Each month (or as often as we can manage) a group of metalsmiths on Etsy get together to blog about the same topic. This month we were asked to talk about how the changing seasons and the coming of spring effects our work. I feel like I am overly effected by the change. I love spending time outdoors and I find that time I had been using to come up with new products is now being spent planning my garden and playing outside. It is just so hard to go down into my basement studio when the weather is so […]more
Category: Aspiring Metalsmiths Project Blogroll
New Packaging for my Handmade Jewelry
If any of you have ordered a piece in the last month you will have gotten my new packaging! This has been in the works for a little while and I spent a bit of time coming up with a new design. I hope you like it 🙂 I liked my previous packaging, but the time it took to put together was really bogging me down. So as the supplies ran out I began looking for alternatives. I had a few criteria that I knew the new packaging had to fulfill. 1. It had to be pretty (obviously) 2. It […]more
What I am working on?
Here are a few things I worked on this weekend. I finally finished a few of the gemstone rings and pendants I posted some in progess photos of before. I also have been working on improving my new studio space. This weekend I painted and hung (with the help of my boyfriend, thanks Scott!) a peg board to help organize some of my tools and supplies. I am always surprised at the number of tools I have collected in the short time that I have been pursuing metalwork. Oh, yes, and I added a light above the bench to help […]more
My Love of Gemstones and a Glimpse of my Addiction
Some girls buy lots and lots of shoes, and some girls buy lots and lots of rocks. I am the type of girl that buys rocks. I remember as a little girl wandering in the red deserts of Southern Utah with my Dad looking for fossils and interesting rocks. By the end of the trip my pockets would be heavy with the fruits of my labor. I still have a pouch of miscellaneous rocks that my Grandmother gave me from the Grand Canyon. You know, the small velour bag of rocks that you can buy at dingy rest stops in […]more
Handmade Holiday 2011
Each month the Aspiring Metalsmith Team chooses a topic and those who choose to participate all post about the same topic. This month we chose the topic “Handmade Holiday”. Obviously this topic is very near and dear to me because it is from those who patron the arts that allow me to keep doing what I love. I am so thankful for all the fantastic people that choose to buy my art and support my small business. So, a big thank you to all of you who choose to support handmade! Check out what these artisans have to say about […]more
Finding your Muse – What inspires you?
This topic is hard for me to narrow down to give more of an answer than, well… everything. I am constantly on the lookout for inspiration and new ideas. I am constantly exploring the outdoors and that is always a great source of inspiration. I have been an outdoor person all my life and it can be seen in a lot of my work such as these: I love to just go for a walk and see what I can find to inspire me. I am always looking for new shapes and forms to incorporate and love to find it […]more
Tunes to boost the creative flow
This month the Aspiring metalsmith team group blog topic is to share what you listen to while you are at the bench. I have such a broad taste in music and sometimes I can't decide what genre will best compliment my current mood. Sometimes I like to blow off some steam while wielding my hammer with some fast paced high energy music, but lately I have found myself drawn to a more mellow tune. I have to thank my brother for introducing me to this absolutely tallented artist – Xavier Rudd. I am thoroughly addicted. Check out what […]more
Where I have been – some of my first handmade jewelry
Aspiring Metalsmiths Team Blog Topic – January Each Month a group of Metalsmiths choose a topic and we all write on the same topic and post it to our blogs. This month the topic is: Show some of your first pieces that you made! This was a fun topic to write about because I had to go through my old photographs to find some to use for this post. The first thing I realized is that my photography has gotten much much better, which is saying something because it is far from perfect now. As far as the pieces go, […]more