Tangerine Treehouse

A new home for Tangerine Treehouse!

2011-02-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

I have finally finished redesigning my website! A sparkling new design that integrates all of my metalwork projects and ties it all in with my love of cycling and traveling. I'm really thrilled with how it turned out and can't wait for you to check it out!

I am also hereby discontinuing this blog. I will keep it up for some time, for the archives, but I will only be blogging on the new site now. Please join me over there!

I am also tidying up a few other aspects of my online presence. My small shop at BigCartel is being closed today, so please redirect your links: Custom Headbadges and the Bike Mustache.

Thanks everyone! This is an exciting change for me and I hope to see you all on the new site!

Welcome January

2011-01-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

I have been quiet here for awhile. In my head, over the past many months, I have been mulling over some major changes. Traveling the US by bicycle has allowed me to think about where I want to take my business, what I want my life to look like, what I want my focus to be, etc. It's been great, and it's caused me to be very much in my own head as I sort it all out.

Well, things are beginning to come to some order, and I'm happy to say that I have a better sense of direction. Moving forward, I'm going to start implementing some changes. Big ones and little ones, from re-designing my website and re-imagining my blog, to what sorts of metal creations will get the most of my time, to how I self-identify as a person.

As things start coming together, I'll post announcements here. Eventually, I'll be discontinuing this blogger blog, as I migrate to wordpress on my own domain. And come the end of February, as I bring all the little pieces together, I'll be re-launching my business. Stay tuned. :)

Holidays, Here We Come...

2010-11-21T13:39:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is only a few days away, and they're forecasting snow for Portland tomorrow, so I'm thinking about the holidays all of a sudden. If you are too, here's some information you'll want to have...

Holiday Specials

To kick off the holidays, I'll be running a few specials over in my etsy shop.

From November 26 through November 30, purchase $180 worth of jewelry or headbadges from my etsy shop, and receive a FREE pair of Seedlets earrings (your choice of seed). All orders will also ship with FREE SHIPPING.

Holiday Events

This year, I will only be participating in one Holiday Craft Show... BikeCraft. I'll be there with headbadges, the Bike Mustache, and some bike-touring-themed goodies. If you're in or near Portland, Oregon during the weekend of December 4 and 5, I invite you to stop by, say hi, and take home some handcrafted goodness. The show runs from 10am-6pm both days.

Holiday Order Deadlines

If you're ordering gift items from me, please take note of these deadlines. I need to have orders placed by these dates in order to be able to ensure they are delivered by Christmas day (and still be able to enjoy my own holidays).

December 9 - Last Day to place orders for Custom work (this includes headbadges)

December 18 - Last Day to place orders for items in stock (after this date, we'll have to look into expedited shipping options and I may not be able to guarantee a before-Christmas delivery)

Thanks everyone - and have a happy holiday season!

The Wander Series

2010-11-16T12:21:00.001-08:00

I have always been fascinated by maps, and the way that looking at a map can call you to adventure. For the past 15 months of traveling, I have been using a wide variety of maps. Road maps, tourist maps, park maps. I marked them up with all manner of notes, and then I saved them, because they hold moments of our journey. But I didn't just save them to look back on them at some distant point in the future - I wanted to incorporate them into earrings and necklaces.

Now, the first pieces in this Wander Series are available in my etsy shop! Wear a pair of these earrings or one of these charm necklaces and let it whisper to you of far-off places and wonderful experiences waiting for you.

Telling Stories...

2010-10-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

The short version is that I've been traveling for the past 15 months and the experience has completely changed my life and the way that I think about what I'm creating. Traveling wakes up the dormant parts of you as you interact with entirely new landscapes. And my mind has been reeling, awake and aware, soaking in the beauty and the complexities and the wind in my face.

I haven't created any new jewelry in several months. I sit and think about designs and then stop - because things are changing in my brain and I think I need them to gel before I dig in again. But as I sit and look out the window at the beautiful oak tree outside, with its golden leaves and the way it dances when the wind blows, I know that the ideas are coming together, and it's time to get back to it.

Traveling has also reinvigorated my love of writing. Before I discovered metals, I wanted to be a writer. Non-fiction, preferably, but I wanted to tell stories. This trip has turned out to be a very long series of stories - short moments and detailed experiences. As I move forward, I realize that I want to illustrate these interactions and experiences in both words and metal.

Which means that, as I get back into making jewelry, my challenge will be to put these stories into each piece I create. Little snapshots of a life-changing experience, neatly strung on a sterling silver chain.

It's Fall - Time for a Sale!

2010-10-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hello, poor neglected blog! I haven't forgotten you, I've just been focused elsewhere for the past few months.

If you've been following our cycling journey, you'll know that we're currently in Boston, Massachusetts. It's fall up here, complete with beautiful red and yellow leaves everywhere - and we're getting ready for winter. We're headed to Portland, Oregon in a couple weeks for a winter travel break - time to work on lots of exciting new projects!

For the past few months, I've been milling over new design ideas, as well as the direction I want to be taking with this business. I'm excited to sit down with all of the trinkets I've collected and all of the things that I've learned while we've been on the road - and I look forward to sharing all the new pieces that I hope to make!

In the meantime, I'm running a small Pre-Holiday Sale! I'm clearing the decks a bit in anticipation of this new stretch of work time - and you get to benefit. Select items are on sale, up to 30% off, and everything has Free Shipping. Take a stroll over to my Etsy Shop and check it out...

New Pendants!

2010-07-04T15:12:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to share the last few pieces I wanted to finish up before leaving Nashville. Each of these is inspired by the Natchez Trace Parkway and the Tennessee countryside. Enjoy!

3 weeks in Nashville = lots of jewelry finished!

2010-07-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Our time in Nashville has been extremely prolific for me. And I've been able to finish up a bunch of random projects and start focusing on new pieces.

One of our homestays here was with a fellow metalsmith and jewelry maker, Lisa Aronow. I love being able to stay with jewelry people - in part because I simply love being able to connect with other folks who are making their livelihood in the same way I am, in part because it's a great way to learn and grow beyond what I already know, and in part because I get access to tools that I'm not carrying (like a torch!).

I have a few other pieces that I hope to finish up and list in the next couple days. And then I'm seriously going to return to my previous commitment to focus on one new piece per month, pushing myself to step outside of what I've already been creating. I'm really feeling called to shake up my style a bit, so I'm kind of excited to see what happens...

Last of the Desert Pieces...

2010-06-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't exactly held myself to my timeline. Oops. I'm just now finishing up the rest of my desert-inspired pendants and listing them in my etsy shop. I'm really happy with how they turned out, even though it took me a lot longer than I wanted to wrap them up.

We're in Nashville, Tennessee now for the next couple weeks, which means lots of time to finish up other pieces that are half-made and dive into lots of new designs. Stay tuned.

Making Connections

2010-06-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

One of the goals that I set for our current bicycle journey was to meet and connect with metal and jewelry artists around the country. I wanted to get outside of my "working-on-my-own" bubble and see how other folks make what they make. I wanted to grow in my designs and be inspired by how others are making a "successful" living off their work.

Slowly, as we inch our way east, I'm meeting more artists and I'm able to start delving into these hopes and goals that I had before we left. In San Francisco, I met Elizabeth Rosas. In Fort Worth, I got to work with Ashley Akers. In Shreveport, I had a great show-and-tell and conversation with a 20-year-veteran jewelry maker friend of our hosts. In Jackson, Mississippi, I got to connect with Stacey Hansen. And when we get to Nashville in a few days, I hope to connect with a few other jewelry makers that I'm aware of only through the internet.

Each conversation and interaction is different and each is amazing. There are similarities and differences in jewelry style, work style, business goals, as well as in the ways that I've been able to connect with folks. And I wouldn't trade any of them!

One of the most interesting things that I've discovered is that a "proper" studio is just not required. I used to think that I was a bit of a hack, because my studio space was a workbench in the corner of our living room, with a soldering torch in the bathroom. As it turns out, that's more or less the same set-up of everyone that I've met up with. Which I think proves that all you need to make it work is whatever will make it work for you.

Meeting other jewelry people has also been incredibly important to my sense of self as an artist. When you work by yourself and your interactions with other people in your field is only through the internet, it's easy to feel like you're just playing dress-up and your customers are imaginary friends and maybe you're not as much of a professional as you thought and your designs aren't as strong as they should be. "They" say that, as an artist, you should just make what you like and not worry about the outside world. But, sometimes, you can make what you like and then step back and wonder if anyone will ever see it the way that you do and if you will ever find an audience. Having the chance to interact with other jewelry artists has forced me to stand up for my designs, talk about them, examine them. And it's made me more confident in what I'm making and how I'm doing it. Plus, nothing beats having a life-long jewelry maker tell you that your work is impeccable and rare and needs to be seen more!

The first few conversations that I had were unsteady and I didn't ask all the questions that I wanted to or that I should have. It was weird to meet these people who had previously only existed on the computer screen and who might tell me things that I didn't want to hear. And, in truth, I'm still learning how to reach out and make these kinds of connections, but I know how extremely beneficial they are for me (and, hopefully, for the person on the other side of the conversation). So I just wanted to say Thank You to everyone I've been able to meet as we travel! You are all wonderful and generous and inspiring.

If you're an artist also and feeling unsteady about your own work, I highly encourage you to get out of your bubble, however uncomfortable, and talk with other folks doing something similar. And if you're a jewelry maker on the eastern part of the US and want to connect with me, drop me a line, because I'm eager to keep meeting folks and having these kinds of conversations.

Hooray for Soldering!

2010-05-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

We're in Fort Worth, Texas right now - staying with a great fellow jewelry maker, Ashley Akers. We've had a great time in town over the past few days - we gave a presentation about our trip to 100+ local folks, and we've explored some of the museums and shops and the Trinity Trails system.

It's also been really great to meet Ashley in person, after getting to "know" each other through etsymetal and the wonders of the internet. Staying with her and Frank has also meant that I've had access to a proper studio for the first time since I packed mine away.

Access to a proper studio means that I've been able to pick up a torch and solder a few pieces. I was a bit nervous, since I haven't soldered anything in months, so I wasn't sure I'd remember how. But, it's kind of like riding a bicycle, and Ashley's acetylene torch made soldering a breeze compared to my little propane torch that I had back in Long Beach.

I put together a small handful of my "Mini" pendants that have been so popular. I'm still working on finishing them all up, but I've been able to list the first two in my etsy shop. So, check them out!

Thanks Ashley!!

the Desert as Inspiration

2010-04-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

New pieces now available in my etsy shop! Sterling silver, copper, and materials I've collected over the past few months of cycling through the desert.

Working on the road...

2010-04-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Russ and I celebrated eight months on the road. Wow... eight months of continuous travel! We made it through one of the coldest and wettest winters on record... and now it's spring here in Texas. Flowers are blooming, everything is bright green... it's an incredibly beautiful change from the months of cold, dry desert.

The more we travel, the more I think about how to work on the road. Like everything else, I have had to completely re-conceive of what it means to work on jewelry while we're traveling. Yet, unlike figuring out how to cook, navigate, set up camp, stay warm, etc., setting up my studio and creating new pieces has been a real challenge for me.

For so long, I've worked in sets... simultaneously creating several pieces at once. When you have a studio and can leave things spread out, it's a great way to work, because you can fit bits of work into random chunks of time, and you can knock out all the sanding (for example) at one time (not to mention, the more you stare at something, the more you can refine the design). As we travel, however, I don't have the freedom to just leave things laying around. And my brain, in all honesty, isn't adapting so well to this. Which is why I've been ever-so-slowly working on the same ten pieces for the past three months. Yes, three months.

Now, to be fair, I have worked on other projects during this time. For example, these custom head badges for a bicycle frame builder in the Sacramento area...

My goal is to finish up these ten pendants before we push out of Austin, and get them listed in my shop. These are all pieces that are inspired by our desert crossing... the brown hills, the skies full of stars, the bright red and orange desert plants. And now that we're not in the desert, I want to wrap them up and start looking at all the trees and fresh spring greens for new inspiration. I've made it my mission for the next few days, so I'm actually making a fair bit of progress. Take a look...

And, then, I'm making a radical change in how I work on jewelry. This sort of came to me the other night as I was going to sleep... and I think it'll help me focus better on each piece and not feel so overwhelmed. My plan is to work on and complete one piece, inspired by our travels, per month. If I get that one piece finished up before the end of the month and want to move on to a second piece, great! But, I'm going to finish that one piece first.

And I want to push myself to document the creation of these pieces... where I found the inspiration, what I'm incorporating, the various stages of making each piece, all the back-stories. I'm really excited about this new challenge, and I hope you'll follow along.

But, first, I gotta finish up these desert pieces...

Just in case you were curious...

2010-02-16T09:49:00.001-08:00

I am managing to squeeze in some work on jewelry while we travel! (Photo of me at Guadalupe Mountains National Park)

Ah, Jewelry, I remember you...

2010-01-31T07:58:00.001-08:00

As it turns out, carving out the time to work while traveling is a LOT harder than I ever imagined. Or, rather, it's a lot harder to prioritize my time so that jewelry-making gets an equal share (it's just so easy for the studio time to get squeezed out, in favor of cycling and exploring new towns and talking to people and connecting with our homestay hosts and relaxing in those few moments we get).

And now that it's officially winter all around us, I have to contend with the cold factor too. A few days ago, we planned a rest day at a state park. 'Great!' I thought, 'I can get some work done on these pendant ideas that have been floating around in my head for weeks.' And then it rained. All freakin' day. And at about 2pm, it was a whopping 38 degrees outside. Not exactly conducive to setting up shop at a picnic table.

So, what can I say but that I'm a bit frustrated by the situation and I'm still trying to figure it all out.

Which brings me to something that I have been able to do... drumroll please...

This pendant was a small idea that kept popping up and rolling around my head for weeks, in different combinations, until finally it made sense one day (I love when that happens!). And I scored enough downtime in Tucson to finish it up. It's made of sterling silver, copper, and bicycle inner tube. And the idea is to bring together all of the inspiration of the desert that we've been riding through for the past many weeks... vast, brown hills and skies full of stars.

The pendant itself is way too heavy, especially with this small chain (which is the only kind of chain I have with me right now), but I wanted to show it off. Especially since finishing this pendant started my head buzzing with smaller, lighter, more wearable variations of this design. So, whenever I can finally carve out the necessary time, I've got a whole desert series to work on.

***

All of this brings me to my next great idea... collaboration! One of the other things that I have wanted to do while traveling is connect with other jewelry and metal artists around the US. I have done an absolutely crappy job of this so far, so I'm really trying hard to make it more of a priority. What I'm thinking so far is this... What if I could connect with other artists in various parts of the US, as we travel through, and spend a couple days sharing ideas and studio space? It could mean working together on some sort of collaborative finished product or using the opportunity to learn (together) about some new skill or just spend the time swapping tips and suggestions. Or any number of other ideas that I haven't made their way into my head yet.

Interested? Our rough route for the next few weeks is as follows... Alamogordo, New Mexico... Marfa, Texas... Big Bend State Park... Texas Gulf Coast... San Antonio... Austin... Ft. Worth... New Orleans... then on to the East Coast somehow and then North and then back toward the West Coast. If you're along that route, or near that route, or think we should make our route go through your neck of the woods... and you want to work on some sort of collaborative something... let me know (email: tangerinetreehouse AT gmail DOT com). I'm excited just thinking about the idea, so we could start brainstorming today. :)

What Happened to my Twitter...

2010-01-23T09:19:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago, I was convinced by several someones that I really needed to start up a Twitter account. Not only would it be good for promoting my jewelry, it would help me connect with people, and I could then be a part of a brewing, top-secret plan. I hemmed and hawed for a long time, thinking about whether I really wanted to delve into this new media, what my feelings were about Twitter and the way that it enables connection... and I ended up caving in and opening an account. (I even had a small contest to help me figure out what to do with my name.)

After just a few short weeks, I gave up with Twitter. It felt utterly pointless to me. It felt like I wasn't doing anything but re-post what I'd already said somewhere else. Perhaps the audience was a bit new, but the content wasn't, and I ended up feeling like I was just putting out a stream of commercials (and, at that, commercials that I wasn't really sure anyone wanted to pay attention to).

Several months have now passed since I gave up on Twitter, and I feel guilty a lot about it, especially since I had such great help in finding a Twitter name. Did I not give it enough of a chance? Should I try again?

This morning, I read a great article about Stock & Flow (found through Megan's new CraftMBA site). The gist of it is that Stock is what we produce that has long-standing value, while Flow is the stuff we put out of a more temporary nature. Stock is the jewelry, while Flow is the blog. And there is a great string of comments after the article about how we've become overly adept at Flow, bogging ourselves down with all this temporary stuff, while not producing enough Stock to keep people around for a long time. As a result, everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame, and then they're totally forgotten. (I really recommend the article!)

And, suddenly, in reading the comments, it hit me why I really gave up on Twitter... It's an overflow of Flow. Because I don't quite understand Twitter enough and haven't become creative enough with it to use it in a way to keep people around longer, I only know how to put out the sort of drivel that doesn't add anything to the greater conversation.

Which isn't to say that Twitter is at fault. I think there are ways to use Twitter to great effect, i.e. when Russ tweets for @PathLessPedaled (our bicycle journey), which works because (often) there's a point beyond just driving folks to the website.

Anyway, this is a big rambling, round-about way of saying that I've finally figured out how to make peace with quitting Twitter. If you've been following me, wondering when I'll start babbling again, you can officially un-follow me. But, thanks for your support!

And I'm excited to have words for this nagging feeling I've had lately that I need to create more depth in my blog and my work, something more substantial that holds up over time.

Take a few minutes to scoot over to Robin's article. (Thanks Megan for pointing me to it!)

Jewelry Box

2009-12-31T20:09:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-19T07:58:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-02T16:50:00.001-08:00

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.

New Earrings & Free Shipping!

2009-11-26T13:38:00.000-08:00

I finished up a new set of earrings and uploaded them all in my etsy shop. These earrings all feature bits of the Krebs Northern California Cycle Touring map. This map was gifted to us by another cycle touring couple and led us through some amazing areas while we traveled down Highway 1 North of San Francisco. (If you're interested in cycle touring this area, I highly recommend this map!) I decided to use parts of the map that represented some of the best areas you rode through: the Redwoods, Elk Prairie, Bodega Dunes, Samuel Taylor State Park.

And, in honor of the big after-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, I'm offering Free Shipping on all purchases in my etsy shop from Friday, November 27 through Sunday, November 30.

Happy beginning of the Holiday season!

Join in the Mustache fun!

2009-11-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't noticed, the Bike Mustache has gotten all sort of internet lovin' lately. I guess the facial hair trend isn't on it's way out, yet, which is great news for me! And great news for you!

I've been making mustaches on the road as we're traveling... in campsites throughout central California and at the homes of various hosts... and decided that it would be fun to let folks know where their mustaches are being created.

So, now, when you order a Mustache on yer Bike, it'll come with a note about where it was made (and maybe even GPS coordinates, if we can figure that out).

Here I am working on a mustache outside of Yosemite National Park...

Earrings!!

2009-10-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to announce that I have new work available! I just finished up a whole bunch of earrings and they're now available in my Etsy shop.

Some feature bits of Madrona bark and Eucalyptus leaves that I collected in various locations along our journey of the past few months. Others feature bits of newsprint and an old Spanish map.

Matter Gallery Grand Opening

2009-10-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

I won't be able to make it to the Grand Opening, which I'm bummed about, but I invite each and every one of you to go on my behalf and explore all the wonderful hand-crafted goodness that Jo has brought together in Matter! Gallery.

Friday, November 6th, 6 - 10pm

113 Fifth Avenue SW (between Capitol & Columbia), Olympia, WA 98501

Live jazz music & refreshments

Also... Mark your calendars for December 4... First Friday at the gallery (and all of downtown Olympia). Extended hours and a holiday focus!

Sitting and thinking...

2009-10-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

It's raining today. A hard, driving, steady rain. Supposedly, it's the tail-end of a typhoon that hit Japan earlier. At times, the rain is actually coming down sideways. It's running down the road in a steady river and the wind is whipping the trees. It feels like winter. And I am ever so glad to be inside. We're staying with friends south of San Francisco, and we made it here just a few hours before the storm broke. In this moment, I feel so very fortunate. Not only are we inside, we're warm and dry, with an entire day to read, do laundry, catch up online, and there's no pressure for us to be pedaling down the road today. It feels very luxurious.

Lately, I've been thinking about how amazing it really is to be able to go on this completely open-ended journey. To have the freedom each day to decide what we want to do and where we want to go. It's not un-ending bliss, every moment, but it's a sense of complete self-reliance and ownership of my life that I haven't ever felt before. And that feels very luxurious as well.

Being on my bike, riding down the road, for several hours each day, provides an opportunity unlike anything else to think. Just think. Brainstorm and work through ideas. Some days, I ponder jewelry designs. Other days, I think about how I hate the way houses look when the garage is right in front, or how terribly sad (and smelly) it is to see so many dead dear (and raccoons, foxes, skunks, etc.) on the side of the road.

Without a doubt, the hardest part of this journey has been finding the space and time and energy (both physical and creative) to create jewelry. And, to be perfectly honest, I have my moments when I wonder if I shouldn't just put it on hold for a little while, and focus exclusively on the cycling. Except that, eventually, I'm reminded of just how fascinated I am with studio jewelry and how much it continues to intrigue and inspire me and be something that I want in my life. So, I give up the notion of giving up on making jewelry, and I go back to trying to figure out how to keep creating while we travel. And this is, quite possibly, one of the most amazing lessons of this journey so far... learning how to make the time for the things that I want to do with my life.

So, now, I sit inside, dry, while it continues to rain outside, and I'm thinking about just what type of jewelry to work on over the next few days of non-riding time in the Bay Area. And I find my brain waffling over whether to work on more complex, one-of-a-kind, gallery-appropriate pieces or smaller, simpler, more affordable pieces. Of course, there's no right answer, and if I can figure out the workflow, I'll probably end up making both styles.

Tomorrow, I'll probably still be huddled inside, as this storm is supposed to continue for a bit more, and it will give me some time to make sense of the myriad ideas running around in my head... and, hopefully, finish up some of the pieces that are in pieces in my studio bag. Cheers to the Japanese typhoon!

Matter Gallery

2009-09-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!! I am lost somewhere in the redwoods right now... it's beautiful and oh-so-inspiring. Squeezing in the time to work on new pieces is proving to be quite tricky, but I'm certainly not giving up! Yesterday, I actually set up shop at a picnic table at a state park, surrounded by tall trees and fog... not bad, huh?!

I hope to have these pieces wrapped up and photos to share soon... but, in the meantime, I have an exciting announcement... Matter just opened!! Matter showcases functional art with a reclaimed/sustainable theme... and my jewelry is featured!! If you're near Olympia, WA (or feel like making a field trip), stop in and say hi to Jo and check out all of the creative goodness!

Confession: It's a bit strange to be on the road...

2009-09-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

As an Etsy seller, I'm signed up to receive emails from them about updates and tips and all the goings-on. Lately, there have been a lot of great improvements and happenings. And, to be honest, as I scrolled through them all the other night, I found myself feeling a bit detached from it all and kinda sad about it.

I used to spend hours trolling through Etsy and thinking about my shop there and reading the EtsyMetal forums (and, basically, being virtually connected to the whole hand-crafted world). These days, I'm rarely online. I'm having a fantastic time exploring and learning - and I really need this time of pushing myself to think outside of my "usual" - but it's finally starting to all sink in that I'm living a very different life these days.

Part of the goal, in bringing all of my tools with me, was to keep working and keep growing my jewelry line - and to not just totally run away from everything. Over the past month and a half, I have effectively run away and learned how to "be" on the road for an extended period of time. But, I haven't quite figured out how to be "productive" while traveling.

The other day, I created a pair of headbadges for a couple that we've been staying with out on Orcas Island. I finally broke out my portable studio and did some work - and it felt really great. So, I know that I can find that happy medium - I just have a lot work ahead of me to figure out how to incorporate these things that I used to be more connected with into this vagabonding experience.

In the meantime, a few more photos of things that have been inspiring me on the road:

EtsyMetal Blog Carnival: My First Piece of Metalsmithed Jewelry

2009-09-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

I am terribly late in posting this for the EtsyMetal Blog Carnival. I'm going to cop out and use the excuse that I wasn't near a computer and the internet for long enough to get this up in time. But, better late than never, right? :)

The EtsyMetal group that I'm a part of started this once-monthly blog carnival where a bunch of us would post on the same topic. This month, the topic is "My First Piece of Metalsmithed Jewelry." I'm actually going to put up two pieces, one was my first metalsmithed item (which happened to not be jewelry, even though it was for a jewelry class), and the other is my first metalsmithed jewelry. So... drumroll, please...

My First Metalsmithed Item...

This was my first project in my first metalsmithing class. The task was to take a 4"x4" piece of copper and, by only piercing the sheet, create something 3-dimensional (in other words, no soldering, no riveting, nothing too complicated). The idea was to learn how to be creative in creating a 3-D object and to understand the ways in which metal is brilliant when it isn't flat and to learn to think outside of that typical 2-D mentality.

I chose to create this design with two people intertwined and dancing because I wanted to have fun with the project and create something the felt very kinetic and unusual. And that would also make you stop and have to think about the fact that "stood up" out of the flat sheet. It was a lot of fun to create and is still one of my most favorite pieces. (And in storage while I'm traveling.)

My First Piece of Metalsmithed Jewelry...

This was also a project for my first metalsmithing class. (In fact, it was my final project, after doing a lot of practice and non-jewelry pieces.) The task was to create a hollow-formed ring that was at least 2" in one dimension.

This piece was hard. I had to work through several designs before I finally hit on one that was 3-D enough for my instructor and fun enough for me. And, man, it turned out to be extremely challenging! The ring body is hollow-formed out of sterling. The flowers were roller-printed, pierced and riveted on. Then I attached a piece of piano wire, coiled it and attached the bug. I used the piano wire was at the suggestion of my instructor, who rightly told me that it was have much more spring and I wouldn't have to work-harden it as much as a piece of sterling or copper wire. The only problem with the piano wire is that it's extremely brittle after being heated. So, I snapped several pieces (post-soldering) before I got one that worked. It was a huge exercise in patience (I remember wanting to throw the thing against the wall after the piano wire snapped for the fourth time), and I'm extremely glad that I stuck with it. I had visions of wearing it to gallery openings (which I used to do a lot), but I never have, because I'm slightly terrified that the wire will break again. (At this moment, it is very carefully packed and in storage.)

Read other EtsyMetal member entries (these ones were done on time!):
- Andes Cruz
- Beth Cyr
- Caitlyn Davey
- Clare Stoker
- Cynthia Del Giudice
- Danielle Miller-Gilliam
- Delias Thompson
- DuckduckGoose
- Kerin Rose
- Libby Rosas
- Nina Dinoff
- Nina Gibson
- Quercus Silver
- Sara Westermark
- Tamra Gentry

Enjoying the Journey...

2009-08-14T13:11:00.001-07:00

We're now two weeks into our vagabonding... we spent a few days in Portland, then rode down to Corvallis (my hometown) for a friend's wedding and to see family, then rode back up to Portland (where we're taking a day off to catch up on blog posts and put new chains on our bikes). Tomorrow, we'll push off toward Seattle and the San Juan Islands.

The experience, in a nutshell, has been incredible so far. It's just barely starting to sink in that this is our new life for the forseeable future, not just a vacation. I haven't yet broken out my studio equipment, because I've been so completely immersed in the traveling part, but I hope to test out the limits of what I've brought within the next week or two. (Stay tuned...)

In the meantime, I thought I'd put up some inspiring photos of our trip so far. Head over to The Path Less Pedaled for more stories and photos.

Meet my Portable Studio

2009-07-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

It's so crazy to think that I actually managed to pare down my studio to just what will fit in one small bag on my bike. I am seriously impressed! And even more curious to know if I'm actually going to be able to do all that I think I'm going to do. Only time will tell, I guess.

Until then, I thought I'd post a little tour of my portable studio...

I have a (custom) Bike Burrito loaded with all of my hand tools and a small portable benchpin. There are a couple of tins with misc. seeds, Liver of Sulfur, beeswax, stringing materials, etc. There's a shop apron, goggles, masking tape, some rags. A stack of promo cards. Sandpaper and a sanding board. Lots of metal. And, to be perfectly responsible, a folder for all of my business receipts.

My Bike Burrito holds the following: brass brush, soldering tools, Sharpie, burnisher, x-acto knife, .925 stamp, small hand drill, a couple hammers, hand vise, ring mandrel, saw (and blades), hand shears, wire cutters, a couple pairs of pliers, sanding stick, and files.

And that's all folks. With any luck, it's all I'll need. Of course, if it's not, there's still a bit of open space in the bag for me to stash anything else I need to pick up. (Like, perhaps, a small torch?)

Follow our travels over on The Path Less Pedaled.

A few new beauties!

2009-07-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

At the last minute, I realized that I really wanted to create a few last pieces in my studio configuration here. I put these little beauties together before my bench was taken apart and all my stuff was collected... and am just now taking photos and uploading.

Four new mini autumn pendants... all now in my etsy shop. :)

Le Unicorn

2009-07-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

Before packing up my studio, I crammed in a half dozen new pieces... including a new headbadge for my friend Jayme. (Who paid me in trade with the greatest Bike Burrito ever - photos coming soon.)

Goodbye Beautiful Workbench

2009-07-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, in our last preparations for our big bike trip, I handed off all of my stuff to my dad for safe keeping. Including my beautiful workbench.

A few years ago, when I started working with metal, I asked my dad to build me a workbench for Christmas. I needed a space to work and I didn't like any of the overly-complicated benches I saw on Rio and I thought it would be great fun to work with my dad on this project (which it was). It's a beautiful piece of furniture - simple, solid oak - and I have loved every minute that I have had it.

But, it's heavy and big and doesn't really fit on a bike, so we took it apart and loaded it into my dad's car for him to take back to his house. I trust it'll be safe until we find ourselves at the end of this trip and I can claim it again and set up a new studio somewhere. I'm feeling fine about it this morning, but it was (honestly) really hard to say goodbye to it yesterday.

I sold my under-used bracelet mandrel to Nina Gibson from Etsy Metal, and when she came to pick it up, she told me she had no idea how I was going to do it. I've been very calm about all of this until yesterday when it all of a sudden became very real - and, now, I have no idea how I'm going to do it either. I guess that's a part of the process - and I still feel that it's something I really need in order to push myself in a new direction with my jewelry. But, wow, I am officially workbench-less now. How very very strange.

I am also torch-less. I decided not to bring the torch I have, because it has a long hose and I didn't want to chance any punctures while it's bumping around on the bike. Depending on how things play out, I might be in the market for a small and very portable torch.

A bit of studio time today!

2009-07-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

The days have been passing in a big blur lately. As we get closer and closer to leaving on our big bike trip, I've been completely wrapped up in getting rid of stuff and packing and figuring out all the last details. But the apartment is looking quite bare now, so I figured I could focus on something else for a few hours - and I took some time to camp out in my studio and finish up a few headbadge orders before I dismantle my workbench and put it into storage.

One a Week Challenge: Makeover!

2009-07-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't been too active in the One a Week Challenges lately, as I've been swamped with so many other things. But, I've been watching them and loving everything that folks have come up with. This week's challenge was such a fun theme that I really wanted to participate - even though I'm late! :)

The theme? Jewelry makeover.

I opted to work with this scarab that my grandmother had bought in Egypt many years ago and which was later gifted to me. I've always wanted to do something with it, but have never really figured out what that was. Back when I was beading, I slipped a head pin through the hole in the center and strung it on a string of beads. I wore it, but it never really did it justice.

So, I figured I'd give it a go of presenting it better. Like Alisa, I rummaged through my box of miscellanea and found just the perfect piece of silver that I had cut out and prepped for something months ago and then never used. Curly bezel, a collage of old maps and newsprint, and the scarab...

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. It's not weighted right, with the scarab on the side, so I'll need to still add something to make it hang straight. But, I'm determined to do that before we leave on our trip, so that I can have at least one nice "show" piece with me.

Shop Update!

2009-07-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

I finally got finished shooting a bunch of new photos and updating my etsy shop! This is one of those big projects that I wanted to finish up before we leave for our trip. I also modified some prices (hint, hint). Next in line is updating my website...

On turning 30...

2009-06-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I met my former co-worker for coffee, and I was musing about how far away that whole experience of that job feels, in comparison with how much time has actually passed. I've only been out of the office for less than two weeks, but it feels as if months have unfolded. It's amazing to me how much everything shifts when your routine is completely broken up.

I was also musing about how strange it is to be on my own schedule these days. For better or worse, my identity for the past five years has been, in part, wrapped up in that job - and now I get to figure out something else. It's good and exciting - and still very very strange.

And, in the middle of all this philosophizing, I turn 30 today.

When I think about it, I can't help but feel a bit awe-struck by how much my life has shifted in the past few weeks to alleviate any thoughts of becoming old and stuck.

Our apartment right now is a disaster zone, as we sift through piles of stuff and clear out the trappings of past lives to get ready for our upcoming cycling adventure. Somehow, in the middle of all this, 30 doesn't feel quite so monumental or loaded with meaning. I don't need to sit and fret over what I want to change or what this milestone signifies. I just get to enjoy the fact that great new opportunities await - and that is the best birthday present ever.

(Me, on my birthday, probably about two decades ago)

Sunday at the Garden

2009-06-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

What a lovely Sunday! I had never before been to the community garden on 10th & Loma in Long Beach - it's stunning! Supposedly it's 4 acres, which it astounding as it's in the middle of the city. 70 or so garden plots. Lots of beautiful plants - edibles and non-edibles alike. The Solstice Celebration had live music, food, a cake walk - and all of us vendors. I was set up with a good friend on one side and a delightful young artist on the other - so it was a good day! Thanks to everyone who came out!

(Photos from Russ)

Summer Solstice Celebration!

2009-06-17T10:22:00.001-07:00

This Sunday, June 21, I'll be a part of the Long Beach Organic's 1st Annual Summer Solstice Celebration. I'll have a booth with lots of beautiful jewelry - and I'll be joined by a number of other artists and community groups. I'm really excited to be a part of this event and support the community garden program here in town. If you're around on Sunday, come join the fun! It runs from 1-6pm.

It's all starting to sink in now...

2009-06-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Last night, over beers with friends, it began to sink in how much everything is about to change. It's all good... but, now that I'm almost done with my day job, I'm realizing how much influence it's had over everything else. I doubt anyone ever consciously decides to let a job (when it's not entirely your life's passion) take over almost every train of thought. And, yet, it does... and I realized last night that I'm going to have to come up with something else to talk about.

For the past few years, I've had a love-hate relationship with my job. Hugely supportive of the organization, overly frustrated with the bureaucracy and the day-to-day stuffs. And it became my default topic of conversation at friday happy hour and the scapegoat for why I didn't feel like going into my studio. Hmmm... again, not a particularly conscious decision.

So, now that I only have two days left after working in the same capacity for five years, I'm starting to see just how much things are going to change. Especially after July, when I'll be on the road. It's exciting and a bit nerve-wracking and extremely surreal. And, most of all, I'm hopeful that the part of me that always said "if only I didn't have a day job, I could make such great things" will actually take over, and great things will spill forth.

Who wants to help keep me honest? :)

Ready for Some Changes

2009-06-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

In March, Russ and I launched the idea of The Path Less Pedaled - a long, open-ended bicycle tour around the US (and the world) with the goal of connecting with and telling the stories of people who had followed some sort of calling to live a "life less ordinary."

Then, yesterday, I was laid off from my day job. After moving past all the emotions, we realized that it meant we could leave whenever we wanted. So, in July, we're really and truly and actually going to hit the road.

I can't even express how completely and totally excited I am. I'm excited to get rid of all of my stuff and live a much simpler life. I'm excited to explore various corners of the world and meet interesting people along the way. I'm excited to see how this trip impacts my jewelry and I'm excited to play with new creative outlets (like writing and sketching).

I've decided to create a sort of "portable studio" that will enable me to continue creating jewelry and headbadges as we travel. I'm still working out the kinks, but these are the tools that I'm currently leaning toward bringing...

The glaringly, obviously missing tool is my torch. But I've got pretty much all of my other oft-used hand tools accounted for. I'm half-envisioning myself sawing and sanding away at a picnic table at a campground, but I'm also hoping that I can stop in to metals classes at community colleges or fellow metalsmiths' studios from time to time to do some soldering. It's all a part of the adventure.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to slowly start changing over the language on my sites to reflect the fact that I'll be out on the road. I've got a lot of work to do, but now I've got all day to do it, so I'm feeling pretty good.

Finding My Style

2009-06-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

For the last year, I've been a part of the EtsyMetal group. It's a wonderful group of metalsmiths that sell through Etsy - and being part of it has helped pull me out of my shell. Recently, the idea was thrown out that it'd be fun if we all (or at least some of us) posted on the same topic on the same day - a sort of blog carnival. It sounded like fun to me, so I jumped on board for this month...

The topic? How did those of you with a signature style come to it? What inspired you to that signature style?

For me, it took years to come to my current style of simple and playful metalwork that incorporates found natural materials. I think that's part of the process of coming up with a signature style... you have to look at a lot of other work, play with a lot of different ideas, try lots of things, explore, push... and wait for it all to click at some point.

I started taking metalwork classes in January 2005. At the time, I was just diving into the issue of sustainability. (I've always been "green" - but more because that's how I grew up than because I understood anything about carbon footprints.) I was also trying to figure out how to cope with the lack of trees and greenery in Southern California, after growing up in Oregon and going to college in Massachusetts. I was really torn about living down here and the consumerism I'm surrounded with and the aforementioned lack of wild spaces - and it all started to come through in my class projects.

For my birthday that year, I was gifted a wonderful book (a collection of philosophical essays about nature that is now one of my favorite titles): The Pine Island Paradox. I read it cover to cover several times and then took a quote out of it for a project during the fall of 2005...

The following semester (spring 2006), I really dove even further into my frustration with my surroundings and worked on several pieces that helped me deal with the industrialization all around me (and the radical sustainability ideas I had at the time)...

Then, an interesting thing happened. I got tired of fighting all the time (I was heavily involved in politics at the time) and I started looking at my surroundings a bit differently. I became fascinated with the way that nature could reclaim industrialized spaces, like the grass and weeds that were growing through the concrete at an abandoned and fenced-off gas station.

And then, one day, that fall, I went for a walk in a park and I stumbled onto several trees whose leaves had changed into glorious reds and oranges and which were sprinkled all over the ground. I felt momentarily transported out of Southern California. And I was simultaneously fascinated by the fact that, after living here for four years, this was the first time I had ever noticed leaves changing colors in Southern California. I started to realize that I've been surrounded by nature since day one, but I never realized it because it's so subtle.

I scooped up handfuls of leaves and took them home. It took me awhile after that to actually do anything with them, but I knew (from that moment I first found them) that they would end up being extremely important for my artistic development.

Several months later, I finally started to hit on a way to incorporate those leaves. And then I started branching out to other found natural materials. And, lo and behold, I stumbled onto my style.

In 2007, Russ shot and put together this slideshow of me and my style - and I put it up here as further background information. Enjoy!

And check out these other EtsyMetal members' responses to the same question:
Cynthia Del Guidice
Andes Cruz
Andes Cruz
Danielle Miller
Sara Westermark
Beth Cyr
Ashley Akers
Nina Gibson

An inspiring trip...

2009-05-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

After a week and a half of amazing riding and beautiful scenery, we rolled back into Long Beach yesterday afternoon. I'm trying to not let the culture shock get the best of me... but what an enormous difference Long Beach is from where we've been! I have a lot to digest about this trip... and I think it will take me awhile to find the words to describe the immensity of it... 'epic' comes to mind... so for now, I thought I'd share some photos of small moments that inspired me...

Middle of Nowhere... Here I Come!

2009-05-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

And... we're off again!

I have been waiting, not very patiently, until we finally get to leave for our next bike touring adventure. I've been so excited for at least the last month that it's been hard to sit still (kinda like that feeling you get as a kid those last few days before Christmas!).

We're taking the train to San Luis Obispo and then riding up to Paso Robles (via a campout in Morro Bay) for the Great Western Bicycle Rally. We'll be in Paso Robles for a few days, riding around the hills and hobnobbing with other geeky cyclists. And then, from Paso Robles, we'll be riding back through a lot of nothingness, along the San Andres Fault to Ventura (where we'll hop a train back). And this time, it'll be more than just Russ and I! We have a whole big group of people coming along (for various parts of the trip). Can you see why I'm so excited?!

And as I mentioned earlier, I'm really hoping that being out in the middle of nowhere will help me make sense of the jumble of half-formed ideas in my head. Even though I have no idea what this trip will end up looking like, I know that I'll be surrounded by inspiration the entire time - and I'm so thrilled!

I'm leaving my etsy shop open, although I won't be sending out orders until I get back. See you all in June!

Some New Ideas...

2009-05-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been feeling kinda restless with my jewelry designs. There's this nagging part of me that wants to try some new things, add some complexity, push the boundaries that I've set - and just sort of see what happens. Except that, so far, the ideas floating around in my head are only half-formed - so I'm kind of at a loss about what to do with them all.

Russ and I (and a whole big group of wonderful friends) are headed off on another sure-to-be-amazing bike adventure next week - and I know that the days of pedaling around in the middle of nowhere will help me make sense of these little flits of ideas.

In the meantime, I've been collecting inspiration anywhere I can find it...

Apparently Friday is Bike to Work Day too!

2009-05-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

California must just like to do everything before anyone else, because I hear that today (Friday) is Bike to Work Day in a lot of other places. Go figure. At any rate, it seems only fitting to keep the FREE SHIPPING offer through today as well... So go visit my shop. Enjoy!

Happy Bike to Work Day!

2009-05-14T05:43:00.001-07:00

For me, every day is Bike to Work Day (or Bike to Market Day, Bike to the Hardware Store Day, Bike to Dinner Day, etc), but I still think it's one of the best faux holidays ever!

To celebrate, order a Bike Headbadge or a Mustache on yer Bike TODAY and I'll ship it for free! But, you better act quickly...

Twitter, Part 2

2009-05-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

First of all... many thanks to everyone who sent in a suggestion for my Twitter name! There are so many possible permutations that I've been sitting here, stumped, for days, trying to pick one. Which is ridiculous, because it's only Twitter. But, sometimes, I can so incredibly terrible at making decisions.

So, after much hemming and hawing, I wrote everyone's suggestions on little pieces of paper and picked one out of the pile. Whew. Why is it that the little details are sometimes the hardest ones to decide upon?

If you're on Twitter, you can now follow me!

Second... I promised a drawing as a thank you for helping me wade through name possibilities! All you lovely people who commented - I wrote your names on little pieces of paper and picked one (or, rather, Russ picked one)... and the winner is...

Thank you so much Lora! Drop me an email [tangerinetreehouse@gmail.com] and let me know what lovely something you want from my shop.

Thanks again! Now I'm off to figure out Twitter... :)

My Twitter Dilemma - and a Contest!

2009-05-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

With all the recent developments in my life, Twitter has suddenly become something that I need to figure out and become a part of.

The problem? Twitter has a maximum number of allowable characters for your username. Which means that "tangerinetreehouse" is too long - I get stopped at "tangerinetreeho" (which isn't really the right image!).

Why is this a problem? Well, it's all about branding and identity. I want to keep the same name on every aspect of my online life, so that everything points back to my website, so that there's consistency in my online (or, for that matter, offline) presence, so that people recognize me.

I would love to just not join Twitter out of protest. But, like I said, I kinda sorta need to move into the Twitter world. So... how do I abbreviate my name without losing the tie to everything else?

TngerneTreehous
TangrineTrehous
TngrineTreehous
TangerineTreehs
TngerineTrehous

Help me create a Twitter name by leaving your suggestions in the comments - and I'll enter you in a drawing for your choice of something from my shop! (Up to $100 value, no custom work.)

Thanks!

What I've been up to...

2009-05-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

My life is currently full of clearing stuff out of our apartment and thinking about The Path Less Pedaled project and figuring out how to make and carry a portable studio when we head off. But, I have also found time to make a whole bunch of head badges. Besides being caught up in mustache fever, I've created a few custom badges as well.

On Shipping FedEx Ground to Canada

2009-04-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

Recently, I got an order from a lovely customer up in Canada. He had requested I ship via FedEx, which I was happy to do. Little did I know, though, what a crazy adventure this would become. And, for the sake of lessons learned, I thought I'd post about it here.

To properly quote a shipping price to my customer, I went on FedEx.com and clicked through to their "get rates" calculator. I put in my zip code and his (in Canada) and it came back with three options - two very expensive express rates and a much more reasonable ground rate. Ground it is, I said, and he agreed.

So, then, on Thursday, I jaunt over to the shipping store and tell them I'm shipping this package Ground to Canada. "No, we don't do Ground to Canada," is the answer I get. Excuse me, you don't do Ground to Canada? Alright, I say, I'll go to Kinko's, which of course is now FedEx Kinko's. I stroll into Kinko's and tell the guy that I'm shipping Ground to Canada. "Nah, we don't do that," he says. Nor will he tell me who does, so I'm starting to think there's some sort of conspiracy going on around me.

I go home and call the FedEx customer service number and talk to a lovely woman in their International Shipping department. She calls all the service centers in the area for me and comes back to tell me that a different Kinko's (the one that, fortunately, is right down the road from my house) can help me. Great, I say - and Russ and I stop there on our way home from dinner.

At Kinko's, I tell the guy that I want to ship Ground to Canada. He apparently mis-hears me and gives me the Express forms, although I don't realize this for a few minutes, after he gives me rate quotes. "But, I want to ship Ground," I say. "Ground isn't an option," he replies. "But, it was an option when I looked online," I retort, now thoroughly confused. (This is Canada, remember, that country that I could easily drive into and not need a pile of forms.)

This is the point where the story gets really interesting, because I lucked out and was working with hands-down the friendliest and most helpful Kinko's employee ever. He searched through the computer system and couldn't find anything about a Ground rate, but told me that if I could find it online again, he'd figure out how to get me that rate.

So, I go online and, lo and behold, there's my Ground rate. I print it out as evidence and go back to him. He looks at it dumbfounded, searches through the computer some more and then calls another area Kinko's for help. And what we learn surprises both of us - I have to have a FedEx account to ship Ground to Canada.

Alright, I say, and I open an account. Then, because it's still not an option in his system, I have to go online and log into my new account and print out the labels from there. This took several tries, as their system decided to go down. And, when I finally got it to work, it printed out my label, a receipt, and eight more pages that neither I nor the guy at the drop-off counter the next day knew what to do with. I guess they go with the package?

All told, I spent about 4 hours trying to ship this package. So, ladies and gents, you can ship International Ground to Canada via FedEx, but only if you have an account and you do it yourself online. And, forget having any help navigating through all the International forms and whatnot.

I think the part that most confuses me about this whole mess is this... Why, if I only get this rate by having an account, does FedEx include it as a possibility on their very much public website?

Off to do something much less frustrating now...

Sort of a life-changing decision...

2009-04-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

I've been quiet here as Russ and I have been working on the details of a very exciting new (life-changing) project...

It's called The Path Less Pedaled... and it's a project to find people around the world who are living their lives in a less ordinary sort of way... and tell their stories.

Independent artisans and makers, small business proprietors, community activists... I think they're evidence of a more connected, more sustainable economic model. And I'm eager to start asking the question: What does it mean to be an independent business that's small by choice?

It's also a pedal-powered project (i.e. really long bike tour) that entails leaving behind all of the structure we have now, and all of our stuff. A huge change that I am really ready for... even as I am nervous about what it means and whether I'll actually like it the way I think I will.

The big, elephant-in-the-room question, of course, is what does this mean for my jewelry? Honestly, I don't know... except that I’m absolutely not giving it up. Can I take my operation on the road somehow? Pare my tools down to a "portable studio"? This is what I'll be figuring out over the next several weeks.

Right now, we have piles of books and dishes and clothes and DVDs to part with. Russ made a great video that's up on the new site about this whole need to jettison our stuff. If anyone's done this before, feel free to share. Although, I have a feeling that I'm forging a new path... and that's exactly what I'm looking for right now.

Mustache on yer Bike

2009-04-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not really one for following trends. But, I have to admit that I've been enjoying the silliness of the mustache trend that's running rampant on Etsy right now. Russ and I were giggling the other night over beers about how fun it would be to put a mustache on a bike - and, well, I just had to run with it.

Introducing... Mustache on yer Bike. Sure, your bicycle has personality, but does it have enough personality to sport a 'stache?

Find, Make, Wear

2009-04-16T09:30:00.001-07:00

The Find, Make, Wear page is now up on the Victoria & Albert Museum website!

There's a fantastic collection of jewelry shown and I'm so thrilled and honored to be a part of it!

Still car-free... and loving it!

2009-04-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

I recently realized that I have now been car-free for eight months. Eight months. Time flies, doesn't it?!

I rarely think about the Saturn that is no longer mine, except when I happen to see one in the same green sailing down the road. I've actually only seen her once in the past eight months, despite the fact that her current owner also lives in Long Beach. I was cycling down the road and I happened to look over to the traffic next to me and see a green Saturn that looked especially familiar and, hey, had my old license plate number. The windshield had been replaced so there was no more crack, she was clean, and the driver was singing along to some mariachi music. It made me smile - I found her a good home.

So if anyone's wondering whether I miss having a car - the answer would be no.

Next weekend is the Long Beach Grand Prix, although the "Welcome Race Fans" signs are already up. The Grand Prix is an uttlery ridiculous celebration of the automobile (we can actually hear the race drivers shift gears from our apartment a mile and a half away). Parking is always notoriously terrible. This year, I don't even have to give it a sideways thought.

Riding around on my bike is so completely natural to me now that I would never even think that I couldn't get somewhere on a bike. Amazing how you make that mental shift over time. Anywhere seems reachable on my little two-wheeled "freedom machine" (as it was once referred to by an Amtrak employee).

In fact, I've pedaled over 1700 miles this year alone!

All of this is to say that Russ and I are working on a very exciting project, that I hope to announce shortly. If you couldn't guess, it has to do with the bikes, and riding them, and all that you can do with them, and how great it is to remove yourself from the status quo. Stay tuned.

In the meanwhile, I found this funny photo from many years ago (I was maybe 10?). Looks like cycling and I were meant to be. :)

The catalogs are in the mail...

2009-04-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last night, as I was packing up my little catalog bundles to go out to some shops, I was laughing at what a prime example it is of all the different hats you end up wearing when you're a one-woman show. Not only did I make all the jewelry, but I took all the photos, designed and laid out the catalogs (and then bound them too!), typed up the line sheet, designed and laid out the postcards that I'm sending with the catalogs, designed and cut all the little notecards on which I hand-wrote introduction notes, wrote out all the labels on the envelopes, and in a little while I'll walk them all down to the post office. Whew. No wonder I get tired sometimes. :)

I'm excited to get these mailed off and put a period at the end of this very long project. Sometimes it's hard for me to actually finish things that I start (I can't count the number of jewelry pieces that are half-done in my studio, nor the number of books on our bookshelf that have a bookmark stuck somewhere in the middle), so I'm quite proud that I followed this all the way through. Fingers crossed that great things will come from it!

Have a Happy Friday everyone!

More new mini pendants

2009-04-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

Finally getting around to listing the last of my little bundle of mini pendants... in my Etsy shop...

Today required a little extra determination...

2009-04-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

"to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." - e. e. cummings

More Mini Pendants!

2009-04-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

In my Etsy shop...

The Catalog is Done!!

2009-04-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

I have a pile of pages just back from Kinko's that need to be bound. And I still need to type up my line sheet with actual prices. But I just have to take a moment to celebrate that this never-ending project is actually coming together. Here's the first one...

If you know of a shop that should be carrying my work (and, thus, should receive one of these beauties), please let me know.

All smiles...

2009-04-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

I got a delightful email on Wednesday from the Victoria & Albert Museum web team. They're putting up a page on their website featuring selected pieces from their "Find... Make... Wear..." flickr group - and they chose one of my pieces for inclusion (see above)! I am so thrilled - partly because it's the V&A and that's just a huge honor for me - partly because this is the piece that launched my current design direction (and the first piece I made with natural materials) - and partly because I'll be in the company of some amazing artists that I truly admire. Will post a link when it's up.

In the meantime, after gushing to my colleague at my day job, she gifted me this card, which totally made my day...

Front Page!

2009-04-01T20:47:00.001-07:00

What a fun April Fool's present! My Window pendant made the front page of Etsy today. I missed it, but fellow seller Gina of CheapBoutique grabbed a screen shot for me. Thanks Gina! And thanks to Dorothy of DorothyDomingo for curating the treasury!

This is no April Fool's joke

2009-04-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

The new little pendants are up in my etsy shop! Or, rather, the first four of them are. All that photo-taking and photo-editing and etsy-listing is time-consuming, so I thought I'd space it out a bit. Take a gander...

Lookin' Good...

2009-03-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

I'm giving these little pendants one more day for the shellac to dry fully, and then I'll start listing them in my etsy shop. I'm quite happy with how they've turned out!

(The one on the left has a single small flower bud and the one on the right has lots of little bits of leaves.)

Studio Weekend

2009-03-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... how nice to spend some quality time with my studio and all my tools. Lately, I've been so busy with a gazillion other things that I haven't spent any time actually making anything. So, I spent the whole day yesterday and today creating a pile of charm-style pendants. My fingers hurt and my body is tired, but I'm so excited about these little guys.

It takes some time for the shellac to dry fully. But, I hope to have these new pieces finished up in the next day or two, so that I can start listing them.

And the aftermath at my workbench...

Vote for us...

2009-03-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

As I can't stop babbling about, Russ and I have a dream to go on a really long cycling adventure. Across the country, around the world. Being on a bike is now the most natural thing for us. We're completely car-free and totally entranced by all that you do and see and experience on a bike.

Where am I going with this? Well, Russ and I have slowly been hatching an idea to ride around and connect with other cycling people and folks working toward a sustainable future.

"People need to know that there is hope, that around them are others who are working in ways no matter how small or large to make our lives better."

And, now Microsoft has launched a "Name Your Dream Assignment" contest... Submit your idea for the most creative, inspiring photo shoot. Needless to say, we've entered. And we'd like your support. The 20 dreams with the most public votes will go on to a jury panel.

If you want to support our crazy dream, head over to the website. You need to register first, then hit the "Pic it" button on our entry.

Thanks!! :)

Checking things off my to-do list

2009-03-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

Finished updating my artist's statement, and I'm quite happy with it. I had Russ read it and he didn't have any comments, which is amazing since he was an English major. It's that much better than before. You can read it here.

Started updating my website. It needed it. Tweaked some of the text and modified a few details. I still need to update the jewelry photos (but I think I need to take some new photos first). And, really exciting... bicycle head badges are back!

I'm also slowly finishing up components to my catalog. Like... page 2 is done! I'm printing samples tomorrow to see how they translate from my computer screen to paper.

I've been feeling like I have the never-ending to-do list, so it's lovely to actually complete something! Hooray for productivity!

The statement from me, the artist

2009-03-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

My task for this weekend... Re-write my artist's statement. There's nothing really wrong with the one I've been using for the past year or two... it's just time for a bit of an update... or, rather, a complete overhaul (sometimes it's easier to just start over than try to edit something that's been done and set for so long). After many hours yesterday and today, I have a first draft! A re-vamped artist's statement is one of the components to my new catalog that's been hardest for me to complete, so I'm excited that I'm getting closer. My goal is to have my catalog to the printer next weekend. Whew.

In other news, it's incredibly windy here in Long Beach today (as in rattle-the-windows kind of windy). I might have to go collect some branches later. :)

The Durability Test

2009-03-18T15:49:00.001-07:00

Over the past few months, I've been hearing more and more concerns over the durability of my jewelry. I'm a complete perfectionist, so it's been hard to not take this personally, as I've always worked so hard to ensure that everything I make will hold up over time (and possibly become an heirloom in the distant future.) And, because this question has taken me by surprise, my answer has been a marginally-defensive one... "Of course it will hold up!"

But, no matter how much of a perfectionist I am, I've come around to understanding that this is actually a very legitimate question. Dried leaves and flower petals are quite fragile, so it's only natural to wonder if buying one of my pieces is a worthwhile investment.

In order to put my own mind to rest and to answer these questions definitively and non-defensively, I devised a test to check the durability of my jewelry-making methods... I would wear a pendant on one of my long-distance bike tours. And, our most recent tour to the desert seemed like the perfect testing scenario... long days of riding, hot days, cold nights, lots of sand and dust and dirt and sweat.

I usually don't wear jewelry while I ride, so I almost forgot to take the necklace with me, and had to come back to the apartment to get it while we were working out the last kinks with our riding companions. I wore it the entire first day. I wore it outside of my shirt, and tucked inside, and it bounced around a lot.

And, then, at night, I took it off and put it neatly in the pocked of the tent... and completely forgot about it the next morning when we packed up. My necklace got rolled up inside the tent, and probably squished as I was pushing out the air and strapping everything to the back of the bike. We stayed in a hotel the second night, so my necklace ended up rolling around the tent and bumping around on the back of the bike for 30 or so hours. And when we finally pitched camp on the third night, I found it in a pile of dirt at the bottom of the tent. Was I nervous? You bet. But, I blew off all the dirt and discovered that the leaves were still perfectly in tact. There wasn't even so much as a scratch in the shellac coating the leaves! I put it back on and rode with it for the rest of our trip.

We rode for five days, 243 miles, 85 degrees during the day, with only two showers the entire trip. By the end of that fifth day, I looked pretty ragged, but my necklace looked fantastic.

I'd say that counts as a passing grade, right?

The "After" Photo... slightly dusty, not as shiny on the front edge, and a bit of a seasoned patina... and I'll be wearing it every day, since I know it can take whatever I throw at it...

In town again

2009-03-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

Got back today from our trip to the desert. Has it really only been six days? It feels more like three weeks...

Cycling through the desert is an amazingly intense experience. You're in the middle of absolutely nowhere, surrounded by a vast landscape that changes very slowly over all those many miles. It's incredibly beautiful (especially at this time of year, when everything is surprisingly green and the wildflowers are in bloom), and it's incredibly challenging. I came back stronger, nicely tanned, and eight pounds lighter, with a brain full of stunning memories.

A few highlights...

.. Standing at the edge of a windy hill just off I-10, surrounded by hundreds of windmills

.. Soaring 10 miles downhill into the valley of the desert at Joshua Tree

.. Making the somewhat risky decision to follow a 20-mile-long road through BLM land with no facilities instead of hopping on the freeway and being rewarded with a long, slow descent through a beautiful canyon I never would have thought even existed

.. Listening to music under the stars on my surprisingly good $10 speakers

And, like always, Russ shot many more photos than I did... check them out on his flickr.

That sweet siren song...

2009-03-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

And we're off... again... Leaving Thursday for a long six-day loop out to Pioneertown, Joshua Tree, the Salton Sea and back. Should be close to 300 miles, sunny and dry, and probably a bit surreal. I'm really excited. My brain needs something new to look at for awhile.

But the past few days haven't been solely dedicated to packing and getting maps and making that last trip to REI... I've been working in my studio too. I created myself a small charm pendant to take on our trip...

I've been thinking that I need to make myself my very own necklace to wear on our trips (and anywhere else that I go), so that I can easily show people what I do when asked. But, truth be told, most of what I make, I'd be a bit nervous to take on the road (I can be a bit rough with my things when camping). After much brainstorming, I hit on this lovely little design. It's only about .75" wide, which makes it pretty hard to get at those leaves in the middle (it made it pretty hard to get the leaves in there in the first place!). I'm excited to road-test it and see how it holds up. If it does well, I think I might make a bunch of these.

Back next week!

On orbiting...

2009-03-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

I'm discovering, with all the muck I'm wading through at my day job, that my creative brain goes into serious hibernation when I'm under a lot of stress. And the only daydreams that pass through my consciousness are ones involving long, escapist bike tours (Salt Lake City to San Luis Obispo, via Jackson Hole, Montana, Portland, the Bay Area, and Big Sur, for example). So, I'm not getting done any of the work that I would like to, and I'm feeling a bit guilty about it.

Last night, I went trawling through my book shelf, looking for something to read. And I stumbled upon a book that was gifted to me years ago... Orbiting the Giant Hairball, by Gordon MacKenzie. If corporate bureaucracy is a swirling mess of a hairball, keeping your sanity is the act of orbiting - drawing from the energy of the hairball without getting sucked into it. I think I'm going to work on my own orbiting skills. And maybe stop getting sucked into the muck and help my creative brain to start functioning again.

In the meantime, I have a new guest post up on Epicurean Cyclist, about wool sweaters.

Wednesday update...

2009-02-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

I am at home again today, recovering from the cold bug that's been going around. But, it's sunny outside right now and it almost feels like spring, so I thought I'd pull myself out of my hibernation and post a few things that I've been working on.

First up, a couple of headbadges. I'm still in the process of re-working how I'm going to accept headbadge orders, but in the meantime, I received a few requests that I couldn't pass up...

I've also been doing a bit of hand-lettering for my catalog. And I'm starting to wonder if I might have another career in doing this sort of work, I just enjoy it that much.

I've got a few other things up my sleeve that I'm excited to work on and show off when it's time. (Hint: you'll be seeing the above text again very soon.) Until then, I hope it's sunny where you are!

The Year of the Leaf

2009-02-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

Last year, I pushed myself to make a catalog of some of my work, with the idea that I would then be able to sell my work to shops. Except, I was kinda never fully happy with the design of the catalog, or with the pieces that I was putting in it (have I mentioned I'm a perfectionist?), and I kinda wasn't even sure that wholesale was what I actually wanted to do. It was a good exercise, but after all that work, I never ended up sending out the catalog.

Fast forward to now... and I'm thinking that wholesale to select shops makes a lot of sense for me. Not that I'll give up my etsy shop or 1000markets shop. The key is to diversify. :)

So, I've started sketching out a new catalog. And, I must say that I'm quite excited. I have a truly lovely and amazingly creative friend who's ear I was able to bend on this matter and I think this catalog is going to be really fun to put together and send out to folks. No doubt it'll take me a little while to finish it all up, but since I'm so excited and all, I thought I'd share a sneak peek...

P.S. Did I mention that I'm proclaiming 2009 to be The Year of the Leaf...?!

Back from our escape

2009-02-17T08:12:00.000-08:00

We're back - and our weekend was exceptionally lovely. We slowed down the pace a bit for this trip - and spent a lot of time stopping for coffee, taking pictures, enjoying the scenery. I definitely needed the time to relax.

Most of the weekend turned out to be gloriously sunny. Not particularly warm, but really beautiful. And all of the recent storms meant that the air was clean and the horizons were clear and the mountain tops were dusted with snow. Pretty surreal, really, to ride through orange groves with a view of a snow-covered peak in the background.

And, then, at about midnight Sunday night, the sky just broke open. It poured and poured and pounded on our tent all night and into the morning. And, I am still amazed that our little tent took such a beating and didn't leak once!

And, so, we are back from another adventure. And already planning the next one. :)

Russ' photos (always better than mine) are on his blog.

Speaking of running away...

2009-02-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

Russ and I are off again this weekend. To Ojai and the surrounding mountains. I swear this is the only thing keeping me sane these days. Now, let's just keep our fingers crossed that, if it rains like they say it will, it's not too much of a soaking sort of driving rain. :)

Etsy on Epicurean Cyclist

2009-02-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

The more time I spend on my bike, the more I'm realizing how easy it is to wind up looking like a bum. So, I've been on a quest for the past few months to build a cycling wardrobe that, in no way, resembles bum-wear. And, lo and behold, I've found that turning to Etsy can yield great rewards. (Plus, I think that shopping on Etsy creates good karma for me as a seller.) My guest post today on Epicurean Cyclist points out two such finds, so check it out.

Next quest... to create cycling-friendly jewelry... :)

Random thoughts on a Tuesday

2009-02-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been finding it hard to be my usual optimistic, positive self. I think it's partly the muck of the economy and all the related stresses (although I've been trying really hard to not pay attention to the gloom and doom reports). And I've been really wishing that I could just run away with the circus. Leave behind all of my stuff and pedal away into the sunset.

There is a part of me that truly wishes that I could be made happy by just going to a job everyday and sitting in an office. But, that will never be me, I think, because I've always been attracted to the idea of just falling off the grid and experiencing life in a very non-status-quo sort of way.

Which, I guess, is why bike touring is so appealing to me. The world just drops away, and all that matters is moving your legs, eating, enjoying the gorgeous views, and finding a place to sleep at night. This past weekend, we went back to O'neill Park. It rained almost the entire weekend, even hailed at one point. I and my gear were soaked through many times. And it was glorious, for the simple fact that the aforementioned muck just disappeared from view. Oh, and the way that everything glistened from the rain and reminded me of Oregon.

Russ and I have already started plotting our next trip, for this coming three-day weekend. If we could figure it out, I think we'd hit the road and not come back for months. Sitting here, eating my lunch, I'm not sure if this is a head-in-the-sand sort of mentality, or a new and exciting direction for my life...

Have you ever just wanted to run away from it all? What did you do?

Pedaling away

2009-02-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend, my sketchbook and I are hitting the road for another mini bike adventure, with Russ in tow of course. With any luck, the weather will continue to be grey and moody (it keeps Southern Californians in their houses) without actively raining too much (which is what it's doing right now, believe it or not).

I'll pick up my to-do list again next week... :)

(Photo by Russ)

Drum roll, please...

2009-02-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

In thinking about my next direction, I realized that I want to pull back from collecting and then incorporating all sorts of wonky bits of nature and, instead, focus on a few key items that have worked well for me. It gives me a chance to put more emphasis on the metalwork - and this has gotten the creative juices flowing again. :)

So, without further ado... let me introduce the first few pieces in my new Leaves Series.

I'll be rolling out lots more designs over the next few weeks that will all incorporate these red and orange autumn leaves (and perhaps some yellow or green spring leaves, if I can find some that I like). So, stay tuned.

Also, I'm delighted to start stringing these pieces on sterling silver chain. It took me a while to come around to the idea of using chain instead of fiber, but now that I have, I really love the look!

The above pieces are now available in my etsy shop. And if you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it! :)

Things are looking up...

2009-02-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

Oh, how I love weekends... and this one was exactly what I needed after this past week. There has been much sleeping in and working in my studio. There was paella with a great group of friends and enjoying the fact that, because we're in Southern California, we could sit outside well into the evening. I even had a letter to the editor (about possible bicycling facilities) published in our local paper!

Here's a sneak peek at some of the designs that I've been working on this weekend...

I still feel like I'm not entirely sure of the direction that I want to take with this new series, but I like what I've worked up so far.

And I got a package on Friday that included some sample chains. I'll be introducing sterling silver chains in place of the silk cord soon, and I needed to actually see some in person to make a decision. More to follow...

Spinning, spinning...

2009-01-30T15:24:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness this week is over! I have been through a bit of a roller coaster with my day job over the past few days and it has left me exhausted. All I can think right now is that I am greatly looking forward to this weekend and the uninterupted work time in my studio.

I'm still not really sure what designs I want to run with. But, I'm going to try something totally out of character for me, and just jump in somewhere and see what happens. (Normally, I need it all planned out before I get started.) With any luck, it'll work out in my favor, because I'd really like to start making real all of these rambling ideas in my head.

So, my friends, I hope your week was less taxing than mine and that you have a good weekend ahead as well.

Oh, and, P.S... There are still a few pieces on sale in my etsy shop...

The view is always so beautiful from a bike...

2009-01-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

It was grey and drizzly most of the weekend, which kept the traffic down and the campground empty. And, while we had to ride through a lot of urban sprawl, we found parts of Orange County that haven't been paved over yet! Two little days and it felt like we had traveled an entire world away.

Russ' photos here and here.

Stories and Sounds

2009-01-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, I gifted my Dad a book of doodles and thoughts on creativity by Jim Henson. A few days ago, he emailed me a quote from the book that I have been mulling over. It may heap a bit of pressure upon artists' shoulders, but it's really quite beautiful to think about:

"An artist gives people back a part of themselves – the stories and sounds, the feeling of what it’s like to be alive."

This weekend, Russ and I are off on our bikes again for a mini camping adventure. I have a feeling this quote will follow me out to O'Neill park and back as I continue pondering new jewelry designs in my head.

Enjoy your weekend and all of its stories!

It's kinda cloudy right now...

2009-01-22T23:36:00.000-08:00

After such a delightful weekend, I must confess that this has been a tough week for me. I think it's a given that all artists have slump periods, when creativity seems to not want to cooperate with you, when you question where you are and what you're doing, when sitting on the couch with a nice dark beer sounds like the best plan ever. Such has been my week. And, while frustrating, I'm trying to not fight it and let it teach me what it has to teach.

Which is to say that last week's Project Runway challenge just sort of fell apart. I found a shirt, I cut it up, I followed an idea, and it just didn't work out for me. So, I had to shelve it and move on. I thought I would probably give up on this week's challenge too. But, in the middle of the couch-sitting, my brain started working again.

Alisa set this week's challenge to Wall to Wall Fashion, a.k.a. use only materials found at home. I looked around my apartment and found a giant mess of bikes and to-do lists. And I thought, ah-ha!

It's a big mess of a brooch, but I quite like it. Bicycle inner tubes stitched together with a collage of my torn-up to-do lists on top and two pink buttons to finish it off.

Other challenge participants: Lora Hart and Mike and Rachelle. Alisa's to follow.

Edit: Check out Rachelle's own brooch and Alisa's necklace.

More sketches

2009-01-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

Working on more sketches today. Having a hard time figuring out what I want to make next...

Time for a bit of change...

2009-01-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

I've been using the beginning of this year as an opportunity to look very critically at my work - what I like, what I'd like to change, what comments I've heard from folks that I'd like to incorporate, etc. And, in so doing, I've identified several pieces that I'm not going to replicate. Which means that the following are all going on SALE...

Head on over to my etsy shop and take advantage of this opportunity to get some highly unique one-of-a-kind pieces for much less than I would normally price them.

I am also going to start offering sterling silver chains to hang your pendants on, for those of you who would prefer a chain to the silk thread. I'm still researching this, but know that it's in the works.

And what would a time of change be without a great new haircut? I think she lopped off six or more inches and I LOVE it!

Is it Thursday already?

2009-01-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

Oof... this has been a busy week for me. Although, in retrospect, I'm not really sure why. Don't you love that?

Anyway, I have been puttering around, working on a piece for the Project Runway challenge, but I have nothing to show for it yet. I wanted to cut up something that I didn't mind losing as a wearable article. Which, unfortunately, meant that I spent too much time sorting through piles of possibilities, instead of just diving in. But, I've got a long 3-day weekend ahead, which means lots of time to work. So, stay tuned.

A few other things that are happening in my world...

I joined Kit & Caboodle, an online network for contemporary jewelers. Think of it as Facebook for jewelry.

And I've started guest-posting on Wednesdays on Russ' Epicurean Cyclist blog. I've already got two posts up. If you're interested in bike touring, check it out. I get to be the women's point of view.

Also, I'm getting ready to put up a few pieces on sale, which really doesn't happen often. So, if you're interested in picking up a genuine Tangerine Treehouse something at a fraction of its usual price, check back over the next few days.

Branching Out

2009-01-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

In an effort to branch out a bit, I've opened a new online shop at 1000Markets.com. I'm still learning my way around, but so far I've been thrilled with the interface. Check it out.

More one-a-week challenges...

2009-01-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

Last spring, I joined in one of the one-a-week Project Runway challenges that Annie over at Imogene came up with. And, in spite of my somewhat hermit tendencies (and the fact that I don't have cable and can't actually watch Project Runway), I really enjoyed it.

Well, Alisa just announced that she's starting up the next round of challenges. And I think I'm jumping on the bandwagon again. I like the idea of pushing myself in a totally different direction as a way of getting my brain to think beyond what I've already done and inspiring new work.

So, here we go... The theme? The clothes off your back.

Hmmm... Can I change into something I don't mind tearing apart first?

Alisa is shooting to finish hers next Thursday, so I will too. Which is great, because it gives me this weekend to work.

Anyone else joining in?

Sketching new ideas

2009-01-06T22:13:00.001-08:00

I think that I am finally over the burn-out I've been feeling for the past while, because my mind is back to swirling over new ideas and designs. I'm excited to see where these take me, because they're a bit different.

We had a blissful weekend...

2009-01-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

We're back from our New Year's bicycling adventure. Each time we go on a bike tour, I'm always amazed at how the world just drops away. We were only gone for four days, but it felt like months (in the best sort of way).

We celebrated New Year's in front of a roaring fire while a heavy fog rolled in over the beach and campground...

We rode down some truly beautiful country roads, lined with oak and maple trees whose leaves were vibrant shades of red and orange and gold and yellow...

Past acres and acres of farmland and vineyards...

We had breakfast in the small town of Guadalupe, which looks like it just stepped out of the Wild West. We stayed in an old hotel in Santa Maria, in the same room where Gregory Peck once stayed. We met lots of really lovely people along the way, that restored our hope in humanity.

In all, it was a truly wonderful trip and I am thankful that my stomach returned to normal in time for all of the hill-climbing. :)

For all the shots of us actually cycling down the road, head over to Russ' flickr.

Happy New Year

2008-12-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

I had planned on crafting a delightfully philosophical this-year-is-over-and-here's-what-I've-learned post as a way of wrapping up 2008. But, then I got hit with a truly gross wouldn't-wish-this-on-my-worst-enemy stomach flu, and now I'm just happy to be sitting upright. And, well, maybe that's philosophical enough.

Russ and I are headed off super early tomorrow for a mini New Year's bike tour. After taking the train to Santa Barbara and heading north, we'll be toasting the beginning of 2009 on the beach at our favorite hiker/biker campsite (Refugio State Beach). And then we'll make our way up through Solvang, Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Morro Bay and into San Luis Obispo. I'm really looking forward to it.

Russ at Refugio earlier this year

I have no idea what next year will bring. This is the first year in a long time that I don't have any really specific resolutions. All I know is that there are great changes brewing for 2009 and I am excited.

So here's wishing everyone a delightful New Year's celebration (whatever your plans are) and all the best for coming year.

Etsy Front Page

2008-12-27T22:57:00.000-08:00

What a fun surprise today! I got a convo through Etsy alerting me that my Window pendant had been on the front page today. When I went trolling through flickr in search of a screen shot, I stumbled on to all of these other shots of my work on past front pages! At least four front pages that I didn't even know about. It's a much-needed boost at the end of a busy year!

Edit: I found the treasury that was picked to be on the front page and grabbed a shot! Thanks CatamountDigital!

Joining the 'net revolution

2008-12-26T23:04:00.000-08:00

I had all sorts of mental hurdles to jump over, but I did it... I joined facebook. Web 2.0, here I come. So, if you want to be my friend, scurry on over. I'm still figuring it all out, this new-fangled technology thing, but so far the boogie man hasn't come for me... :)

Happy Everything!

2008-12-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing everyone a very happy whatever-it-is-that-you-celebrate!

Russ and I will be mostly hanging out at home, enjoying the quiet (and the rain that we're due to get Wednesday & Thursday), watching some movies, drinking some beers, playing some dominoes, and probably eating a lot too.

I'm going to tidy up my studio and then leave it alone, while I start thinking about my goals for 2009 and what direction I'm headed.

I hope everyone out there enjoys their holidays and their time off.

And thanks to my mom for unearthing these delightful old photos of me at Christmas!

Procrastinator's Night

2008-12-22T15:41:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that it's December 22 already?! Where did the year go? I wanted to thank everyone who came out for the final Pop Up Shop yesterday. It was our most successful of the season, and proof that we're on to something. :)

I just heard about a fun event that I wanted to pass along to any Corvallis, Oregon area readers. It's called Procrastinator's Night and it's from 5-8pm tonight at the Arts Center. There will be live blues music, pizza, beer and, of course, lots of great last-minute hand-crafted gifts. If you're still looking for a great gift, swing by and check it out!

Ornament Swap Update

2008-12-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

Curious what I've received in exchange for my star ornaments that I sent out for the Swap? I've gotten eight ornaments in the mail so far, and they're all so lovely.

This year, due to lack of space and general not-wanting-to-deal-with-it-ness, Russ and I skipped getting a tree. So how am I displaying all of my new ornaments? Meet the Ornament Mobile...

Sturdy eucalyptus branches collected after this recent storm, tied together with hemp yarn. It spins around freely and the ornaments hang unobstructed. I'm really quite thrilled with it. :)

A few more close-ups of the ornaments I've received...

Could it be..?

2008-12-18T13:17:00.000-08:00

Every so often, it almost feels like winter here. The rain has stopped and the storm is pushing through, leaving us with these gorgeous snow-capped mountains in the distance. (I had to snap some photos on my ride to work this morning, since the smog will fill back in tomorrow and obscure the beautiful view.)

In honor of it actually feeling like winter - and the fact that we're just a few little days away from the big holiday - I'm offering a FREE upgrade to Priority Shipping on all orders out of my etsy shop through the end of the day Friday the 19th (that's tomorrow!). (My last holiday ship date is Saturday.)

And if you're really waiting until the last minute... come check out one of these opportunities...

Last Holiday Pop Up Shop ... Sunday, December 21 ... 12noon-6pm
Winterlight @ The Corvallis Arts Center ... runs through December 24

Monday, Monday

2008-12-15T07:50:00.001-08:00

It may be pouring outside right now, but Mother Nature held off yesterday, instead giving us a gloriously sunny (albeit quite chilly) day. Thanks to everyone who came out to our second Pop Up Shop! You made it even more successful than the first one!

Also exciting... I'm finally mailing off my gift for our EtsyMetal Secret Santa swap! I had to fight some feelings of "are they good enough?" when I started seeing what other folks are sending off. But, when I think only about the earrings, I must say that I'm quite happy with them! Eco-friendly sterling silver with dried nasturtium petals.

And now I am off to brave the downpour, bundled up in lots of goofy-looking layers, on my ride to my day job.