Jewelry design tour: Hong Kong

I traveled to Asia for the first time in 2002 for the jewelry company I worked for at the time. My mission was to work directly with our overseas designers in Hong Kong and to visit jewelry factories there, in Bangkok and in India.  I was so excited to get to travel to these beautiful countries even if it was for work.  The bridge above is one of the first things I remember about that trip, jet-lagged from the 12 hour flight, it was beautiful, architectural and it took me over the water into Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has bright lights, a polluted harbor, clothing stores, world-class restaurants and is bustling with millions of people. It reminded me of my home in NYC. :-) I loved it there!

Our Hong Kong designers were even nicer in person than over e-mail. It was great to put faces to the names of the people I had been working with for a year. And I was so busy, I barely had time to actually see anything other than the inside of the office!  Our vendors were kind and took me out for dinner most of the time, since I had no idea where to go other than the hotel restaurant.

This was my view of Victoria Peak, hidden behind the storm clouds. We would stay on the Kowloon side of the harbor across from The Peak. Jet lag would make me get up by 4am. So in the mornings I would go to the gym at the top of the hotel and run on a treadmill as I watched the sun rise over the harbor. There's now a giant skyscraper in that view, I saw it being built over a few trips to Hong Kong, and to me it looks like a giant electric razor.

One night, my co-worker and I ventured out and took a funicular to the top of The Peak. We had dinner at the top, gazing down at the lights of the city and the sparkling water of Victoria Harbor. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I can still remember sipping a glass of wine and feeling so small as we looked at this beautiful city.

This isn't my photo but it's similar to the view that night:

One of the neatest things I saw were the 'junk boats' which are fishing boats, out on the harbor. I felt like I had stepped back in time, or maybe went to the future where Kevin Costner ruled Waterworld.

Crazy to see the contrast between the old fashioned junk boats and the uber-modern city buildings. I had such a great time in Hong Kong, even though my hair was a frizzy mess the entire time (it's not the heat, it's the humidity). My Metropolis line was inspired by the beautiful modern buildings of the big cities I've visited, including my home NYC.  This is one of my most popular ring designs in recycled mixed metals:

But sadly I had to move on to my next stop: Bangkok! To be continued...

What is Jewelry Design

Jewelry design is a term most often used to describe a sketch someone has made, that they want turned into jewelry. Many crafters call themselves "jewelry designers" because as a broader term it encompasses all the techniques of jewelry making.  Beading, wire wrapping, hand fabricating, stone setting, model making, etc. So jewelry design can mean the sketch which is a jumping-off platform, or it can mean everything having to do with making jewelry. Confusing, right?

To me, creating handmade jewelry is so much more than a sketch or a craft. It's thoughts, experiences, colors, memories and emotions that are expressed in tiny sculptures for people to wear.  Jewelry is such a personal expression, for the people who wear it and for me as a jeweler and artist. Every piece of jewelry I make is like a small part of me going out into the world. I'm worried people won't like it, I'm afraid something will happen to hurt it and I secretly want loads of people to love it.  I want it to do good things in the world.

Over the next few months I'm going to take you on different trips with me, we need a vacation, right?  On our journey we'll take a look at what has inspired me in my jewelry designs and I hope you'll share what inspires you. We all are creative, we're all artists because we all have a unique perspective on what we see and how we process our experiences.  So I hope you'll join me and enjoy our little blog-cations over the next few months!

My Wish ring will start us off right. Ready? Let's go!

The Wintry Ocean

As a kid I used to spend part of every summer at the beach. The Jersey Shore to be exact: cheese fries, Wildwood piers, Atlantic City... but I wasn't anything like Snooki. I can remember building sand sculptures with my dad for the yearly competition and we came in 1st place one year for building a giant sandragon. The smell of coconut will always me of suntan oil. As an adult I have tons of freckles from all the sunburns I got for spending all day, every day in the sunshine at the beach.  Such good times!

It goes without saying that the ocean is a big part of my inspiration. A horseshoe crab, a jellyfish, the foam created by waves crashing on the shore, I love it all.  Especially in the winter. There's something peaceful and silent about a winter beach, without all the crowds, and it makes it special. Like it's all mine. A welcome solitude.

A few weekends ago we were lucky enough to spend some time in Martha's Vineyard at a very generous friend's house. It was already Spring but one of the coldest weeks where the wind whipping off the ocean makes you shiver even if you're wearing a full length winter coat (which I was).  We made a trip out to a pier in Menemsha where we climbed 'treacherous' rocks.

Later that afternoon we made s'mores.

And the next morning we ran around the beach in our winter coats and bare feet!

I love that my kids took off their shoes and socks to run around. Little sand crabs.

Coming soon... some new additions to my ocean-inspired collection. I'm so excited to share them with you!!!  Soon... soon... soon.

Gemstones are like candy

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest jeweler in the world. My trip to Tucson, AZ was a blast! I went with 3 of my favorite women, also amazing jewelers, and we shopped for gems. every. single. day.

I came home with a Pirate's Booty bag of sparkly rainbows! Here are some of the gems I bought and how I made them into Metalicious jewelry!

First up are purple sapphires, I set one into a sweet Bling ring where I facet the metal around the stone for a unique, handmade modern ring:

How about this one-of-a-kind blue spinel necklace. The color goes from navy to cornflower blue, it's absolutely stunning. I kinda want to keep it for myself, but then I remember the booty and that someone needs to pay for it. Here's my Wrought necklace in navy blue spinel:

I also found super sparkly, bubblegum pink sapphires so I had to set them into my Tiny Sweeties:

When I found these London blue topaz squares, they reminded me of little pools and I had to have them. They are so beautiful that they don't need much else, so I carved a modern square slide necklace and cast it into recycled sterling silver.  Look at the color and clarity of the gemstone in this necklace!

There will be more to come, I also bought some one-of-a-kind kunzite cabochons, some light pink morganite cushions, golden citrines, teal turquoise slabs, opals, and tiny smiling sapphires!  Thanks so much for supporting my business and my Metalicious shop.  You totally rock!

Is it bad to drink during lunch?

I mean, really.

Rules of parenting: Tips on feeding children

Children are such angels, aren't they?  Yeah, mine are, too.  And they eat everything I make for them!  How do I do it?  By following these no-fail tips on what to feed your sweet angel:

1)  Basically if it has parsley or any other tiny green, black, brown or red specks in it you might as well throw it in the garbage.  Because no one is going to eat it.

2)  Any kind of soup or sauce had better match the color of your toddler's shirt.  Trust me on this.

3)  If it's got any kind of string, leaf or seed in it, it will end up on the floor.   So if you think they are eating it, take a look under your child's chair.  As my great-grandfather used to say, "Now you see it, now you don't."  Oh, you'll see it.

4)  Chicken nuggets are a food group unto themselves.  So are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  And pizza.  If your kid doesn't like any of these then you'd better take him/her to the doctor because there is something very wrong.*


5)  Even a 'little bit of cheese' is too much.  A 'little bit of...'  well anything is also too much.  The exceptions are butter, salt and sugar.  Kids love these spices so don't be afraid to use them.  They're on the food pyramid somewhere.

6)  Bread and butter is a great dinnertime option.  Mommy needs to feel like you ate something today, sweetheart.

7) Macaroni and cheese is best when it's the boxed kind.  Don't bother to make it from scratch, you will end up crying alone in your room. 

8)  Don't make anything from scratch.  Only use pre-made, frozen, boxed or canned foods.  In fact it's best if you just have to add water and microwave the damn thing so you can feel like you've cooked something.  Kids love preservatives and it will make them live longer.**

9)  Kids love to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for mealtime.  So feel free to indulge them that one request.  The grandparents love this and will probably feed your kid something healthy like an ice cream sundae.  Win-win!

10)  When all else fails put the kids to bed and drink a few glasses of wine.  That's mommy's best medicine.  Oh, you thought it was hugs?

*I am not a doctor but I like to google things on the internet so I can pretend I am.
**See?

The importance of good craftsmanship

That is a really boring title.  But hopefully what I have to say is not boring.

My mom came to visit last week and was wearing a cute necklace by a mass manufacturer.  "Oh this?  I've had it forever, I just never wore it before."

By the end of the 2 hour visit, the glass heart in the center had fallen out.  I offered to fix it for her (what good is it to be a jeweler if you can't fix your mama's jewelry?) but she said, "Oh this wasn't expensive, don't worry about fixing it if you don't have time."

 Garden marker by MonkeysAlwaysLook

WHAT?!  No matter how little something costs, you should be able to expect to wear it a few times without it coming apart.  But it started me thinking about hand crafted work vs. mass manufactured work.

Once I started my own business selling jewelry made with my own hands, I started to seek out a higher quality of merchandise for myself and my family.  Whether it was a coffee table or a new rug, I found that instead of going for cheap and not caring if something broke I felt much better buying handmade, hand crafted, heirloom quality items.  I know it's a tough economy, and things are tight over here in Metaliciousland, but I'm finding that I don't have to replace things when I go for high quality from the beginning.  It costs more right now, but when I still have it in 5 years it is actually saving me money because I don't have to replace it each year, or every 2 years. 

Our coffee table from a large manufacturer lasted 6 months before the leg started to wobble so badly we needed a new table ASAP.  So I paid 2x the amount of that coffee table for a hand crafted, USA made, beautiful solid wood coffee table. AND we were able to work directly with the artist to get the size we needed.  He was super nice, delivered it in person and it made me feel good to support another artist's business.  A year and a half later and it's still beautiful and solid even though my 2 boys and 2 cats give it a daily workout.  It still holds up my feet at the end of the day, no wobbles.  I have no doubt it will last for years.

This is in our entryway from RecycledBrooklyn.

 

So reason #1 to buy handmade, high quality items?  It saves you money.

Reason #2 to buy handmade, high quality items?  You're supporting a real, live person.  And his/her family.  Who will in turn support their local people, and their families.  And so on... 

And reason #3 for buying handmade, high quality items?  Customization.  You can have whatever your heart desires if you just ask.  You get real person, who gets back to you in real time, who takes pride in and loves what they do and it will show in how your item is made, how they communicate with you and the longevity and quality of the piece.

So before you go to your big-box retailer please consider buying handmade first.  It's good for all of us!