Unfortunate Coincidence

This picture was taken in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. Sigh. You can see from my expression that I was slightly disheartened to see another Adeline, from New York, selling jewelry. And in such poor taste. Hot pink? The inside of the store is reminiscent of a tacky establishment called Bejeweled, in the Polish neighborhood of Greenpoint, where my friend Haley and I used to go to buy cheap hoop earrings.

The only cure for the disdain I feel is to head off to the Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo later today. Nothing like gem therapy to cure the creative blues.

Ch-ch-changes!

A long hiatus, I know. I have relocated (temporarily) to my hometown of Oakland, CA, in the hopes of attending trade school out here. The Revere Academy in San Francisco has a short, intensive program for a bench jeweler's certificate. Will probably start next year, as I will be continuing my traveling adventures this fall in Argentina! For now, another plug for a favorite designer:

Jessica De Carlo has a new website (gotta love that model, too)! Check out the link at left.

Grandmothers

Thumbnail of a piece I just made for my grandmother to give to her this weekend for her 90th birthday. The metal tree is cast from a pendant I made while studying metalsmithing in Florence. 14K gold, freshwater coin pearls. I also added two tiny emeralds (her birthstone) near the clasp. Nana has been handing down her massive collection of jewelry as presents to her grandchildren, and here's a way for me to give something back to her in return (hopefully one of my cousins won't receive it next year for Christmas).

buy me these!

The saddest part about being a jewelry maker and aficionado is that no one ever buys ME jewelry. Here's a short wish list of items I've been coveting recently, for anyone who is interested (my birthday is in July, by the way):

Melting heart earrings from Brooklyn designer Yayoi Forest. I recently discovered this whimsical and slightly quirky line while perusing Catbird's website (a treasure trove of contemporary fashion jewelry that carries several local designers).

Necklace by Stephanie Simek. It's made from a real Japanese Quail egg and lined in 22K gold!

By Elisabeth Sann. I'm a huge fan of cutout silhouettes and use of negative space. She sells a necklace with the actual deer pendant cut out of this sheet metal, but I like that she's repurposed the leftovers to make this one, which I think is ultimately more interesting.

The list goes on and on...

Support Local Artists!

Recognize those ear lobes? Check out Indieshop.com, where you can purchase beautiful handmade items from some of my favorite Brooklyn designers, like Jessica DeCarlo (the best boss in the world, and creator of these gorgeous swirl earrings), and Angela Spencer.

Mothers (part 2)

Happy Mother's Day! I dedicate this post to the loveliest mother of them all (and my favorite necklace model), my mom.

Here she is modeling three very different rings. The top one is a beautiful sapphire set in gold with a hammered band. The middle ring is a citrine and gold ring we gave her for her 60th birthday last year. It was made by Julius Cohen, the company I apprentice with. The bottom one is the most hideous ring my dad and I could find at the flea market in Coney Island. We presented her with that just to mess with her before giving her the real deal.

Mom, thanks for investing in my endless thirst for jewelry supplies. Thank you for helping me set up trunk shows. Thank you for supporting my decision to pursue this as a career. And most of all, thank you for continuing to inspire my creativity and artistic drive. I love you and couldn't do this without you.

Mothers

I teared up leaving the post office today, having shipped off my very first order - a gold EKG necklace for a Mother's Day present! As you all know, Mother's Day is this Sunday, and if anyone local wants to peruse my wares for a trinket for Mom, email me and maybe we can work something out. Two whole days left.

In other exciting and official news, my business cards arrived today.