March 7th Event!

Come see my jewelry!
Chillin' Productions Presents
50 Fashion Designers
Live Music by Hot Challenge
5 DJs
When: Saturday, March 7th, 8pm-2am
Where: 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
$7, 21 + ID

Toothache, Anyone?

I wanted to try my hand at making a locket-type pendant...

loves me...loves me not...

tumbling hearts necklace

Street Cred

I sometimes wonder if other people making jewelry have the same worries as I do. For example, I finished a very simple dove pendant last night. It's not a terribly original or artsy creation...but I think it's very easy to wear and fairly easy for me to reproduce. Am I tarnishing the jewelry "artist" reputation that I'd like to have? Some of my jeweler friends have wanted to separate their more creative jewelry collections from their more commercial lines. I think I've just been making things that appeal to me and hoping that it appeals to a very wide audience.

Getting Inspiration

Last week, my friend and fellow jeweler Charmaine (www.violunajewellery.com) suggested that we check out the San Francisco Asian Art Museum's Afghanistan exhibit. It was amazing how modern some of the pieces looked! If someone had told me that some of the glass work from 100 CE was made in the 1960s, I would have totally believed it. Okay, so my eye may be totally untrained, but my sharp (and eavesdropping) ears heard other people murmuring their surprise, too.

We had a great time looking at the fabulous gold, turquoise, and carnelian jewelry and accessories that were in the exhibit, too. There was a neat gold crown that could be collapsed for easy transport (http://www.curatedobject.us/the_curated_object_/2008/04/exhibitions-s-1.html). If they could make pieces like that then...nearly 2,000 years later, with more tools, books, and the internet at my disposal...well, I SHOULD be able to make some nice pieces, too, right? Tee hee.

I think my favorite item on display was a tiny cosmetics pot. It was so adorable! I think I will try to make some sort of mini-vessel soon.

Roots

Japanese family crests, called mon, can be really beautiful. They range from simple geometric patterns to elegant swirling flowering plants. There are even cartoony animal mons and scary demon-like masks. (Check out Japanese Design Motifs by the Matsuya Company for great mon designs.)

I wanted to make a special necklace for my grandmother in Japan, and I thought she might like a necklace with her family crest on it. I thought it might be a nice touch if I could put my mother's calligraphy on the back with the family name on the back. Well, this was definitely something I couldn't do by hand! So...I decided to check out CAD/CAM.

I had Vasken Tanielian of 3 Design in SF's Phelan Building help me with the designs. Vasken milled me a beautiful wax, which I had Anthony (the nicest guy!) of Fancy Jewelry cast in sterling silver. I soldered on a simple jump ring bail and polished it as well as I could with just a flexshaft. I attached it to a 22" chain fastened with a magnetic clasp.

I hope she likes it!

Rhymes with Betsy

Etsy.com is such a cool site. I think I could look around it for ages...people are selling all sorts of handcrafted items on it: beautiful and quirky jewelry, clothing, accessories.

I really need to add some more items to my own Etsy shop. I've only put a few items on it! I like it because I feel like I'm in control of my prices, my inventory. (If you want to check it out, it's at www.christineuemura.etsy.com)

I've been really timid about approaching stores and asking them to carry my jewelry. I think this is something I definitely have to change that about myself this year, if I really want to get my business going.


mini moth wing necklace - sterling silver. available in my etsy shop.