Jewelry Box

When we rolled through Long Beach before the holidays, a friend asked if I would be interested in working on a custom project that was a bit different from my usual work. Given that I've been looking for ways to broaden my horizons, I said 'absolutely.' What she had in mind was a jewelry box, as a gift for a friend of hers.


I had such fun thinking about and creating this box. With the leaves on top, it's obviously in the same vein as my jewelry. But, without access to a torch, I had to think about how to create a 3-D object without soldering together individual pieces.



I ended up fold-forming the box and then attaching the lid with hemp twine.


And, I have to say, I'm beyond thrilled with how it turned out! Thanks Jenny for the creative push. :)

Bike Mustaches @ PopUp!

This year, I'm not in town for the Long Beach PopUpShop, but it's shaping up to be a great one nonetheless. To make things super easy on my fellow PopUpShop sellers and organizers, I only have the Bike Mustache there. But... there are lots of them... meaning it's a really easy place to pick one up for your someone special who needs to personalize their bicycle! The sale runs all weekend, so check it out! More info at the PopUpShop website.

Oh, and in case you haven't stumbled onto it yet, I started a blog just for the Bike Mustache! Yew haw!

Last call...

Our down-time in Long Beach is coming to a close. I have enjoyed being in town for the past few weeks, catching up with friends, discovering what's changed (or not), seeing family, and working on lots of orders that have come in before the holidays. And I'm really glad that we decided to do this, and decided to stay so long (I have Russ to thank for that). And, now, we're preparing to push off again, despite the storms and cold that have suddenly landed on us. (On another note, it's been pretty funny to watch how much Southern Californians freak out because it snowed in the mountains!)

Our plan is to head East from approx Oceanside (Northern San Diego county), past the Salton Sea, through the desert. I envision lots of time with zilch for internet access over the next month or so. (Although, maybe I'll be proven wrong?) I'm looking forward to being in the middle of nowhere again, possibly even spending Christmas far away from anything resembling civilization. But... it does mean that it will be an extra hurdle to send out orders. Not impossible, just a bit of a delay.


So, all you last-minute order-ers, I encourage you to get on it now. Interested in gifting someone a hand-crafted Bike Mustache? Would a pair of handmade earrings or a one-of-a-kind necklace be the perfect gift for your friend? All orders received in the next week (by Tuesday, December 15) will be shipped in time for the holidays (domestic orders, that is). After that, there will be a delay. So head on over to my etsy shop today!





Thanks everyone! And happy getting-ready-for-the-holidays!

Whittling down my load...

My studio that I've been carrying around with me on our bicycle journey is ridiculously heavy. And I've decided that it's time to lighten the amount of weight I'm carrying. I opened up my tool roll and took stock of everything I have with with, pulling out tools that I really am not using (like my hand shears, which are really heavy, extra needle files, pumice and brush). And then, I went further.


For riveting, I use two hammer ends... a cross peen and a ball peen. Of course, they happen to be on two different hammers. When I was working in my old studio, it wasn't a problem to use the two hammers I had (so it never made sense to buy one hammer that does both). When we left, I tossed both hammers in the bag. And I've used both on this trip. But, really, does it make any sense to carry two hammers? Especially when one of them is really heavy? No.

And, so, in a stroke of genius, I realized that I could file down the planishing end of the cross peen hammer to replicate a ball peen and then send back the ball peen hammer. I borrowed some heavy duty machining files from a friend in town and took down the end of the hammer. Then, I sanded like crazy and took a polishing cloth to it. And, voila, a work of art! It looks like that end is supposed to look like that. And it works great. And I get to rid myself of the 10 or so ounces that make up the ball peen hammer. Happiness all around.