WHAT'S NEW ON THE BLOG

I will admit that live social media like Facebook Live totally goes against my grain. I have always been a small business owner, and by small I mean myself in a studio and then in a small brick and mortar shop in a walkable neighborhood to sell the work I made in the studio. I love the person to person interaction.

I feel self-conscious in front of a camera on a good day, but the world has changed. It’s gonna feel really weird, but enough. I am embarking on live social medial sales!  

The first sale is this Friday, October 2, and it will be earrings, earrings earrings!! I am not sure how long things will take but I have a lot. You all can chime in if you're there and let me know what stones you like or need to fill into your collection. The Gala stock is lots of posts and post hoops! I am marking all that down greatly! And then ... some brand new beaded earrings made from my gorgeous collection of semi-precious stone beads! (TURQUOISE, LAPIS, CORAL & MORE). I have been pandemically creative with beads! I still LOVE beaded jewelry ... especially when the stones are like these

My loose plan is to have weekly sales on Friday afternoons/evenings and maybe Saturday mornings. I have a lot of jewelry that I had on display in the shop ready to go. 

Stop into the sale to say hi! I have created an event on the Facebook Page. Let's see if I can figure out how to post the video during the sale!

I was at a local house concert before the pandemic and I started talking to a delightful woman -- she told she followed me on social media. I was a little caught off guard and shy to be honest -- social media feels so anonymous from my end. But then she said - you know why I love your jewelry? It’s just a little badass.

A little badass? Yes! I love that!

From the day I was born I did not like frilly. Not pink. Not Barbie. Not dresses. And not rhumba pants. More than a few times I snuck off to the bathroom to cut my hair and came back with jagged bangs looking like a poorly kept orphan boy. And troublemaker? Let’s just say I was always looking for fun.

But the idea that that personality trait comes off in my jewelry makes me realize it really is an expressive art. It’s true … I can recognize a jewelry artist’s work if I know them ... almost always. You’d think that there are only so many tricks under the sun with something as small as jewelry. But if you give 10 jewelry designers the same stone and materials they will all come up with something different. We need a reality TV show!

I don't like dainty chains. I like juxtaposition and edge ... some of my bad ass jewelry traits. I also always focus on the stones which are elemental ... that's badass I guess. Okay ... I'll take it!

Years ago I would get a wave of disappointment with a ring to resize or a slight change in the chain length. But not anymore! Let’s get it right! Let's get to know each other!

That little pop of coral red or orange was a consistent feature of many Native American jewelry traditions -- especially the Zuni inlaid stuff. I always thought that was coral ... It was only recently that I realized it was spiny oyster shell. 

What is design?

When you ask an architect to come into your home and help you design a project, she will ask you what problems you want to solve.

I am a jewelry designer. What problems can I possibly solve with jewelry design? How to strap rocks to our body and look nice while we’re doing it? We've been doing it since the beginning of time, after all.

But how does the goal of being independent work when we are constantly being told what to do? If we’re lucky … there comes a day we stop listening! That’s our independence day!

Shopping in my little shop of jewelry, accessories and handmade craft items is not the natural habitat of most men over a certain age. I’m sticking to that even if it’s a stereotype. Here are some tips for finding the perfect, well thought out jewelry gift.

"So many decisions were made because I was a mom ... and they were the best decisions of my life!"

Royston Ribbon Turquoise forms in the Boulder mine also in Nevada. The turquoise develops in amazing stripes or ribbons. The host rocks for the deposits are often limestone or shale.

Is your birthstone diamond? Congratulations -- they are kind of the penultimate stone in our jewelry culture. They have captured such a huge part of our imaginations and an even larger part of our jewelry industry -- but is that because of how utterly beautiful and captivating they are? Or how rare? 

 

When someone finds that perfect necklace and she’s seeing how it looks on her neck, often times the next question is: “Do you have earrings to match?” Then some even ask for the bracelet next -- the three-piece suit - necklace, earrings, and bracelet.

I’ll admit it … as a kid and young woman, I wondered why turquoise wasn’t my birthstone ... really? I had my first turquoise dream at age 8. How about something with color? I am always surrounded by color. Aquamarine seemed so soft and whispery to me. “Soft and whispery” are about the total opposite of my personality. I am usually the person to get up on a table and shove my foot in my mouth, then flag everyone to make sure no one misses it.