Hillary Won this month's eSMArts Challenge! You can see what she had to say about winning here.
You can see her explanation of the inspiration behind the piece she created here. We are utterly thrilled and cannot describe how giddy Hillary is! Thank you to everyone who voted!
Showing posts with label artisan jewelry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artisan jewelry. Show all posts
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
New Piece for the eSMArts Challenge- "Exactly"
Hillary created this new necklace for the eSMArts monthly challenge. This month's theme was ribbon and Hillary's piece fits the theme well, but it is based on something deeper. Here is what she had to say about it:
"Why would you cover up something so beautiful? Why hastily wrap fabric around something that is already perfect? Why mask the amazing sparkle?" Because it's what I do in real life. Why?
I don't know. What I do know is that hiding is tiring and it mostly just hurts me. I'm beautiful and sparkly and amazing just like my pendant: Creativity, compassion, dramatic tendencies, mistakes, extra 35 pounds and all. It's all beautiful. Keeping it in is a lot of work. Keeping it covered is me telling myself it's wrong or that other people's definitions of beautiful matter more than mine. I'm so tired of living behind this "fabric". I don't think I've said that enough: I'm tired and it hurts; And it's lonely.
I love people. I love hugs. I love talking. I love; alot. But mostly I worry about what other people will think if I reach out to them, I hide and I push people away. I don’t always know why. Sometimes, it’s just plain habit: No matter how hard I try, I run and hide, create drama, or just sit silently when what I really want to do is sing and dance and run through the snow naked. I am a little crazy. It really can be a wonderful, beautiful, happy, complicated crazy. But usually, it’s just defensive and short under the guise of trying to appear normal. I should be happy that I am not normal. What I am is beautiful. Perhaps one day I will make another pendant about myself and it will not be a hazy blur of gems with a little sparkle peeking out here and there. I believe it will be twice as beautiful as this one.
Thank you for listening to my story.
--Hillary
Monday, December 7, 2009
eSMArts updates and challenges
eSMArts announced their Santa Giveaway winner!
The eSMArts voting for the October/November challenge is up. The last day to vote will be Wed 12//09 at midnight EST. Look on this blog in the next few days for a detailed post on the piece we entered.
Next Month's challenge has been posted and the theme is "winter". Check the eSMArts Blog around the first of January to see the beautiful creations of the team members.
The eSMArts voting for the October/November challenge is up. The last day to vote will be Wed 12//09 at midnight EST. Look on this blog in the next few days for a detailed post on the piece we entered.
Next Month's challenge has been posted and the theme is "winter". Check the eSMArts Blog around the first of January to see the beautiful creations of the team members.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Child's Play Charity Promotion!
20% of sales from http://hippybeads.etsy.com and http://artfulunity.etsy.com will go to http://childsplaycharity.org, a charity that helps out children's hospitals throughout the world. They have already raised over half a million dollars in the last month and hope we can help give them some more. I started keeping track on thanksgiving and will turn the final donation in on Dec 30th. All sales count including sale items, custom items, and in person sales (if you know me in real life). These guys rock; help them out!
Why do they rock? Because it's a couple of passionate gamers, who write a webcomic, who got tired of the negative light that the media painted gamers in and decided to start a charity for Children's hospitals. They decided to buy toys and raise money for a couple of hospitals in their area. They ended up with about $200,000 in donations and toys that year in a one month period just by putting it out there to their readers. This is their 6th year and they more than doubled that figure their first week this year. They are now up to over $700,000 worth of donations since the beginning of November, and it all goes to help kids.
Hillary is an avid gamer and was raised in an environment of helping. She continues that spirit of helping every day as a social worker. She loves that there is a way that her jewelry businesses can help out and she really loves that there is a charity that promotes a positive image of an amazing group of people that she is proud to belong to.
In celebration of her Child's Play event, Hillary has made shipping on all items half price. She has also updated the shop, put some more items on sale and added some pieces:
We hope to be adding one or two more pieces soon so that there will be even more for you to buy to help out http://childsplaycharity.org .
Why do they rock? Because it's a couple of passionate gamers, who write a webcomic, who got tired of the negative light that the media painted gamers in and decided to start a charity for Children's hospitals. They decided to buy toys and raise money for a couple of hospitals in their area. They ended up with about $200,000 in donations and toys that year in a one month period just by putting it out there to their readers. This is their 6th year and they more than doubled that figure their first week this year. They are now up to over $700,000 worth of donations since the beginning of November, and it all goes to help kids.
Hillary is an avid gamer and was raised in an environment of helping. She continues that spirit of helping every day as a social worker. She loves that there is a way that her jewelry businesses can help out and she really loves that there is a charity that promotes a positive image of an amazing group of people that she is proud to belong to.
In celebration of her Child's Play event, Hillary has made shipping on all items half price. She has also updated the shop, put some more items on sale and added some pieces:
We hope to be adding one or two more pieces soon so that there will be even more for you to buy to help out http://childsplaycharity.org .
Sunday, November 8, 2009
sSMArts Secret Santa Giveaway
the eSMArts team is sharing the love with a handmade bundle
to warm your holidays and ArtfulUnity is participating! Check back here shortly to see details on the piece we donated and look below for details on how to enter.
Enter our Hidden Santa Treasure Hunt to WIN a Christmas Gift Bundle of
unique handmade creations.
The complete prize package, item photos and detailed descriptions will
be announced on the eSMArts blog. Our contest begins November 14th so check
back there.
Sponsor Shop banners will be displayed at the top of the eSMArts blog (both
left and right sidebar).
Simply click the banners to visit each of our Sponsor Shops.
How to Play:
- Check the eSMArts blog for contest details and a list of participating
eSMArts Sponsor Shops.
- Visit each participating shop to find images of our santa.
- Make note of the url where you find our santa pictured!
- HINT: santa images are not embedded yet. They won't be online until
the contest start date of November 14, 2009.
- Here's how to complete each entry: Find 3 Santa images that you
haven't previously submitted. Email the urls along with your name &
address to esmartspromos [at] yahoo.ca to be entered. Find
new/unsubmitted Santa image urls and enter as many times as you like!
~Entries will be validated to ensure that contestants are submitting
fresh Santa spottings. Remember that 3 new Santa image urls equals ONE
additional contest entry.
- Contest runs November 14-28, 2009 (close is November 28/09 at
midnight eastern).
- Drawing takes place November 29th
- Winner will be announced here November 30th
- Prize package ships December 1st, 2009.
check back for hunting hints and tips!
and Happy Hunting :)
to warm your holidays and ArtfulUnity is participating! Check back here shortly to see details on the piece we donated and look below for details on how to enter.
Enter our Hidden Santa Treasure Hunt to WIN a Christmas Gift Bundle of
unique handmade creations.
The complete prize package, item photos and detailed descriptions will
be announced on the eSMArts blog. Our contest begins November 14th so check
back there.
Sponsor Shop banners will be displayed at the top of the eSMArts blog (both
left and right sidebar).
Simply click the banners to visit each of our Sponsor Shops.
How to Play:
- Check the eSMArts blog for contest details and a list of participating
eSMArts Sponsor Shops.
- Visit each participating shop to find images of our santa.
- Make note of the url where you find our santa pictured!
- HINT: santa images are not embedded yet. They won't be online until
the contest start date of November 14, 2009.
- Here's how to complete each entry: Find 3 Santa images that you
haven't previously submitted. Email the urls along with your name &
address to esmartspromos [at] yahoo.ca to be entered. Find
new/unsubmitted Santa image urls and enter as many times as you like!
~Entries will be validated to ensure that contestants are submitting
fresh Santa spottings. Remember that 3 new Santa image urls equals ONE
additional contest entry.
- Contest runs November 14-28, 2009 (close is November 28/09 at
midnight eastern).
- Drawing takes place November 29th
- Winner will be announced here November 30th
- Prize package ships December 1st, 2009.
check back for hunting hints and tips!
and Happy Hunting :)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
My amazing ADHD
Hillary has been diagnosed with ADHD since she was 19. Lately it has been taking a prominent role in her life, and it brought about some thoughts she wanted to share:
My brain works very differently from most other people's and it's hard to even explain sometimes. This makes life very difficult in the corporate world, because ADHD people are not good at things like error free data enter and other repetitive, mundane tasks. What they are good at is coming up with ideas that other people wouldn't and making connections that other people would miss. These are very valuable skills to have as a worker, as an artist and as a person. My ADHD is a big part of why I started making jewelry, and then why I wanted to do more and work differently, which eventually led to being here. It is why I have to do jewelry and dance and art, and why I love them so much. Those with ADHD often have a creative nature, and are often quirky. Quirky creativity describes me and what I do to a tee. I love creating new jewelry and new sketches, and I love coming up with new ideas.
ADHD opens new doors, but it erases some altogether. I will never be able to consistently remember to turn off the lights, enter numbers correctly every time, catch all grammar errors and typos when proofreading, find my keys when I need them, not leave piles of papers and stuff in the house, or intrinsicly understand what organized is. It doesn't matter how hard I try, certain things will never happen the way everyone would like.
That said, I wouldn't give up my ADHD. Like I said, it's part of what drives me to create and part of what makes my creations so different. Without the drive to create and the drive to try new things, there might not be an Artful Unity. Most people with one jewelry business, wouldn't necessarily move on to 2. I, however, had to try it or it would drive me crazy for the rest of my days.
I love myself, who I am, what I create, and my life. None of these things would be the same without my ADHD. I would be a different person, which is the last thing I want. Some days, I wish that I didn't have certain problems that come with the ADHD and some days I wish I could be a little more like everyone else so that we could understand each other. However, if it went away, I don't know that I would ever come up with the unique ideas I do
or be driven enough to pick up a pen and pencil to sketch them knowing that I am most definitely not a sketch artist. But, I am who I am: the designs jump into my head and beg to be made. I don't have the right materials to make them, so they beg me not to forget them; so, I sketch.
Thanks to my ADHD, there's one more design that won't be forgotten, and one more idea that has a chance to become a beautiful piece of jewelry. How crazy and how awesome is that?
My brain works very differently from most other people's and it's hard to even explain sometimes. This makes life very difficult in the corporate world, because ADHD people are not good at things like error free data enter and other repetitive, mundane tasks. What they are good at is coming up with ideas that other people wouldn't and making connections that other people would miss. These are very valuable skills to have as a worker, as an artist and as a person. My ADHD is a big part of why I started making jewelry, and then why I wanted to do more and work differently, which eventually led to being here. It is why I have to do jewelry and dance and art, and why I love them so much. Those with ADHD often have a creative nature, and are often quirky. Quirky creativity describes me and what I do to a tee. I love creating new jewelry and new sketches, and I love coming up with new ideas.
ADHD opens new doors, but it erases some altogether. I will never be able to consistently remember to turn off the lights, enter numbers correctly every time, catch all grammar errors and typos when proofreading, find my keys when I need them, not leave piles of papers and stuff in the house, or intrinsicly understand what organized is. It doesn't matter how hard I try, certain things will never happen the way everyone would like.
That said, I wouldn't give up my ADHD. Like I said, it's part of what drives me to create and part of what makes my creations so different. Without the drive to create and the drive to try new things, there might not be an Artful Unity. Most people with one jewelry business, wouldn't necessarily move on to 2. I, however, had to try it or it would drive me crazy for the rest of my days.
I love myself, who I am, what I create, and my life. None of these things would be the same without my ADHD. I would be a different person, which is the last thing I want. Some days, I wish that I didn't have certain problems that come with the ADHD and some days I wish I could be a little more like everyone else so that we could understand each other. However, if it went away, I don't know that I would ever come up with the unique ideas I do
or be driven enough to pick up a pen and pencil to sketch them knowing that I am most definitely not a sketch artist. But, I am who I am: the designs jump into my head and beg to be made. I don't have the right materials to make them, so they beg me not to forget them; so, I sketch.
Thanks to my ADHD, there's one more design that won't be forgotten, and one more idea that has a chance to become a beautiful piece of jewelry. How crazy and how awesome is that?
Sunday, May 31, 2009
New Artistry and Sketches
Hillary has drawn some sketches for ideas that she has for custom work. She created this jewelry business because she wanted to work on her artistry and work in new ways. She felt that drawing sketches would improve her artistry, help her see things in new ways and give customers a chance to customize an idea to their liking before it's actually made.
This first piece would be made from a square or cube gemstone bead wrapped with wire covered with czech glass beads in a complementary color. Hillary has some great corner drilled dark brown jasper cubes that would make a very elegant but funky necklace if combined with gold, copper or shiny brown beads. However a flat square/diamond in a more pastel color with pastel czech glass would work well for making jewelry with a softer but still elegant and unique look.
The second piece of jewelry is an assymetrical pair of earrings. They are made from chain and various types of high quality beads all in a similar color family. Hillary's original vision was for these to be made of high quality glass including some facted czech glass beads, but this would also work well with gemstones or pearls.
The original idea came from a custom request listed on etsy for bridesmade earrings for a dress that had a wide strap on one side, and no strap on the other. Hillary thought that having a two different earrings might be an interesting way to draw attention to the asymmetry of the dress while still balancing the overall look. This design would work well with any outfit, but Hillary thinks it would look most stunning with strapless or asymmetrical dresses.
The next piece is a necklace made primarily of silver. Silver chain and a silver triangular spacer are accented by small tear-drop shaped beads, and a larger, wire wrapped teardrop bead.
Hillary's original vision involved a Bali silver spacer but other hand-made silver, including Thai, would work well. Hillary envisions vintage glass for the teardrops, but told us that bright gemstones would be beautiful of their own right and would make the piece even bolder.
The final sketch is a set that would involve a lot of intricate wire work. It features wire wrapped teardrop beads with smaller beads worked into some of the wire wrapping. For the necklace, a wire heart covered in small beads surrounds the wire wrapped bead. The bracelet is made from wire wrapped beads with chain in between. The earrings are dangles made with wire wrapped teardrop beads.
For the large beads, Hillary envisions vintage glass or pearls, but gemstones would work as well. For the small beads, Hillary said that she likes the idea of Czech glass and crystals about equally.
Hillary stated that many color combinations would work well on this, but her three favorite ideas are iridescent white on clear or white, shiny royal blue on royal blue, or different shades of green. Contrasting colors would work on this set as well, but the combination would have to be carefully chosen as the design of the set is already very decorative and attention getting.
Thank you for viewing our sketches and we hope you enjoyed them. We will be listing some of these in the next few days on our Etsy site as custom items available for purchase. If you would like us to make one of these for you or make a sketch for you based on your own designs, please let us know. Also, if you have ideas or comments for us or for Hillary, by all means feel free to comment here or convo us on Etsy. Have a beautiful week.
This first piece would be made from a square or cube gemstone bead wrapped with wire covered with czech glass beads in a complementary color. Hillary has some great corner drilled dark brown jasper cubes that would make a very elegant but funky necklace if combined with gold, copper or shiny brown beads. However a flat square/diamond in a more pastel color with pastel czech glass would work well for making jewelry with a softer but still elegant and unique look.
The second piece of jewelry is an assymetrical pair of earrings. They are made from chain and various types of high quality beads all in a similar color family. Hillary's original vision was for these to be made of high quality glass including some facted czech glass beads, but this would also work well with gemstones or pearls.
The original idea came from a custom request listed on etsy for bridesmade earrings for a dress that had a wide strap on one side, and no strap on the other. Hillary thought that having a two different earrings might be an interesting way to draw attention to the asymmetry of the dress while still balancing the overall look. This design would work well with any outfit, but Hillary thinks it would look most stunning with strapless or asymmetrical dresses.
The next piece is a necklace made primarily of silver. Silver chain and a silver triangular spacer are accented by small tear-drop shaped beads, and a larger, wire wrapped teardrop bead.
Hillary's original vision involved a Bali silver spacer but other hand-made silver, including Thai, would work well. Hillary envisions vintage glass for the teardrops, but told us that bright gemstones would be beautiful of their own right and would make the piece even bolder.
The final sketch is a set that would involve a lot of intricate wire work. It features wire wrapped teardrop beads with smaller beads worked into some of the wire wrapping. For the necklace, a wire heart covered in small beads surrounds the wire wrapped bead. The bracelet is made from wire wrapped beads with chain in between. The earrings are dangles made with wire wrapped teardrop beads.
For the large beads, Hillary envisions vintage glass or pearls, but gemstones would work as well. For the small beads, Hillary said that she likes the idea of Czech glass and crystals about equally.
Hillary stated that many color combinations would work well on this, but her three favorite ideas are iridescent white on clear or white, shiny royal blue on royal blue, or different shades of green. Contrasting colors would work on this set as well, but the combination would have to be carefully chosen as the design of the set is already very decorative and attention getting.
Thank you for viewing our sketches and we hope you enjoyed them. We will be listing some of these in the next few days on our Etsy site as custom items available for purchase. If you would like us to make one of these for you or make a sketch for you based on your own designs, please let us know. Also, if you have ideas or comments for us or for Hillary, by all means feel free to comment here or convo us on Etsy. Have a beautiful week.
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