Queen of Hearts

Time to present what has come out of the hearts study I recently shared with you, as expected it has matured into jewelry, the pattern has stabilized, I made sure I can make many more and not only 3.... wrote down the prescription so it doesn't fly out of my hands and mind.
Sometimes I get so self assured about doing a certain model that I'm SO sure I'm not going to forget it, but when I need to repeat it it is suddenly not there...
Of course I usually find it back but many times it may take a while and cause pain.
SO - since these sweety hearts took their time finding my hands, I made sure they don't fly away.

My first dilemma when progressing with these hearts was flat or bulbed.... decided not to decide and let time and customers decide for me (cowered.... I know).
Its just that the bulbed are more clever looking and the flats are more straight forward (as hearts of course).


Second one was, another charm? or maybe a first brooch? I have a dozen sterling brooches lying in my supply box waiting very patiently for the right design to come.
so here it is both as a charm and as a brooch, as many of my new designs the first collection is in my favorite warm shades or red, orange, bordo and purple..

NEW tutorial - Corals floating in a tube necklace

Some of you may think it took me ages...... and I would have to agree :)
but finally I'm publishing my 7th tutorial, 7 should be a lucky no. not sure according to what belief but im ready to embrace it.
Anyway its here and its not the last :) as my previous tuts it is very detailed and have photos and illustrations to demonstrate all work stages.

About a week ago I tought my very talented 13 year old (sorry, couldn't mention her without the compliments...) how to make the sunflowers, she understood it very quickly and i had the feeling it was much easier to explain her then to photograph+writ+edit a written tutorial.

This made me realize it might not be a bad idea to take it one HUGE further step forward and record the instructions on video, I assume some people will prefer it this way, while others not...

My pro's are :
- maybe more clear instructions = what you see is what you repeat
- maybe more tempting for buyers that are not sure they will be able to follow written instructions.
My cons :
- might be difficult to produce (but not too much to push me away)
- too heavy to be sent via email (will need to figure a download function)
- cant be printed and carried around to your favorite sofa
- might not replace the current format....
All I can say (to myself and to you) is that I'll start and see how it goes...

meantime you are most welcome to give me your tips and advise :)

Autumn collection

A couple of days ago I shipped out a very colorful autumn collection to a gallery in France. The color combination (picked by my client) filled me with so much joy that I was inspired to take some arty snapshots of this color celebration.
These are of course only a fraction out of the many snapshots i took and the items i sent.... but it I hope it does express the joy.
when I will find the time I want to combine the photos into a short film that in hope will show the items" dancing",or i other words a new item on my to do list was just born....

Hearts study

Last year just a little before Valentines day I decided a girl should have at least one heart design at her shop, I tried and I tried, came up with something that didn't turn out to be a hit....
The only one enjoying it is my 12 year old. I put it aside and decided when it will come, it will come and apparently Valentines isn't a good enough excuse for my creativity to come up with a pattern.

Yesterday or actually the day before in the middle of all these wonderful "getting ready to Christmas" wholesale orders that started coming in, it hit me..... I felt I have a direction that needs to explored.

I made one, then another one then another one..... and the forth one I'm wearing right now.
So - I feel I tackled this 3d form in my crochet technique, not sure jewelry wise if and how yet but I'm really happy with the results, especially before I take off the "needs to be cut" wires, isn't that a fun photo?
enjoy :)

New Line of dream-catcher charms

Not so long ago I found a photo I took about 20 years ago when I was preparing my first portfolio for applying to design school.
It was a red empty frame I made out of carton, sometimes a frame tells the whole story, this led me to designing this series of flowery empty circles, that focuses on the outskirt rather then the center.

The first was actually red but I didn't take a snap shot of it so you will take my word for that :)
When it was finished I struggled a lot over a name, frame sounded odd, empty sounded bad, I decided to call it a dream catcher, it reflected the dreamy and mysterious feeling it gave me it was ready, but now that I write these thing i wonder weather outskirt could be more interesting....

Vintage touch

As a designer I've been struggling for years between admiring vintage and brocante while being involved in the development of new products on a daily basis.
On one hand developing new products add interest to our eyes and lives and hopefully improves it and on the other hand old stuff has it charms and the weight of time.

My hubby that is a designer as well solved his inner conflict by collecting vintage tools and small objects (I do not approve for large ones that will block the house, which is already packed as it is).

I'm still looking for mine....
In the spirit of vintage I decided to launch a line of oxidized silver jewelry, I started with my hoops, sunflowers and drops but will continue with more with time. The oxidization gives the silver depth thanks to the different shades of gray and visual weight.
Tell me what you think, I'm curious to hear....

My tuts now also in French

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I LOVE French.... who doesn't?
A couple of years ago I wouldn't even dream to be able to speak or understand this super enchanting language, BUT as life often make the plans for us better then we would have done ourselves, I found myself on a relocation period in the French speaking part of Switzerland.

Not only that for the first time in my life i did not go to work... but also I was in the perfect place to learn French. Any French speaker would tell you that it's not really French what they speak because it is soooooo sloooooow, what could be better then this for a beginner?

But this is not what I wanted to write about, I got carried away...
From time to time I naturally get both jewelry orders and tutorial purchases from French speaking clients, and to my good fortune (in continuous of what I wrote earlier about life bringing us what we want or need), a very nice French girl bought some time ago one of my tuts. We started chatting as it often happens and she offered to translate it into French. I was of course thrilled !! to be able to read my instructions in French was delighting (I of course could understand it but could have not dreamed of writing it myself).

My French angle is called Agathe Majou
I believe thi is a good opportunity to thank her :)
You are welcome to visit her blog : http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com

The first tut I'm publishing is the pixie beads or as it called in French :
"Perles en Filet d'Argent" sounds heavenly, doesn't it?
More will follow shortly.....