Immortalized Forever!

Can ya believe it? The super- talented Argyle Whale gave Sprout Jewelry a little shout out in her submission for the Etsy Design Face-Off Challenge. And she won!! Now her adorable drawing has been turned into a really cool bandanna, for sale at Etsy Labs.


And if you look closely, you can see my Diamond earrings erupting from her volcano-o-etsy. Hooray Argyle!! Congrats on your win!

Neglect, Love, and Nectarines

So, I've been ignoring my blog for the past two weeks. Not for lack of love though. I've just been fantastically busy and my brain feels like a hummingbird; constantly, frantically flapping from one flower to the next.

So, last week I was FEATURED on ETSY!

Oh man, i was so excited! It was great; I got tons of inspiring messages from etsy sellers (and two kind-but-still semi-creepy "hey are you single?" messages as well.) Regardless, I've been pretty busy since that story ran.

On Sunday, Elsie Q and I went down to Gantry State Park to do our first-ever photo shoot. It took weeks of trying to pull everything together -- inventory, models, photographer, etc -- but in the end it was all worth it. The always-wonderful Michael Borders took about a million pics, and supplied a super-cool pop-up changing room (which none of us could figure out how to fold up again once we had it open.

Within literally two minutes of all the involved parties showing up at the designated meeting spot, the sky opened up and rain started falling. It got dark and thunder was rumbling. I was totally crushed, thinking that the evening was about to end before it even began. Luckily, the rain passed pretty quickly (and we got some cool shots of the model posing with a funky polka dot umbrella.)

I can't wait for the photos to be ready so that I can share them!

Oh, and as for the pop-up dressing room... well late Sunday night, Michael Borders emailed me the following video:

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Scrambly

Can I ever sit still? No. Can I ever focus on one thing at once? No. Can I exist without be stressed out? Working on it....

So, I've got a few things I've been working on recently that are keeping me busy:

- I'll be selling this Saturday at The Market NYC. There are two locations for this market; I'll be at the one at 490 Hudson Street. And by my side will be the always-fabulous Elsie Q, selling her amazing tee shirts, onesies, and whatever the hell else she's come up with lately.

- A necklace that will be sold beginning June 8th as a fund raiser for Girls Write Now. June 8th will be the annual Spring Reading at Barnes and Nobles, where these super talented girls will show off their writing from the past year.

- A photo shoot that will feature my new line "Synthesis." Right now I'm in the process of recruiting a model, along with the guidance of my wonderful photographer/friend Michael Borders. I'm thinking the shoot will take place in Long Island City, along the East River. There are a lot of gorgeous parks, skyline views, and industrial areas that would be a great backdrop for the shoot:

TTFN!

Friday Friday

Today:

-Coffee
-Pull pieces out of the tumbler, assemble, package
-Post office
-Metaliferous (22g, 16g silver, solder, 100ft of silver chain)
-Price purple suede at Leather Impact
-Park Slope to hang out with Jenny and little Wyatt!
-Thai food at Song

Here's a shot of my "herb garden." Really just a mess of basil, mint and cilantro growing out of discarded takeout containers. Still, they're doing good. And smelling delicious! My mom gave them to me while these were still seedlings. I feel like they're my children.

The basil plant is coming along nicely. I've got to re-pot it, but I ran out of takeout containers.

This weekend, I want to go get some dill, rosemary and maybe lavender. Woo hoo!

The Good Old Days...

Ironically, when all is said and done, I still daydream about going back to being a waitress. Even after having a job with health insurance and paid vacations, even after finishing grad school, even after having a desk and a chair that twirls and goes up and down.

In the past few months, I've begun working fewer and fewer hours at a desk job and more and more hours at the "studio." Starting in June, I'll only be working one and a half days a week at an office. The rest of my time is mine. And though i know that I'll be busy working on jewelry stuff, I'm still contemplating looking for a waitressing job too.

There is just something so satisfying about waitressing. I miss the days when it would get so ridiculously busy that your head would practically start humming with all the orders and requests that were getting thrown at you at once. Of course, I'd have to get job waitressing someplace where I could wear normal clothes. I've already worn some ridiculous outfits -- a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, a bodysuit, a little triangle shaped tie, and high waisted pleated black pants. Ugh.

Anyways, heres a new necklace:


It's definitely my new favorite piece. I carefully formed and pieced together lengths of square wire. Then I soldered it bit by bit, using first medium and then easy solder. And then I positioned the copper discs in such a way so that they'd look like they were floating in the center of a "cage." And, voila, the Paloma necklace! It's up on Etsy here.

Listening to:

The past few weeks, I haven't been able to stop listening to Hayes Carll. Strangely, I don't know how I really feel about his music. He sort of reminds me of Ryan Adams circa Whiskeytown/Faithless Street. A little bit aggressively alt-country, which can get tiresome after a while. But not yet. He has some shows up on archive.org, and they're fun and energetic. I'm especially digging "Sit in With the Band."

This pic freaks me out a bit:

But this one (taken last year) is somewhat redemptive...somewhat:

On another note, I recently found out that my tv cable package inexplicably includes free on-demand movies. I don't know why or how, but I watched Dumb and Dumber at 3am last night and let me tell you, it was even funnier than I remembered.

Hey, good news. Things are finally looking a little better for the Dems.

Somehow, i got a job as an event photographer for some fancy dinner tomorrow night. WTF? I plan on borrowing my roomie's camera, wearing all black, stuffing as much free shrimp as I can into my pockets, and then disappearing before anyone figures out I don't really know how to use a camera.

Woo hoo!

I think perhaps...

I have a sneaking suspicion that a mouse has pooped in my bed. This is not a proud admission, but after examining the "specimen," it's the only conclusion I can draw. I'm not a neat person, but I reserve my messiness for papers and jewelry supplies and clothes. Never, ever, food. Still, living in nyc, rodents and roaches are pretty much a fact of life. Even the most fastidious person is not immune to them. I do like to fool myself into believing that my two (human) roomies and I are the only inhabitants of our little apartment. However, I'm beginning to question that assumption these days.

In other news....

The pic at right will be listed (soon i hope!) It needs a name. So I'm taking suggestions, if anyone has got one.

The Student Surpasses the Teacher

So I had a special "farewell" dinner with my brothers tonight. The younger one, Little C, is leaving Saturday morning for a five week gig playing the piano on a cruise ship to Alaska. He's only 18, and hasn't done much traveling yet. Honestly, i suspect i may be as excited for this gig as he is. We had a huge, overpriced fish dinner, then went back to my place where i cut his extremely long, fuzzy-curly mop of hair. We sat around afterwards, drinking coffee and listening to music. Then went out again for more coffee and pie at a diner down the street. I'm sad to see the little dude go! Now I'm sitting here thinking about the first time I started traveling in college. I did the typical semester-abroad in Europe thing, and got totally hooked on traveling. After that experience, I began traveling every chance I got, and it has definitely shaped me into the person that i am today. Now, I wonder if Lil C will catch the same bug. So proud of him!

The Good Life

As my brother, Mikey D, would say, I've been living on chicken and wine for more than a week now. I'm down in Louisiana, doing what music nerds do best --- taking in non-stop tunes, one mind blowing, fabulous band after another. And in between all the music, there has been endless amounts of great food - oysters, craw fish, gumbo, sweet potato pie... All this punctuated by the company of some of my favorite people and plenty of New Orleans sunshine. Yup, I'm sportin' a flip flop tan line, y'all.

Ok, so if there was ever any doubt, Jazz Fest is a little bit of heaven on earth.

To Do

Day: Tuesday, April 15th
Stress Level: Maintaining
Unfinished Business:
- Wedding Ring for Diana
- Magazine article for "Ins & Outs"
- Deciding on booth set-up for next weeks Spring Fling craft show
- Rapidly piling up Etsy orders
- Yet-to-be-announced-secret-project (ooooooh!)
____________________________

I'm noticing a pattern in my life these last few years -- I somehow manage to walk a fine line between laziness (my so-called "marginal" employment comes to mind) and work overload. Despite the fact that I seemingly have a lot of time on my hands (I only work at an office job 3-4 days a week) I am constantly busy. The jewelry aspect of my life consumes every second of free time I have. Then, on top of the jewelry work and the two part time jobs, I also commit myself to random things that turn out to be waaaay more time consuming than anticipated. Case in point being an article I am writing for a local magazine. I wrote for them a few months ago, and vowed I would never do it again --- the article took soooo long to write! But, they asked me to do another one and stupidly, I agreed. So just add that to the list.

By the way, the super-freaking-awesome pic was taken by my little bro, on a foggy night in Astoria. He rocks.

It's all happening

Last Thursday was the SITE first anniversary party, featuring the jewelry of yours truly. They had wine in juice boxes!! That was an exciting little addition to what turned out to be a really fun party. Tons of local Astoria people, cupcakes, and alcohol.... a recipe for a rowdy night. (And a hangover the next morning).


I worked like mad on Sunday, and came up with some fab new designs that I will be premiering at the BUST Spring Fling on April 27th in Brooklyn. Lots of mixed metal pieces, rings and cuffs. One of the new pieces is my funky
"In Orbit" ring. It's delicate, but still very eye catching. It was SUCH a debacle to make, because I ran out of medium solder, which meant that i had to assemble the whole thing using easy solder. Everything was gravy till I started soldering the dotted rings to the base. The solder that I'd already applied began to flow again and the whole thing collapsed. That happened about three times. But I was feeling stubborn and kept fighting with it till I managed to get the whole thing to stay together. I think it was well worth it!


To get an In Orbit ring of your very own, go here.

Insanity!

It's been a hell of a week... I've been pounding out new designs as fast as my hands allow. Funky mixed metal rings, simple organic rings, another chunky cuff bracelet and a big, fabulous pendant. My fingers are really taking a beating -- I sawed a nice chunk out of my middle finger last night, and then burned my hand tonight.

In the midst of the frenzy, Angela of ElsieQ and I got word that we were accepted to the Bust Spring Craftacular. Hooray!! That gives me about three weeks to pull my inventory together. More on that next time...

Kicking off the insanity is the One Year Anniversary Party at SITE tomorrow, where Sprout Jewelry will be featured. More importantly, SITE will be keeping the party hopping with wine and cupcakes -- sounds delish :)

Wonder Woman and other goodies.

Initially, I had some mixed feelings about my new Wonder Woman bracelet. It was just an experiment, and my expectations for it were pretty limited. Then I finished it. Hmmmm, not bad. Then I patinated it and brushed it with a steel brush. Hey, looks good! Then i tried it on... wow, this thing is pretty damn comfy!

If you want to get nit-picky, the Wonder Woman cuff doesn't look anything like the one that Linda Gray wears. It's actually much closer to resembling her kick ass headband/tiara. But still. I think it's in the spirit of female -power!


I think it's pretty fitting that i made this cuff during women's history month. A Wonder Woman bracelet for all those fabulous superhero women out there!

Relax

It's just freaking ridiculous.
I'm either stressing about too many sales or stressing out about not enough sales. I swear, it's never ending.The past week has been pretty quiet on my Etsy site, and so I immediately start doubting myself. I need to stop worrying, and just enjoying the fact that I actually have a second to breeeeeathe.


Deep breaths. Deep breaths. (Oh, and here's a pic of me - well, half of me. Argyle socks and coffee.)


Ok, off to work on some new designs!

Today I will be productive

Today I WILL be productive.
Today I will be PRODUCTIVE.

The fam will descend upon my little apt tomorrow, for some Easter festing. My roommates have been warned.

That means my parents will be sleeping in my bed, and I'll be on the couch. It also means the bathroom needs to be cleaned, the bedsheets need to be washed and the dishes need to be done.

On the upside, it also means lemon pie, ham, and some time with my parents....

okay, back to the mantra...
Today i WILL be productive.

Obsessing

My first apartment was in upstate New York, in my hometown of Syracuse. For $300 a month, I got the top floor of a multi-family house. When I say top floor, what i mean is "attic." Nothing was insulated; it was an oven in the summer and freezing in the winter. The ceiling sloped so low, I had to sit down to take a shower. The next door neighbors dealt drugs from our shared back parking lot and my car windows were smashed more than once. Still, it was a cute little place that i filled plants and scavenged furniture. The wall were painted green, red, purple, and electric pink.

These days, I have far nicer apartment, though I pay more than double for one bedroom and have two (wonderful) roomies. And while i appreciate the hard wood floors, the balcony, and the ability to stand while i shower, sharing a small space with two other people has forced me to get rid of a lot of the furniture, housewares, and junk that crowded my previous residence.

Upon first glance, my bedroom looks relatively minimalist -- I think its forced upon you when you commit to life in NYC. You've got less space store your possessions, and only public transportation to cart your purchases from the store to your apt. Because of these realities, coupled with the fact that financially I'm usually hovering somewhere between "broke" and "destitute," I try to keep my non-essential purchases to a minimum.

However, lately I've been obsessing over finding a handmade coffee mug. This seemingly simple purchase has consumed many hours of online browsing. And it seems that the more time I invest in this search, the more particular I become.

So far, the list of requirements include:

• Size, weight. The mug cannot be too heavy or too big. Otherwise the coffee cools off faster than it can be drunk
• Handle. Must be in proportion to the mug itself and fit the hand comfortably
• Color, glaze. Must be bright, but with an earthy feel. Preferably multiple colors
• Adaptability. Must be microwave friendly
• Price. I understand the time, and money artists invest in their work. I will happily pay more for a handmade good, as opposed to plucking something off the shelf at Target, because I know it's unique. At the same time, however, I do need to set a limit as to how much I'm able to reasonably spend on something that could very well be accidentally smashed to bits with one miscalculated elbow.
  

A few I've got my eye on:

From RisingSky. Love how this one is organic without looking messy.
Perfect size and great colors

Love the purple inside. Has a sort of reptilian quality to it.
Totally in a class by itself. Lois Aronow Porcelain

Great color, perfect shape and size. Wonderful details.
Made by Phenix Pottery

So whimsical and interesting. This small pic doesn't do justice to the funky tentacles crawling up the sides of the mugs. Take a closer look at Wild Card Pottery's shop.

__________________

So, will I ever decide on a mug? Or will the obsession continue to spiral out of control?? Stay tuned!