holy productivity Batman!

so, Sunday night, we meet again.


of course, last Sunday we were bracing for the unknown of Hurricane Sandy, and while the storm has come and gone...the sky has been gray and ominous ever since...I don't think the sun has made more then a slight cameo appearance in over a week...and add to that the daylight savings hour we "gained" last night- which I promptly celebrated by sleeping for 11 hours- it is 5:30 and pitch dark outside.


we are into winter people.  I know it's not technically until the 21st (ish) of December...but it feels like it...today the temperature didn't get above 45...and the high for the next week is only 57...

but I do love winter...so I'm not terribly upset...I do feel a little jipped on Fall though...

the cats have gotten more clingy...guess we are keeping each other warm...this is pretty much where the three of us spent the weekend...

once I got back from class on Saturday afternoon, I made the decision to start taking charge of my business, and purchased some blog ads on two blogs that I just love reading...so I figured it was time to take the plunge and give JerseyGirlDesign the time and attention it deserves :)


it's so easy to just say, oh, I'll do it when I've had time to build up inventory, or stock my shop...but you know what?  without a deadline or some pressure...I will never do it.


I need deadlines.  personal ultimatiums.

so I did it.  and I saw my ad on Kym's blog yesterday...and it was awesome :)

So make sure to visit with Kym and Erin, and go by my shop to see the new goodies I have added...here are a few to tempt you :)

wishbone charm necklaces

cute teeny tiny gumdrop polymer clay earrings

pretty pink post earrings

What I'm Working on - polymer clay!

so I've been working a bit on my polymer clay skills, and here are some photos of my first round of ideas...of course, they involve glitter, because, well that's how people know me now ;) 

they aren't quite done...need some finishing touches...but I am toying around with what colors to offer in the spring season...

What I'm Working on - new designs in clay!

last week I got to attend a workshop held at MICA, taught by my friend Jen, clay expert extraordinaire...and I am hooked!  I had purchased myself some clay a while back, because I got a starter kit for PMC (precious metal clay- it's clay that turns to silver when you fire it!!) but it's so expensive, I was afraid to use it until I felt comfortable with the medium, and polymer clay is the perfect tool to practice with!

needless to say, I haven't had much time to play around with it, but on Tuesday last week, I took a study break, and dove in head first! 

here are some of the fun designs I made, and fired in my oven when I got home :p

and now I've been sketching some ideas for resin jewelry that incorporates some clay pieces in it...I can not wait to have something done to post on here...but until then...here are some of the fun colors of clay I had bought a while back when it was on a super sale!

 

the workshop was put on by Etsy, MICA and the Baltimore Etsy Team (BEST) as part of the I Heart Art project!!

what I'm working on - glitter, glitter, everywhere!

we all know how I feel about glitter, and over the last year of making and selling my glitter resin pieces, I've found that I'm not alone in this!  so along with the rings, and the new line of bezel set pieces, I started making a few more designs...

so I bring you, glitter barrettes...

and glitter wine stoppers...

not to be outdone by even more ideas I have brewing for this year...so stay tuned!!

now to finish editing the photos so I can get them up in my shop!

what I'm working on - new pendant designs!

something that I've been wanting to do, for a very long time (as per usual), is design my own silver pendants...I've had great success incorporating the designs of others into my work with gemstones, but the true creative inside of me wanted to be able to say, "yes I designed this pendant myself" and not, no...I just put it on the chain...of course it helped me to make my designs better, and get people's attention, which in turned led me to be able to further my business and sales, etc...but it's time to grow...new year, new designs!

my first line that I'm working on is a series of astrological sign pendants...so I'll have 12 new designs, one for each zodiac sign...I hoped to have them ready for my fellow capricorns...but being sick put me back a bit...

anyway, preliminary sketches are done, and now I'm working with companies who will cast the designs in sterling silver for me, so I can start putting them out there to see what reactions I get!  very exciting- I can't wait to see my sketches come to life in beautiful jewelry!

what we're working on

**As seen on the Baltimore Craft Blog**

About a year ago I had a vision of how I wanted my designs to grow. While finishing school took up most of my time I thought it would just be that, a dream, a goal, but with the motivation and genius of Jen of Yummy & Company, our 'ah-ha' moments have recently started to become reality.

In a Reese's Pieces moment - you got chocolate in my peanut butter!...well you got peanut butter in my chocolate! - our first collaborative effort was to take some of the Yummy Ruffle rings and coat them in resin and glitter. The result was oh so sparkly and lots of fun!

 We then took to the bench and tried our hand at soldering. The result was my original vision, to take my glitter collection to a new level, on a smaller scale, with earrings, pendants and eventually rings! The ideas are just flowing, and we're having trouble keeping track of them all! I couldn't be more excited to work on the next ideas we'll come up with, in between the fits of laughter and the trials and errors with our tumbler!

new designs! finally!!

it has been about a year in the making...but my new designs that I dreamed up last December have finally come to life...the 'refined' glitter collection! 

and thanks to the motivation of my super friend Jen, of Yummy & Company fame, I got my stuff together, and tried something new...we soldered, tumbled, polished, resined and came up with a line of products that I am really proud of. 

earrings in a variety of sizes, and delicate pendants are the first round of this collection...stackable sterling rings and free floating earrings and pendants come next!

tons and tons of glitter :)

oh how I love glitter...always have, always will...I'll be covered in it for days at a time...especially while prepping for the holiday craft show season!...my new love, Martha Stewart Glitter, comes in about 49807076070 colors, so the hardest part was choosing a few to start with...lucky for me, they also come in smaller multi-packs, so I can test them out :)

and just what am I doing with these glitters you might ask? well it involves resin...and it's sparkly, shimmery and awesome!...so you'll just have to wait and see...oh and come see me at some of my holiday sales!

below is a photo of the 'works in progress'...it doesn't look like much...yet...but it will!

tales from the Metal Studio

it doesn't look like much just yet...but yesterday in class I made pretty good progress...

started out with a piece of Plexiglas, which I drew a design on (in my case, a four leafed clover) and cut it out with the saw

then took some 14 guage copper sheet metal and rolled it out to a size 26 guage


cut two pieces, one for the front, and one for the back, and using the hydrolic press I used the molds to create two shapes

then I cut each of those out...and soldered them together!!

next week we'll clean it up, and add a jumpring so it can be a pendant for a necklace...hooray!!

What I'm Working on...Wednesday :)

a little sneak peek into some green, March inspired designs :)

this month...I love amethyst :)

okay, so I love purple anything pretty much...and February is the month of purple...Amethyst that is :)

so I went a little purple happy, and uploaded a few new Amethyst inspired designs into the shop today!