March 01, 2009

New jewelry!

I've been extremely productive today, even though I've been in my pajamas all day. Showering can wait - I have new jewelry to show the world!

I've been experimenting with sanding some of my pieces to achieve a matte finish which I think is very pretty, but I needed to make this finish available on very specific pieces that had their own look and style. So far, all of my disc and solid pieces come in the matte finish but I wanted to try out some matte finishes on some of the wire pieces, too. I've also been curious about working with slightly thicker wire - it's a little harder to work with but can hold its shape on pieces that are more open (like the lucky or bucket) as opposed to all of the other work that has finished lines that all connect. The lucky and bucket are fine and don't need any reworking, but how could I take that idea further?

After playing around with my materials, I arrived on a solution - hoop earrings! Not exactly earth shattering or re-inventing the wheel or anything, but hoop earrings in my own style could be nice, right? I thought so, and I love how they turned out:


I have never done anything like this before so I only have three styles available and I haven't even named them yet (any suggestions? if you have a good one and I use it, a pair is yours). I have a rectangular hoop and a small and medium round hoop. The closure is a bridge style that I have created, which is pretty exciting that the entire thing is created with my wire! So far, I have put them in my etsy shop to see what happens. I get more traffic on my website, though, so I'll be adding them soon. I may make a few extra pairs and then send them to Bliss in Knoxville and Art & Invention in Nashville - two of my stores that have carried my jewelry the longest to see what they think. What do you think?

I also have a new heart necklace that I'm excited about. I've been playing around with heart shapes for over a year, and it's about time that I made one that I'd like to add to the line! I call it the free form heart, since each one is made entirely by hand and the shape is pretty much up to how the wire and my tools interact.

10 comments:

Beth Howard said...

Beautiful!!! I love that you're always branching out! Here's to creative days spent in comfy pants!

Kasey said...

just beautiful!
xo

Anonymous said...

I like your clean modern design vibe...this heart is stunning!

Especially like the way you linked the two heart halves together at the bottom. Very nice.

Andrea said...

I love your new hoops. They are beautiful - I especially love the shape of the boxy ones.

CandyCrack said...

Gorgeous heart pendant, I love the swirls at the end.

Hmmm, I don't think my treasury ever made the front page. If it did I wasn't aware of it.

Mommy Bear said...

Very beautiful!

Ramblin Mama said...

I love your new designs. I'm a hoop person and find the rectangular shape really unique! Also think the new heart is great!

Anonymous said...

I really do just LOVE your work!

Amanda Conley said...

I love the hoops! Great job!

graygirlstudios said...

very nice. I've always liked your simple designs. The rectangular one looks like one of your bucket designs, and the large hoop, including the ear wire, reminds me of an eggplant for some reason. (kind of silly, right?) and the small hoop a cherry. Maybe I'm just hungry...