Shout out to Astoria Artists!!

How freaking great is this T-shirt??

This is a piece from the Elsie Q line, created by my talented friend, Angela. She silk screened this cute tea cup design onto super soft cotton T's and then embellished them with hearts. Love it! Visit Elsie Q here. (Not only does she have a great women's line, but she sells adorable baby clothes & accessories.)

More from Elise Q:

Almost...

Almost done. All that separates me from my masters is about 20 pages -- what's left to write of my thesis. Unfortunately, it's been sloooow going so far. However, I've been doing an excellent job of procrastinating, and thus, I'm happy to share these pics, taken today while avoiding doing actual work.

Taking a Break

At the Spotted Cat in the Quarter. The lighting in
this bathroom was just too cool & begging to be documented!

After all the craft shows and general chaos of life, I was sooo ready for a break! I escaped out to New Orleans for a bit. This city is just good for the soul -- pork chop sandwiches, sunshine, and music, music, music.

It's funny what passes for normal in our house these days. Bonner and Ang silkscreening tee-shirts at midnight? (while working their way through a bottle of wine) Totally normal.

Despite the fact that the clock pic has the photo-in-a-photo thing going on, I didn't take the shot for that reason. (Or even realize that the pic would be so apparent in it.) I just wanted to document the little cottage-industry we've got goin on these days (any time of day or night...)

How I spent my Thanksgiving Vacation

This is my one employee. She’s not very speedy. She can’t see small things without her magnifying light. And she knows nothing about making jewelry. But she’ll work for free. Sounds good! (Thanks for your help, mom)

Where I'm At

Holiday shopping?? Find me (and all my newest Sprout creations) here:

December 1st: Winterful Craft Show
11 am to 5 pm, P.S. 39 417 Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn
December 2nd: Handmade Holiday (with my Astoria Craft Collective ladies!)
11 am to 5 pm, Waltz-Astoria, 24-13 Ditmars Blvd, Queens
December 8th: BUST Craftacular
10 am to 8 pm, the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City, 125 West 18th Street

...and you can always shop online at www.sproutonline.etsy.com

Infinity Necklace

Ok, as promised, here is the final version of the model in the previous post. I am so happy with the way it turned out. This is such an elegant, simple piece. It's going to be sold as a fund-raiser for Dress for Success River Cities. Dress for Success provides free business suits for low income women who are transitioning into the workforce.

The necklace will go on sale December 8th. More details to follow!

New Model

This one came out great!! I'm giving myself a big pat on the back... It's a commissioned piece that will be sold as a fundraiser (can't reveal the details yet, but stay posted!)

A Trio of New Pendants

Fresh from the casters, unpolished and with sprues still attached...

Polished, with jump rings attached and sprues removed.

Still a work in progress. I don't know which of these I like the best, or how i want to use them. The wreath style is delicate and feminine. The gear style is more industrial. And the strange circle shape is sort of contemporary and urban. I'm getting molds made of all of them, so that buys me a little time to make up my mind...

Just Listed!

Cleaned up the earrings in my last post, and listed them on Etsy! They look so much nicer after a day in the tumbler.... Here they are on Etsy.

Also, working on this:


Of course, I should be working on my thesis this week.... So the jewelry will need to take a back seat for a while.

Twigs and Sprouts!

Ok, it's not Spring.....not even close. But I wanted a pair of earrings with some little beaded accents that looked like Spring-y buds. So here they are.





Another pair I made tonight.
They're just sorta tiny and lightweight and simple. I needed to make something that involved no hammering or drilling, cause it's late and I don't want to wake up the neighbors.

Another New Necklace

I love it when some old components can be pulled together into a new piece. The textured rectangle is made with PMC -- I created it probably a year ago when i was on a PMC kick, but then I never knew what to do with it. The two rectangles with the open center were made with sterling wire and were supposed to be a pair of earrings, but that never happened either.

It all worked out in the end, I guess, cause I love this piece!

New Necklace!

I'm thinking of doing a double strand of chain for this necklace... its not entirely done yet. Still, I'm totally digging it! I'm calling it my "rock garden" necklace cause all the silver loops look like little rocks or pebbles.

UPDATE: I created an Etsy listing for it this morning!

Good Morning, Friday!

Time of Day: Late morning
Clothing Status: Pajamas
Motivation Level: Low
Agenda for Day: A haircut. A meeting at Girls Write Now. Shop for paper table cloths for my boss. Catch up with some jewelry orders. And then, plan for the party my roomies and I are having tomorrow. Whew!

Okay, time to get out of my pjs and have some coffee....

Warm and Fuzzy Scarves...

I found these rich purplish pink scarves at a street fair this past weekend. They were just too cool to pass up, so I bought a few and have been going all out with some funky embellishments!

I washed 'em first, cause I was worried that they might bleed a bit. Here they are drying on my shower curtain rod...

I've always liked the look of reds and pinks next to each other. I think it all started with my first apartment, which had a wretchedly ugly bathroom... which I jazzed up with with pink walls and a thick red stripe around the middle. Fast forward a bit, and here I am detailing this scarf with some funky red suede hearts...

Too Gorgeous to Even Comment On....

Vacation

One of the perks of not having a full time job -- lots of time to take vacations. Of course, not lots of money with which to travel luxuriously, but, no matter. As long as I'm on the road and seeing the sights, I'm happy.

I'm doing a 12 day tour of the wild wild west -- it started in Vegas, where the buffets were plentiful and the weather was wonderfully steamy. Then i traveled out to Zion Park, dipped down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, back up again through the vermilion cliffs, down into Flagstaff and the South Rim of the canyon. From there, I'll be heading up to Monument Valley, Moab, Arches Park and finally Salt Lake City. Whew!

The sky out here is huge, the sunsets gorgeous and the scenery breathtaking. It just doesn't get any better!!