A new home for Tangerine Treehouse!

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!

Holidays, Here We Come...

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

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...

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!

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!

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!

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...

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

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!

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

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...

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...

Ah, Jewelry, I remember you...

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. :)

Earrings!!

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

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...

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

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!

Meet my Portable Studio

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!

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. :)

Goodbye Beautiful Workbench

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.