Jewelry Making

I found out about Blend Creations through the Mighty Flirt site. The Canadian husband and wife team of Eric Jean-Louis and Vivian Cheng have created an array of interesting and unusual pendants. Using modern stainless steel as an exterior housing for more traditional Asian-inspired designs and materials, they create a unique, organic contrast in their jewelry.

Some of the different types of items used for these pendants inner designs include bone, bamboo, coral, mother of pearl and Japanese Washi paper.

A little blurb about their work from the Blend Creations website:

“Eric and Vivian find inspiration for their work in the design of everything from furniture to housewares to graphic art. By fusing hand-drawn design with automated manufacturing — imagery from the East with technology from the West — the creators of Blend Creations have become a rare blend, indeed.”

Continue reading “Blend Creations” …

I’m currently working my way through a ton of email submissions… I need to set up some sort of official policy to handle these, but for now I just try to do them in the order received. Also, please remember there are so many that I can’t possibly write about all of you!

This one is from sharonunlimited.com, a fairly new online shop (actually, it opened only last month) created by Sharon Marzonie to provide unique jewelry making supplies and findings for artisans. They do have some nice things for sale there, so I decided to make a writeup.

A tiny bit from Sharon’s site:

“It is a place where artisans can come together to browse, shop and share in one anothers creativity … Our goal is to provide you with a unique offering of products and a high level of service that might be otherwise difficult to find.”

Continue reading “Sharonunlimited.com” …

I was surfing around on Style Bakery and came across some pretty cool and unusual jewelry pieces over at Bonbon Oiseau yesterday. Many of the more interesting pieces of jewelry are hair clips and adornments, but they also have more traditional necklaces and earrings as well. “They” is Brooklyn’s Deborah Stein an artist/designer who makes limited-edition and one of a kind pieces that are often based on narrative “themes” (for instance her Winter 2005 Collection is based on the influence of seasons on nature and the world around us).

I think the Bonbon Oiseau name means “Candy Bird” or “Good Bird”… but anyhow, to call them bonbons might be an apt term, because her work often reminds me of tiny little artistic jewelry treats that are put together with care for people to enjoy.

A quote from Deborah’s website about her jewelry design philosophy:

“Designing jewelry is a natural extension of what I do and what excites me in painting: experimenting with materials and color, evoking a mood or essence of one and the challenge of telling a personal story with an ending open to interpretation. With jewelry as a medium, there’s an incredible sense of spirit and intimacy connecting me with my client, the client and her piece, her and the world.”

Continue reading “Bonbon Oiseau” …

I was contacted by Lisa Braithwaite the other day about her DIY jewelry outfit called Elle B. and decided to make a post about it since she has a large variety of handmade earrings, necklaces and bracelets in her store. Based in Santa Barbara, she makes use of unique shape and color combinations in her jewelry. Although I think a lot of the beads, glass and findings that she uses in her creations may be available in shops, it’s the delightful way that they are integrated that makes her work stand out.

A little bit about her, from her website:

… Always an artistic thinker, Lisa explored drawing, painting, singing, acting and costume design before finding her calling in the jewelry arts. She has been designing and creating vibrant, wearable art for more than 20 years.

As her hobby has grown into a business, Lisa’s art has evolved, too. Her one-of-a-kind pieces incorporate modern and vintage glass, brilliant silver and vivid hues. Graceful movement and lively color make Elle B. jewelry playful and distinctive - wearable art for unique women.

Continue reading “Elle B. Jewelry” …

Hey jewelry makers: I was tipped off to the upcoming “Your Design Here” 2006 contest over at Rings ‘n Things the other day. This might be worth a look if you make jewelry and are looking to get some possible exposure for your designs.

So what is the “Your Design Here” contest? They basically created this contest as a way to encourage their customers to come up with unique and beautiful jewelry designs. You can enter your work in one of seven categories: Glass, Gemstones, Nature, Mostly Metal, Polymer Clay, Metal Clay and Alternative Materials.. The judges select the best entries (the deciding factors are: Originality, Craftsmanship and Aesthetics) and the winning designs will potentially be featured in their enormous print catalog as well as other promotions worldwide.

If you haven’t heard of the Rings ‘n Things company yet, they are one of the best places to find jewelry making supplies on the web. Sorry, this may sound like a commercial but we’ve ordered from them many times and have always been impressed with the speed of service and professionalism. Not to mention the selection of findings, precious stones, crystals and just about everything else related to jewelry.

Continue reading “Rings and Things Contest” …

Kiku is a little DIY shop that I came across the other day that makes fused glass jewelry and other accesories. I like the unusual shapes and colors of these playful items.

The fused glass is actually made by putting the pieces of glass together into a kiln and melting them into each other. I’ve always wanted to try fused glass but since I don’t have a kiln handy just yet, I’m once again in “admiring others” mode when it comes to glasswork like this.

Laurie from Kiku makes a wide array of fun necklaces, pendants, bracelets, earrings, pins, rings and even belt buckles and cufflinks. Her site says she uses “Bullseye transparent and opaque glass” as well as CBS Dichroic glass to make her jewelry. I believe that she’s based in the Chicago area.

Some of my favorite Kiku pieces of jewelry are the unusual shaped items like this aptly named Sizzle Pin. It a starfish shaped opaque red, orange, and yellow glass pin that is about 2 3/4″ wide.

A lot of her jewelry seems affordably priced as well… this one was marked down to $20. There are quite a few other cool abstract pins like this one.

I also like the mod styled “Tag Necklaces” which feature colorful thin discs of fused glass with an offcenter hole in them. This golden amber one is called “Ambush” and is accented by specks of crushed lavender glass and is hung on a 16 inch sterling silver chain.

Two others that I liked that aren’t pictured here are the “Balance” disc necklace which features turquoise glass layered with purple, and the “Purple Donut” which is dark purple with crushed pink accents.

You can check out other items at the Kiku site: www.kiku-co.com

So it’s a week before Xmas and you’re STILL looking for holiday gifts for all your friends? Well, maybe this year you should consider getting all your buddies some DIY or homemade jewelry for the holidays.

There’s a ton of different jewelry makers on the web who want to sell you their wares. Many of them offer specials, discounts, or free shipping when this time of the year rolls around in order to entice you to buy from them.

Necklaces and bracelets are big sellers during the holidays… there aren’t too many gals who don’t enjoy getting these as a gift. Because they are usually smaller items, DIY earrings and rings can also make great “stocking stuffers” or gifts for your office workmates. Don’t overlook handmade buttons, pins and other non-traditional jewelry items as well; these can be great for that friend who likes unusual gifts.

Continue reading “DIY Jewelry As Holiday Gifts” …

I don’t have much experience making jewelry that utilizes handmade Lampwork beads. We just haven’t worked our way up to using them in designs yet, but that’s not to say we haven’t admired them from afar! These minutely detailed glass beads are created by melting various types of glass with a torch onto some sort of mandrel(?) and then incorporating tiny color swirls, dots and other neat shapes. I have no idea how it’s done really. I just know that the end result is pretty awesome.

Glass and Splinters Studio makes some really fantastic looking lampwork beads, which they bill as “contemporary torchworked beads”. The company is run by Lorraine Allan who has set up shop in South Australia. Having had a lot of experience working in the glass industry along with her husband for many years, she eventually tried Lampwork Glass and really got into it:

I became interested in making lampwork glass beads in 1997 after doing a weekend workshop with Peter Minson in Victoria, Australia. This led me on to enrol in a silver jewellery course for 12 months which I incorporated my glass beads into the pieces I made. Since 2001 I have put all my other glass making aside to concentrate fully on lampworking beads. Watching the glass melting and flowing in an open flame, is the most relaxing work I have ever done with glass, I don’t think I will ever stop!

Continue reading “Glass and Splinters Studio” …

I often like to check out what jewelery (er, jewellery) makers are doing across the pond. Some of the best looking and more unusual pieces we’ve discovered have been from countries outside the U.S.

Designer Kate Wood hails from London and is top notch at creating airy jewellery pieces featuring muted tones and textures. Pearls and vintage-colored metals seem to be two of her current favorite materials for making a good selection of bracelets, necklaces and earrings. There is almost a bit of an art-deco feel to some of the items but with a hint of a more modern touch. From her site:

Glint jewellery is feminine and flattering, striking and subtle, characterised by soft, organic forms and strong combinations of colours and surface textures.

The entire range of earrings, necklaces and bracelets is hand crafted by the designer, Kate Wood, making each piece unique. When worn, this jewellery comes alive with movement and light, enhancing your individual beauty and style.

Continue reading “Glint Jewellery” …

Whether you’re a jewelry designer who uses silver in your designs or a consumer who has a few pieces of silver jewelry, you’ll eventually run into the issue of tarnishing silver. It’s surprising how fast a piece of silver can tarnish from just being exposed to air. Sometimes a few weeks is enough to make the surface seem a bit dull and tarnished.

Though, I normally don’t use silver cleaning agents, I recently picked up this Silver Jewelry Polishing Cloth
and decided to write up an article on it and silver tarnishing in general.

Keeping Silver Jewelry Polished