Inspiration Thursday! Making Jewelry

The hugely talented owner of Milk Money Designs, Kathryn Ewing, and I have been friends for somewhere around 20 years. We got interested in making jewelry about the same time. Each of us has her own interests - mine tends toward the vintage while hers tends toward the intricate. She does quite a bit of work with seed beads (something I don't have the patience to do). She has also begun to experiment with wire work.

She passed along this site (www.jewelrylessons.com) a couple months ago, recommending it because it has pretty straightforward and easy tutorials on working with wire and bead weaving. I've found some interesting projects on the site and hope it can inspire you as well!

So Kathryn, today you are my inspiration...

Working Tuesday: Bird's Nest Pendant

I've been playing around with this bird's nest pendant idea - changing the variables a bit. Some have blue pearls, some black, some white. Some are using smaller gauge wire, some silver plate wire. Some are messier than others, some more symmetrical. As I continue to play, I enjoy the thought that just like nature, no two of these nests will ever be alike no matter how hard I try!

Inspiration Thursday! It started with a box...

A certain family member that I mention quite often has a collection of curio boxes. She started collecting them years ago, picking up new ones as she traveled the world. This artist caught my eye because of the boxes he and his wife make, but their songbirds really caught my heart.

They're made by a team called "Mullanium" - Jim and Tori Mullan - from Pompano Beach Florida. They make mixed media art - usually with "found objects" such as old watches, vintage toys and scientific instruments. The songbirds are made from decoys made in the 30s, 40s and 50s and are combined with other vintage items such as opera glasses, bocce balls and old camera parts.

Tori also makes jewelry in the same natural style. She combines silver, brass and copper to make pins, necklaces, bracelets, watches and earrings adorned with birds and bunnies or hearts and hands. Each is a wonderful piece of whimsy!

You can find Mullanium pieces in shops across the country or if you're lucky - like me - you'll be able to meet Tori or Jim in person as they travel the US doing shows!



**All photos property of Mullanium with the exception of the table with the box collection!

Working Tuesday: Making something old new again

Several years ago I had a friend who was going to a wedding and needed a brown and pink piece of jewelry so I set about making something fun for her to wear. She changed outfits at the last minute, and I ended up with a pink and brown necklace. That was ok, because I really liked the pendant!

I've worn it a couple times, but I don't often wear the brown/pink combination. So I've decided to remake the whole thing. I tried to make it work with black and white pearls, but that didn't work. I'm gonna keep trying and will post a picture when I find just the right combination!

Inspiration Thursday! Gilt.

I work in an office with some VERY stylish women. They're always on top of the trends and know when purple has become passe. They raise shopping to the level of art. In short, they put my inner fashionista to shame.

I tend toward the classic. They tend toward the trendy. Somehow as an artist, I need to bridge the gap. This is where Gilt.com has come in handy. One of my co-workers introduced me to this site a couple months ago and it's given me several design ideas in the past few weeks. I like to browse what's hot in the jewelry section and dream a little dream of how much more I could produce if I had more metal skills. In the meantime, I try to translate hot designs into what I can do. And thanks to Gilt, I'm way ahead of my own curve.

Vintage Wednesday: Treasure hunting

I'm generally an estate sale girl. You see the ad, they describe what they have and often there are pictures that help me decide whether I want to go or not. I don't often do yard sales, but Community yard sales sometimes catch my eye.

My MIL has a standard, "Stick with the older neighborhoods. Those people just want to get rid of stuff." I tend to agree. Younger neighborhoods usually have younger couples, and I'm not yet in the market for toys, DVDs and baby clothes. Community yard sales, however, have a concentrated number of people in a small space, which means more opportunity for treasure!

Last weekend I struck gold - well, really silver, but you get the idea. I found a sale with an older woman who was getting rid of antiques for super cheap! My find? Digging in the jewelry box, I found a very detailed sterling silver pin. The "patina" was deep - it probably hadn't been cleaned in a while. I knew, however, it was sterling because of the stamp on the back.

And wanna know the best part? It was a QUARTER!!

Happy treasure hunting!

Working Tuesday: Estate Sale Finds

At some point I'll do a Weekend Wanderings post on Estate Sales in the DC area, but in the meantime I'll just show you what I recently found on one of my weekend expeditions. My mother-in-law happens to be a treasure hunter at heart as well, so we headed out with our lists and our maps and found a winner. This particular house had a good many linens (hmmm, that gives me an idea for a Vintage Wednesday post...) and I found a few treasures this particular day.

It was when I was leaving, however, that I found one of the best treasures. I looked down and under the foot of the cashier table, I saw this little scrap of embroidered fabric. It looks like silk embroidered on silk and it's about three inches wide by about two and a half inches tall. When I asked the cashier how much she would want for it, she said, "Just take it." Who says some of the best things in life aren't free?? I'm trying to figure out how to make a pendant out of it (as someone has already outlined a lovely shape on the back), but in the meantime I'm admiring the colors!

Our last stop of the day was also fruitful as my MIL found a box full of old jet jewelry that she handed to me to "make something wonderful." I also found a collection of little Christmas figurines from the 1930s that look like they were made from pine cones. They apparently danced among the little pine trees that I found nearby. I've seen designers such as Jennifer Murphy (love her work!!) who make wedding cake toppers out of similar designs and I'm now dreaming up creative ways to incorporate these little babies into a design!

I guess the point is that you can find creativity almost anywhere - if you look for it!

Gem and Jewelry Show

This weekend is the International Gem and Jewelry Show! Can you tell I'm excited? A friend of mine introduced this show to me a couple years ago and I've been smitten ever since.

The show comes to the Dulles Expo Center several times a year and I try to make time to go when they're in town. You can find just about anything jewelry at the show. Are you a beader? There are hundreds of bead vendors, findings vendors and an incredible vendor that sells just about any tool you'll need. Like antique jewelry? You'll find an amazing collection of vendors with jewels that will make you hyperventilate. Like contemporary jewelry or looking for loose gems? You'll find that too.

I don't often see plique au jour jewelry, but I've seen it here. I'm able to get better buys on my gemstone beads when shopping here - and that's not even mentioning the fact that you can see and touch the beads before you buy them. My favorite vendor, however, is Efim Gilin (http://www.efimgilin.com/).

He and his wife are usually at the front of the hall and they carry the most magnificent jewelry! They'll let you hold jewelry that you might find in a museum and they'll talk with you about the craftsmanship if you show an interest. When it was time for my now husband to look for an engagement ring, we went to Efim - and boy did we find a beauty. They have pieces from a couple hundred dollars into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And they have always been incredibly patient with my questions and requests to look at pieces I'll never be able to afford. They're just wonderful!

So if you're in DC this weekend, and you want to find a treasure, I'd suggest the International Gem and Jewelry Show at the Dulles Expo Center. If you're not in DC, you can find their touring schedule (they travel across the US all year long) here: http://intergem.com/

And if you DO go to the show, stop by and say hello to Efim. And tell him I sent you!