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.

Happy New Year!

Ohmigosh...2009...whew. I MUST do better at posting entries. It's so embarrassing--I just deleted my one and only post from a year ago.

What are my 2009 blog goals?

I hope to post fairly consistently. I'd really like to have at least one entry every week. I hope I keep it up!

What am I going to write about?

When I named this blog, I was hoping to write about the jewelry pieces I am making, just for my family and friends who are interested in what I'm doing. I think I'm going to change that. I'm discovering so many wonderful jewelers and their work, so I want to share that, too! I may write about cool techniques or ideas I find as well.

Let's see where this goes!

Stay tuned!