Tribal Done Right

I highly recommend that readers with an interest in ethnic-style jewelry check out the Flickr photostream of Anita Quansah London, a "designer to the stars" whose work actually completely thrills me.



Her designs are exquisite; unconventional and deconstructed in their unexpected shapes, with interesting different manners of draping to adorn more than the expected parts of the body, with a beautiful use of shells and other natural/traditional materials that is both very true to the "roots" of bodily adornment and beautifully joined with more modern materials.  Her pieces combine couture and warrior looks and are just generally stunning.

Additionally, the description on the second piece, here, is a splendid example of describing this style of jewelry without being over-the-top.  She identifies what people inspired her work -- the Masai in Kenya and Nigeria -- and makes strong but not offensive connections between ethnic traditions and modern needs -- the relationship between the use of body ornament to establish identity in various folkways and the fierce, feminine draping design of the jewelry pieces themselves.  In this way she establishes "story" and makes the jewelry feel more "ethnic" or "tribal" without ever having to resort to overusing the cliche, sometimes-offensive style names.

Vintage-styled photos and vintage cooking

Hmm. So now that I got all excited about the vintage shots for the bridal jewelry back in March, I've apparently been doing that for a while already:


Available here.

I b'lieve what I did there was jack up the shadows and desaturate a bit. It's a great way to handle white-on-white, and works beautifully on the raw silk backdrop; the texture is interesting but regular enough that it doesn't distract from the organic wire-wrapping, and the curves of the backdrop give the corners an old-photo darkening effect that is much more subtle than the applied version on the bracelet photos.

On an almost totally different note, I felt the urge to link to this. It's an interesting post from yonder at Steampunk Cookery discussing Orientalism, that old "using every part of the buffalo" tripe (haha, I'm so punny) and why it should only ever be used ironically, and the reason that my 1950s cookbooks have an organ-meats section but that fades away in the mid-70s.

Things that M hates

The most "statementy" statement piece I've ever made, which I decided, after consideration, to actually relist now, because I still really like it:


Available here.

People either love this or hate it.  It's very "tribal," though the word still bothers me.  I love how you can see the texture in the lustrous coral daggers, though it dates from before I decided I'd only buy coral as responsibly-collected focals.  I'm fond of the pyrite and chose the clearest carvings for this piece, though it does apparently weather significantly.  I did once have someone at UCR ask if I could do a long one with a few of the coral sticks for a man.  I should probably still do that; I have some beads that look like peach pits and African trade beads that these would blend well with, and it is right about time to start marketing summer items.

Shop reorganization

I've finally redone my shop sections, because I was starting to get irritated by some of them ("Feminine Touches"?  Really, Chelsea?  Could you possibly be less specific?).

So now the sections are "Elegant Accessories" for the classier, simpler pieces, "Fun Fashion Jewelry" for the cute, bright styles I occasionally randomly do, "Steampunk Assemblage" because I never do anything normal with the steampunk stuff but that pretty much covers it all, "Eclectic Style" for the bohemian looks and the found-object edginess, "Bridal Couture" for the more high-end sparkly pieces that are intended to make a statement and take a long time to construct, and "Versatile Jewelry Pieces," for stuff that's generally pretty workable for multiple styles.

I think this is working, because I don't find myself dithering over which section a listing fits in nearly as much as I used to!

In celebration, special offerish thing:


Available here.

Through February 28, when you order any item from the "Elegant Accessories" section, use the code palmetto in the "Notes to Seller" to get free shipping on your second item,


OR


When you order any item from the "Bridal Couture" section, use the code bread to get 20% off any coordinating pieces from the link at the bottom of the couture item's listing.



Available here.


Discounts will be given through PayPal after you purchase, custom orders don't count, and ... yeah!  It's been way too long since I did one of these.

I want to work with those copper pearls some more.  God, I love those.

Mail musings

One of the few problems with my bridal line is the difficulty of shipping.
 
Available here.

That thing above, for instance, has to be sandwiched in layers of tissue paper and bubble wrap and separately boxed so it can't move.

The coral pieces are even worse, since I have to use one of those little embossed foil gift boxes (you know the ones, most jewelry designers and stores have them) and take a box cutter to it to open triangular notches in the shorter sides, then construct an interior framework out of corrugated cardboard so they have a perfect safe little cell to live in while the box gets bounced around the post office.

However, my little local UPS store, where I love to go because they're not actually any slower than the Post Office and while I wait to be helped I can talk to the senior citizens bringing their service dogs to buy recycled-paper Christmas cards,  was having a sale on all their crush-proof video mailing boxes -- sensible, because who really ships a VHS tape any more? -- and I bought out their entire stock for $6.50.  This is awesome, because video and CD mailers are very strong and their flat shape is perfect for keeping jewelry from moving around.  Charm bracelets, for instance -- the best way to pack them is two sheets of tissue paper and a CD mailer.

Hey, question, readerfolk: When you order from Etsy, do you like to get business cards?  How many?  Do you keep one?  Hand them out or just recycle them?  Does it matter if they've got a note or a special offer or something on them?

The Conversation About Coral

This Craftivism article was on the Etsy blog last month: Declaring Coral Too Precious to Wear.

The thing about it is ... well, yes, coral is a living thing, but that also means coral dies.  And the exoskeletons aren't food for anything that I know of.  Basically, once a coral dies, it becomes proto-sand.

The coral I use in my jewelry designs was sold to me as "responsibly collected."  And I do believe firmly in the responsibility to source one's materials, especially in jewelry design -- we need to know our diamonds are conflict-free (link is disturbing), we need to know if we're selling Swarovski crystal jewelry or a Chinese imitation that will fade to grey-brown before the bridesmaids wear their bracelets -- but there's also a limit to what is possible.  And honestly, I'm willing to accept that the grab bags of broken coral pieces from which I get my branches are pre-deceased coral, that it's found on a beach and not cut from a reef.  I can't follow the shop owner around stalking her to see if she does any snorkeling.  I can only note whether she's offering whole ocean corals next to my grab bags of broken pieces, and make an educated guess about her suppliers' collection practices from there.

So when I say that my coral is "responsibly collected," that's what I mean: "To the best of my reasonable knowledge, this is coral that was not poached or killed to be sold."


Available here.

That makes it sound a little creepy, doesn't it?  But honestly, all the ocean-sourced materials -- shells, coral, starfish, everything but pearls -- are the exoskeletons of marine creatures.  It doesn't necessarily have to be alarming, unless we're also finding bone, horn and leather alarming.  Let it be stated: The coral and shell jewelry isn't vegan.

So why did I make this post when it makes my jewelry sound mildly creepy?  Well, I wanted to join the conversation about coral -- and I like it when customers ask me about my sources.  It makes me respect them a little more if they're concerned and it allows me to talk more about my favorite thing: beads and found objects.

Also, I alluded to it in the first part of my article series about writing descriptions to sell handmade products, so I thought if the question was going to arise in such a timely manner I'd better clarify here.

Now, having read the Etsy Storque article, there's another thing -- all those pink and red coral beads that are so readily available.  I guess I've always assumed that coral was farmed somewhere, like pearls, but according to that article, it can't be.  So while I'm not going to toss my small current supply, once I've used it up, I'll be trying some alternatives like ceramic or mountain jade to get that effect.

tl;dr: My coral is responsibly collected to the best of my knowledge and I'm going to stop purchasing any I'm unsure of.

Bridal Collections 5: Ocean Bijoux

I'm not sure I've ever made crazy statement pieces like this before ... or simple delicate pieces like this before.

The collection was challenging.  The materials are all AB crystal, freshwater pearls, green natural shell and various kinds of findings and chain, but the designs, almost to a one, are way out of my comfort zone.  My favorites, naturally, are the earrings, which are very me, but the necklaces are rather different.  This is good, though.


Available here.

This is another one that Mom made off with a bit of, but that one was a mixed metal piece, which I personally love and it's supposed to be stylish, but I'm hesitant about the bridal market for it.  But Mom loved it, so that's all good.  The rest of this elegant, bohemian bridal collection will be selling with a special offer for the next few days:

Through October 24, purchase any piece from the Ocean Bijoux bridal collection and get a free bracelet if you mention this post.  The bracelets I use for these promotions are high-quality metal and glass beaded pieces, and all are adjustable.





Enjoy!

Bridal Collections 3: Ocean Branches

This is the collection that was actually requested for consignment -- longtime readers may remember another white coral piece with wire-wrapping which sold last Christmas, and around the same time I showed the photo for consideration, which is why I was asked to do a whole beach-wedding line.

This collection is the only one that's 100% sterling silver, and it involves a lot of fine wirework. The wire is used both to adorn the coral branches and to create a smoothish surface against the clothing or skin -- coral is a lot smoother than it looks, but it never hurts to be sure.


Available here.

Two pieces broke in their return shipping, one irreparably and one just depressingly. The rest, however, is now in the Etsy shop. This elegant one-of-a-kind coral and pearl bridal collection for classy ocean-themed affairs is now on sale:

Through October 18, purchase any piece from the Ocean Branches bridal collection and get 15% off a coordinating item. If only one item is purchased, I'll send you a pair of pearl earrings as a free gift.

Discounts are before shipping and given after purchase through PayPal.  Just mention this post to get your deals!

On another note, that piece on the lower left is in an absolutely amazing number of treasuries.  I'm not sure if it's because I've been making a lot and people are reciprocating with the first image they like in the shop, or if it's the white-on-white closeup that people like.

Bridal collections 1: Antigua Cove

This was the first collection I made for my 2010 bridal line, and I'm posting it first because I think in many ways it's the truest to my style.
It uses ivory, bronze, brass, topaz and gold shades. The inspirational motifs:

1. I wanted each piece to be able to go from an ivory wedding dress to a cute jeans outfit.  This doesn't mean they're simple; quite the contrary.
2. I wanted a bit of a pirate-queen feel,which could be played up or down with the right accessories.
3. I wanted each piece to be something my mother would wear.

Mom likes earth tones and relative simplicity, and wears a lot of bracelets and earrings.  If she and Dad got married now instead of twenty-two years ago -- yeah, I think she just might wear these.


Available here.

Apparently I achieved my goal; some of the pieces shown above, Mom loved and has been persuaded to make off with.  I'd love it if she took more; I can generally persuade her by reminding her that she's my advertising department. For the rest, a special offer on this eclectic, sophisticated one-of-a-kind collection of seashell and pearl wedding jewelry in brown, gold, ivory and antiqued brass tones:

Through October 6, purchase any piece from the Antigua Cove bridal collection and get a second piece of equal or lesser value 25% off.  This is not combinable with other offers and is taken from the price before my small customization fee, but it does apply to orders for multiples of one item.  Discounts will be given through PayPal refund.

Happy shopping!

Shells, shells, shells

I have no idea what the professional etiquette is for this kind of thing, so I'll just be as anonymous as possible ...

I might be doing a beach-wedding line on consignment for a brick-and-mortar bridal store.

I sent a photo of this:



And they want a whole line of more like that. The original is sold, but I'll make several similar pieces.

It may not work out, of course. They may be consignment-scalpers out for my beaded blood. They may just decide not to use me. But the interest is flattering and ....

Eeeeee.

That is all.