A Return to Handmade Love

This week I just got a bee in my bonnet and had to post about all of the great handmade jewelry that I've been drooling over on Etsy. Then, I decided to look back over my old Handmade Love posts and saw that it was nearly exactly a year ago that I posted ones of these round-ups. About time! I decided to simply focus on jewelry in general this time, because, well, I'm obsessed (naturally).

 Bones and Things ~ Real Lavender Bloom Necklace

Ahh, flowers captured in a necklace. Pretty much perfection when you're as obsessed with flowers as I am. I LOVE this lady's work and actually have two of her art prints. I had a difficult time choosing just one piece to feature, but lavender is a favorite of mine, so I went with this one. What I love about her floral and plant pieces is the organic, natural shape to the resin that she traps them in. 

 Vintajia Adornments ~ Trinity earrings 

I love how the overly oxidized metal plays against the brightness of the yellow enamel on these. They're very rustic-boho-chic. This lovely maker is out of Australia. 

LJB Jewelry ~ Mixed Metal Bangle

In my humble opinion this bangle is pretty much mixed-metal perfection. This artist is based on the east coast and participates in many arts and crafts fairs out there. I wish I lived closer, cause it would be lovely to see her creations in person!

Willow Studio Jewelry ~ Spirit Shield Earrings

The enamel on these! The rusty, old look to them! Grittiness perfected! I love jewelry that has an old, rustic feel to it, and these perfectly fit the bill. They're more colorful than I usually go in for, but I think the artist has done a good job of balancing out all of the color with plenty of "grit."

Fail Jewelry ~ Mica Earrings

And, last but not least, more mixed metal, this time in earrings. This lovely lady usually does the San Francisco Renegade too, so you local folk are in luck. What I've gotta say (and this is gonna sound a little jewelry-maker-geeky) is: way to rock the cold connections! (meaning no torch work). I'm seriously impressed by the ingenuity of the design, and how effortlessly it blends into such an elegant, wearable pair of earrings. 

I hope everyone enjoyed looking at some non-Tangleweeds jewelry for a minute! I'll be back with these posts, most likely on a monthly basis, as more lovely, handmade goodness pops up in my life. Also, if you or someone you know makes really awesome goods, and you'd like to be part of my Handmade Love series, send me a message at tangleweedsjewelry@gmail.com and we'll talk!

Full Circle ~ Things Evolving

This past week seemed to have the theme of "things evolving." From refining my display for craft fairs, to starting down the path to some new designs for Tangleweeds (to come out in the fall), to doing a complete closet overhaul. I think this year has been a period in my life where I've had a desire to refine the things already present, rather than seeking out lots of "newness." This is in part coming out of a place of satisfaction and happiness with much of what I'm doing with myself these days. But it's good to acknowledge when things need to evolve.

The above photos are from the last week, as usual. The couch was simply a couch left on the street in the Piedmont neighborhood of Oakland. I have an affinity for couches left on the street. In my magic-minded self I often wish they could become communal stomping grounds for our neighborhoods. 

And that last photo is my sewing corner at home. I don't sew nearly as much as I used to, but every now and then I do make time for one repair or alteration project or another. There's a dress in that pile that has this awesome cat and bird print that I want to shorten in an attempt to make it a little less marm-ish. Maybe my next project?

I'll be updating my events on the website later today. Most of my events for the rest of the summer will be going up along with the early fall ones. I always love seeing my customers in real life =)

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start!

LWM ~ Old Stuff, New Stuff

Been listening to some older stuff this week, especially Lyle Lovett's album Pontiac. This song is from that album. . . (and, I just gotta say, I LOVE his hair!)

Wearing - The weather's been cooling off a bit again, so it's been back to boots (instead of sandals) and warmer skirts, like this thick, knit one I thrifted a couple of months ago.

The necklace is hand-painted lace from a fellow maker I met last month at the Apple Blossom Festival in Sebastopol. Her shop can be found here: Spee-Sheez. The woman who is the creatrix behind this brand is a truly lovely spirit, and one I hope to connect with again in the future. The earrings are an old Tangleweeds design.

Annnnd. . . Making! I've been scheming up some new designs, which aren't ready for sharing just yet, but I've been making dozens of my River Rock bangles and Curves rings. You guys have pretty much unanimously declared these designs as two of your favorites this year, which is probably why I'm constantly finding myself almost out of stock on these two designs. In preparation for fair season I'm busting out tons of these!

It's felt good to be back at my workbench this week. (Last week I was busily catching up on lots of admin. details.) I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! And don't forget about Mother's Day on Sunday if you have special moms in your life to honor. 

Full Circle ~ Flowers and Jewelry

Some photos from the last week. My week was full of pretty flowers and lots of jewelry (per the usual ;-) Craft fair season has officially gone into full swing and things are getting busy! See more at my Tangleweeds Instagram account. 

I hope everyone is having a lovely week! I can't wait to see lots of your smiling faces at Patchwork this Sunday. 

April Giveaway Winner!

Oh dear! So I was supposed to announce the winner of the April giveaway on Monday! April REALLY has gotten away from me in ways the first few months of the year didn't. Better late than never, right?

The winner of a pair of the Raindrops earrings is. . . 

Cheri! CHERI, you are the winner of these great, classic, easy-to-wear pair of earrings. Shoot me an email at tangleweedsjewelry@gmail.com and we can arrange for you to receive these soon!

In the meantime folks, it's pretty obvious that I'm without much time for blogging these last few weeks. I'll drop in here as I can, but regular posts may not resume until I finish up catching up in some other Tangleweeds-related areas of business.

In the meantime, you can always follow my Tangleweeds endeavors over on Instagram!

Wise Words

Just a little bot of motivation for all of you, especially you friends out there who feel like things are just never gonna come together. . . Just give it some time =)

(I'll be back next week to announce the winner of my most recent giveaway contest. This week's been a big administrative week for me, and I've had to let a few things go while I catch up on other areas. But I have more blog goodness coming soon again!)

LWM ~ A Typical Week

In a typical week, I always listen to quite a bit of country/americana. . . Like the album Begonias by Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell. . . 

I usually wear at least one outfit that is a combo of floral print skirt/boots/sweater with Tangleweeds jewelry. . . (earrings are from a fellow maker)

And I make several of my lariat style necklaces (you guys have nearly unanimously decided that these are some of your favorite Tangleweeds pieces), especially theses River Rock ones. . . 

Just a short and sweet Listening-Wearing-Making post for all of you this Thursday. I won't be back in this space until next week, so I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Full Circle ~ Birthday Weekend!

My birthday was this past weekend. I turned 34! It all feels good, it all feels fine. I have slightly older friends who kind of hint at that I'm going to start freaking out once I hit 35. . . I'm sure there's some validity to all of that, but right now I feel good. I did have some BIG revelations around my birthday, things that sort of worked themselves out in my head in a rather unexpected way. That felt good and humbling. Humbling because sometimes you just keep pushing and pushing on something, trying to make your mind up about it. And you get stuck and in this place of limbo-indecision that feels like it'll never end. Finally, you get so exhausted by it all that you sort of just let go, and that's when the picture starts to get more clear and everything starts to make more sense. (Sorry to be a bit vague about the details, it's not something I want to share at this moment, but I will share at a later date and time when it's all sunk in a bit more for me. But I did want to share the process, as I think it's something one learns more and more with age.)

My actual birthday was on Saturday and was pretty mellow. Went to the farmer's market where my honey bought me a new piece of clothing from Susan Eastman (I love her stuff!), worked on a weaving project (the same one I've been working on a for a while. When it's finished I'll definitely share it here) and enjoyed some thai food from a favorite local Oakland spot for dinner. Then on Sunday I went out with my good friend, Alice and my sister for brunch, bowling and treasure hunting at Urban Ore in Berkeley. Sunday was really my version of the perfect weekend day!

And, of course, there was much jewelry making time in last week. Below, some snap-shots from the week's work. (And my safari-backyard-cat, Otis =)

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start! This is a capital "B" busy week for me. While I know it's gonna be a lot of work, I feel ready for it after a wonderful weekend!

April Tangleweeds Giveaway

That's right folks! With a new month brings a new Tangleweeds Giveaway. For this month we're calling to mind the old adage "April showers bring May flowers. . . "

We're offering up one pair of our Rain Drops earrings for one lucky winner! Simply leave a comment on this blog post with a little anecdote or detail about what you love about the spring time. I've really grown to love the comments everyone leave on these giveaway posts. You guys obviously put some thought into what you share!

We'll announce the randomly chosen winner here and over on Instagram on April 27th. Feel free to share this with folks you think would love Tangleweeds!

Full Circle ~ New Designs and Aries Birthday Parties

Spring time, a time of newness, a time of great energy and swift change, sometimes overwhelmingly so. I'm an Aries/springtime baby, so by nature I love this time of the year. I love the revved up energy of it, the funneling of so much passion into new ideas and new goals. It's all too easy for me to get going in so many different directions that I exhaust myself tho. In a way, having just been very sick for a while, it's offering me up the perfect balance of easing into this time of the year. 

Below, a snapshot of my studio (tidied up of course), some workbench ephemera, my home office buddy Otis, and one of my new Woodland Featherlight necklaces now available in the Etsy shop!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to not one but two kid-birthday parties. On Saturday my friend Katrina's little one, Keira, turned one. Katrina and I have known each other for about 13 years. Seeing her as a mom is amazing and Keira is the sweetest!

Then, on Sunday, my nephew, Noah, turned 7. Since it was also Easter, there was an easter egg hunt in the morning followed by birthday celebrations in the afternoon at my sister's home in Modesto. I love that action shot I got of him (second photo from the bottom)!

For those of you anxious to know when more of the new designs will be listed in my Etsy shop, fear not! I'll be posting more new listings later this week. I'm spreading out the new pieces over the next month or so, allowing me to catch up on a bunch of things while still making the new designs available to all of my lovely Tangleweeds collectors!

Happy Monday everyone!