the Soiree is on its’ way!

I know the title is a little silly, but with all the rain the past couple of days, I’m feeling a little goofy. I’ve been busy the past couple of days – I had a great time on Sunday at the Clover Market - met some fellow vendors in person, had a great time talking to people, and enjoyed the company of my friend Cammy, who came all the way from Princeton to be my assistant for the day.

live sighting of me at the Clover Market!

Cammy at the Clover Market

fellow Handmade Philly member - Jan of Janzibar Handbags

 

fellow Handmade Philly members Tanna of Love.Honor.Upcycle and Christina of Momo Trees

 

Now, it’s time to get ready for Soiree in the City – a hip and happening bridal event this Sunday in Philadelphia.

There will be a variety of vendors, all who can help make your wedding day extra-special! Besides handcrafted work from me and Love.Honor.Upcycle, beautiful bridal couture and accessories, photographers, caterers and bakers, the list just keeps going… Besides finding beautiful things for your special day, buy a ticket for the Soiree – $1.00 from each ticket goes to Wish Upon a Wedding Philadelphia, which helps provide wedding wishes for terminally ill individuals. As extra incentives, goody bags will be handed out and there will be prizes from several vendors (including me).

concentric circles and pearl earrings I'll be giving away at the Soiree

Well, I’m off to make some new pieces - if you’re at the Soiree stop by and say hello.

trying out Etsy’s Treasury feature

Just wanted to tell everyone about the feature I’m having fun with on etsy.com – Treasury. Buyers and sellers can create treasuries – groups of items from other etsy vendors. They can be based on a theme or just items you like.

The Etsy Treasury I created Wednesday night:

The treasury I was chosen for today, created by MagicalMysteryTuca

Try it out for yourself (and visit our treasuries!)

spinning the color wheel

“All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.” - Marc Chagall

Color is a very important part of my work, it impacts what stones I will use, influences the designs I’m creating and it can even affect how I work. I’ve found out lately that using color is very important – since creating jewelry for weddings I’ve been working on designs that are only white or crystal, but I still manage to sneak in bits of color. Now that I have a vested interest in weddings, I spend time reading about them and perusing bridal magazines and I’m finding that color is very important in weddings as well.

According to Project Wedding, color is a great way to “brighten” the day and they suggest 7 ways to creatively incorporate color into your event.  

Here are some other great examples of the use of color in weddings from The Colour Lovers Wedding Blog… 

Some examples of pieces I have made -

pearl and blue topaz earrings

coin pearl and citrine set

I’m looking forward to finding more examples of the use of color in weddings when I’m at Soiree in the City, so make sure you stop by and see what I’ve learned. You can order tickets for the event at the Soiree in the City blog, or through Ruelala‘s special ticket sales, but get your tickets fast!

jumping for joy

I received some great news today (no, not a job offer) – I was invited to consign some work at a shop in Philadelphia, so I met the ladies who run the shop this morning. The shop is: Square Peg Artery & Salvage, near Rittenhouse Square at 108 South 20th Street. I met Jen and Rachel, who both were enthusiastic about my work (they chose almost every piece I took in), and I love the store. They consign handcrafted works from many different artists – I saw cool knitted pieces by PunkRocKnits and lovely bags by Janzibar (fellow members of Handmade Philly). Whenever you’re in the Rittenhouse Square area, make sure to stop by – there’s something for everyone and they also offer workshops and other events.

As a treat, I stopped at the bookstore and purchased a book I’ve been looking at for a while – Weave Wrap Coil: Creating Artisan Jewelry by Jodi Bombardier. I’ve been wanting to add something new to my wire-working skills and this book has some great projects and I can’t wait to get started wrapping.

I’ll let you know how the wrapping goes!

weddings galore

For lack of a more interesting title, I came up with “weddings galore” because I’ve had them on my mind a lot lately. First was my friend Donna’s wedding, which was in June and I was lucky and happy to make the jewelry she wore on her special day. I never posted the images, because I wanted her to have them before the wedding, so here they are now -

image by John Stickel Photography

Thanks to the wonderful photographer John Stickel, who loaned me this image of the bride (in her jewelry) and groom on their special day. You should visit John’s website,  johnstickel.com to see his amazing work.

 

 Bridal set of faceted crystal quartz marquis beads and rondelles, gold and white freshwater pearls, vermeil tubing and the bride and groom’s birthstones (peridot and blue topaz) as accents.

 

I’m glad that I got to post the images, because I was really happy with the design and Donna let me make what I wanted and she loved them without my having to change anything!

The next wedding on my mind is the upcoming bridal show Art of the Wedding, being held at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading.  

Art of the Wedding show at GoggleWorks

I’ve been working really hard this week and will have several new pieces (images to follow) available.

P.S. – I received an acceptance for the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival today – check 2011 event page for details.