Alterations to fit your style!

Photos by Kyle Hoffman Photography

This necklace and earrings were transformed from a necklace that my grandmother had in collection I got after she passed. The original necklace had a large pendant in the middle of a silver fillagree flower shape with three tear drop shaped crystals hanging from it. For my wedding I wanted something a bit more simple with matching earrings. I took two of the crysals off of the necklace and made them into earrings and removed the pendant from the necklace to have just a simple chain with tiny crystals for my special day.

For my headpiece I had an idea of what I wanted and my mom and I were going to try to make something. While shopping for the materials we came across this beautiful bridal headpiece at new boutique called Accessory Appeal in Exeter NH. Lucky for me the bride who had it personally made for her never showed up to get it so it was the only one in the store!. To help it fit me even better I bent some of the feathers so they fell closer to my head instead of sticking up and out. Added a few antique pearls with the already white pearls so it pulled in the pearls on my necklace. I also added a peacock feather to the back. Although Peacocks or their colors had nothing to do with my wedding I do have a pretty good sized peacock tattoo on my back and it was sure to be shown off. Just to let everyone know that "Yes I know I have a tattoo" and "Yes I like it there!"

One of a kind bridesmaid necklaces - 6 girls 6 designs!

One of the best parts of planning a wedding is planning what everyone will wear. Not only did I get to pick out all the dresses but I had the pleasure of making all of the jewelry for my wedding party as well, along with clutches for the girls instead of flowers, and all of the boutonnieres for the men!

Each necklace is hand peirced out of copper and stamped with a lace texture. Each necklace is unique in design and pattern to the next. All 6 necklaces have a patina and fresh water pearls placed throughout the necklaces.

 

            Necklace Photo: Kyle Hoffman

For the Maid of Honors (my sisters) their necklaces were powder coating with a white paint and brushed back through to see parts of the metal.

 

 

 

engagement rings, bridesmaid jewelry, and wedding creativity!

I have been soo busy these past few months and Im so sorry to leave my blog hanging! I've been so busy this summer with family and friends but also planning my wedding!!

I wanted to create as many unique attributes for my wedding as possible, some related to jewelry of course and some a bit more of my creative side!   I'll be posting quite a few right in a row to catch everyone up on what Ive been up to!!

First off, Being a metalsmith I couldnt stand the idea of wearing a ring that was most likely mass produced. I do appreciate it the ring I got from my fiance very much and it certainly was beautiful! However, I really wanted to add my grandmothers diamond too it and a bit of my own personal touch.

(sterling silver, gold accents, diamonds and a yellow sapphire)

Photography: Kyle Hoffman Photography

Our wedding took place at Zorvino Vineyards in Sandown, NH

July 27th 2012

Not only did I re-design and re-make my own ring but I also made my Husbands ringas well!

Both rings have a lyric written on the inside...

Hers: it's always been...
His: there's no end...

 "You and me" by Soja
It's you and me, it's always been
And how I feel about you, there's no end, end
But you make me chase you around, all around
And then you need me there when you fall down, down
And when this dance is done,
You and me are still the only one
Well since our time begun
And I'm still with you even when your gone
When this dance is done,
You and me are still the only one
Well since our time begun
And I'm still with you even when your gone

Significance of the Yellow Sapphire

Happily married couples give credit to the Yellow Sapphire for its presence in their lives. The yellow sapphire is also said that if you seek to sort all marital problems, then it is the solution for you. The Power of this gem is such that the girl that you desire will be yours forever and if a girl will wear this gem then she will get married early!

Bolo tie, in progress!

In Enameling II Ken Bova assigned us to make a Bolo Tie. Being from New Hampshire I wasn't too sure what that was so I looked it up and apparently its basically a tie but looks kinda like jewelry too. So we had to design our Bolo Tie based on a specific person. I chose to do mine about and for my dad(he is an architect) and in the final result you will see a bit more about him really reflected. For now I have a simple sillhouette of a building that a drew and pierced out of copper. The plan is to have 4 layers, this being the top enameled component, then a thick layer of plexi to give it some depth then a sheet of paper cut from a blue print of his, then another back plate. Not sure exactly what I'll be doing with the finials at the bottom of the bolo cord. Guess you'll have to wait and see!

Erin Gardner's studio visit!

So I had the pleasure while in Oregon for spring break to meet up with Erin Gardner and check out her studio. Although we only had a chance to get together for less than an hour it was totally worth it. I spent part of the day  in Portland shopping a enjoying the unique city then made my way to Erin's studio. She's got a great space with Meg and it was awesome to see how such a successful Jeweler sets up her space. It is pretty overwhelming when you are about to graduate from school and be pushed off with nothing more then a few tools you may or may not have purchased along the way. Its refreshing to see someone maintain that creativity and flourish in the arrt jewelry world like Erin does. I saw a sneak peak of some of her new work and I even made it out with a pair of her red silhouette earrings! I highly recommend checking out some of Erin Gardner's recent work and projects.

Little Beauties I made for the Valentines Sale!

Metals Symposium at ECU this weekend

For the 3rd consecutive year ECU is hosting the Metals Symposium "Material Topics" this weekend. This year seems to be bigger and better with many talented artists joining ECU metals grads, undergrads, alumni and professors to share work, techniques and experience in the field. We have several awesome presenters this year along with Workshops and Exhibitions throughout the weekend.

Tonight, Art of Influence Exhibition opened and it was truely an inspiring exhibit with a really great concept. Each of the Metals Grads from ECU added a piece to the exhibit and contacted two other artists who they have been influenced by through their metalsmithing journeys and they also included some work. The tree continued with those two artists contacted two other artists to add to the show as well. Basically I added a lot of new names to my list of people to follow!

Also opening tonight was the Adroit II exhibition over in Mendenhall which was also a very good show. I even had 3 pieces in the exhibit as a series including my wax carved sea urchin rings and the sea urchin brooch  I completed the previous semester.  Hopefully I will be posting those images soon!

 Get up and go check out both of these exhibits, you won't regret it!

christmas gifts from an aspiring jeweler

its nice to be able to make all of my christmas gifts this year....and the best things come in the smallest packages :) Merry Christmas everyone!

La Noche Del Broche

La Noche del Broche Exhibition in San Antonio, TX opened last Friday at the Equinox Gallery. The show has some really good metalsmiths, many who go to ECU, a few undergrads, several grads, alumni and faculty as well. Check out all the unique broches here!

Rings with a swiveling compartment- Molly Perrin

I have been so into rings lately. I think I am going to focus on rings as much as possible next semester and over the summer.   I like this idea of revealing a surprise inside the ring. Molly Perrin