Latest and Best Wedding Set

I think we are getting close to the right scale for the focal link.  I'm very pleased with this necklace; what do you think?  I struggled a bit with the earrings.  Tried several styles, pearls, crystals, and wire, long dangle, heart shaped; none of them worked.  They all seemed to be too much, took away from the necklace.  Then a winner, enough of the wire weave to blend with the necklace and a pearl to tie it together.  Waiting for feedback from the bride.  Excited to here what she thinks.

Note:  the necklace and earrings do match.  Wanted to get pictures after I finished the earrings and didn't have time to go back to the original set up.  Anxious to get pictures out, should I admit that?  

Special Event Jewelry

Working on jewelry for a special event.  Very excited about this as the event is near and dear to my heart.  It required my learning a technique I had not tried before.  Here are a couple pictures of the prototypes.  They are just that, test runs, and I will be making more to perfect the technique as well as experimenting with different wire gauges.  Not only is this event special but it is pushing me to grow my talents; and I sometimes need a little push.  I am thankful for friends and family that force me out of my comfort zone.  Looking forward to doing more custom pieces.

Here is what I learned from these:

This piece turned out to be the best scale, but the focal link is a little large; need smaller gauge wire.

The rectangular link is pretty but it is too long.  The next run at this shape will be shorter; or will be 2 links so it can curve in the middle and provide better flow.

This piece is very pretty but much too large; it might work with 2 more strands of pearls but I think it will likely turn into a pendant unless someone wants a very bulky necklace.

Bottom line, the practice was very successful, now I need to improve my technique and knowledge of how the wire gauge impacts size and scale.  Love learning, especially when the outcome is good.  Feedback is appreciated.  Have an idea for something you need?  Send me a note and let's see what we can create.

Food for Thought

Today I spend an enjoyable day with a friend set up at a Fall Festival at a local church.  The weather was great, bright and sunny (I even have a little bit of a sun burn), a little hot but not too bad with the shade of my new canopy.  While the day was enjoyable; so far as promoting our business it was marginal.  The draw was more the games and free food than for the vendors.  Just so I'm clear, I love supporting church events; but especially this time of year I feel the need to be wise about both supporting the church and promoting my business, need to capitalize on the shopping season.  Thus, after discussion with my friend Delta (we were there to promote her photography and my jewelry business) and a couple other vendors, we decided we should attend events that bring vendors and crafters together as the focus instead of as an extra with the games and food being the main events.  I'm writing this just to share what I believe we have learned.  I hope this is information that will help you when looking for venues to sell and promote your business as well as supporting local organizations.  We did make some contacts today that will hopefully be beneficial in the future, for us and for them.  We also got information on some upcoming events that are historically big draws for holiday shoppers.  Not a wasted effort, time invested that will yield fruit; just not exactly as we envisioned it.

Dream-catchers

Since I last posted I've been to Michigan for a couple weeks.  We worked hard, spent lots of time with family, and got to see the new weanling my brother in law bought to keep their baby company.  An adorable little fellow with lots of spunk.  Wish I was still there but glad I'm home too.  Those who live distant from family, but also like where they live will get that statement.

On the jewelry front I'm excited to be sharing a booth at "Taste of Suffolk" this Saturday (Sept 13th) with my friend Kenzie.  Between the two of us we will have jewelry, candles, wall hangings, dream-catchers, and more.  Now the challenge is to get enough inventory built and hope it is what people "can't live without". :)  Here is the link to the event.  http://www.suffolkva.us/TasteofSuffolk/   Hope to see you there if you are in the area.

The new baby:

New projects:

                        

                        

          

There will be some seasonal pieces available also.

New friends and new projects

It seems weeks go by between posts, I'm trying to get better.  Well, in addition to all the normal life stuff I've made a new friend and expanded the H and L Creations line to include Dreamcatchers.

First my new friend.  I teach classes at Michael's.  For the last class 10 students signed up, 2 students showed up.  I was prepared for a lecture format but the low attendance allowed me to give each one personal attention.  That attention turned into conversation and resulted in a partnership for a September event; "A Taste of Suffolk".  McKenzie is a young, creative, inspiring, woman; with a 4 month old son and husband in the military.  She keeps me on my toes, motivated to push the boundaries and venture into new territory.  A larger class would likely not have given us time to connect.  Again I realize God always has a plan and it is always the best.  I am thankful for my new friend.

Dreamcatchers; spell check thinks it is suppose to be two words but I keep finding it spelled as one so I'm going with that.  If any of you know which is correct please leave a comment to let me know.  Moving past the spelling issue; below are the first 2 dreamcatchers I made.  I took them to a local church event where they had games for the kids, live music, free corn on the cob, and a variety of vendors; including us (H and L Creations).  I got a lot of nice comments on the jewelry; but the dreamcatchers caught the eye of adults and kids alike; girls and boys.  I think this is an indicator that they would be a good item to put in the inventory for the show.  I like the traditional round dreamcatchers but the variety is limitless; so won't be sticking with just one shape.  I have a great source for horseshoes; my sister has horses.  My husband is great at cleaning and painting metal.  O.K. now that all the work is done it is my turn; start making horseshoe centered dreamcatchers.  How fun is this; and again endless possibilities.  Here are the first 2, will post more pictures in a couple weeks (I'm out of town and need to be home to get the horseshoes cleaned property ).  I'm so excited about this new venture.  What do you think of the first 2 passes at it?

Steampunk...ish

I like the latest wire pieces a lot but I wanted to change it up a little.  Using the same basic technique but making a bolder statement with the bulkier look that is popular today.  I have also been collecting some pieces I could use to venture into the Steampunk venue; just putting my toes in so to speak, nothing radical.  I don't know that this even qualifies as Steampunk but that is what it makes me think of.  Like it enough to try a few more, what do you think?

Update on the Custom Set

This set was first featured in my July 5th post.  It is my first commissioned piece.  My friend picked the main stones and left the details to me.  That always makes me a little nervous.  Fast forward to a couple days after the wedding (the event she needed the jewelry for) and I got a very exciting report.  A little history; my friend lives in Michigan not too far from Ann Arbor, college town (University of Michigan), very artsy area.  The Ann Arbor Art Festival had recently taken place and at the wedding (she was not the bride) she was asked if she bought the set at the Art Festival.  Since I'm relatively new in the jewelry design world, the idea that someone thought what I made came from a source where much more experienced artists sell, I was THRILLED!  Such a confidence builder and it just feels good.  Don't want to get too confident; just brave enough to push the envelope but not so much that I get arrogant (that is never attractive).  Thanks for letting me share my excitement.  Same technique, different styles to come.