A place for everything, and everything in it's place...

It seems to be a recurring theme with many artists I know...that their stuff can sometimes get in the way of creating. When I reclaimed some space downstairs in our house and made it a dedicated studio, I slowly began accumulating the detritus of creating: things brought out and not put away (the single most irritating thing I do), new things acquired but without a home, and since my back door is our back door to the garage and parking, the daily transit through the studio of things like bags of cat litter, trash, recycling, rags and towels, and a constant parade of patina cups and tweezers. I need an intervention.

What I made the other day...

I've kind of been on a tear lately to create something in silver and bone, prompting me to even create a chain that would somehow form the basis of several different pieces, or at least pieces of those pieces. That part of the equation being done, it sort of fell by the wayside while I tended to custom orders, chain production, blah, blah, blah.

Kittin' it up...

I finally found the time and the right space of mind to work on new kit designs. It take a certain sort of mindset to create with the intent of someone else making the piece, and then there is the interminable work of re-assembling the piece, shot by shot, photographing the process, gathering up all the components and packaging them, and then creating the instructions and package inserts for each kit. 

Junkin'...

Got to go out and do a little junking on Sunday, and for once be quite leisurely about it, which was delightful. The weather, all though it started out pretty cold and breezy (and I was under dressed) warmed up as the sun started peeking out, and it was a pleasant day to be out there. I came around the corner and was face to face with yet another episode being filmed of "Market Wars," a reality TV show (and I am using the term 'reality' in the loosest way possible) that airs on the same channel as Antiques Roadshow, that venerable dispenser of stories and completely accurate information about the old stuff we love.

Market Wars, in contrast, is completely ludicrous.

Kicking off the holidays...

I've been away for awhile, not blogging, but trying to at least connect to you all through Facebook and Instagram....what a life saver those channels are! I want to try and start being a better blogger (my daughter is a shining example of late), and I'll start with this post. I saw tons of people doing thirty days of thankful posts, and though it's too late for me to hop on that bandwagon, I would like to say that I am thankful to have you all on this journey with me.

Hoping for Fall...

Who wouldn't be hoping for fall after this hot summer. How soon we forget what a mild season it started out to be, and now we are just mired in the day to day monitoring of too-high temps and the awful humidity. well, we're doing our part to coax fall out and leave the summer behind...

Lovelies...

Some new additions to our line of custom chain...I managed to snap a picture of this one called 'Hermitage.' It's a combination of a fine, solid brass soldered chain, faceted gemstones, and solid brass cross connectors flanking each gem...

Spring days...

Spring is here in earnest, judging by yesterday's belting rain, blustering winds, and brilliant sunshine. We had lots of people in the shop, coming out into the sunshine of the afternoon to peep in and see what was new...

Taking stock...

As I am always destined to be behind, I have become somewhat used to it, but always rally to the cause to catching up a bit when I can. Our kits have been out of stock in many designs for some time now, and Nat and I managed to restock some of the favorites, with more on the way. We pulled together one of our most popular designs last week...

On their way...

Loads of pearly goodness coming our way, as the last of these are making their way to Lily this coming week. I couldn't resist them, and I have to admit to being very foolish when it comes to pearls, especially old stock pearls from Japan, and even more so when it comes to Haskell pearls. When I get a phone call about pearls, all reason flies out the window, caution is thrown to the winds, and my checking account is left tattered and wheezing as a result.

I can remember the first boxes I received from my Haskell contact. We'd talked several times on the phone, and she was hedging on taking pictures and all that nonsense, finally paring the initial transaction down to a succinct, "You send me $500, and I'll send you some pearls." As ridiculous as that may sound, that is exactly what I did. Sight unseen, I sent my money off into the void and hoped for the best.

Everything arrived in flat rate boxes, which held not only pearls, but glass beads, chain and findings. Everything was beautiful, but the most wonderful things were in the last box that held stampings and filigrees. I turned one of the filigrees over in my hand, and saw the small oval cartouche with Miriam Haskell's name on it. They were authentic.

Authenticity is rare. Everything has a story, a story of it's own. So I guess part of my job is being a story teller. I think I like that.

Getting ready...

I had a heck of a time getting started on my kits this year for Tinsel and Treasures, finding it somehow hard to switch gears and put on my packaging cap this time. I guess I was dreading having to resize all my artwork and graphics to fit the new box that replaced my old trusty one. I did manage to step up to the plate, though, and started working with some of our Antiquities castings to create the bracelet shown above. There's also vintage swarovski drops and the coolest rhinestone circlet connectors. One strand on each side of the bracelet feeds through the center of those connectors.

Next, I moved on to these earrings, which were inspired by some buttons I bought from a friend. I splurged on all sorts of vintage shell buttons, and these long, triangular shaped ones immediately got the wheels turning for earrings using our little Infant of Prague drops. They're paired with vintage mother of pearl beads, aged double rhinestone rondelles, and little faceted mother of pearl beads.

These vintage gold plated crosses that came from back east were the inspiration for these earrings, making me want to pair them with something rich. I chose some old ornate Miriam Haskell bead caps, and then sandwiched those around some of the biggest Haskell baroques I had in my stash, and I love the look. A simple wire wrap and two connections, and you are done.

I still have many more on my desk right now, including two versions of an earring based on my reliquary necklaces. Stay tuned!

Sunday...

This was my little vintage picnic basket, waiting on the couch as we prepared to leave for Nathalie and Erik's and a little Father's Day hanging out together...

Nathalie had prepared a beautiful little spread of cheeses, vegetables, fresh baguette slices, and fruit, and I grilled some vegetables for our part of the spread, some zucchini, slabs of sweet onion, and two kinds of peppers. A little extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and the absolutely necessary herbes de provence...

My glass of iced tea, served up in Nat's new vintage barware, with a super cute paper straw. Check out the vintage Vera tablecloth she scored from my mom!

Here's the blog maven, shooting some pics for her new venture, Honey-Bean, which I have been following avidly. Check it out and see what my girl is up to...

Speaking of photos, check out this old one of Alain that she has hanging in the kitchen! Now you know why I married him...and he can cook!