Recent Blog Entries

SLAM at the Burren next Saturday!

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:31:00 +0000 - I'll be showing my creations at the Burren, a pub/restaurant in Davis Square, as part of the Saturday Local Artist Market the day before Valentine's Day! I hope to see people there. I'll have lots of new maps as well as jewelry, accessories and cards. I just hope there's room for everything! The event is from 12-4 and they're offering great lunch deals during that time as well, so there's no reason not to go!

Please click to enlarge if you'd like to see more of the information. The Burren is located in Davis Square at 247 Elm Street.

Underpass

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:17:00 +0000 - I sketched this from the bus. The little painting is my first time using gouache. I like the chalky texture, but it dries so quickly!

Crocheted Hairbands

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:18:00 +0000 - I was inspired to make these by a customer who had one to keep her ears warm. I'm always reluctant to wear hats because they're too hot and limit my hairstyles, but I love these because then my ears don't get cold. I'm working on refining the pattern and then I'll be putting some on Etsy.

Wire-wrapped Rings

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:13:00 +0000 -

I've wanted to make rings for a while, and recently thought I'd try some techniques to showcase my paper beads as rings.

My first attempt was just using one bead, but I abandoned that and started using groups of three beads, with the same wire-wrapping method. I tried stacking them, but found that they naturally fell into a more staggered pattern. I also tried flattening the coil into a band using pliers, which I really liked.

Unfortunately, that type seemed to look better on its own than on my hand, so I tried stacking the beads for a more symmetrical look.

However, that made for a ring that was too wide and uncomfortable to wear. I returned to my previous design, but without the wrapped cage part, since I wanted to highlight the graceful snuggling of the focal beads.

I like how the photo turned out, but I thought the ring itself looked a little too handmade. Then I tried holding both staggered rings next to each other and realized they made a pretty leaf pattern, which I then tried to replicate by using five staggered beads instead of three.

It's difficult to effectively photograph these leaf rings because the motif wraps around. They're very sweet though, and also comfortable. I've got to do a bit more work to smooth out the technique, but overall I like what I came up with.

City Cuff Bracelet

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:06:00 +0000 - I recently made this bracelet as a gift. It's not currently for sale, although I may duplicate the design if there is interest.

Paper and Writing in Bergdorf's Windows

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:29:00 +0000 - I mentioned Bergdorf's winter decorations in a recent post, and wanted to show some photos of their text theme.

I liked their overall Alice in Wonderland theme, with all the various things that were going on in each window:

What really caught my eye, though, was the use of book pages and folded paper for many of the props:

I like the last two the best; they're more sculptural and less busy. I've seen a lot of paper sculpture, but it was nice to have it in such a public venue.