gilty pleasures

i was super stoked this morning to pick up our cupcake samples from our cake guy...look how beautiful they are! can you imagine a wedding cupcake tower of gold frosting??? i love it! they were also yummy! we had chocolate/chocolate mousse, lemon poppyseed, chocolate w/ a peanut butter cream filling and carrot cake! i think we want all four. :)

precious metals

i've been hearing quite a bit about precious metal clay (developed in japan..japan envy!) and all the cool things you can do with it..it's basically clay that you can buy and work with to form whatever piece of jewelry would be conducive to the properties of clay..you can flatten it out, stamp images into it, put holes through it, etc. i had bought a small package of silver metal clay which was pretty pricey. i think for a piece of clay that's less than 2 inches wide and a couple centimeters thick it was a little over $12. silver and bronze are the most popular although you can get gold...it's just harder to come by. so i didn't open my precious little package until a few months after purchasing it and it was completely dried out! i was a little irritated, but like with most things i got over it in two minutes. i decided to experiment with the broken pieces (it was so dried out, i broke it into three pieces.) oh and that's another thing..after you work with it and get it to your desired look you must leave it out to completely dry because any moisture in the clay will cause your piece to pretty much explode. 

here's a video of me firing up the broken piece(s) and the piece almost liquifying into silver. it was so cool!

*note: this video may have some trouble loading and i apologize. if you really can't continue living without seeing it, let me know and i'll send it to your email address. ;)

when is it going to stop snowing?

luckily these snow days have happened on days when i haven't had to work. so instead of cursing the snow as i try to go out into it, i stay at home w/ a steaming cup of coffee and i work on jewelry. and i love it. i know i am so fortunate to be able to do that.
i finished a pair of earrings today and then i started three new projects and didn't finish any of them.

"river." 

gold-filled wire earrings with peridot drops.

unfinished bracelet.

on a wedding note: hanan put aside a gorgeous pair of earrings for me to wear on my wedding day...aren't they beautiful? my own little harry winstons. ;)

meow

in love with my new shoes.

(shoes from forever 21.)

experiment

remember this thing? 

 i turned it into a little earring/cuff thing. not sure if i love it, but it's always fun to experiment.

 i think the CZs got cloudy because i used the torch on them and put them in the pickle. but now they look like moonstone..which is one of my favorites.

golden treasures

i've always loved the look of a wax seal on an envelope and i never realized how easy (and a bit messy, depending on whether or not your glue gun decides it's going to leak) it is! they have wax sticks that you can put into a standard hot glue gun. you just drip a few drops on the envelope, use your stamp to press into the hot wax and voila! you have a wax seal! (thank you, carolyn, for getting me such an unexpected birthday gift!) note: those little balls are a result of the glue gun dripping.

here are a few things i worked on today. i'm making a brass bar necklace to sell (i had made one for myself a couple months back.) and now i'm making an extra small size of the "lucy hoop" to sell at hanan's. 

this is a little nugget i found in the casting centrifugal machine thingy at the studio. there are all sorts of little misshapen nuggets in there from molten metal that has dripped from a casting project. most of them are silver, but i wouldn't be surprised if this one has a little gold in it. i'm going to solder a jump ring to it and wear it on a chain or something..we'll see what i come up with. :)

be mine

i'm wishing you a happy valentine's day with a picture of two of my favorite people who happen to love each other...regine chassagne and win butler of arcade fire who happened to win a grammy last night for best new album and who happen to be my favorite band! yipppeee!

(photo by carl lessard. taken from vanity fair.)

class work

i've been learning quite a bit in my stone setting class with rich robinson (very cool jeweler and artist who has been in the business for 30+ years.) here's a casted silver ring that i've prepped to set these amethyst stones in. 

 we also practiced setting these cz's into this pre made prong setting. i cut the seats so that the stones can sit flush into it and i bent the prongs onto the stones.

eye candy

one of my favorite places that my mom has turned me on to is haberman fabrics in royal oak. walking in there is so inspiring it's dizzying! i wish i knew how to sew. (my mom has taught me how to sew on a button probably about thirty-seven times and i still can't remember exactly what to do!) we made a trip there the other day so i could get fabric for my bridal shower dress that my mom is making me...i'm so lucky!

here's a peek at my dress fabric:

the owl & the fox in the mist

i have some really amazing friends. yesterday i stopped by dina's house and she (and mia!) presented me with these amazing mugs that i'd been lusting over! how cool/awesome/adorable/insanely cute are these??? i doubly enjoyed my coffee this morning!

fade to grey

forget me knot.

my latest knotted necklace: it's 18 inches long and made with two different cuts/sizes of pyrite and garnets. the pink stone is a pink garnet. i love all the different types of garnet...so gorgeous. 

 my necklace is sad about all the snow.

MONSTER storm!

yes, that's what they were calling it. it actually wasn't as bad as they predicted for us in detroit since we only ended up getting about 4 or 5 inches. having said that, it was still kind of a mess out there with the subdivisions and side roads unplowed.
anyway, i stayed home all day in my comfy ugg slippers and warm sweats. i cuddled with kitties, made jewelry and did wedding stuff. it was faaantastic.

a playful little henry (a.k.a. michael)

 a sneak peek at something i made for the wedding...

 one of my favorite spots in the world..my jewelry studio.

 i realized i didn't post a pic of alex's band. here it is. oh and mine..again. ;)

static cling

i started a new beaded necklace this afternoon. i have learned that i cannot use the beadalon knotting tool that i bought to make knotting necklaces easier..it's actually harder in my opinion. instead, i use a needle to get the knot as close to the bead as possible and then i use tweezers to tighten the knot. so of course i'm using pyrite, what else?

(the static in the house is driving me nuts because it results in lint everywhere, including my workspace!)

have you gone to the grocery store to stock up on milk, bread, flashlights and gas masks? i prepared for the upcoming snowstorm by going to the jewelry supply store to get more materials. :)