Jewelry making supplies New York City: June 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Edgar update

Edgar made it through the night, and after giving him a little breakfast I took him to the Sonoma county bird rescue center, where he is now in very capable hands. The best part is that they got another baby crow in yesterday who is about the same age, so he'll have company while he's there. You can really see his blue eyes in this photo, and that stuff on his beak is the baby bird food I was feeding him with an eyedropper.

Fuchsia's & Tanzanite's

Pretty Pair Necklace
16" Sterling Silver Heart Link
Crystallized Swarovski
(small/medium hearts)
On SALE: $38

Large Tanzanite Heart Necklace
16" Sterling Heart Link
Crystallized Swarovski
On SALE: $34

Large Fuchsia Heart Necklace
16" Sterling Heart Link
Crystallized Swarovski
On SALE: $34

I have 3 of each necklace available : )

I'm also working on some more elaborate necklaces ~ I've been motivated recently on new pieces.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

wreathed up in circles, eternally without heads.

ernst haeckel.

these days i've been obsessed with the idea of space. the psychic spacial distance between the city and one's self. between a house and one's self. between a room, between a love. how these spaces and proximity inform and design the inner landscapes of the self, ever curling inward, guarded in armor.

which brings me to ammonites.

these brilliant fossils are the evidence of an extinct sea life species that swam ancient seas & armored themselves in mother of pearl. their pearlescent exterior, coupled with their complex curling spiral shape make them incredibly beautiful. but it is their mythology that attracts me the most. it is written that the shores of whitby were swarmed with a plague of snakes that were cured by the will of st. hilda who turned all the snakes to stone or what are now known as ammonites. this is how they received their second name, 'snakestones'

i've already gotten my hands on a few of these jewel fossils and am working out designs. in the meantime i'm having a late night love affair with the writings of anthony doerr, who's newest book, memory wall, is due in just a few short weeks and whose cover is graced with rows of ammonites.

xo.

ps. thank you to all of you who have recommended books. i'm still trying to track down some of them in the library. please add to the list if you have not done so. or just take a look if you are in need of a good book, the list is quite lovely thus far.

DSK's Nonners Before & After "Makeup"

My childhood friend is an official creative psycho sarcastic? weirdooooooooooo.
lol, but she makes me laugh.so.hard. Live life with a sense of humor & you'll be much happier : )
Watch the first 2 seconds and prepare to burn some extra calories laughing!

Well Nonners, you're my secret winner in spirit! shhhhh....! no one will know about it!
hahaha, I love your loco ways.

I extended my 2010 Search until July 15th because quite a few ladies have recently placed orders and want to join. Everyone who enters this year is going to get a jewelry gift from me on the behalf of DSK Jewelry. ^_^

Thank you to all those who have already entered!
Keep the entries coming! Remember to send them to model@dskjewelry.com

Gnite!

Edgar Allen Crow

We have lots of crows in my neighborhood, and there are several nests in trees in the neighbors yards. Little Edgar here must have fallen out and ended up in our back yard. With all the dogs and cats here it's amazing that he is unharmed. He's got feathers but can't fly yet, and the nests are too high up to put him back, so I brought him inside. He just sat in my hand and let me feed him some baby bird food that we had left over from when the budgies had babies. I was a wildlife rescue volunteer years ago so I've fed more than a few baby birds. The parents were frantically calling and flying around, but now that it's dark they've quieted down. It's heartbreaking to hear them, but I will be taking Edgar to the Sonoma County Bird Rescue Center first thing in the morning, where he will get taken care of and released.

New Friends - A Good Day

This afternoon as Ethan and I got off the elevator during a visit to the ocularist, there was a man sitting on the bench by the elevator with his little girl. As I glanced over at them, I could see she, like Ethan, had her lenses out, and since Ethan had his white cane in hand as we got off the elevator, the man could see we, too were members of the "Planet of the Blind."

It's always nice going to Randy Trawnik, the ocularist's office. Everyone's there for the same reason and is relieved not to have to explain to anyone or ignore rude looks; we're all in this together.

The dad and I struck up a conversation, and as it turns out, he, his wife, and their three kids moved to Austin (the only good place in TX [I can say that 'cause I was born here]) and his m-i-l lives with them, as well. I thought maybe with a three year-old who's blind, he might need and/or appreciate some helpful resource info, but it turns out his wife was a pedi- nurse, so they quickly got their ducks in a row, and moved out of Nevada as soon as he could get a company transfer!

But the best news to me...

the parents and the m-i-l all read braille! I was so happy to hear that, I tool off the alphabet bracelet I was wearing (no, not a sterling one!) and gave it to him to give to his wife for me. In those early days, Eric and I kept wishing we could find people who felt the same way we did, and we did meet a few, but not so many when Ethan was younger. I guess that's more due to the increased Internet connectivity.I love running into people who get it; don't you?!

Week 24-Status Link Bracelet

I'm two weeks behind but I've had four shows in the last five weeks so I've been restocking but haven't had much time to create anything new. Last weekend was a three day show in Northville. It was beastly hot and humid but Northville is a pretty town and the people were extremely nice. Sunday was shaping up to be a really good day until the tornado sirens went off and many vendors started frantically packing up their wares. Since there is no way I can tear down in under an hour anyway, I decided to hang in for a while. No tornado materialized but we did get thunderstorms. By then most of the vendors were closed so I had to admit it was over. That's Michigan for you.

Anyway last week I decided to do extreme housekeeping, for a change. While sorting through old magazines, I ran across a picture of a Prada handbag in a 2008 issue of Elle. The strap on that bag was the inspiration for this bracelet.

My Sweet New Earring Stand!

I went shopping with my sister today at Urban Outfitters.
I found the cutest jewelry stand! What do you think?
You can find it at UrbanOutfitters.com, search Birdcage Jewelry Stand
It was $32, not bad huh?!
Plus you can adjust the height of the stand!
I am in love. Thought I'd share my find with you all here on the jewelry blog : )

Will have another Everything Bracelet posted tomorrow, the theme is dreamy midnight purple... see you then!

Monday, June 28, 2010

a touch of blood red to quicken the pulse.

paper cutting seems to me to be as mysterious as playing the accordion or archery; things i want to learn how to do one day but am mystified by. drawing with tiny blades and scissors seems so poignant to me. until i dig up the time to learn myself, i always fall for elsa mora's whimsical & slightly morbid work.

xo.

Kelly Bensimon Picks Jewelry Over Jellybeans

Jewelry and the New York Housewives go together like pinot grigio and 'turtle time' - so it comes as no surprise that Hamptons hottie, Kelly Bensimon, is adding more trinkets to her celebrity jewelry line.

While Bensimon described her previous jewelry offering as 'Pocahontas goes to the disco' (huh?), her recent bauble collection has a more bodacious provenance:

"One of the most influential icons for me has always been Raquel Welch," Bensimon, 42, tells UsMagazine.com in a statement. "Wrapped in suede and golden-tanned skin, Welch in One Million B.C. epitomized raw beauty."

The creatively named, "Kelly by Kelly Killoren Bensimon" collection mixes metals, leather, feathers and crystals and ranges from $50 to $150 at Intermix stores across the country.

Bensimon also designed a limited number of baubles for charity, with 100% of the proceeds going to Feeding America.

At least she's not dropping a dance tune.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Davina Romansky Jewelry

Jewelry made with mixed metals

sometimes cause mixed reactions -

both metallurgically and emotionally.

Davina Romansky creates jewelry

by mixing metals, precious gems,

and other items of interest.

Starting with natural shapes, many organic in style,

the combination of metals creates energy

within each piece.

Simple pieces become more layered

and dense. They seem to create more energy.

We always have a positive reaction

when we see it.

Here is a piece called Silver and Gold Bangle

that includes black diamonds.

This ring is called Cactus Pearl - it's made with

copper, silver, and a pearl.

Our favorite piece is her

Caged Feathers Necklace.

Made with fine and sterling silver wire,

it features an abundance of Peacock Feathers.

We are captivated by her asymmetrical designs

that meander and build upon themselves.

They inspire our own strong, positive reactions

and we enjoy that aspect of wearing

handcrafted jewelry.

What do you think?

Are you inspired by this work?

We'd love to know.

the heart is the arrow, the wound, the nurse.

whatever it is that you are doing, stop.

and run over to corey helford gallery

to see the luminous & gloriously heart wrenching

new work of brandi milne.

i promise you will not be sorry.

New stuff!

Here's some of the pieces from the latest batch of etching shown on the last post.

Golden Lotus Necklace 20"

Golden Lotus 20" Necklace
14K Gold-filled Mini Rolo Chain Necklace
$44
*sold out, email me to reserve*

I will have shorter lengths available soon, if you're interested in the shorter 16", 18"
let me know via e-mail, dskjewelry@gmail.com if you'd like to reserve one. : )

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Sheet Music & A Flute Story

There are 3 .925 Sterling Charms
This reminds me of my day in band class lol
I played the clarinet for 3 years in middle school. I was 10th/11th chair out of 29 chairs : )
I remember when we'd challenge each other for the chairs. lol
I hated to be challenged!

My boyfriend was first chair flute, AHAHAHAHAA
When I found that out, I about died of laughter.
He was like..don't you know the greatest flute players are men?

He recently told me a sad story...one year his flute got stolen from the band room.
He had to sit out for the rest of the year : (
Eventually, someone turned in a flute to the school. It was Minh's flute! They had found it stuffed in a gutter near his middle school.
He said it was those mean girls in his class who where jealous of him being first chair!

Isn't that just sad?! Makes me want to hug him.

I just felt really bad...so after that story ~ I never made fun of him again for playing the flute. lol

Do you play any instruments?

If I could do it again, I would have picked up violin!
And I still want to learn how to play the piano..just so I can play Taeyang's "Wedding Dress"

"Music Theory" DSK Everything Bracelet
7" Italian Sterling Heart Link
Crystallized Swarovski Crystals and Pearls
*sold*

Do you all know of Yoonha85? He's a pianist on youtube, he's AMAZING.

the endless love letter.... .. . .. . ...

absentia is the one word i couldn't live without. which coincidentally is also part of the title of a brother's quay film, 'in-absentia' which was the inspiration for photographer christina brown's approach of shooting my work on the lovely lindsay for phase 1 of my look book. the film was based on the strange obsession of a woman in an asylum to write love letters to a man who never visits. here's both a clip of the film & a peek at some of the photos:

absentia. victorian watch ring // coming soon

the underworld. owl skull ring.

the prophet. owl claw necklace.

twin heart earrings. // coming soon.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Chain Lace

The past had a hold on her that she couldn't explain. All she had to do was see a piece of lace; touch an antique locket; pull on a yellowed pair of kidskin gloves and she was lost. Lost in a world of fantasy that felt more like memory; lost in a time where elegance and manners were everything.

Hannah lived in the 21st century, but not by choice. She had learned to sew as a small girl; her stitches were even and small and often mistaken for machine stitches. She stitched all of her own clothes, by hand, working quietly at night while the rest of the world slumbered.

Each stitch was a statement, a link to a living past.

© 2010 Cynthia Newcomer Daniel
Seed beads, crystals. Bead woven bracelet. A pattern for this design is available in my Etsy Shop.

Celebrity Engagement Ring Blitz

Cupid is making the rounds in celebrity-land this month, giving we jewelry hounds a cornucopia of diamond carats to count.

First and foremost - we've got another royal wedding on our hands. Huzzah! HRH Prince Albert of Monaco finally parted ways with his bachelor lifestyle by proposing to Olympic swimmer, Charlene Wittstock, with what appears to be a 3-carat pear-shaped diamond stunner (see Jewelry.com's report for more diamond details).

Next up? Our favorite swashbuckling elf, Orlando Bloom, is breaking hearts with news of his engagement to model, Miranda Kerr. A rep at the Diamond Information Center told Us Kerr's ring is an oval diamond set on a white gold or platinum band weighing in at an estimated 3-4 carats with a price as high as $65,000.

Ugly Betty may have lost the ratings war, but its star won big in the end with her recent engagement to longtime beau, Ryan Piers Williams. Reports put the carat count of the round center stone at 4 with an estimated price tag of around $70 large.

Finally? Vienna Miller's diamond engagement ring is making news because, well, it's still on her ring finger. Reports are swirling that Bachelor, Jake Pavelka, kicked her to the curb after discovering she was cheating on him while he was away on business.

If you didn't see that one coming, I have some beach property in the Gulf I'd like to show you.

And if prior Bachelor break-ups are any indication, she won't be wearing the 2-carat Neil Lane diamond much longer. The show's producers get back the bling once the honeymoon's over.

Are there any other recent celebrity betrothals I'm missing? Weigh in!

Etch-o-rama

Art work in Adobe Illustrator ready to be printed on to PNP paper and transferred to brass sheets

The etched brass plates

This last couple of months have been crazy busy for me, but I'm finally starting to get caught up on my very long to do list. Yesterday I went wild the etching, and did plates for 5 new designs in 2 sizes each, as well as a couple of custom pet pieces. The first photo shows my illustrations, all sized and ready to print on to to the PNP transfer paper. Thanks to my spiffy "professional" clothes iron, which does not have automatic shut-off, I was able to get all my images transferred to prepared brass plates without much trouble. This used to be the worst part of the whole procedure - having an iron that shut itself off every 5 minutes made it very difficult to do the transfer process more than one at a time. I was forever waiting for the iron to heat up again. I should have some finished pieces to show in the next day or two.

June 25th, 2010 Midnight Post

Fuchsia Jet Pegasus Necklace
17" Italian Sterling Helix Necklace
On Sale:$50 + Free Shipping Worldwide!

*Free Shipping only on the Fuchsia Jet Pegasus Necklace + additional items*