The Fundamentals Collection

I've been selling these simple, versatile pieces at shows all summer. They're crafted of hammered, polished sterling, and they pretty much go with everything. I wear a bracelet like this one almost every day, and the hammered dome earrings have become my "go-to" earrings. My morning routine isn't exactly leisurely - I usually shepherd my kids out the door and hope that I'm lucky enough to have grabbed matching shoes, so I rely on these simple earrings to pull what I will loosely call my "look" together. The texture, which catches the light beautifully as the earrings move, is just enough to make them striking.

I'll be adding some of these pieces to my Etsy shop later today.

My New Site is UP!

I've just finished some significant revisions to my web site - a new look, new photos, completely different style. You can see it here (warning - it's a flash site, so it takes a few seconds to load):

Stone Soup Jewelry

I'm thrilled with this site so far. I purchased it through BluDomain. Blu is a small company that offers dozens of funky templates and hosting. Their sites were originally designed for professional photographers, so they work well for visual artists, offering galleries and a few external links. There is a shopping cart available in some templates, though it's not the best for work other than photography. But I understand that there are some new designs coming out on July 25 with different shopping cart formats.

The people at Blu have been friendly, responsive and helpful. And I think my site's looking pretty good, if I do say so myself.

New Workspace, Part One and a Half

Getting there. Really.

First of all, my new handmade jewelry findings shop is open and running (click here and see)! It's not fully stocked yet - still need to add more copper ear wires and a few new designs - but it's a start. If you have suggestions for the links/tutorials page, please let me know.

Next order of business - I've made more progress in my workroom.

This is another IKEA purchase (a Fredrik computer desk). I ended up choosing this because it had a nice big work surface, and the table height is adjustable, so I can put it up high enough to make saw piercing and wire work comfortable. I've been hunched over a table for far too long, and my old back couldn't take it. I chose this instead of a more traditional jeweler's bench because I wanted a wider, deeper table surface. I may invest in a different organizer for the back of the table, but for now this works nicely.

I've made a couple of purchases on Etsy to add some color to the room, including a beautiful little wall quilt and some button/textile art - so more photos to come when I finish the bench and get the walls dressed up a bit more!