Full Circle ~ Calico Seasons

My newest collection is here: Calico Seasons. And I'm so happy with how it all came together. The palette really speaks to spring and newness and light femininity, but with an underlying strength. I'm also playing around with mixed metals again, which is definitely getting my creative juices flowing in a whole new way. 

There's also a small selection of OOAK pieces and limited editions, like the Sepia Seasons necklace (above, middle) and the Serpentine River Necklace (above, bottom.)

This collection, surprisingly (or not, depending on how you look at it) came our of a rather dark place. After the elections in November and the divisiveness that arose in our country, I was walking around feeling over-whelmed, angry, and hopeless. When shit goes sideways so to speak (and pardon my french) I often want to throw my all into fixing things, making things better, and I didn't see a clear way to go about fixing what was now, in my view, broken about our society. 

Slowly though, and with the help that comes from talking about these feelings with friends and those I care about, I started to see that the best work I could do would be to continue to do my creative work. I'm now really trying to put more of an emphasis on connecting with others too, helping other creatives out in whatever ways I can. (Part of that work is with the Creative Pursuit Collective, which you can read more about here.)

There four photos above are part of the Vista Series in the Calico Seasons collection. In particular, the Vista Bangle has quickly become a go-to piece for me and I'm finding myself wearing this piece nearly daily. I love this design (in all three - the earrings, the necklace and the bangle) because it's almost "shield" like in it's shape. It feels powerful. And I imagine that from our vantage point, or Vista, as we rise above the mess of the last few months, things will start to sort themselves out and become a bit more clear. 

As I've been saying, this collection is inspired by "nature's lessons and nature's patience." The designs came out of a confused and frustrating time for me, and a time when I found myself calmed and put at ease by simple things, like sunsets and sunrises, the birds chirping in my yard in the early morning or the light fog cloaking my street as I went about starting my day. 

It's funny how something inspired by very confused and dark emotions can end up feeling so light  and cheery, but that's exactly how this collection came about to be manifested. Or it's not so funny at all and in a way makes perfect sense. . . and shows me yet again how most things in life come full circle if we only give them the time. 

Through Wednesday, 3/22, take 15% off all pieces in the new collection with code nature. I will also be including small, hand-written bits of poetry with each item from the new collection. I hope to convey a certain feeling and idea with each design, and the poetry that will accompany each piece is my gift to you. 

Happy Monday everyone!

The Newest Collection: Connections

All of my collections are always near and dear to my heart. And they always reflect a little bit of where I'm at currently in my life personally, and the things I am focusing on and drawing inspiration from. I wanted to show, metaphorically, how the connections between two people shape and mold us into more intriguing individuals. 

At the core of jewelry design and creation are connections - deciding how and wear to connect two elements can greatly alter a design's final look and feel. This practical application of connections beautifully mirrors the real-life connections we are making all of the time with the people around us, from our lovers, parents, and friends, to our co-workers, neighbors and casual acquaintances. 

Pictured above are the Connections hoops - the title piece of the collection. I think one look at them and you can understand why they're the title piece =). I really pushed myself with this design to come up with something that was interesting, had movement, and was still a hoop. These are definitely a current favorite of mine!

(and pictured below you can see there is also a necklace version and a hoop without the stones)

To see the whole collection simply head on over to the Tangleweeds shop and select the "connections collection." And, a little secret to share (with blog readers only!), I'll be offering a giveaway from this collection sometime this month. Check back for the news on that soon!

Full Circle ~ Early Mornings

Ahh, early mornings! When everything seems possible and the time in the day seems endless. Just dropping in this morning to share some snapshots from the past week. Below is my home workspace - where the administrative part of the biz happens (and some beadwork on the side.)

The sunsets in the bay area have been beyond gorgeous the last few days. This shot is from my front porch in Vallejo. 

And below, a little tease of new work that is coming soon! So soon. I'm photographing my fall/winter collection next week (as long as all goes according to planned). The components below will become a new hoops design. 

That's all for now! I'm off to my monthly small business meeting later tonight. These meetings are always such a great motivator AND a great source of maker camaraderie. Happy Wednesday everyone!

LWM ~ Returns!

Oh me, oh my! I haven't posted a Listening-Wearing-Making post since March! And so much has shifted and changed since then. Here's my take on what to listen to, wear, and make RIGHT NOW as we move through our days.

Listening to. . . The Honeycutters. I'm thoroughly obsessed with this band right now. (If you follow me on Spotify you'll see that I listen to one of their albums almost daily.) This song is from their second most recent album, which is full of good 'ol honky-tonk infused good-ness. (Also, if you go to their webpage, they have a bunch of live videos for your viewing pleasure.)

Wearing. . . It's starting to feel like fall around here. There's a chill in the morning that's more pronounced. There's a faint bit of fog in the mornings in Vallejo. And Oakland's barely making it above the mid-60s lately. I've been wearing boots and leggings with my dresses some days now, for the first time in months. And I love this baby doll dress that I picked up at a little boutique in Turlock last year. 

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Making. . . Well, I've been furiously working on my fall/winter collection, which is going to be small, since I just put out the Earth Relics collection over the summer. But those photos will have to wait until the collection is finalized. I've also been working steadily on the new copper pieces for Tangleweeds. They have been immensely popular! More popular than I anticipated in fact. I debuted them in person at the Gravenstein Apple Fair two weekends ago and I nearly sold out. For anyone who may be making it out to the SF Etsy event this weekend (I'll only be there on Sunday), I will have the copper back in stock if you want to see the pieces in person. 

Happy Thursday everyone! 

LWM ~ Jumpers and Safety Glasses

I've had some long days in the studio the last couple of weeks and music is one of those things that keeps me focused and motivated. Sometimes though, it's not the high energy stuff I prefer, but more calm and melodic music, like the wonderful songs by the sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Their music has been the backdrop for much of the designing of my fall collection. 

Wearing ~ summery dresses and safety glasses! Well, okay, the safety glasses pretty much get worn at some point everyday. I found this jumper dress at a thrift shop a week ago and knew it was meant for me. It was long, ankle length and a bit matronly, nothing a little hem-length adjustment couldn't fix!

Making ~ In between making sessions with my assistant, I've been a busy bee on the new collection. . . Here's another little sneak peek of some of the color and stone elements from what will be the fall collection.

Happy Thursday!

LWM: CAT Leggings!

Listening to. . . The new Brandi Carlile. I seriously can't stop listening to her newest album The Firewatcher's Daughter. It's a bit folksy, a bit pop, with great stories woven into it all. Enjoy! 

Wearing. . . The most amazing CAT leggings. Love these so much. In case you simply must have a pair, they're from NooWorks in San Francisco. 

And making! Well, I've been busy on so many designs lately, it's hard to narrow it down to just one, but if I had to, I'd say I've been making bunches of these covetable Featherlight necklaces. I'm slowly getting all of the colorways into my Etsy shop. Finally too! This is something I had hoped to have done a couple of months ago. Feels good to be rolling these out. 

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I hope everyone's weekly is providing all you're hoping for!