Some recent special orders

An apology is in order....I have been preoccupied with some big projects that have been time and energy consuming so my blogging has suffered terrible neglect.

So where do I begin? How do I get back into the blogging groove?

I guess I'll start with a quick post about some special orders I made this summer...

This was a 950 Palladium and 18k yellow gold engagement ring with antique diamond passed down by the customer's grandmother.

This was a custom ring I made for a customer who was entering a 2nd marriage. The 12 stones are birthstones of the husband, wife and 10 children...2 families uniting into one.

This was a custom pair of cufflinks I made using the customer's gorgeous Tahitian pearls.

A customer had purchased my Abacus Bracelet #5 and discovered it was just a tad too long for her. I removed a link and turned it into a pendant.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more frequent posts and to hear about those big projects that have been keeping me busy!

Palladium is HOT!

Last week I made a palladium wedding band and decided to take a few photos while I was soldering so I could share the process with you....

Palladium solder beads are placed in the joints.

Beginning to heat up the joints...

Metal is up to correct temperature and solder flows! Approximately 2300° F

That is HOT metal!

Palladium requires very high temperatures and the metal glows brilliant orange. As a result you must wear rated No. 5 or darker welding lenses for eye protection. (Making jewelry is not as glamorous as wearing it!)

All polished and pretty! Fin.

♥♥♥Congratulations to Jocelyn and Curtis!♥♥♥

putting a Label on it...

I was reading the Scoutie Girl blog today and became interested in Tara's We Scout Wednesday post: "Labels: What's Yours?"

Tara said

"the language we choose to label ourselves affects the way others perceive us, the choices we make, and even the direction we choose to pursue with our passion."

I think many of us struggle with labeling ourselves and/or our businesses. The fact that, as a society, we have to put a label on everything is sometimes annoying. But it is necessary for us to keep track of all facets of our world and labeling or compartmentalizing helps our minds stay organized.

So.....What is my label? Who am I? How do I want my customers and peers to perceive me?

• Am I a bench jeweler?
• Am I a designer?
• Am I an artist?
• Am I an entrepreneur?

I am all of these things and more....
I hope others see this and label me accordingly.

In search of Motivation

Once a month, members of the EtsyMetal team are asked a question and then requested to blog about it simultaneously. This month's question is:

What motivates you to create?

In a down market when things are not selling well?
When you are tired?
When life makes you busy?

Normally my answer would be: I am motivated by looming deadlines. Give me 6 months to do a project and I will procrastinate until the last month...then I will crank it out. However, this blog carnival question could not have come at a more poignant time for me.

Why?
Because, currently, I don't have the answer.

To be brutally honest, I have had little to no motivation lately. It's not that I don't have ideas or inspirations....I probably have too many ideas. I even have looming deadlines...not as many as I'd like, but I have some. But the general desire to work in my studio has been seriously lacking lately. There are many reasons I can attribute to my "funk."

1. Working alone is hard. I have always worked better when there is someone else in my studio. I have been w/out employees for two years now and the solitude is taking hold. Loneliness is bad for motivation.
   
2. Not selling / not having a lot of deadlines is bad for the ego. I constantly am asking myself, why am I not selling while designer X is? Why am I not more successful? Self doubt is bad for motivation.
   
3. Making designs that are 12 years old is tiresome. I design new work every year. But sometimes it seems that the old designs are the best sellers and I am bored. Boredom is bad for motivation.
4. Wearing too many hats can cause a headache. There are many jobs involved in running a business.....designer, bench jeweler, marketer, sales person, bookkeeper, etc. I enjoy all these jobs (well, not the bookkeeping part) but I find the balancing act difficult. When I feel overwhelmed I tend to shut down. Lack of balance leads to lack of motivation.
5. Distractions abound! There are so many things that are competing for our attention. In my case, my beloved MacBook is my major distraction. Twitter, facebook, blogs, metal and business forums, etc. Most of my computer distractions are indeed business related...but it all goes back to that balance issue. Being too "plugged-in" is bad for studio motivation.

I could continue to list reasons why I am having a hard time getting into the studio, but enough with the excuses. What I need are solutions.

So, now that I have confessed my recent lack of motivation, hopefully it will shame me to get back into the groove. I am going to try to do the following:

1. Set a timer while on the computer. I will try to limit my online distractions.
2. Clean my clutter. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, my bench and office is a mess. Perhaps if I cleaned up a bit and rearranged the furniture, the studio will feel fresh. Maybe the studio won't seem like a lonely place, but the creative space that it should be.
   
3. Create a job schedule. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by all the hats I have wear, I will try to break all the duties down to certain days of the week or month.
4. Lose the "grass is greener" attitude. This one will be very hard. Being envious of the success of others and having self doubt is a part of many artists' sensibilities. Perhaps I need to focus more on me and less on them or simply find inspiration in the success of others.
   

Okay, wish me luck. I will keep you updated. Here I go....into the studio.....

Please read the Motivation tricks of other Etsymetal members. Follow the links to their blogs:
Ann Hartley / hartleystudio
Beth Cyr
Brooke Medllin
Maria Whetman / fluxplay
Nina Gibson
Stacey Hansen
Victoria Takahashi / Experimetal
2Roses

Massimo Vignelli

While in Atlanta a few weeks ago, I was *invited to attended a Massimo Vignelli lecture presented at SCAD Atlanta. Initially, I did not think I was familiar with Massimo Vignelli's designs...until I started to recognize much of his work during the presentation. He has designed everything from corporate identity, package design and product design to furniture, showroom design and subway signage. The scope of accomplishment in his five decade career is vast and truly inspiring.Vignelli is "a Modernist Design Legacy" whose work focuses on simplicity through the use of basic geometric forms, simple fonts and is highly architectural in character. Less is more.

I subscribe to a very similar design philosophy/aesthetic and I can only hope that my work is viewed as "visually powerful, elegant and timeless." Below are a few quotes from Vignelli that I jotted down during the lecture. They really struck a cord with me:

-Sift, sift, sift...until you get to the essence.

-Decoration should not be added, it should be integrated.

-Play with light---and the reflection or absorption of light, texture vs. shine.

*Thanks to Lisa and Jane for inviting me!

Respect your Elders aka Happy Earth Day!

Last year I wrote a more insightful Earth Day post. This year's is short and sweet...

Photo courtesy of DeyaAviva via Flickr.

• Earth is approximately 4.55 billion years old.
• Modern man has walked on Earth for approximately 200,000 years.
• You should always respect your elders.

My Design Process

Once a month, members of the EtsyMetal team are asked a question and then requested to blog about it simultaneously. This month's question is: The Creative Process: How do you plan and organize for design?

I use simple geometric forms as the building blocks for most of my designs, which are inspired by architecture, machines, toys and nature. When I get a new idea or see a shape that excites me, I try to get a quick sketch down on paper. Many of my designs are modular and linear...so as I begin to work with that idea or shape, I move things around and create multiple variations. As a result, sometimes the design evolves or completely changes, many times it grows into a whole collection of jewelry (eg: bracelets, earrings and necklaces). I do this both on paper and with the metal parts I make....
I really like designing by playing with "pieces parts" and as a result of that, my bench is always completely cluttered. I have many "parts" all over the place...ready for me to arrange and re-arrange and re-arrange...until someday it becomes a finished design. This is both good and bad. I like being reminded of my many ideas and their "parts" but is also distracting and just a down-right messy. I have been meaning to do a serious clean up for months but I am very good at procrastination! And don't forget what Albert Einstein said:

If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, Of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

Please visit the other blogs participating in today's blog carnival to read about their design process:
Victoria Takahashi/Experimetal
Thomasin Durgin/metalriot
Su Trindle/QuercusSilver
Inbar Bareket
Stacey Hansen
Nina Gibson
Corliss & John Rose/2Roses
Maria Whetman
Beth Cyr