenue which I absolutely love but it means that on Friday Oct 5 I will be driving 5 hrs to VA, setting up at 7am Sat morning, selling all day (hopefully!!) then packing and driving 5+ hrs home Sat night BECAUSE the following Thursday I have to drive to 5.5 hrs to MD to set up for Sugarloaf. OMG. What was I thinking???!!!

Basically in the next week and half I have to make enough inventory for 4 days of selling.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

And the absolute weirdest thing that happens when I am this stressed and trying to make as many beads as I possibly can, is that new designs happen! And instead of making things that I know will sell (hearts, cupcakes, etc) I'm spending precious time developing something new.
This happens EVERY TIME.

NEW-

medium birdy birds

large birdy bird

Will you let me know what you think? I think they're super cute, but I am also slightly crazed right now.

cupcake chaos

2008-08-21T16:39:00.002-04:00

Thought you might like to see what 100 cupcakes look like!
I'm getting ready for a show Sept 6 in Bethany Beach, DE. I haven't done this one before but my friends who have sold TONS so my plan is to bring 200+ cupcakes with me along with my regular show stock (hearts, skulls, acorns, etc).

I can't believe I think I'm going to make 100 more.

shards

2008-06-22T12:29:00.005-04:00

I have new hearts! Introducing the "bondage" series, now in my etsy store.
These are all made with really thin pieces of glass called shards that have been all the rage (LOL) in the glass community for quite a while now. I'm a little late.

The 3 hearts above are done with dark silver plum shards. I really love these because they do not look like glass AT ALL, much more like leather, or metal....definitely not glass.

More to come I'm sure.

new challenge

2008-06-12T19:54:00.002-04:00

Real quick...
one of the etsy street teams I'm a member of, LEST, is having a little challenge where we're showing off our "summer brights". If you feel like taking a look and possibly voting you can do it HERE.
And of course, even though it's not the best, if you feel like voting for my little green heart I'll love you forever :)

careful what you wish for

2008-04-10T09:25:00.005-04:00

This past weekend I did a 3 day craft show that I was very excited to do. It's a show my family used to travel 3 hours to shop every year, and it was really the first time I understood that it was possible to make a living as an artist. We'd park in the field, often slogging through the mud, making our way past the RVs, buses, and vans, and I'd think about how exciting it would be to travel around the country selling my art. Doesn't matter that I had no idea what I'd sell, I just thought it was the thing for me.

Let me say this,
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

Setting up in an open barn, with dirt floors, when it is 48 and raining, ESPECIALLY when weather.com LIES and says it will be in the 60s all weekend so you don't pack anything warm, is miserable to begin with. But when the show planners do such a bad job of setting up the show that you are in the middle of FIVE empty spots you know something is wrong.

The first day I should have done a better job of counting how many women where wearing lighthouse sweatshirts. I'm sure my mom owns one...but that is NOT my audience. I think I confused a lot of people ;)
Saturday was better and I met a bunch of great people and the weather was much more enjoyable. Sunday, back to 48 and raining. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I know the economy is bad. I know it's hard to get people out when it's raining. I know I am a great big complainer, but what a let down. Keep your fingers crossed that the next 3 shows I have go a little better than this one.

Or I may have to come live on your couch!

COME SEE ME
April 25, 26, 27 SUGARLOAF, Timonium, MD

most famous

2008-03-03T21:50:00.003-05:00

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
How cool is THIS????
I've had jewelry featured in magazines before, but never like this!! And there's my big fat head! Amazing!!!

The magazine is Tattoos for Women and it's published by the same people who publish Skinart.

And I was interviewed. Terrifying!!! They emailed me questions and then I had to try & not sound like an idiot, AND be interesting. They only published a little bit of what I wrote so in case anyone is having trouble sleeping I thought I'd let you read everything I sent them. Ready?

1. Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?
Half the time I’d say my inspiration comes directly from the glass I’m melting at the time. Each color, type, and brand of glass has different qualities, and while I’m melting it something will just scream BONE! or HEART!, etc. Most of my bones for example are made with a type of glass called Reichenbach and for a very long time it was only used by glass blowers not lampwork artists like myself. When the rods were made available I bought a ton of it, played around, hated it for the designs I was making at the time and stuck it on a shelf. Probably a year later I gave it another try and realized that the earthy qualities in the glass lent itself perfectly to the bone shape. I also get a lot of ideas from listening to my customers. The “undead undead” heart (white heart with bleeding punctures) was a customer request and combining the hearts and bones was a suggestion from an artist at a show I was part of last year. It’s probably pretty obvious that some of my hearts are based on Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and others, like the heart and crossbones are based on tattoos.

2.What is you relationship to the tattoo community?
I do have a flame tattoo around my ankle that oddly enough I got before I started working with fire as my career, and I do draw inspiration from tattoo art, but other than that I don’t really have one.

3.What is your process like? How do you start a piece? How do you know when you’re finished?
What I do is called lampworking and in case some people aren’t familiar with what that is I’ll explain. I use a small torch mounted to my table that runs on a mixture of propane and oxygen. I melt rods of glass in flame at about 1700 degrees. While the glass is melting I wind it around a clay coated steel rod called a mandrel. This is what forms the hole in the bead. All of the shaping is done while the glass is molten. Once I’m done forming the bead I place it in a kiln to anneal. This removes the stress from the glass while it is cooling.

Each piece is done one at a time, and once I start working on a bead I can’t stop until it is done. Some of the pieces can take up to an hour to get exactly how I want it.

I rarely sketch a piece before I make it. Usually I just know in my head what I want and then I see if the glass agrees with me.

4.In addition to art, what are your passions?
I have a two year old daughter who can be incredibly funny and she’s always a challenge. Before she was born my boyfriend and I spent a lot of time going out to see bands. I had worked in record stores for years and between the two of us we have an insane cd collection and since we were living in DC at the time we had the opportunity to see almost every band we loved. When she was born we moved to NC. I took almost a year off from my business and I’ve spent the past year rebuilding it, so we haven’t had time to go out. I guess I’m still in the “new mommy haze” so that makes her my number one passion.

5. What kind of music do you like?
It depends on what I’m doing. When I’m traveling to my craft shows, which I do a lot, I like to listen to Social Distortion, Reverend Horton Heat, NIN, anything rockabilly, etc. It needs to be loud and driving so I can sing and keep myself awake. When I’m melting glass I listen almost exclusively internet radio, most of the time to WOXY Vintage which plays an amazing mix of 80’s (from my high school days!) and early 90’s (when I started working in the record stores!).

6. Did you go to art school? If so, what was it like? If not, how did you master your craft?
I did go to art school, but only briefly. I went to the American University in DC for 3 years, took a few art classes, but never really committed to anything while I was there. I transferred to The Corcoran School of Art which is also in DC for a year but didn’t take any courses related to glass or jewelry. I loved art school but didn’t see how it would translate in to a career.
For a long time I made a living painting glassware and selling it at the Eastern Market in DC. I used to watch tv while I painted and one day on some basic cable “make your home more beautiful” show I saw a quick demonstration on lampworking. As soon as I could I found a weekend class, took it, and have spent the past 6 years melting, researching and experimenting.

7. Which artists are your favorites?
Of the “famous” artists I love Louise Nevelson, Richard Diebenkorn and William T. Wiley. But there are an incredible amount of new, younger artists whose work is extremely affordable and readily available. I seem to find a new one on etsy almost every day. I have stacks of prints that desperately need to be framed.
What I really enjoy is what I guess you’d call folk art, any art made with a jumble of recycled, repurposed items. I have a beautiful pink bird made from reclaimed barn wood in my front yard, and various animals welded together from assorted junk hanging out in the backyard.

8. Are there any art movements you identify with?
Lowbrow, definitely. Most of my hearts would be right at home on the pages of “Juxtapoz”. But mix in a heavy dose of gothic and a splash of steampunk. Oh yeah, and Craft. Craft is really important right now.

9. What’s your favorite book?
Alice in Wonderland has had the most effect on my work and lead me to some really interesting things (have you seen Jan Svankmeyer’s stop animation movie “Alice”?), and almost anything by Margaret Atwood, William Gibson, and Kurt Vonnegut.

10. Where are you from? Where did you grow up? How do these places interact with your artistic creations?
I’m currently living in Raleigh, NC but I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Moved to DC for school then moved to Atlanta, Philly, DC, Brooklyn, back to DC before finding my way down here. The cities I’ve spent time in are so rich in art, and in DC most of the museums are free, so I was exposed to all kinds of wonderful things. Before leaving DC for NC I sold my work at the Eastern Market every weekend which is an outdoor artist market/flea market, but it allowed me to make a living off of my art. Really what it did was allow me to work on my art every day since it was my job, and that’s how I got where I am today.

11. Let our readers know everywhere they can find your stuff…online and in person.
My website is www.isabelsrose.com where I have most of my made to order pieces. About a year and a half ago I started selling on etsy (www.loriola.etsy.com) to get rid of some of my one of kind pieces that had just been lying around, but I’m having such a good time there that now I list my new work there before it ever makes it to my website. I also do a lot of craft shows every year, mostly in the MD, DC, VA, NC area. These are all listed on my website.

Still with me? :)
Thanks!!

out of the kiln

2008-03-02T08:20:00.004-05:00

I just pulled these out of the kiln. Since I can't find a hot pink glass that'll work for me I decided to make one myself!
Some of these are already taken but if you want one I'm happy to make more :)

I must apologize

2008-02-25T22:58:00.004-05:00

The other day my 2 year old and I were watching Noggin, which sadly if I were to admit how much we actually watch, the state would come and remove my child from the home...but their catch phrase is "Noggin. It's like preschool on tv." So really what I'm doing is giving my child quite the head start without giving her all the colds, and flu, and other nasties that go along with being in small rooms with lots of small children. So I am really mother of the year! Bring on my awards!!!

Wait, there was a point to admitting this...oh yeah! ! Lisa Loeb!

Do you know Lisa Loeb? She had a pretty big hit with a song called "Stay" back in the mid 90's. I liked her a lot. Saw her play at the "old" 9:30 club in DC...the 9:30 club should and will be the subject of another very long and informative post, just not tonight. Stay tuned :)

Back to Lisa Loeb. Seems she's doing music for kids now. And it's really good. She has a beautiful voice and Isabel seems to like her music. Whenever she comes on now Isabel points and says, "maMA! maMA!". At first I thought she was just showing her approval for Lisa's songs, but now I think she either thinks that's me on tv singing, which is just hilarious for so many reasons, or she just sees a resemblance.

We do both wear very hip glasses.

What this did though is remind me of a time, waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the 90's, when I was single and going out a LOT with my good good friend Andrea, to bars, and clubs, and parties, and pretty much anywhere there was alcohol that most likely we would not have to pay for. And one of the things I remember clearly is desperately wanting to meet guys, but being unbelieveably mean to any guy that actually dared to talk to me. One night we were in a now long defunct club to hear my roommate dj, and some poor boy stopped me as I was walking by to tell me that I looked like Lisa Loeb. In his defence I did have long hair, glasses, and was most likely wearing some kind of babydoll dress get-up (with combat boots I'll bet!!) that Lisa did seem to favor back then. In a dark, smoky club, after a few beers, maybe I did look like her. Should I have said thanks since clearly this was a compliment? Probably. But of course that is absolutely the farthest thing from what I did.

I laughed.

Right in his face. And then, since Andrea is pretty close to being deaf, I'm sure I turned to her and SHOUTED, "HE SAID I LOOK LIKE LISA LOEB" and again, I'm pretty sure we both dissolved into hysterical laughter and flounced out.

I'm sorry. Really.

So now when Isabel points to her and says, "maMA!" she gets a great big smooch from me.

no name

2008-02-17T08:26:00.003-05:00

When my sister Erica was born, and anyone asked my Dad what his new daughter's name was he told them "Nonami". This was in New England in 1971 and people would give him a funny look and say, "Naomi?". No, he'd say, Nonami. What an interesting name, how do you spell that?, they'd ask. With a straight face he'd say "N-O-N-A-M-E".
Get it? :)
I don't know how long it took him to remember her name.

"nonami"

This pendant is so far removed from what I normally make that I let it sit in my studio for at least a year. I spotted it yesterday and while it doesn't fit with what I'm making right now it was just too beautiful to leave in that disaster area. I feel I should make more, we'll see. And the name? Since I have NO IDEA what to call this I thought Nonami was appropriate.

I wonder what else I'll find in my studio?

I am such a dork

2008-02-13T21:54:00.003-05:00

How limited is my time? Do I not have a two year old who stays home with me, and only takes sporadic naps? Am I not trying to get ready for my spring shows, which by the way start on March 15th and then continue full force until mid May? And right this second isn't Isabel asleep for the night? Doesn't that mean I should be on the torch making hearts and bones and other things like a mad woman??

NO!!

I had to be introduced to icanhascheezburger. I know, this site is huge (supposedly it has 9 MILLION page views a month) and you probably already love it or hate it, but I'm warning you, if you have not seen it yet, and if you have any affection at all for cats, DO NOT GO THERE if you don't have hours and hours to waste. Hours you will not ever get back.

And me, being the owner of the world's most bizarre and spoiled cats just had to create my own "lolz" which now of course must be voted one and I have to go bug all of my friends, acquaintances, customers (most who are also friends), people I know from various forums and blogs....EVERYONE please please please vote for my very fat cat. She needs to be famous.

Her name is Zoe Bella. She is very pretty, and just a smidge overweight.

PLEASE vote for her HERE.

If she gets lots of votes I can get back to work ;)
Oh, and in the real picture I have not chopped off the top of her head.

my friends are soooo talented

2008-02-06T17:20:00.000-05:00

Three of my friends from "back home" (yes yes we've lived in NC for almost 3 years and I need to get over DC) have just opened their own etsy shops. And while it's hard to choose, I thought I'd show off my favorite items from their stores.
designoptions

fleur de lis choker
I'm a sucker for green, and the way the soft green velvet contrasts with the antiqued turquoise enamel is just scrumptious. Lynda lived next door to us in MD. Sam used to park in front of her house and her dog Oto made Sam late to work almost every day.

cherielester

Bishops Garden at the National Cathedral, Washington DC - Framed Photographic Print
I love this image. My Dad absolutely adored Cherie. When he would visit me at The Eastern Market he would always stop by Cherie's booth to chat (and maybe flirt just a little!) and he almost always bought something from her. When he passed away my Mom kept some and I got the rest. Every time I see her work I want more.

mannmadedesigns

sterling silver/recycled aluminum cutouts pendant
I am also a sucker for pink. When I was pregnant I was so excited to find out we were having a girl so I could paint her room pink. Sam was excited too because if we were having a boy I was going to paint our bedroom pink. I'm going to save the "Jimmy Mann" stories for another day. He deserves his own post...or two...or three.....

Will you go show my friends some love? Will you tell them I sent you?
Now that we're all on etsy it's almost if I'm back in DC.

I'm such a sap.

why my boobies are on etsy

2008-02-05T19:42:00.000-05:00

Well today IS mardi gras, so boobies are only appropriate right?

Ok, first I have let you know that I fell down the stairs, while carrying the child, and completely mangled my foot. She is fine. I am in crazy pain. Actually I am feeling no pain because I am on major painkillers, and that is my excuse for what is to follow. When you can, always blame it on the drugs.

I just listed this necklace

and these earrings

on etsy.

It was mostly a dare.
I made these beads more than 3 years ago for a gallery in Pittsburgh. They sold a bunch but went out of business and shipped these back to me. They've just been floating around my studio for years. I don't remember why I stopped making them since they were selling...hmmmm....I have never claimed to be a good business person!

I was thinking about them today because some of us in the ega have been discussing the last two featured sellers on etsy. One was a baker, who had her picture taken in her home kitchen, with Betty Crocker cake mix boxes lined up in the background. We come to find out she is unlicensed and bakes in her home kitchen. Never mind that she uses store bought cake mixes in her "homemade" treats! The only reason this is annoying is that there are SOOOOOOO many amazing bakers & candy makers on etsy they could have chosen, who are licensed and who use their own recipes, why would they choose her? Not that her treats don't look extremely delicious, and if I found any of those buttercream stuffed cookies sitting in front of me it would not even cross my mind to ASK if she were licensed. It just didn't make sense.

Then the new featured seller pops up. She is extremely creative. She is "almost" famous. And she is happy to tell you how fabulous she is. Good for her. But, and trust me when I say I am not a prude, no way no how, BUT this woman sells nesting dolls with nude women glued on them, and she sells nude pictures of herself. Fine. No problem. But do I really want the new customers who I have brought to etsy to see her as a featured seller? Not so much.

Ok, whatever, right?
Well these 2 women have sparked some very funny discussions, and it was mentioned that maybe I could get to be a featured seller if I smeared myself in cake mix and sold the pictures. Ready??

Yes of course that's me!

*snicker*

But from there I started thinking about my boobies...I mean my boobie beads so I went and dug these up, restrung them, and listed them in the shop.

I know they're a little strange. Are they going to sell? Who knows. I think they're funny. I am a weirdo but maybe it'll get me some attention.

super cute!

2008-02-04T14:40:00.000-05:00

I just found out I was mentioned on this super cute & definitely fun blog, FUNKY FINDS.

Got some time? Go check it out!!

WIN A HEART!!!

2008-02-01T12:13:00.000-05:00

YAY!
The contest I've been working on for my etsy glass group is finally up!

Go HERE
check out all the hearts, pick your favorite, and vote.

3 people will win their choice of heart.

SO FUN!!!

new on etsy

2008-01-30T14:21:00.001-05:00

I made these both last night. Could they be any different...and yet....there's something oddly romantic about both of them.

Oh yeah.
They're hearts, derrr.
my etsy

FINALLY!!

2008-01-28T16:48:00.000-05:00

THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO!!!
Isn't this insane???
Ivory glass+fine silver foil+pmc+acid etch+my super secret patina=LORI IS HAPPY!!!

Sorry, I know this is obnoxious, but I can't even STAND how cool this is. Tricky part....making more....

Now the good news for YOU-
I made this for a contest and you could win it for free (FREE!!).

Can't post details yet.
Check back in a couple of days ;)

whoooooooosh

2008-01-25T21:06:00.000-05:00

is the sound of this heart selling in under 15mins of being posted on etsy.

I've been playing around with adding pmc to my hearts for a long time, took a break from it, and just came back last night.
I really really really like how this one turned out.

Want one?
Shoot me an email and I'll let you know when I make more.
info@loriola.com

what a difference a year makes

2008-01-24T08:04:00.000-05:00

I guess I've been lampworking for about 6 years now. Who can remember?? And what started as a hobby quickly turned into another part of my business. I started selling beads on ebay, probably MUCH sooner than I should have, but OMG people bought them!!! Occasionally I'll come across an old file in my computer, but LUCKILY most of those pics were in my old now completely dead pc so I (hopefully) will never be embarrassed by them again.

Not so!!!

About a year ago I started selling my stitched hearts on the super adorable indie website SHANALOGIC. LOVE Shanalogic. She probably sold about 20 of them for me before I cleaned out my supplier of the gunmetal lock & key toggle. And, oh joy...NO ONE ELSE MAKES THAT TOGGLE IN GUNMETAL. No joke. By the time they got more in I was in the height of my show season and got too busy to do any wholesale. So when things slowed down after Christmas Shana emailed me to see if she could have the hearts again, and since I had just gotten 100 toggles I was happy to be back on her sight. I whip up 10 hearts ("whip up"?? hahaha those hearts are the most difficult thing I make!!) and send them on there way.

Shana emails me to let me know they got there, but then mentions they're much darker than they were last year. Whuh huh??? I know I used the same glass, and they're the same hearts I've been making for the past year so I have no idea what she's talking about. The lighting changes the tone of that red, so I suggest she look at them in the daylight. We go back & forth until she sends me a picture of the hearts she had last year. Oh noooooooooo! Can you even believe how much different they are now??? And sure enough, that red is MUCH brighter. Jeez louise.

Although now I'm excited to see what they look like NEXT year :)

the long awaited photo tutorial...or how to get a professional looking photo on the cheap

2008-01-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

Since so many people have asked me how I'm taking my new pictures I'm going to explain. BUT, I really have little idea of what I'm doing, and this is based on my camera and my crazy set up, so it may or may not help you.
I hope it does!!!
First, a before and after.

BAD PICTURE

GOOD PICTURE

See the difference?

Now let me tell you my secret....shhhhhh........the dramatic lighting in the second photo? It has MUCH less to do with lighting and much MUCH more to do with the background.

In photoshop I made a square, I think 8x8, 300dpi, filled it with black, then used the eraser tool to "erase" a spot of light in the middle. Then, and this is important, I printed it on shiny photo paper. Feel free to use the one I made.

I use a ginormous light tent I bought when I was painting glassware, you do not need anything this huge. I have it lit with 3 cheap-o clamp lights from the hardware store and I'm using 100w GE Reveal bulbs.

I'll tell you how I have my camera set, but this was pure trial and error, and your camera will have more or less settings to screw around with. I have a 5mp Sony Cyber-shot. I always use the macro setting (that little tulip). Under "menu" I set the
METERING MODE to SPOT, the FOCUS to MULTI AUTO FOCUS, and the WHITE BALANCE to LIGHTBULB. Then I play.

When I point the camera at my piece I'll see the lighting change dramatically, and I'll just keep moving it slightly until the white spot on my background is bright, but
the piece I'm photographing has enough contrast. I had to play around with this for a while before I figured out what the look for. Use your tripod, and use the timer on your camera.

I've found that most of the time when I shoot this way I only have to do one touch up in photoshop, and generally it's just an auto color correction. For some reason the background almost always comes out an indigo blue, but if I click auto color correction it changes it back to black while keeping the colors correct on the piece being photographed.

I really hope this was worth the wait. And please, if you have questions I will try my best to answer them.

Happy shooting!!

1982

2008-01-16T14:01:00.001-05:00

I have no idea where this was taken, or even who some of the people are, but there I am! Right there!!!

Can you see me?

I'll give you hint.....
green has always been my favorite color.

happy birthday to me

2008-01-15T14:18:00.000-05:00

yup, 39 today.
joy.
But to celebrate, anyone who buys something from my etsy store today will get e free gift. And I have gooooood stuff!
mmmmm thanks Amy for the virtual cake. Just my taste!!

coming soon!!

2008-01-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

Waiting for my promised photo tutorial??
I promise it's coming soon.

Here's some homework to prepare. Go here-
my flickr
and print out the background on shiny photo paper. Be sure your printer options are set for the right paper!

I'll be back.

got hearts??

2008-01-15T01:15:00.000-05:00

People ask me, often, if I use a mold or press to make my hearts because the shape is right on.
Nope.
I just make lots and lots and lots...

This is just some of what I did yesterday.

Thank you if you've ordered one!!!

want to win a bunch of stuff??

2008-01-14T17:43:00.001-05:00

Want to win one of my stitched hearts? Plus a bunch of other cool indie stuff??
Scoot over to INDIE FIXX
and check out the Valentine Contest.

new on etsy

2008-01-14T17:16:00.001-05:00

"cupcake love"

Curious how I decided to stick a cupcake on top of a heart? Ready??
I've made exactly 1 million stitched hearts in the last few days (YES! REALLY! 1 million hearts) and while I have more to make, and orders to fill (sorry if you're waiting for something from me, it's coming soon I promise!) I seem to ALWAYS come up with new ideas when I really really need to be making other things.

Before I forget, you need to know that my laptop is attached to my hip. It's another thing I have a problem with (problem things also include etsy, and marshmallows), but I have to have the computer near me at all times. When I lampwork I listen to WOXY vintage, being old and all....I've found that I need to listen to 80's music almost all the time. It's sad. So ANYWAYS, since I also have the obsession problem with etsy I often have the front page pulled up and when I was on heart #999,999 they had a whole page of things with birds. Swallows, crows, etc. And I thought "bird love"!, how funny would it be to stick a bird on top of a heart. And THEN, because I lived in DC for so long, "bird love" lead to "cakelove", but I didn't think a cake would fit on top of the heart, so of COURSE that lead to "cupcake love". Funny right?

And oh yeah...tomorrow is my birthday.
39.

Told ya I was old.

new on etsy

2008-01-12T23:04:00.000-05:00

glam-a-licious!!!

"glam it"

the ladies

2008-01-12T15:19:00.000-05:00

hey, the black and one was that fat when she got here
the other one...well....please don't call the spca!!!

all mysteries have been revealed

2008-01-11T20:45:00.000-05:00

Today I FINALLY got to take a silver smithing class. It's so much fun! And so much work!!

Who'd have thought it would take SEVEN HOURS to make one little ring...so no, I will not be making these for sale any time soon, but I do have plans. Oh yes.....there are wheels a'turning in my tired little mind....just you wait...

You can't really see how incredibly cool this ring is from my awful pictures, but I stamped the top and bottom with random numbers, and stamped the inside with *seemingly* random letters. If you look closely you'll see I've spelled ISABEL. I figured since she's sure to steal all of my jewelry at some point I might as well just make it for her now.

I took the class from the amazing Lillian Jones, go look at her work RIGHT NOW!!! If you live in NC I highly recommend taking one of her classes.

And then, when I got home, totally out of the blue there were a bunch of orders for the stitched heart from etsy. Hmmmm....what's up?? After searching around I found out it's currently featured in a storque (etsy's blog) article called "A Very Jaded Valentine's Day". And now it's on the front page!!

This is kind of a big deal because it means that every person who visits etsy while it's featured will see my heart. It's the best free advertising for my shop EVER.

What a fun day.

no dogs allowed

2008-01-09T19:24:00.000-05:00

For some reason people keep telling me that my 2 yo needs a dog.

Why??

We already have a cat who'll eat her lima beans.

new on etsy

2008-01-04T23:03:00.001-05:00

"romance of a nightmare"

new on etsy

2008-01-04T20:44:00.001-05:00

"happy cupid (black cherry)"

gimme some (etsy) love

2008-01-04T16:16:00.000-05:00

I'm obsessed with etsy. It's a problem.
Today they put up a Valentine's Gift Guide and my red stitched heart is the very last item on the very last page.

Want one??

the south, pt1

2008-01-04T14:42:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I moved from the DC area to Raleigh, NC almost three years ago. It was time to "buy the house, have the baby", blah blah blah and the housing market in DC, MD, & Northern Virginia was OUT of CONTROL. For real. We were renting a tiny 2-bedroom "garden" apartment ("garden" hahahahaha, read : the door opens into the parking lot), I think it was 700sq ft, with one parking space and shared laundry. On a 6 lane road. When we left those condos were selling for more than $240k. And they were selling!

My mom lives in Chapel Hill which isn't far from Raleigh, so we decided to look for a house down here. We found a great house, built in '65, it's almost mid-century modern (there are touches, like the odd design element in the front hall of the cut off chimney looking thing. It was filled with the most hideous dust-filled plastic plants. Why??)
bought it from the original owner, move in ready. There are definitely things that need work but all in all it's a great house. Nice neighborhood, family friendly, park right next door.

The park was a selling point. It's 1/2 block away, has a little play area, sand, and a pond. It also has tennis courts, a basketball court, and a soccer field. It seems to also be the perfect place to shoot off fireworks. At 3:40am!!!

I don't sleep well to begin with. Ok, wait, that's not true. I sleep fine until something wakes me up. Sam stealing the covers, the cats fighting on top of me, Isabel having a nightmare, these are things I chose to bring in to my home.
FIREWORKS at 3:40am (!!!!) I did not. And lucky me, living in the south, you can buy fireworks pretty much anywhere, anytime. They had them in Target with the Christmas decorations.

Needless to say I was up at 3:40am, watching the X-files, and missing the street noise from my tiny 700sf "garden" apartment.

Stupid south.

new on etsy

2008-01-03T12:41:00.000-05:00

This is another of the original prototypes when I was still making them flat. Green is my favorite color so this will be hard to part with, but how many of my pieces can I actually keep?? This is my JOB you know ;)
Go visit my etsy store, thanks!
"steer me to spring"

wowza

2008-01-02T23:13:00.000-05:00

I've sold FOUR of the new bezel set pendants in the past three days.

Guess I need to make more.

wow.

the beginning of the end

2008-01-02T08:10:00.000-05:00

When I was in high school my parents used to take my younger sister and I on all sorts of car trips. Often we'd go to brunch Sunday morning (belgium waffles, danish, sausage, mmmmmm......good job parents! Thanks for teaching me to over eat!!) and then we'd go shopping. A lot of the time we'd go to craft shows. And even though we lived outside of Philadelphia where you'd think there'd be plenty to do and see, we'd sometimes drive HOURS to get to certain shows. Maybe it was because my Dad always referred to Philly as FILTH-a-delphia. And the road you'd drive on to get there (the Schuylkill Expressway, pronounced school-kill) as the SURE kill Expressway.....he was a character. I'm sure I'll tell you more about my Dad as time goes by. You've been warned ;)

So anyways, one of the craft shows we'd go to is called Sugarloaf. There are a bunch of different Sugarloaf shows but we'd go to the one in Gaithersburg or Timonium, MD. Anyone want to mapquest Philly to Gaithersburg??? I'll save you some time. It's a SIX HOUR round trip. And on the way home we'd all be eating the FUDGE we always got at the show. You know the noise Homer makes? That's me and PUMPKIN FUDGE.......drooooool........uh oh....do you see a pattern here? Brunch? Fudge?? Nice.

The Sugarloaf shows have been around for a long time. Most of the artists have been doing what they do for ages and we'd see the same people at every show. Somehow I got it in my head that this would be a great way to live. I remember walking through the parking lot, past the trailers and motor homes, and thinking to myself that this was something I'd like to do. Travel the country, spend my nights in a motor home, peddle my art....doesn't matter I had no idea what I'd make.

Fast forward to last night, well really very early this morning. At 12:30am I finished my application for 5 Sugarloaf shows! I probably won't get in, it's almost impossible to get juried in to any show with jewelry any more, my booth shot is atrocious, and my product images are extremely unprofessional, but who knows.

Maybe some of my high school naivete will work for me now.

new on etsy

2008-01-01T15:46:00.001-05:00

"golden compass III"

hidden treasure

2008-01-01T11:10:00.000-05:00

It's really funny to me how things come about. Here's how moving a tv lead me to hidden treasure.

I designed the bezel for this piece almost two years ago. The sample the company sent me was perfect so I ordered two different sizes. I spent a ton of money, and when they came I hated them. The beads didn't fit right, I hated how they were finished, they're too heavy for the chain I use, and I couldn't give them away. $1600 down the drain. Into the cabinet they went.

Here's where the tv comes into the story. I swore I wouldn't put a tv in my 2 y/o's playroom. So what happened? The family room was always a mess of toys and she rarely played in the beautiful playroom, that used to be my beautiful glass studio (alright, yes, it was a total disaster but I did have floor to ceiling windows and skylights and a nice brick floor) until I moved into the tiny dining room (where I am now destroying the original hardwood floors with flying pieces of glass) so she could have the beautiful playroom. hummph. Ok, I give in. TV is now in the playroom.

But you know that moving the tv doesn't just mean moving the tv.

First of all, when we moved my studio into the dining room we had to move the dining room table into the living room, which might sound odd but it actually finished the room. Although it did displace two newly reupholstered antique armchairs. We just pushed them into the corners and they've been deluxe kitty beds ever since. So now I decide that those two chairs need to come down into the family room. Which means we need to move the tv cabinet that was in the family into the den where the other tv has been sitting bachelor-style on top of two giant, ugly speakers. It was a good look, let me tell you.

And oh yeah, that means we have to move the PIANO into the family room.

Ok, two big armchairs downstairs, move the couch to where the tv table was, move the tv table to the den, move the piano from the den into the family room. Now we can move the tv into the playroom, right? NO! Now there are two big cabinets still on top of the cabinet where the tv needs to go. Ok, lets empty those cabinets and move them into the dining room..ooops I mean my glass studio.

And that's where I found the bezels. Remember those?? They're tarnished, looking rough....reminds me of the $ I spent....but wait!! What if I oxidize them like I've been oxidizing my dirty silver chain, and string them on the heavy gunmetal chain I've started using. Hmmmmm......let's see.......

Bingo!

I listed the one on the left on etsy. It sold in two hours. Then I listed the top one. Took six hours to sell. Wow.

I'll be listing a few more to see if this was a fluke or if they'll really sell.

Don't you think you should go clean out that drawer now???