Strange Coral

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For the past few weeks, I’ve been living in the world of wax, molten metal, and 1000F kilns. I love casting jewelry. Something about turning solid metal into a glowing liquid and flinging it around a centrifuge is very addictive.



Then comes the magic moment, when my casting has cooled and I melt away the plaster in water. Out come these crazy coral and tree forms, still warm to the touch. It’s like Christmas every time…

Project Runway Challenge - Burlap

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The second Etsy Metal Project Runway challenge was burlap. After spending three days finding burlap (not easy in the middle of a city), I roller printed the texture onto silver to create this charm. I’m amazed by how topographical the texture is. The closer you look, the more you can see the details of the fibers.

This is the first time I’ve roller printed a texture onto metal, and I think it has real potential. I find myself looking sideways at all sorts of things, thinking “how would that look if I squashed it into some silver?”

For Emma

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I found this Bon Iver clip on dear cjane this morning. If I could find this version on iTunes, it would have a lovely new home on my iPhone. I’m a sucker for good a cappella…



Apparently, it was a spontaneous performance in a Paris hallway before a show. I love how the short guy on the left (who seems to be singing bass) looks so embarrassed. Apparently they don’t break into song on the streets of Paris every day?

Project Runway Challenge - Five

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I made this chunky silver “5” charm for the Etsy Metal Project Runway Challenge. The challenge this week was to incorporate the number five into a piece.

I fell in love with fontography and typography years ago in school. So even though we had the option to use five stones, or a pattern of five, I immediately went searching through fonts for a very cool number five. I wanted a modern look, and something that was wider at the ends, so I could put a thick ring around it and it couldn’t escape.

I love how architectural this is, and how it could be a 5, or an S, or a 2, or just a form. To give it a nice feeling of weight, I sawed it out of thick sterling silver sheet and sanded it to a nice satin finish. I’m looking forward to watching it develop a distressed look as it gets banged around every day on my wrist.

I’m Not Stalking You, I Just Want My Coat!

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After our fabulous stint in Virgin’s Upper Class lounge at Heathrow, and another ten hours of airborne luxury (if you ever have the air miles, you really need to try Virgin Atlantic Upper Class), our flight landed, and we all lined up to get off the plane.

Andy nudged me. “You’re not exactly being subtle.”

“What?” I responded, glancing up and then back, to realize I’d been staring directly at Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. “No, I’m looking at the flight attendant. She has 5 empty hangers and one coat left. Where are our coats?”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll have them when we get to the exit,” he said, swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

They didn’t, of course, leaving us like stubborn boulders at the front of the plane, with the other upper class passengers squeezing around us to get off. Eventually Fry and Laurie squeezed by, too.

“Enjoy your trip,” I said inanely to Fry, who smiled at me. “I’m a big fan,” I continued to Laurie, who glared at me like I’d just propositioned him and stalked off the plane.

I felt like yelling after him that I wasn’t stalking him. I hadn’t squished myself up next to the bar just to catch a glimpse of him. I’d had ten hours to peer at him around corners if I was that obsessed. The only thing I was stalking was my own coat.

Nevermind…

That strangely unsettling photo is me with my morning Starbucks, sitting the in the most comfortable chair I’ve ever met. I’ll tell you all about it one of these days.

Oh, and if you missed Part I of this saga, you’re probably wondering where Fry and Laurie came from, and how I ended up on an airplane. You can find the answers to these deep and burning questions in a little bit of fry and laurie.

The Toofless Wonder

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“She’s doing well under anesthesia,” the vet tells me, “but we’re going to have to pull nineteen teeth out.”

“Nineteen?!?” I squeak. I’m standing on the balcony outside my metalsmithing class with my phone to one ear and my finger stuck in the other, trying to hear over the traffic noise. “What will she have left?”

“I knew you were going to ask that,” she replied. “I made a list.”

Poor Kenya is a little short of teeth these days. I’ve taken to calling her The Toofless Wonder. Andy’s gone with Gummy.

I did feel a little better when I found out dogs have 42 teeth. Somehow knowing she has slightly more than half of her teeth left makes me feel better. Of course, finding out that neither my vet nor my sister (who is a vet) have ever had to take nineteen teeth out of a dog made me feel a bit worse. You win some, you lose some…

A Little Bit of Fry and Laurie

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“I just saw Stephen Fry,” I announced, dropping down next to Andy.

“What? Where?” he responded, craning his neck while trying to look cool. “Are you sure?”

“He’s down there,” I pointed, “bending over, getting something out of his bag. Cruise around the bar and come back in at the other end, and you’ll be looking right at him.”

Andy popped up out of his seat to make a casual loop around the bar.

“Oh yeah, that’s him,” Andy said, dropping back into his seat.

“He’s not exactly incognito,” I responded. “Do you suppose he thinks that blue suit and bright argyle sweater are subtle?”

“That’s not a suit, that’s a sport coat and slacks. That’s a very casual outfit for the upperclass Brit,” he explained.

We contemplated the vagaries of the upper class for a while, debated whether he’d be flying to New York or be on our flight to Los Angeles, and then switched to discussing our favorite episodes of QI. For those Americans among you, Stephen Fry currently hosts a sort of comedy quiz show called QI, which stands for Quite Interesting. It’s possibly my favorite show and has been for several years. So I suppose it goes without saying that I’m a huge Stephen Fry fan. Andy’s an even bigger fan, having loved him since the early days on A Little Bit of Fry and Laurie.

“And there’s Laurie,” Andy said, as Hugh Laurie popped his head in. Laurie, at least, had made an attempt at incognito, in a black baseball cap and trench coat.

“Our own little bit of Fry and Laurie,” I laughed. “It definitely won’t be a boring trip.”

I can see you from here wondering what that photo is. Andy snapped that shot with his iPhone in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow. The blur is Stephen Fry walking by in his sport coat and argyle sweater. Yeah, you’ll definitely have to take my word for it.

Burning to find out about our flight? Read all about how I didn’t stalk Hugh Laurie.

Raindrops and Silver Bells

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I’ve cast both my raindrop and my bell (or is it a pagoda?) in sterling silver, and they’re sitting on my bench waiting for me to have time to file, sand, and polish them up. I’m headed to England for the holidays, though, so I suspect they’ll have to wait until January.



My brain is bubbling over with ideas for more sculpted and cast pieces. I’m really looking forward to spending the holidays with friends and family in England, but I’m also quite excited about getting back to designing new pieces in January. I have so many ideas that I’m taking a spare sketchbook with me, just in case I fill up the first one!

Holiday Stars

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I absolutely adore Lucie’s star ornaments. I can get in a Christmas mood just looking at them. Lucie’s a furniture maker, and she makes these ornaments out of scrap wood from her work. They’re not just gorgeous, they’re eco-friendly as well!

We’re off to England for Christmas this year, so we haven’t decorated our loft, and there’s no tree to hang ornaments on. I’m still feeling Christmasy, though. I’m in a last minute flurry of making gifts, buying warm and waterproof clothes so I don’t turn into an icicle in England, and shipping out Christmas orders from my shop.

I love spending Christmas in England with family and friends. No one does Christmas quite like the Brits. Christmas crackers here I come! I’ve even put in a special request for sticky toffee pudding. Mmmmmm.

Raindrops and Bells

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I’ve been working away on my wax carvings in my spare time. Cast pieces take several months to turn around, so these pieces should be showing up in my shop sometime in February. In the meantime, I’ll tide you over with some photos of the work in process.

I’ve gotten the bell carved to its three-dimensional shape here. I still need to hollow it out, though. I’ve been whittling wax in front of the TV in the evenings. That’s my idea of fun!



I loved this raindrop shape so much that I decided to keep it this way - smooth and beautiful. Here I’ve sawed this in half in preparation for hollowing it out. I’ll solder it back together after I cast it. Solid designs pretty much always have to be cast in two pieces and soldered back together.