All Things Emmys - Part 4

These past few days have been filled with excitement (holy cow a ton of celebs and press are going to see my work!), nervousness (holy cow a ton of celebs and press are going to see my work...and they might think it sucks), and anticipation (holy cow a ton of celebs and press are going to see my work and maybe take a cool photo with it but I won't know until later in the week because Valerie and Nikki like to torture us).   

They don't really like to torture us, they had legit reasons. 

But finally, today is the day!  I couldn't be happier with the feedback and photos I got from the GBK Productions Emmy Gift Lounge.  This entire experience with The Artisan Group  has been amazing.  I was totally scared in the beginning but the advice and support I received, not only from the founders Valerie and Nikki, but from the other members was priceless and just beyond words.  Love to you all, my fellow TAG members!

And now for the good stuff...

Anthony Anderson, known for his roles in Me, Myself and Irene, Scary Movie IV, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle...and a million other roles, posed for a photo with my guitar pick skull necklace

 Michael Trucco of Fairly Legal, BattleStar Gallactica, Next, and too many other movies and shows to name, also posed with the necklace. 
"Oh, wow! This necklace is great!" -- Michael Trucco

Timm Sharp from Six Feet Under and Enlightened was kind enough to pose with the necklace as well.

Nasim Pedrad, from SNL, liked my horseshoe earrings so much she asked to take them home!

And Nia Peeples tweeted me a personal thank you!

So yeah, it's been a pretty good day :)

The Artisan Group represented over 20 handmade artists at the 63rd PrimeTime Emmy Awards GBK Productions Gift Lounge.  Check out their amazing work...

 http://www.makeitmineparties.com//

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlefreeradical

 http://www.zazzle.com/fancybelle 

http://awejewelry.com/ 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ajsweetsoap 

http://www.bellaromaboutique.com/ 

http://www.doodlehouse.com/ 

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http://www.etsy.com/shop/IlenePriceDesign 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/atutudes 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LCVintageJewelry 

 http://www.thelonelypixel.com/ 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ellemoss 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/thelightfantastic 

 http://www.ocstylescreations.etsy.com/ 

http://www.aromatichealthshop.ca/ 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/papermusedesigns 

http://www.13blackcatsdesigns.com/ 

http://www.seeingisbelieving.etsy.com/ 

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetstellas 

 http://www.strandedtreasures.com/ 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/wagsandwiggles 

http://www.honeyprint.com/ 

http://www.tinadeandesigns.com/ 

http://www.zazzle.com/beezkneez 

All Things Emmys - Part 3

Holy crap it's done!!  After approximately 230 working hours, I have finished all my pieces for the Emmy Awards and they are on their way to California!   

So, as of my last post the 100 horseshoes were all soldered.  I still had to sand, oxidize, buff, and attach the chains.  Then I put each one in little folded tissue paper boats along with a bio/product card and packaged them up in my custom made black velvet pouches.

I also made 10 extra horseshoes for the press bags, and one more horseshoe necklace, a pair of earrings, and a guitar pick skull necklace for the display.

The display pieces will be going in the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards Gift Lounge hosted by GBK Productions.  The Artisan Group will be representing my pieces along with a few other super talented artists in TAG.  This gift lounge gives members of the press and select celebrities the opportunity to check out the swag and hopefully take a few pics.  I could totally see Nina Dobrev in my horseshoe necklace or Ian Somerhalder rockin the skull (can you tell i like the vampire diaries?).

So yeah, I'm super excited to see where this will lead and so thankful to Valerie, Nikki and all the members of The Artisan Group for all their help and support. 

And now I'm leaving for a little Caribbean vacation!  I need a few horseshoeless days to recharge and let my hands heal.  Then I can start on all the custom pieces my amazing customers have been waiting for me to get around to.  Ariel, Adrienne, Tera, Brian, Heather, and Chris.  It baffles me that I actually have a waiting list! 

Love you guys!

   

All Things Emmys - Part 2

At the risk of developing rough scaly man-hands, I chose to make 100 Trash Metal Collection® horseshoe pendants for the Emmy Awards celebrity gift bags.  Way back in April I made 1.  No problem.  As I set out to make 100 I slowly realized what I had gotten myself into.  And being the procrastinator that I am the clock is ticking...louder and louder.

I've recently set aside all household duties (not that they were ever high on my list anyway), friends, family, and beautiful sunny days in order to make some progress.  So here's what I've been up to...

The process begins with sawing

I saw all the horseshoes and rectangular backplates by hand from sterling silver sheet.  I also threw in a couple of copper horseshoes to mix it up a little.

Then I file them all to get out the rough spots.

Next step is to drill 5 tiny holes in each horseshoe.  The holes serve no purpose, they are just part of the design because I thought they looked cool.   After drilling 500 freaking tiny ass holes I began to rethink their coolness. 

Now the rectangles need to be treated to my signature "trashing" technique and the backs stamped with my logo.

Ok so now horseshoes and rectangles are ready to be soldered together.  But since I saw them all by hand none of them are exactly the same size.  So I sort through them all pairing up the ones that look best together.

Let the soldering begin!

My favorite part, playing with fire heeheehee...

After the torching all the pieces go in the pickle pot for clean up

Take them out, rinse them off, and now I have a big pile of pendants

They still need to be sanded, oxidized, buffed, tumbled, polished, attached to chains, etc...and finally packaged. "I'll get to it, I swear.  I do my best work under pressure", said the procrastinator.

All Things Emmys - Part 1

A couple of weeks ago the lovely ladies at The Artisan Group asked if I would like to contribute some of my jewelry to the celebrity swag bags at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards this year.  Duh!  I immediately said yes and I don't think I've slept since. 

I'll be providing 100 pieces for the swag bags, 10 pieces for the press bags, and a couple of pieces for the display.  Besides the jewelry to be made, I have a crazy long list of other things I need to do, buy, create, think about, email, blog, post, photograph, etc...not to mention my website and Etsy sales and general life stuff.  Not that I'm complaining, I'm just a bit overwhelmed. 

Luckily, I have the help and support of  Valerie and Nikki, of The Artisan Group, as well as all the other members.  They are truly an amazing and talented group of artisans that I am proud to be a part of.   A big thank you to Valerie and Nikki for this amazing opportunity!

To find out more about The Artisan Group you can... 

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