You have two week left to order mom a fabulous gift online...not sure what to get that fabulous lady who gave you life? Well look no further! Manic Trout has a to help you figure out the perfect gift mom, you can check it out !
The best part is that every Manic Trout purchase is wrapped before shipping, so you don't have to think about wrapping, you can even have it shipped right to your mother!
Ah yes, April 22nd...once upon a time it meant naughty activities on the quad and seeing bands like the Samples for free at school....back when my dorm room looked like this:
and I looked liked this:
um, yeah, I was a deadhead waaaay back in the day.
Anyway, the eco friendly vibe that I picked up at shows and the quad sunk in a bit and I use quite a bit of repurposed materials in my jewelry. Also, any paintings that are done on wood, I am repurposing...a bunch are done on my grandmothers old kitchen cabinets!
In Earth Day news, I was in the Earth Day Issue of Time Out Chicago (mentioned on their web site), and they took my necklaces on TV in a segment on CBS 2 Chicago about eco friendly products! You can see the footage and read about it !
Todays DigiSketch was I think subconsciously Parisian inspired...I like it...
I am happy to report that is ready for Spring with a whole pile of new additions today! The best part is that everything new is $60 or under, so you can buy yourself a little pretty without breaking the bank...
I just spent the entire day updating and there are now 33 pieces available! I feel so accomplished, check it out and see how I spent the couple of weeks!
I have been a designing fool lately, and finally getting some designs together that i've wanted to for awhile. I had a rough start to the day, last night the new beau and I met my mom and step father for drinks, which I had too many of before I went to dinner afterward...and well...this morning I was not running on all pistons. But it was glorious out, so I wandered around with faye for awhile and then got to work. Here is a peek at the newest necklace...btw, the new jewelry I have been showing all week should be up early next week, yay!
One of the main reasons that I try and use vintage materials is that I came to make my own jewelry through my love of vintage jewelry. From the time I was too young to be wearing jewelry, I would ask my grandmother to let me choose one piece of costume jewelry from an antique store as my birthday gift. I was very into silver cuffs for a few years, but they were interspersed with some necklaces as well. Through prep school I loved to mix these treasures with colorful pieces I made with beads or embroidery thread.
When I was at Syracuse for the last few years (I was there for a while as I went from the architecture school to the art school and changed majors there a few times) I was living in Armory Square. I lived in an awesome apartment above a huge Antiques store...ah the bliss! I could take an elevator from my floor to the store, which made furniture shopping especially easy. Anyway, I would get all inspired and just run downstairs where I would most likely find what I wanted...be it a table, vase, purse, coat, earrings...whatever! It was so wonderful, I loved it...the store and I both left Armory Square years ago, but most of my favorite things came from that time. I used to pile on the pieces back then too, always mixing vintage pieces with really bright glass and crystal pieces that I made. (hmmmm, is there a theme?)
Today I was all inspired to unearth some pieces and reminisce. I photoed a few of my favorites (on a vintage hankie!) to share and had to laugh at the amount of faceted glass, brass, lucite, chain and look at that ring! My my, I see where so much of my inspiration has come from...I have been working on some necklace ideas that would mix chain and locket necklaces with bright glass ones....I may have found what I needed to push me to the next level.
I am feeling the effects of relying only on Manic Trout right now. I have been trying to get a bit of social interaction everyday, and to get outside for awhile...thank goodness its not winter! I'm having a hard time though, besides the usual stress about money and work and all that blah, blah, blah...I am having a harder time with the fact that I still am not part of an artistic community. Don't get me wrong, I have a few friends here who are artists/designers that I talk to, and I am very involved with the online creative community...but I am feeling the effects of solitude. Its wearing on me. I sometimes wonder why I bother to get up in the morning. Sigh.
I am trying however to keep myself busy and am hoping that I will keep myself busy enough so I at least I don't wallow. Also, for the first time in a long time, week ends are for hanging out and enjoying myself more then they are for working...which is really weird to get used to, but I am having a great time! Well, I'll keep my crying to the shower (its awesome, you should try it...why do you think I take such long showers?) and share with you my latest digisketch...mmmm, creamy!
I have been enjoying my anvil...the photos are not good, I just took them to test out the images, but you get the idea. I am working with brass on the earrings, gold plate in the neckalce and of coarse my beloved colored glass that I do love so much.
So far, so good I think, I am rather excited to be going in a different direction with these. I am actually on a roll right now, there are a bunch or new pieces in the works. Have I mentioned yet that I love my life right now?
I should be sneak peeking some other new stuff tomorrow, and then hopefully everything will be posted by the end of the week! What day is it...Tuesday...yes, then I can do that.
I have date on Thursday...well, actually my mom has requested to meet the new beau in my life, eek! So we are meeting for drinks before dinner, why am I nervous?
