GS: Pile o' waxes

I am so close to finally being done in the shop that I can almost taste it! I have 2 last waxes to carve and a bunch of things finish & to set stones in... but I am so damn close! Which is good since gold hit $1625 and I can scrap out what I have left kicking around the shop. And soon the shop will be in boxes & I can easily say no without the guilt of thinking "Well, what will one more job hurt?"

The only problem now is that I don't know what I'm going to be when I grow up. Never thought I would be 35, still paying student loans from my last round of college & wondering what to do next. If anybody has any thoughts, let me know!

GS: Ring of Fire

I feel like such a slacker for not posting for a whole month... but I have actually been getting a good amount of work done. A good amount of the pieces are repeats, but there were a few new designs.

I had some clients come to me and told me how a friend described their relationship as a "Ring of Fire" and wanted to have that reflect in their wedding bands. We went through multiple versions from very bold and literal but ended up with something much more subtle.

The design I came up with had the literal flames but hidden inside of a classic scroll pattern to create a whimsical design.



And the final piece was 2 tone 14K Red and Yellow (to give it the coppery warm glow) with a hand engraved pattern...

GS: Just when I thought I was out...

They pull me back in (said with clenched fists.)




That famous line from the Godfather couldn't be more true in my life right now. The past couple of months I have been working on closing my custom jewelry business (which I am referring to as a "Sabbatical" because hopefully some day I will open the shop again) and it has proven to be way more work than I would ever have imagined. And I'm finding it mentally exhausting (hence no blog posts.)

I put an end date of May for taking any new custom jobs and I have been very good about sticking to that with strangers... but I'm a sucker for my friends. Give me a sob story, tell me you love my work, tell me that you can't imagine getting your wedding bands from anybody but me, and I'll give in. And while I hesitantly say yes, and love you dearly, it pretty much sucks.

It took so damn long to come to the conclusion that I was taking this sabbatical, that I really want to be done in the shop. I want to move onto the next chapter... whatever that may be... and I'm currently stuck in a horribly messy shop limbo. Honestly, I think it's more work attempting to close the shop than it was trying to keep it open!

But I finally took my ABSOLUTE LAST JOB! And I had a fabulous past client (who I kept as a friend) come to me begging for an engagement ring for her brother in Trinidad. I first said no... but then the compliments started flying and that damn cute accent and my head started spinning and before I knew it, I said yes to ONE LAST JOB. I did set some ground rules though, I show a few designs I had tucked away in my book (for a rainy day) and whichever is the right direction, I can just go ahead and build.

So... the end is in sight. There is a light shining at the end of the tunnel. Still don't know what's on the other side, but I can't wait to find out!

GS: Compass rose ring

I have always loved the idea of a compass ring... you know, to help you find your way home. And I don't know how many different clients I have suggested the idea of making a compass rose ring, but apparently they don't get lost as much as I do ;)

I think an antique map with an ornate compass rose is beautiful...



Well, I finally found the perfect client! While this isn't quite the ring design I always envisioned (I wanted to do a little more detail, red gold inlay, engraved fleur de lis, etc) but I think this is clean and simple... and delightful!




This compass rose ring is in palladium with a collet set rhodolite garnet and hand engraving.

GS: No More Custom

Well, after a great deal of thinking and talking with Sal, Green Spot Studio will no longer be making anymore custom jewelry.

Right now the cost of precious metals are insanely high and I'm having issues finding a balance between providing clients with a decent price and making enough income to keep my business afloat. And, to be honest, weeks go by without sitting at my bench (hence the lack of photos and posts.) I find myself spending about 40-60 hours a week meeting with, emailing with and talking to clients about money.

I can't tell you how many pieces of jewelry I have designed, at no cost, that never get built. I have even reached the point of agreeing upon a price, sending out contracts and invoices and then never hearing from those clients again. And, honestly, it has all just beat me down. I've always prided myself in being an artist first and a business woman second and all of this has made me despise my craft.

But don't worry, I'm not closing my doors. I'm just changing this up! You always have to keep reinventing yourself if you will survive in this business! So, I will continue making the pieces I sell on Etsy and maybe work on a small line? Who knows, only time will tell.

You should still expect some jewelry photos over the next couple of months while I'm finishing up all the jobs I promised to do (a couple wedding bands, some engagement rings, etc.)

Now, I'm sure you are wondering what will become of this blog? Well, I think I'm just going to start blogging about the new adventures that are in front of me! I'll keep posting on the process of my chair, maybe some cooking, of course lots of Jupiter photos... and possibly a few other big adventures.

So... stay tuned for new and fascinating adventures in my shiny & sparkly gem of a life.

GS: New Life to an Old Ring

Just like any industry, the jewelry/wedding industry has been suffering with the economy and people are looking for ways to save money. Much of the time people come to me asking for me to melt down old pieces of jewelry to make something new, which I am thrilled to do. But what many people don't know is that it is not cheap. A great deal of labor goes into melting precious metals and then making new stock for fabricatin. Depending on the complexity, this process can sometimes cost MORE than purchasing new (recycled) metal!

But this is the perfect example of how to work with old jewelry and on a budget. A client came to me with a pile of antique rings and wanted to see what we could do to 'rework' the pieces and create something new. One of the bands was an old patterned men's 14K Yellow gold wedding band, size 10.



She liked the pattern (which is quite lovely) but wanted to add a bit more to the ring. So, first I sized it to a 4.5 and matched the pattern back up. Next I drilled the center of every other flower and soldered in 14K white gold tubing.





From there, I set diamonds (which again, came from a piece that the client supplied) in the bezels. Here's the final product...





The final product is beautiful and budget friendly.

GS: Wavy Wedding Band

Whenever I build a wedding band to sit flush with an engagement ring, I try my hardest to create a band that can be worn simply on it's own. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Here is one instance where it did work. The original engagement ring is a wavy / somewhat bypass ring with a half bezel set sapphire. The wedding band is clean and minimalist and fits perfectly to the engagement ring but also looks nice all on it's own.








Simple and clean!

GS: Modern Diamond Eternity Wedding Band

Eternity bands are classic. They commonly they have pave, bead, or channel set diamonds (or another precious stone.) But this eternity has a bit of a contemporary twist. Each diamond is fit into an individual seat and then held into place with 2 diamond shaped prongs. This makes for a very clean and modern setting.




The band is 14K White Gold with sixteen 3.2mm diamonds with a 1.9tcw.

How to Compliment a Calla Lily, Part 2

It's another followup! Remember my posting on How to Compliment a Calla Lily? Well, after some tweaking, we found the perfect solution!

We played around with different ideas, most had something wrapping around the band to mimic the engagement ring. But nothing quite felt right. Finally I decided to toss something out there that I wasn't quite sold on... thought it may be too out of the box. My concern was that the client would feel the ring was 'dated' in a few years. I just don't want a client to get sick of their ring.

I informed the client of my concern and he said he understood... but he understands forever, he has tattoos.

So I shared some new ideas...



And within minutes I got a response that they loved the completely open wrap band. The finish would be similar to my twig bracelet...



So here is the final piece in palladium...

Old, worn & comfortable, Part 2

Remember my Old, worn & comfortable posting? Well, I thought I would share the final result!

I love this ring because while it has a flat surface (like a signet ring) there are no sharp edges. Just soft and smooth high polished palladium. I wish it was my size, because I would totally wear it!

So, here it is... SMOOTH!

Feelin' Lucky?

...you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

I had a client come to me looking for a clover wedding band. And not just any clover, a 4 leaf clover. Now, I must admit, when asked I thought it sounded a little odd. There are so many different Celtic designs I could do... why just simply a 4 leaf clover. But after I worked on the design of the clover itself everything started to fall into place.

The ring is 18K Palladium White gold with 5 clovers evenly spaced on the ring.



So yes... I hope the client feels lucky.

Making love happen...

Wedding band season came a little early this year. But I'm not complaining! Love is love and I love helping make love happen... or something like that.

Anyway, I have a few fun wedding band projects at the moment which I would love to share with you, but alas, Sal stole my camera for a business trip. So I attempted to take a iPhone photo to show you just a few of the pieces that are on my bench, but the macro on it sucks.

Whatever, I'll post the photo anyway just so you know I'm not being a slacker ;)

Old, worn & comfortable...

It is strange, but in the past week I have had 2 grooms-to-be tell me how somebody in their family had an amazing ring that was so worn and comfortable. And both of these clients want me to adjust their rings to reflect those wonderful broken-in soft edges.

While one ring is simply a mass manufactured band that the client wants both the inside and outside edges buffed down, the other is to be fabricated with that old feel. As he put it, he's looking for a ring that 'has tumbled around in the ocean for a few hundred years.' Great description.

The style will be a hybrid of a simple half round wedding band and a signet ring. The main difference is that a signet ring has a taper to width of the band (which this one will not) and can sometimes be rather tall, which this one will not be. And most importantly, it will not have any sharp edges.

I found a great example of an estate signet ring that has those wonderful soft/rounded edges...


While it is oval and tapered, it gives you a good idea of what we're looking to accomplish. With that in mind, this is what we have come up with so far...



Beauty is wonderful... but comfort is king.

Balancing act...

I'm still attempting to come up with a design to compliment the Calla Lily Engagement ring. The problem I am running into is making the ring too far out of the box. While I could make some crazy bizarre/fabulous piece of jewelry, I don't want it to be so crazy that it looks dated in a few years. My fear is to make something that is reminiscent of the bold 80's jewelry. Come on, you know what I'm talking about.

So I'm trying to find the balance between funk and classic. It's an interesting problem.

Right now I'm at the point of attempting to find something that can wrap around the finger (like the calla lily.) I'm thinking maybe we can do it with possibly a branch pattern (similar to my twig bangle bracelet)...


I am also interested in the idea of wrapping text around the ring. I like possibly using text as a pattern. And I found a great quote that could be fun for a wedding band... 'iosvi de drverie ne me dvne mie' which is latin for 'I am a token of love do not give me away.'

So, here are a few new quick sketches!


As a side note, my sketches/designs are not the only place I am attempting to find balance. My life has just been crazy lately. I decided it's time that I start becoming more picky about jobs. While I love all of my clients, and wish I could make something beautiful for everybody, I can't afford to keep taking every job that comes my way (no matter how small.)

After doing my books from last year, I realized I lost money on a great deal of jobs because I just really wanted to help people out. And while I think having something amazingly beautiful should not just be for the rich, I also can't keep making jewelry for cost just because I like people. Unfortunately, if doesn't put bread on the table.

So, for the moment I picked up a freelance job with Urban Outfitters as a Visual Artist. Basically, it means that I'm building displays. It's not easy work, but I'm having a blast working in a wood shop again. Plus I'm painting, silk screening, hanging off of 12 foot ladders, etc. It's like being back in art school ;) It's just exhausting.

Now I am just attempting to find the balance between my 2 jobs. I just want to find a way to keep everybody happy around me!