New Toe Ring Revealed

I finally got tired of my current line of toe rings and decided it was time to freshen things up with a new offering. Introducing the "Twisted" toe ring. I just finished up a batch of 15 toe rings and have them listed in my shop. They will make their first show appearance in Galesburg, IL Art in the Park. Now I need to start working on a new line of jewelry for 2009!

Pimp My Toilet

So I have been thinking lately...why not pimp my toilet? My bathroom happens to be the least quirky place in my house...it is also my smallest and least favorite space in the house. What if I spruced it up with a little toilet art something like this perhaps....

BadassCustomDecals says it all with this decal:

Or what about this completely painted potty by Carlrfoster? A lot of work went into this toilet...you almost hate to sit on it!

Or maybe I could retrain my brain to like the room with this positive message by precisionengraving:

I think I just lost all two people that read this blog!

Mutual Admiration

In the indie art world there is often a sense of mutual admiration....here is one case in point:

Neawear is the store of a Canadian jewelry designer Janick. I greatly admire her bold use of non-traditonal materials to create truly dramatic jewelry. The mutual part comes in because Janick is a valued customer of mine and has collected my entire line of Rox jewelry. Below is a pair of earrings I just have to have from her Deploy line!

Something Just To Start (Virtual Art Gallery)

I've been featured! Check it out today on:

Something Just To Start (Virtual Art Gallery)

I love this blog. She has a great sense for style and jewelry. I say that not because I am featured but because I admire so manu of the other jewelers she has on her site. I am truly honored to be there.

Jewelry/Jewelers from around the world - Saudi Arabia

It has been way too long since my last post but I have a great excuse....I was off discovering distant lands! I am lucky to have a day job that allows me to go to places most only dream of. The most recent trip took me to Oman and Saudi Arabia. It was one of my most exciting trips to date and it was filled with many firsts - My first experience wearing the Abbaya and headscarf (they are really beautful by the way), my first meeting with a prince, my first camel ride, my first coral abrasion thanks to the Red Sea, and real life experience in a gender segregated society. I could go on and on but it is not the point of this post. On a trip out to the gold market with our local guide I had a chance to see some local jewelers and their work space. I know they thought I was crazy for asking for pictures but it seems like everyone was ready and willing to strike a pose. To seem a little less crazy I would tell them that my father and I were both jewelers and I wanted to show him what I was seeing. The pictures you are about to see are from Saudi Arabia but you should know that most of the people in jewelery workshops are not Saudi but immigrant workers. You will see in the one picture plenty of Saudi women shopping for gold. I hope you find these as interesting as I did from behind the camera!

New Designs for Spring and Summer

I have been busy in my shop creating new designs for spring and summer. From my head - to my bench -to you.

Great Finds for Interior Designs

It has been some time now since I bought my home so that fun period of decorating is behind me, but, it doesn't mean I don't fantisize about making things over. I found these items on Etsy and can see them fitting perfectly in my imaginary reworked living room.

From the floor up:

Funky Modern COFFEE TABLE... Retro 50s 60s with Contemporary Twist - Table by MeliaDesignsUK

White Porcelain Dot Vase - Vase by juditavill

Dots - Painting by lvhdesigns

Another website that keeps me up too late!

I was hanging out in the Etsy forums and found out about ANIMOTO. This is just what I need, another website that is so fun that it keeps me up until the wee hours. Basically you can plug in your photos and add in a music track and you have your self a 30 second video clip. Here is one version I came up with but trust me I have about 6 other versions in saved. Just click on the arrow in the green box to start the video.

When It Rains It Pours...and you get the flu!

I haven't showed this blog any love for the past few weeks but I have a perfectly good explanation...I have been hit with the flu despite that trusty flu shot I subjected myself to. It literally ran its course through my entire family...parents, brother's family, and now me. To make matters worse (or some may say better) I have had orders to complete, requests for more work from two galleries, preparations for my first art fair of the season, and my day job with more than enough to keep one person busy and a bit stressed. Trying to keep up when I really want to be in bed trying to shake this thing has meant lingering feelings of ickiness and constantly feeling tired.

Enough whining! On to the good news...Rural Abandon Jewelry will soon grace the shelves of MoCo Market in Madison, Wisconsin. MoCo is a new take on the old general store catering to the environmentally conscientious customer commuting to work via foot, bike, and public transport. They are now including a spot in their store to feature artisans from Etsy living and working in States within 100 miles of the store. The idea being that the less distance the items need to travel to get to their shelves the less polutants enter the air and natural resources being used. A win win for local crafters and the environment! MoCo looks fabulous so if you are in the Madison area check it out.

Store Location:804 Williamson StreetMadison, Wisconsin
Hours:Monday - Friday (7am - 8pm)Saturday (8am - 5pm) & Sunday (10am - 5pm)

Precious Metal Costs Up - Jewelry Artisans Down

Jewelry artisans around the world have been wincing at the rapidly rising price of precious metals. With no end in site, designers are at the mercy of the markets. Many artists are wishing they would have bought a little more wire or sheet metal the last time they ordered their supplies. The rise in prices cuts into the independent artist’s ability to make a profit and poses a challenge to educating consumers. With precious metal being a commodity traded on markets around the world 24 hours a day, no other craft is as susceptible to price fluctuation. Take silver for example, the price of silver in 2000 was just $4.60 an ounce, in 2005 it was $8.83 per ounce, and at the time of writing this article it has risen to $17.69 an ounce. This is just the price of the raw materials. On top of this, there are fabrication charges that one pays in order to get material in useable forms like sheet, wire, and casting grain.

What does this mean for the jewelry adoring public? When you are buying jewelry in precious metal you are investing in something not only beautiful but with real market value. Metals like sterling silver and gold, can be sold back to refining companies or melted down and repurposed into entirely new pieces. This has been done for ages and will continue to be relevant in the future.

Some artisans will choose to respond to the increase in prices by using more affordable non-precious metals. We will likely see more and more costume jewelry on the market, however, most metalsmiths will continue to work in precious metal because as the name implies it is precious!

Wrap It In This!

Today I came upon these awesome fabric Chinese take-out bags! Just think about how great it would be to get a gift in this verses the typical basket or bag from Walmart. The wrapping would be a gift of its own! I want mine filled with handmade bath and body products...hint, hint.

These can be found in the shop of new etsy seller lunafeliz. Good craftsmanship, great fabrics, and a really fun product!

Romantic Dinner - Gift Basket (Cool Indie Finds)

Can you imagine getting a gift basket filled with this fine tableware...of course there should be a card attached too (which I glady picked out for you). This table would make even mac-n-cheese from a box seem gourmet.


All these fine wares are available at:

Beloved- Hand Made Card http://www.quiltedjeans.etsy.com/

Peacock Tablerunner http://www.eucalyptushandmade.etsy.com/

Rhinestone Napkin Rings (Set of 4) http://www.decorativeinstincts.etsy.com/

Pebble Vase in Aqua http://www.kimwestad.etsy.com/

This is just the beginning folks!

It is 2008 and time for me to jump into the blogoshere! Form here on out I am making it my mission to bring you great indie finds from my own studio and others. So let's start with me...












I'm happy to announce a new line of fresh, fun, and affordable jewelry at Rural Abandon. It is called the Rox line because it Rocks! Yes...I know Rox is the wrong spelling but it is so much more fun to use an x. For the Rox line I have played with faceting the metal to create more surafce for light to bouce off of. The result - BLING!