JMW Jewelry

Change of Artistic Passion

2010-02-08T08:29:00.003-05:00

I thought I should probably post on here that JMW Jewelry is basically no more. During the period where I tried to start seriously selling my work I discovered that I really didn't like doing it for money, and it pretty much burned me out on jewelry making, at least for now. As I said a couple of posts back, I've been back in school, so that has been taking up most of my time lately as well. I actually switched my major to Digital Photography, and I think it's the best decision I've made! I LOVE it! :) You can see some of my work at a couple of places online: deviantArt & Flickr Both have different purposes, so be sure to check out both.

Maybe someday I'll get back into my jewelry making as a hobby, but for now I wouldn't expect any updates here. Sorry guys!

Summer Metals Classes!

2009-03-19T16:44:00.004-04:00

Hey guys, I'm going to be teaching this summer at the Indianapolis Art Center! So if you live in the area and you're interested in learning metalsmithing, or know someone who is (adult or teen) pass this along!!

Beginning Metalsmithing, Saturdays 3-6pm, June 13th - August 8th (no class on July 4th)

Beginning Metalsmithing for Teens, Monday thru Friday, 3:30-5:30pm, June 22nd - 26th

Chain and Chainmaille for Teens, Monday thru Friday, 3:30-5:30pm, June 29th - July 3rd

Disappearance

2009-03-11T08:52:00.005-04:00

Okay, wow, I'm so sorry that I completely disappeared, guys!! Life has had some changes for me, and I haven't been doing a whole lot of jewelry lately.

I have actually gone back to school! It was a rather sudden decision, really. I wasn't finding any kind of a job, whether it was full-time or part-time, and I was getting frustrated. Plus I really didn't want to be an administrative assistant for the rest of my life. So I did a lot of thinking and came to the conclusion that I wanted to go back to school for Graphic Design. I started to contact schools in December to see what my options were around the area, and before I knew it I had committed myself to a school, and sooner than I had ever thought possible! I started classes on January 12th, about two weeks after I met with the woman!!

And I cannot even begin to tell you how much I have been enjoying being back in school and learning so much!! I know, I'm weird - I enjoy school. I definitely have a new appreciation for it now, doing my second degree, and with a real goal in mind. I should be done with my Associates by the middle of next year! :)

Classes have been taking up a lot of my time, obviously. I still haven't found any kind of a part-time job, unfortunately. I'm hoping I can get a school job this coming quarter.

So yeah, that's why I've been MIA! If you're interested in seeing some of what I've been doing in my classes, check out my deviantArt account here!

Also, I wanted to let you all know that I am selling a bunch of rubber stamps! My mother (& I when I was younger, too) went through a major rubber stamping phase for years, but lately has been doing scrapbooking and just using mainly her saying and letter stamps, so she gave me a bunch of stamps she never uses anymore (some used to be mine, too). Most of them are from Stampin' Up, and most of them are nice wood stamps. My mom took really good care of hers (the ones that were mine don't look as nice, but they still work perfectly!).

Anyways, if you are into rubber stamping and/or scrapbooking, go check them out here! I've already sold a few. Those that don't sell in the next few months I will probably try selling on eBay, so if you like something don't let it just sit there!

Folded Flowers

2009-01-08T07:42:00.006-05:00

Today I am going to feature someone who is a friend of mine. We've never met in person, but we have gotten to know each other through our blogs, and there really seems to be so much that we have in common! One of the things we have in common is that we both love to create.

She has an Etsy shop called LLillardDesigns, where she has a few different kinds of things listed, including hair clips, bath salt sachets, and photographs - but my FAVORITE thing is her origami flowers.

She sells them as a bouquet of 6, but will take custom orders! I think these would be PERFECT for a wedding! As a centerpiece, as part of the favors, or even as the bouquets themselves!!

And I have to show you a couple of her photographs, too:

Be sure to check out her shop to see what else she has to offer!

Phew!

2008-12-30T13:28:00.005-05:00

Christmas is over, and now I can relax a little bit! We had a great holiday, tho, even tho it was exhausting.

I can share what I made for my father with you guys, now!

An ornament! I took this picture:

And made a pattern out of it in Adobe Illustrator:

I broke 4 or 5 drill bits on it. It was infuriating! I was trying to use a tiny drill bit so the holes didn't show up as much, but kept breaking them. I tried annealing the copper, and that seemed to help some, but I still broke one more after that. That was my last of the little ones, and I can't get that size locally, so I had to go up in size a bit, but it turned out good anyways!

I finished it with a brass brushed finish and a piece of ribbon. In all I'm pretty happy with it, and my dad loves it!! :-D

Christmas Time

2008-12-24T10:11:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone, sorry I disappeared for a little while. I've been doing some major soul-searching about my future career-wise. I've come to the conclusion that I want to go back to school for Graphic Design, so we'll see where that leads me!

Jewelry-wise, tho, I've made some Christmas presents that I'll share with you guys! These aren't for sale in my shop (although if you'd like something similar, you can definitely ask me).

I made this pendant for my husband's aunt. She owns a dance studio, and this is their logo:

The base is a circle done with marriage-of-metals with copper and brass, and the dancer on top is silver and riveted to the circle.

I made something for my dad, too, but in case he reads this, I won't post it until after Christmas!!

I've also started teaching my husband metals!! This is his first project, a set of copper bangles he's going to give to his goddaughter for Christmas:

It was hard to get a good picture of these, but he used various patterned

I've closed up my shop until next Tuesday. We're going up to spend time with family. I'm hoping the weather will cooperate, because it's been pretty gross lately! I hope you all have a safe Holiday yourselves!! And for those who celebrate,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Art Fire

2008-12-11T10:43:00.004-05:00

I am now on Art Fire! I decided to try it out (click here to see my shop), and if it looks to be promising I'll sign up for a verified account. Currently I have a free basic account, and am only allowed to list 10 items, but you're allowed to link to Etsy, so I've done that in my bio and descriptions, to let people know that I have more things for sale elsewhere.

Are any of you on Art Fire, too? It does still have a lot of bugs, but it's only a few months old, and the admins seem to be really working hard to make it great! I'm excited to see what happens.

If any of you do decide to sign up, I'd appreciate it if you used me as your referral :) Just type in "JMWJewelry" in the referred box when you sign up!

Who Doesn't Love Slugs?

2008-12-09T08:45:00.005-05:00

Well, at least THESE slugs!! I stumbled across MarthaLand's Etsy shop a little while back, and immediately fell in love! These just SCREAM collectible! And she even does custom orders, too! I had such a hard time picking which ones to show you guys, because I just love all of them!

A lot of the little guys/gals come with props, too! And she even lists some props separately so you can accessorize your slugs if you want!

These guys come with a checkers set!

Did someone say Guitar Hero??

Be sure to go check out all of the others, because they're all great! She's also planning a Holiday Special Edition series, so don't miss that! Check out her blog for sneak peaks!

New Line of Earrings!

2008-12-05T15:15:00.003-05:00

I have a new line of Cluster earrings that I started listing today - Check it out!

Each pair is priced at $22.50

Front Page Again!

2008-12-05T09:20:00.001-05:00

I made it to the front page of Etsy again today!!

This time it was with my "Live Long & Prosper Sign Earrings"!!

Tweet Tweet!

2008-12-02T15:58:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone!! Hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving last week had a great one! I feel so behind on everything after the holiday, but am hoping to surge forth with a vengeance!

I have joined Twitter!

If you're on there, too, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/JMWJewelry

The Metalsmiths In Action contest is still going strong - we have 13 prizes left! Click here to go to the contest info page.

I got a great book for my birthday!

It has some awesome tutorials in it! You will probably start seeing things from me inspired by this book!

Contest Has Begun!!

2008-11-28T09:30:00.001-05:00

Don't forget about the
Seek, Find & Win Contest!!

See my last post for details!

Win Some Jewelry!!

2008-11-25T22:16:00.003-05:00

Who wants to win free jewelry???

Team MSIA (Metalsmiths In Action) is doing a "Seek, Find & Win" contest, starting this Friday, November 28th and going through December 12th, to promote our Etsy shops. There will be 25 PRIZES given away!! Anyone can participate (including those of you who are international!). Go to the following link to get all of the details & to see what prizes you can win: http://metalsmithsinaction.webs.com/contest.htm

Here are some examples of what you can win:

See more here: http://metalsmithsinaction.webs.com/apps/photos/ (not all of the prizes are posted yet, so be sure to check back on Friday to see them all!!)

My contribution to the contest is a pair of my new Thumbs Up Sign Earrings!!

Earrings

2008-11-24T09:16:00.003-05:00

Well, I finally got some pictures of my earrings that weren't terrible. I'm still working on great, but these will do for now. I've started listing them in my stores, but here is a sneak preview of them all:

BIRTHDAY SALE!!!

2008-11-22T12:57:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is my birthday, so to celebrate I am having a 1-day only sale!!!

November 23rd
12:01 am to 11:59pm

10% off!!!

Just type "Happy Birthday!" in the comments at checkout, and I will send you a new invoice!!!
(Be sure to wait for the invoice before paying!)

More Flowers!

2008-11-21T18:29:00.003-05:00

I've finished the four additional marriage of metals flower pendants you saw a sneak peak of a little while back! I've started listing them in my shops, starting with the Orchid.

Orchid

Calla Lily

Tiger Lily

Daffodil

I also have the hand sign earrings finished (well, 5 of them), and am working on getting good pictures of them so I can start listing them. Unfortunately I'm having a lot of trouble with the photos! I will be trying more tomorrow, tho.

Also, I found out that apparently the treasury on the front page of Etsy on the 20th wasn't my first - I was in another on the front page on the 17th and didn't even know it, and it was also with the Leaf Trio Necklace! How cool - twice in one week!! :)

I Heart Handmade: Holiday Show!

2008-11-21T08:00:00.003-05:00

Don't forget - today the I Heart Handmade: Holiday Show begins!!

Be sure to go check out all of the shops that are participating, and find out what my special associated to the sale is!!!

Front Page!!

2008-11-20T10:51:00.004-05:00

I've made it to Etsy's front page for the first time today!! Woohoo!!

If you're quick, you can go see it in person :)
The treasury's home is here.

New Store!

2008-11-20T09:48:00.004-05:00

I have a new online selling venue! I have joined 1000 Markets, an online selling venue for small, independent, artisan businesses. It's similar to Etsy in some ways, but very different in others. Both have features that I like better than the other. One big difference is that they use Amazon Payments instead of Paypal. Also, the way the shops are set up is very different than Etsy. Each shop has a blog attached to it. This, plus a "Wall" feature on the main page (sort of like on Facebook), makes the shops more interactive with customers. Oh, and they also have stats, something that Etsy is SORELY lacking!! (Though still not quite as detailed as I would like.) I also think that the shops look a lot classier and clean than on Etsy. So go check out my new store here!

Decorate Those Walls!

2008-11-19T11:02:00.006-05:00

Has everyone discovered the new fad in interior decorating? It's called vinyl wall art! And I think it's such a neat idea! There are quite a few places selling it now - I've even seen sayings for sale at JoAnn's! But here I'm going to feature a couple of MY personal favorites.

First we have Holly from Vinyl Wall Art (that will link you to her official website, but she also has an Etsy site here!) She has a lot of fun as well as classy things. In addition to the vinyl wall art, she has car window decals and even temporary tattoos in her shop! She also has a sister shop with stamps that she has designed.

My second feature is for OneUp Wall Graphics. I love this guy's classy wall decal designs! The first one pictured below almost made it onto my Asian-themed bathroom wall, but I ended up making something myself instead. But I definitely have future plans and hopes to use wall decals in the future (I'm still not done decorating my place, ya know!)

Be sure to go and check out both of their shops - there's a lot of good stuff to see!!

Where else to find me?

2008-11-14T14:11:00.004-05:00

So you may or may not have noticed the list on the left side of my blog titled "Find Me Elsewhere", so I wanted to blog about it!

I'm online in quite a few places now. One of my first online presences with my art was on deviantArt. I actually have two galleries there now, with one focusing on my jewelry, and my older one that still contains my other various artworks. I like deviantArt for many reasons. One major reason is the networking and inspiration I can find there - there are a lot of amazing artists with galleries on there! Sometimes you have to sift through a lot to find them, but they are there! Also, I love the "comment" function, where people can respond to my work.

You can also find me on Facebook and MySpace. Actually, the MySpace page is a new addition - I just signed up for one today! I have been on Facebook significantly longer. Whichever you prefer, you can find me there! I also have my blog (which you are currently reading!) on the Facebook Blog Network here! Friend me, fave me, rate me, whatever!

Seven

2008-11-10T20:25:00.003-05:00

LOL, I was tagged twice for the same thing. So here I go I guess! My taggers were Ametista and ThroughTheRainbow.

THE RULES:
* Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog.
* Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. When I was in 6th grade we had to write a autobiography about our future as if it had already happened. In my story, I lived in Maine on a horse farm (I know that isn't really rational, but come on, I was 12; my favorite movie at the time was "Sarah Plain & Tall", and what little girl doesn't want a pony?!?). I would not be thrilled with either anymore - I hate cold, and New England gets VERY cold for a significant part of the year, and I like horses, but only occasionally - I'm slightly terrified of falling off of one!
2. My favorite colors are blue and sage green, and I've become very fond of brown in the last year or so. I'm an earth-tone kind of girl!
3. I've always wanted curly hair - without the frizz, tho! Alas, the only curls my hair ever gets is when it's wet, and they don't stay very well once it's dry.
4. I love waterfalls.
5. I am fascinated by ancient cultures and religions, especially Greek & Roman mythology, as well as Celtic history & mythology. I WAS getting a minor in Ancient Studies, just for fun, but dropped it when it got too repetitive (they really do emphasize the Greeks & Romans too much). I have absolutely no interest in more modern history, however, especially American history. (I think it's because I grew up visiting Gettysburg frequently to see family and was dragged to every museum, battle ground, and cemetery there - hated it with a passion.)
6. The minor I DID get was in Consumer Finance. I actually had another minor before either - Art History. Unfortunately my school didn't offer much in the way of art history classes each semester, and since I wasn't going to be able to take the classes I really wanted to take I dropped it.
7. The women in my family (including myself) have a major obsession with Dachshunds. I think it started with my grandmother, then passed to my aunt and my mother, and then to me. It's apparently contagious, because my mil has caught it as well. My mother even has one as a show dog now (as of last year)!!

Blogs I have tagged:
Mandi @ http://my3lilmonkeys.blogspot.com
Nicole @ http://nicolesolo.blogspot.com
Cheryl @ http://feltsewgood.blogspot.com
Joanna @ http://mywordjewelry.blogspot.com
Shoshona @ http://shoshonasnow.blogspot.com
Copperheart @ http://copperheartdesigns.blogspot.com
Tammy @ http://www.tammykirks.com

Leaf Series!

2008-11-08T21:37:00.009-05:00

A while back I made a couple of necklaces that incorporated a leaf motif, and I really fell in love with them. They've been out of my shop for a little while, but, in honor of the Fall season, they are BACK, and I have introduced a third piece to the series!!

Leaf Trio Necklace

Cherry Leaf Necklace

Onyx Leaf Pendant

The first two come with handmade chains. The third does not come with a chain, but one can definitely be added (handmade or pre-fabricated) if you like!

Also, here is some other news! I will be participating in the American Craft Guide's online "I Love Handmade: Holiday" online craft fair, which will take place from November 21st thru December 20th! I will have a special discount associated with the fair, so be sure to check it out!

Fun & Chunky!

2008-11-06T10:31:00.005-05:00

I recently became a member of the EtsyBloggers Street Team, and one of the requirements of membership is to post about the featured member of the month, so you will start seeing these posts monthly from me!

November Featured EtsyBlogger:
StoryBeader!

StoryBeader has some chunky beaded necklaces that I think are so fun! These two are my favorites:

Here is an excerpt from her Etsy profile:

"I'm a frustrated writer who likes to put words and colors together to make wearable art. How do you wear words, you ask? I suppose my haiki poems can float around in your brain as you sashay down the lane, wearing one of my necklaces.

Each of my necklaces comes with a haiku, written specifically for the piece, by yours truly!

I love looking in dictionaries and thesauruses, playing with my dog, watching turtles, digging in the garden, and having salt spray in my face (that last one's a memory.)"

I love that she writes little haiku's for each of her pieces!

Be sure to check out her blog, too: Stroll Through Storyland

Little Devil

2008-11-03T16:56:00.008-05:00

Hey everyone, sorry for my absence! The last couple weeks have been really weird and crazy for me with all of the major changes life has thrown me.

I have been making stuff, tho! I have quite a few things in-progress. Here are some sneak peaks of what I'm working on:

Earrings to match the Hand Signs Necklaces!

Four more marriage-of-metals flower pendants! Clockwise starting in upper-left: orchid, calla lily, tiger lily, and daffodil.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! I was quite disappointed because we got absolutely no Trick-or-Treaters this year - which I find weird, because our neighborhood is full of kids. When we lived in an apartment we always got at least one! Bizarre... But Keeva & I had fun dressing up anyways :-)

She's my Little Devil! (Who, consequentially, just had an accident on the floor... Grr...)

Flowers & Dates

2008-10-20T16:30:00.005-04:00

Today was my first weekday after my last day at my job, and I think I took full advantage of it! I did a lot of work in the studio today. I'm very excited, too, because I made one piece that I now plan to make into a whole new series! If you've seen my marriage-of-metals pieces, you know that I really do love that technique. Well, I want to start doing it again, and incorporating it into my shop. I had made a brooch for my mother a while back with irises depicted in it with the marriage-of-metals technique, and I took the pattern from that piece and pulled out just one of the irises and made it into a pendant! I used sterling silver, brass, and copper.

This technique is SO hard to photograph, but I think I got some good ones despite that!

I made it so that the chain goes through a loop in the back, rather than drill a hole through the design itself, and I'm so glad that I did! I want to design a bunch of these with different flowers.

I also took some more pictures of the Anniversary Date necklace so that I could get it listed on Etsy (it should be up in the next day or two!)

Check It Out!

2008-10-19T08:47:00.006-04:00

I recently joined an awesome group on Etsy called Metalsmiths in Action. It has a lot of amazing metalsmiths on there. Make sure you go and check them out: http://metalsmithsinaction.webs.com/index.htm

Click on "Team Member Stores" to see a list of all of the members (I'm so new that JMW Jewelry isn't on the list yet).

Life Changes

2008-10-14T18:58:00.005-04:00

Things have been thrown a bit out of whack in my life in the past week. I was informed last Thursday that I am being laid off (that's what I get for working for the building industry right now, huh?). I've been trying to figure out what I want to do now, and what my options are. I could, of course, try to get another full-time job like the one I had (or a better one, that actually used more of my skills). But I think what I've decided to do is get a part time position and then focus on my jewelry business more. This may be the perfect opportunity for me to go forward in all of this, and a blessing in disguise!

I've now listed all of the hand sign sets, and have also started to list the individual necklaces as well. You can find the sets in my shop under SIGNS OF LOVE Sets, and the individual necklaces are under HAND SIGNS Necklaces.

Vibrant Pottery

2008-10-09T09:16:00.009-04:00

Today I want to feature two pottery artists that I have admired for quite some time now! Both have unique colors and textures, and have distinct styles!

Lois Aronow Porcelain's work has an organic quality to the texture as well as the forms of her mugs, and she combines white and black with bursts of color.

Shoshona Snow Ceramics' work also combines black and white with bursts of color, but her patterns and techniques give a more modern, stark quality to her pieces.

Both have great work, and I would love to have either as my dish set!

First Model Photoshoot!

2008-10-06T21:00:00.005-04:00

I had my first photoshoot with a model this evening. One of my friends was kind enough to come over and model my jewelry for me. I of course fed her (and her husband) dinner afterwards :) I'm pretty happy with the results! Here are a few of them (you can click on them to see them a bit larger):

Now I can start putting these new pieces up in my Etsy shop! Be sure to check it in the next few days to see new things arrive!

Progress!

2008-10-04T18:31:00.007-04:00

I've spent the day working on jewelry and trying to figure out my pricing. I have made some adjustments to pricing in my shop to reflect this, and will use my new formula in the future. I've also been taking pictures, and have an "appointment" with a friend for Monday evening to take some pictures of her modeling my jewelry! I'm excited, and hope it goes well.

I had to make some modifications to the wedding date necklace - I wore mine the other day, and the hooks kept coming off, so I had to switch to jumprings and putting the clasp in the back. I really don't want someone to lose their necklace that I make for them! I'm glad I did a test run with it. Here's a picture of how it looks now (see a few posts down for previous if you want to compare):

I was kind of sad about it, as I liked the look of the hooks, but it just wasn't practical, so I digress.

I'm still working hard on new ideas and should have a lot to show you soon that I haven't posted anything about yet! But I did finish the pendants in my "sign" series (I'm still trying to think of a catchy name for the series, so let me know if you have any ideas!). Here you can finally see all of the new additions (the Love Sign pendants were the first of the series):

"Peace"

"We Are One"

"High Five"

"Thumbs Up"

"We Rock!"

"Live Long & Prosper"

A Few More Sneak Peaks

2008-10-01T20:32:00.002-04:00

I'm still trying to get the pictures just right, but here are a couple more sneak peak pictures!

Upcycle!

2008-09-30T15:09:00.009-04:00

I love to find fun products made out of recycled items!

Ivy Lane Designs was the first that I found and loved on Etsy. Her journals are fun and quirky, and you can find something for pretty much anyone that has a favorite cereal, candy, food, or beer!

MoJo is another favorite of mine - I adore her baby booties made from food wrappers!

Some Sneak Peaks!

2008-09-27T20:12:00.004-04:00

I've been working like a fiend today on jewelry, and got a lot accomplished. I attempted to take some pictures before it got too dark, but wasn't able to get much that I was happy with. I thought I'd show you guys a bit of it, tho. These pictures may or may not make the final cut when I post the pieces for sale.

This first piece is a personalized pendant with your wedding date (or any romantic anniversary, really). The sample is my wedding date - I figured I should make a sample that I can actually use :) I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I used the same silhouette as the Kiss Pendant.

I'm also working on a whole series of "hand sign" necklace sets. Here are sneak peaks of two of them:

First Feature Post!

2008-09-26T20:46:00.018-04:00

For my first feature post I have picked two artists from Etsy that I absolutely love.

First is Bailey Doesn't Bark - ceramic artist Re Jin Lee has very beautiful, simple pieces that I would love to have in my home! My favorites are her cup/plate sets where the images match up when the pieces are sitting on top of one another - it's such a unique, fun idea!

The next artist is Claire Ishino - her jewelry is very crisp and clean (something I strive for!), and I love the way she adds color to her work! My favorites are her leaves.

Be sure to stop by both of their Etsy shops to see more of their lovely work!

Changes Ahead!

2008-09-26T12:35:00.003-04:00

I am beginning this new blog for my jewelry business, JMW Jewelry, because I want it to have a bit of a different direction than my old one. I will still post about what I'm working on as I always have, but I am going to start using my blog to help promote myself (as well as other artists and craftspersons I enjoy), and eventually I plan to include things like contest, giveaways and drawings.

I have chosen Blogspot to host my new blog because it makes it easier for others to follow my blog. I hope you enjoy my work and my blog and will subscribe! I have a few ways for you to do so - check out the right side of this blog for links to subscribe by e-mail, through a reader, or through Blogspot as a follower.

I have a new logo, and am making plans to re-do my website as well.

Also, watch for some new work soon - I'm working hard on some things I hope you will all like!