announcements, project progress and charity!

Hillary promises she has been working on the project she gave herself, but says she doesn't have pictures yet. In the meantime, here are some other things we wanted you to knoe about:

- Mario Marathon is doing a fundraiser for Child's Play, a charity founded by gamers to provide children's hospitals with much needed toys, video game systems and other forms of entertainment for the children in said hospitals and their families. We contribute 20% of our sales to this Charity every year from about Thanksgiving to about Christmas. Since our founder is a die hard video and board gamer, she wanted to make sure you knew about this fundraiser for one of her favorite charities.

- There may be a cross business personal jewelry design challenge in the works, but Hillary is waiting to post on it until she has made more progess on her original self-challenge.

- Hillary reached 200 followers on twitter and wants to celebrate! We are offering free shipping and free gifts to anyone who types "TW200" in the customer comments section of their order. Both Happy Hippy and Artful Unity are participating in this sale. This sale was originally slated to end tonight at midnight but it has been extended to Wednesday at midnight.

- Lastly, we have been working hard at trying to produce weekly content for our blog. We don't simply want this to be a collections of link lists, a bunch of unrelated posts or a mirror of Hillary's other blogs. We aim to keep this blog filled with interesting content and well thought out posts. To this end, we have decided to decrease our official posting schedule to twice a month. We will try to keep to once every two weeks, but, depending on scheduling and time needed for articles we are working on, it may work out differently. Also, if we have enough content for more than 2 posts per month, we will certainly post it. We are sorry to have to announce this decrease, but we see no other way to maintain and improve the quality of our posts.

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.

Restoration/re-purposing an old family necklace

Hillary wanted to share with you the process that she went through to revive a broken crystal necklace:

A while back, my aunt sent me a bag full of family jewelry with little notes about whose it was and what she thought I should do with it. In the bag was this:



Her suggestion was that I re-string it and give it to my mom.

I contemplated simply re-stringing it or at least creating something somewhat true to the era. Ultimately I decided to go with more modern styling because my mother is always highly complimentary of the pieces she gets from me, which are generally more contemporary, and she always says how much she likes my wire-wrapping work. I realize that in many families this would be considered blasphemy, but in mine, the focus has always been on doing things your own way, and everyone seems to enjoy my style. Not to mention, if anyone in my family would prefer something different than what I've created, I can always undo it and re-string it--that's the great thing about jewelry.

There aren't any photos of the work in progress because I take my own photos and I generally don't stop once I start on a piece of jewelry--I sit down with it and don't get up until it's finished. However, I will explain a little bit about what I did:

I strung the crystals on 49 strand jewelry wire and then added a sterling drop chain with a wire wrapped pendant on it.



The pendant was carefully hand-wrapped by me in sterling silver. It is one of the larger crystals from the original necklace. In fact, all beads used in this piece were from the original necklace.



As you can see below, I made a toggle clasp assembly with the crystals rather than using a regular clasp. I originally did this because I didn't have any sterling silver clasps, but in the end, I think it made the necklace look much more elegant.



I made a pair of matching earrings by attaching crystals to surgical steel ear wires. I decided to keep the earrings simple since the necklace itself was large and elaborate.

This was a fun project that kept me up much later than I intended to let it. When I give it to my mother, I will try to get some pictures of her with it and let you know what she thought. Also, when I was done, there was one medium sized crystal left, so it might become a necklace for me if my family is agreeable. If I make that, I'll post it here, too.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project as much as I enjoyed making it.

Free-write on art

This is a free-write Hillary did on the subject of art and creativity and she wanted to share it:

Author's note:
Before someone else says it: purists will note that this does not completely stick to the guidelines for a free-write because there was an obvious audience in mind, and, at some point, a direction, and because it was edited, but nonetheless it started as a bunch of random thoughts about art and creativity and making jewelry which eventually flowed together.


I love those who make the art they want to even if it means no money and no pile of screaming fans. I think life is all about doing things the way you feel is right for you and hoping that someone gets you. This extends to art. When an artist creates something, all they are saying is "here is a piece of me, please try to understand."

Art, be it music, dance, jewelry or performance, is really a bunch of different little pieces of the artist, and what we want is someone to say they appreciate us. I have taken different dances to a choreography competition on 2 separate occasions, and while I was disappointed that I didn't make it in to the finals, I was content when and fulfilled when I heard the words "I really get what you were saying because..." Really I think that's all most people want out of life is to be understood.

I think artists are both lucky and tortured in this respect. We're lucky because we have an outlet to express ourselves that not everyone does. We have a way to very uniquely tell the world who we are. But we're tortured in that that way is very public and leaves us open to criticism, attacks or anything. I also say artists are tortured because artistry is the primary way we express ourselves--the way we have to express what's really going on--and a lot of people won't get it or don't like it.

The diversity of people's modalities of communication and expression is wonderful and it is what makes the human experience unique. But for many artists, we can't help but feel a twinge of rejection if someone doesn't "get" our art. We're asking to be looked at, to be understood, to be something worth wondering about, and some people just plain don't want to be in that artistic world.

I think that many artists have a hard time living in this world and within it's confines. Jimi Hendrix was a genius and yet his music sometimes comes across as so tortured and frustrated. Based on some of the quotes in his liner notes, it seemed like he wanted his whole life to be music... not that he wanted an existence in this world that consisted of him doing nothing but write, play and listen to songs, but that he wanted a universe unto himself that consisted of music. He wanted to live in music. He wanted to be with music constantly.

Some artists really have this same frustration. I know I do sometimes. Some days what I really would like to do, is go in a cave and create whatever it is in my heart and soul to create, be it jewelry, a dance, a story, or even music, and then come out whenever I'm done, show the world and hopefully have at least one person go, "I see where you were coming from". Then I would go back into the cave and make whatever brilliant idea came next.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, my house, my day job, my friends, and everything I do. But sometimes I want to exist purely for art. I think it would be amazing if we could all do that sometimes... all of us who wanted to anyways. Because of this desire, this need, this drive to be artistic, sometimes it is hard for us to connect with other people because we feel like no one understands. So we make art to show you, in the hopes that you will at least be able to say "I see where you're coming from." But for me, artistry doesn't just go one way.

Even though some days I would like to go into that lovely cave, I honestly enjoy connecting with people. I especially like picking out gifts or making jewelry for people as my little way of trying to understand them and then showing them that I understand. I will make jewelry for any situation just to have a chance to create, but I really like the chances I get that involve someone who's very forthcoming and very collaborative. If someone is requesting a gift for someone they know or care about, if the requester is someone I feel comfortable enough with, I'll ask for a picture of the person they're requesting the jewelry for, just so that I can better understand the nature of the person--pictures have a lot of clues in them that can help you understand someone's personality and preferences. I also like to ask about them, their hobbies, etc. I like try to match my jewelry to the person and situation rather than just making something random. So when I say "I would love to make your bridesmaids' necklaces for you." What I'm really saying is , "I want to use what I have to create something perfect for you, not just the pink silk dresses, or the stargazer lilies, or the blonde curly hair that you have, but you, your essence." A wedding, prom or any other formal situation is still all about self expression, and about showing the world a new side of you. I want to use my skills to help you do that. This is why I love art, because I can say anything with the right amount of patience and skill.

Materials and future pieces

Materials we like and why:
We thought we would share with you some of the materials we like to work with. All of the beads pictured are materials we currently have on hand and would like to use in pieces in the near future.



Semi Precious Gems - We like them because they have natural beauty and come in a lot of great colors. They're also generally durable (depending on the specific stone), and if well cut and polished, don't break easily. Pictured here are rose quartz (clear pink), sodalite (dark blue), tigerseye (golden brown), and lapidolite (purple), among others. Semi-precious gems are a good combination of quality and price as they are generally very affordable.



Freshwater Pearls - We like them because they have a shiny, soft and almost silky appearance. They look elegant without being boring or stuffy. Pictured here are white rice pearls (center) and mauve potato pearls (center). Pearls can range in price quite a bit depending on size and quality. The pearls pictured here are very affordable.



Swarovski Crystal - We like it because it's sparkly and fiery but still has a very clean appearance. Lines and shapes of crystal beads appear very well defined because of the way they refract light. In addition, Swarosvki is an instantly recognizable name, and they have earned their reputation by producing high quality lead crystals for over a century. Crystal is more expensive than some other materials, but it has a similar sparkle and apperance to high quality, well cut precious gems, and is much lower in price.




Czech Fire Glass - We like it because it's sparkly, soft in appearance, and more affordable than crystal. It also contains no lead.



Above is a comparison of Czech glass and crystal. The top, blue bead, is Czech glass and the bottom, pink bead, is crystal. Both of these beads have an aurora borealis finish.
As you can see, they both have their own unique qualities and, as a result, have unique applications. In some instances, they can be substituted for each other depending on preference and budget, but certain situations call for one over the other.
If you're looking for maximum flash and refraction, crystal is the way to go, but if you are trying for a nice sparkle without sharpness, then Czech glass is great for that. Czech glass goes better with stones with a more "natural" look such as freshwater pearls or semi-precious gems. Crystal, on the other hand, goes well with other beads with clean lines like saltwater cultured pearls and Swarovski crystal pearls.

Examples of Work with These Materials:
All of the materials we talked about today make exceptionally nice prom, anniversary wedding and family jewelry.


Above is a necklace set Hillary made for a bride. The two stones are the bride and groom's birthstone.







Above are a pair of earrings and a matching pendant made from Czech glass. They were Christmas presents on two separate years from a husband to his wife. The colors chosen represent the birthstones of the mother, father and child.

Materials we would like to obtain in the future:
High quality precious gems. They are beautiful, very sparkly, and highly desired by many. They provide clean lines, and unique, natural colors.

South Sea and Cultured Saltwater Pearls. They have the same shiny, silky appearance as the freshwater pearls above, but the lines are cleaner, they perfectly round, and they are uniform in appearance.

Our Donation to Arty Party

We are working on a post about materials and plans for some pieces for the future, and hopefully it will be ready for next week. In the meantime, we thought we would go ahead and share with you the piece we will be donating to Arty Party, a fundraiser for Birmingham AIDS Outreach, a local AIDS service organization.