Fill in the Blank Bangle

This is my latest piece, which I made yesterday. I had been thinking quite a lot about comic books and other elements of pop culture, particularly pertaining to the 80s and of course to pop art. I titled this work Fill in the Blank Bangle because I wasn't necessarily interested in including my own catch phrase. The use of a blank line with a garnet "period" at the end, really seemed to capture the graphic element of the speech bubble that I was after. 

I've been trying to incorporate more and more pop objects into my designs, but that hasn't exactly been easy. Although I can think of a million different ideas, none of them seem to fall within the scope of my work. Perhaps gradual fluctuations will be a better solution. For now though, I think that this is an excellent start.  

Pink Lemonade Bangle

This is my latest creation that I dubbed the Pink Lemonade Bangle. It features a 15mm x 10mm lemon quartz and a 6mm antique cushion cut blush topaz. To be totally honest, it was a long time in the making. 

You see, I bought that lovely lemon quartz nearly four months ago, but I couldn't compose a setting for it that I was pleased with. I have several pages in my sketchbook devoted to trying to work out that problem. Even though holding the stone was rather simple enough, the shape of the custom cut design makes it rather difficult to set it in a flattering manner. Finally, after tinkering around with it all afternoon yesterday, I finally cracked something I was pleased with. 

It's just a traditional prong setting, but one that was actually slightly smaller than the size of the stone so that the pointed edges would fit more comfortably. I also modified it a bit so that the lemon quartz could be held with minimum intrusion by the prongs. I ended up adding a pink topaz to the design because I've always enjoyed the color combination of bright yellow and hot pink. Once I finished the overall bracelet design, I realized that the entire piece reminded me of pink lemonade, hence the name. 

Overall, I'm very proud of it, and I think that sometimes it's better to wait to use a stunning stone than to rush into composing before all of the possibilities have been considered. 

The Origin of the Outfit

I've procrastinated for quite awhile about relating the story of how my studio got its name. Basically I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. Sometime after I had set up my workspace, I read The Adventure of the Three Garridebs. The story describes the plot of a recently paroled American counterfeiter who goes to London in search of his old forgery equipment. The statement that struck me was, "It was a glad day at the Yard when the Prescott outfit was discovered, for, though they knew it existed, they had never been able ... to find out where it was."

Now let me first say that I am in no way, shape, or form counterfeiting! I just really liked how the word "outfit" was tagged onto a metal working operation. My small work space is quite able to handle a variety of metal maneuvers and I think that "The Galeana Outfit" has such a nice ring to it. It's just a small bit of wording that immediately stands out.   

Busy Bee

Almost as soon as I woke up this morning, I set myself out to make a new line of stackable rings. I had a set already made, but I felt like I wanted to take a traditional concept and change it slightly. In this version there are only two rings that can comfortably be combined. I did this because I wanted to emphasize the strength of the simple. Here is an example:

Together, these two colors make a dramatic and bold statement despite the simplicity of the design. They fit so nicely and the bands are free to swivel without the stones running into one another. A very nice and comfortable combination, indeed.

New Horizons

I've spent a whole lot of time recently overhauling my photos, my jewelry and my marketing strategy. Basically, I am attempting to upgrade not only the quality of my work, but the quality of its presentation as well. I created a new banner and made a light box to take my photographs in so that I can regulate all of the settings and environments much more easily.

It all started when I peeked in my etsy shop one morning and I noticed that the listings I had all looked like they could have been made by various jewelers rather than just one. To say it another way, it looked like a search page and not a cohesive shop. It dawned on me that my work didn't look unified because it was not presented in a similar fashion. After that realization I invested a whole lot of time into reshooting a good bit of my work. After I was done with that, I saw that my banner and avatar were sorely lacking as well. I thought a logo with similar colors and trimmed down graphic elements might tie everything together, so I created one. 

I also took my work to other outlets as well. I applied for trunkt (for the second time), after I had a few really striking photos and I was accepted. Also, I started shopping my work around to local boutiques. Hopefully all goes well in that arena as well. 

Overall, I am pleased with my results but I feel like I definitely need to thicken up the inventory. Slowly but surely, everything is starting to build up.

It's Been Awhile...

I have several new things to post about but I will do them sectionally. First off, allow me to touch base on one of my earlier posts: Bracelets. Over the past few weeks I have been very busy creating bracelets and then taking them apart because I was unsatisfied with the results. I now have three particular bangle-style bracelets that I am quite proud of and they exhibit some of the new skills I've recently been acquiring. I will only show two of them. Here is the first one:This is called the Multiple Stone Bracelet, or The Colorful Bracelet. I haven't quite settled on a name. It took a lot of work to create it, but honestly, it took more time to clean and polish it all up! Hard to reach areas are always a problem.

Here is the second:

I call this one the Sunset Bangle because of the colors that I used for the stones. It is a royal amethyst, and autumn topaz and a hand forged solid 14 karat gold cabochon that represents the sun. It is one of the best pieces that I've created so far. 

I have a couple of new pieces in the works as well, and a few still just on paper but when they are all done and I am satisfied with the results, I'll make an update.