EtsyMetal News 2.27.09

Custom Cuff Links by chrisparry

Chris of chrisparry had his cufflinks featured in an article on FilmNoirBuff and is currently working on a pair with the NY Giants logo on them. Chris makes fantastic ready-to-wear and bespoke pieces for both women and men (like the cufflinks above) and sells them through his Etsy shop. Check them out today.

Brooke of gemmafactrix recently taught a found object workshop at a local high school. I would love to see what Brooke's students came up with--I'm sure it was all fabulous!

Beth of bcyrjewelry recently hit a milestone by reaching 900 sales in her Etsy shop. Congratulations, Beth! Let's see if we can help her celebrate 1000 in the near future!

Maggie of maggiejs was recently featured on the Spanish jewelry blog 18kt, which highlighted a few of her beautiful pieces.

Paul of noformdesign was recently featured on Thrillist Chicago in a nice article spotlighting several of his standout designs.

Sophie of duckduckgoosestuff will have work in SOCK, "a celebration of quality artists and makers," in Loughborough Town Hall (UK) on March 14th. Sophie will also have work at Sheffield's Spring Fling on March 28th at the Workstation in Sheffield. Both fairs are happening for the first time this year, and they are also the first shows Sophie has ever done, so be sure to come out and support her!

Tide Pools and Time Machines Necklace by duckduckgoosestuff

Charm Swap 3: Works in Progress, continued

Here are the latest photos of our progress in the Etsymetal Charm Swap 3:

At the last minute, with only 4 days to spare, Experimetal had a "change of heart" and decided to do these shielded rock charms.


Maggiejs did a charm version of her petal series.



DeliasThompson made a cobblestone series charm!



Erosasjewelry jumped in with only two weeks left and did this incredible charm using keum bo--a technique that fuses gold leaf to sterling.


Ashleyjewelry has added polymer clay to the copper pierced disks for color and texture!



Treanelli joined at the last two weeks and has been working constantly to get her charms done. These concentric rings will get soldered onto a sterling disk.

Weekly Review: Reykjavik, Iceland

One of our Etsy Metal members, Clare Stamp (http://stamp.etsy.com), recently traveled to Reykjavic, Iceland, and loved it:

"In short it's an amazing country. They are super focused on design and handmade. There is so much thought behind everything. Even public bathrooms are stunning!

It is also super expensive.

Even with the collapse of their currency, a pint of beer can set you back $9. For two of us, the meals averaged out to $120 per meal! Alcohol is stupidly expensive and they measure shots, so while prices are comparable to NYC on the surface, you get about half as much.

That said I ate some of the best food I have ever had. As nothing grows there being Vegan is next to impossible, so I swung to the other side and enjoyed Puffin, Hákarl (rotten shark) and whale. They also have dolphin on the menu at many places and in the supermarkets, but I didn't try it.

The seafood there is so amazingly fresh and clean tasting. All the meat is organic and free range. Meat is sheep and horse (which I didn't try). Food sources there are limited, so they eat pretty much anything that can survive (most of the country is considered desert), and they use every part of the animal, so some pretty interesting dishes if you like organ meats, skin etc (which I do).

Another great thing is that there is no tax on art. They really encourage artists and designers there. The main streets which anywhere else would be full of chain stores are full of shops run by artists and designers. I bought a stunning painting and some pottery from here http://listaselid.is/"

Clare also tells of a group of women from all around the country who knit sweaters from handspun yarn, since sheep are one of the only animals that can survice there, and sell them in various shops for about $120-$150.


The highlight of her trip, however, was the 4x4 day trip through Iceland on Track.

"There are no roads there in the Winter (they bulldoze new roads in the Spring) and very few people go there out of season. We hiked a glacier and saw some of the most amazing landscapes."

You can find more photos on Clare's flickr page.

Thank you for sharing, Clare!

You can also find an intriguing post on Iceland design on Design*Sponge.

Charm Swap 3 Progress updates

Just one week away and everyone is working so hard to make the post deadline by Saturday, February 28th! I'm excited to see everyone's design take shape and get closer to the finished charm. Most of all I want to thank everyone for their hard work on this project. If you are getting excited too and want to join in, we will have two sets of charms for sale in the etsymetal store. One set will be assembled into a complete charm bracelet and the other set will be sold per charm. All proceeds benefit etsymetal.


tuizui charm's has the water cast sterling cups each carefully enameled.



rubygirl used antique filigree to make this piece.



ninagibsondesigns is serving up some coffee (or tea!).



aubergine228 made one of a kind castings from natural artifacts.



Kathryn Riechert is making a sun rivet on her scenic charm.



ashleyjewelry made these copper forms to be encased with colorful polymer clay.



stamp has punched over 100 disks to create this charm.



Istanbuldesigns etched her owl design on bronze.

Lisa's Pieces

1. Where do you live, and where are you from?
I was born in a suburb of New York and lived there until I was 12. I have lived in Connecticut; Massachusetts; London, England; Paris, France, Florida and currently live with my family in a suburb of Chicago.

2. How did you get started working with metal?
I have always done some kind of craft or another. When I was 26 I had no interest in football and the only other thing I could find to fill my Monday nights was a class in Jewelry making. From the first night I was hooked.

3. What are a few of your favorite pieces at the moment?
My favorite pieces of my own work are generally the more layered, complicated ones.


4. What inspires you (artists, objects, interests)?
I can be inspired by pretty much anything. I often “see” great ideas in strange or mundane places. One of my favorite pieces I made after a major oil spill. Another I was inspired by a TV show set. Also I am a book addict and have 100’s of art, jewelry, metal and other books. I especially love some the work of some 1950’s and 1960’s jewelers.

5. Do you have any other artistic interests?
I have closets full of craft supplies. I have gone through all consuming phases of knitting , scrap booking , rubber stamping, painting on glass to name a few. Now I try hard not to spread myself to thin but focus on my jewelry.

You can find more of Lisa's work in her Etsy Shop!

Weekly Review: Fresh-Baked Bread

Lately we have been talking a lot about the economy, in the Etsy Metal forum...it's fascinating (and heart breaking sometimes) to hear how we all are experiencing the same crisis but in different ways. We are a global group, after all. Shannon, aka rubygirl, posted a wonderful recipe for fresh baked bread that only takes 5 minutes a day to make. You can check out the recipe here.

image via Mother Earth News

Studio Songs - What we're listening to while we work

I love finding out about new music and my fellow etsymetal members are a great source for some amazing new bands. Here are a few of our recent favorites.

Flogging Molly

Gogol Bordello

M. Ward

Kirsty Maccoll

The Felice Brothers

The Mountain Goats

Charm Swap 3 *charms in progress*

Nina Gibson's charm design from NinaGibsonDesigns. Her charm is going to be a teacup!

Etsymetal's Charm Swap is now in its third generation and I'm very excited to be the curator of this generation. I am very grateful to have the collected wisdom from experimetal and stamp (former currators) to guide me along the process. Here's how it works. Twenty of our team members sign-up to take part in this project. We all donate 22 charms and ship them to the curator. As the curator, I get to sort through all the lovelies and send them out to each participant. The two extra charms from each of the twenty participants will be available for sale at our etsymetal store. One set of charms will be put together as a charm bracelet and the other set will be for sale as individual charms. All sale proceeds go towards the cost of maintaining Etsymetal.

The deadline is fast approaching (Feb 28th) and everyone is keeping me updated with their own works in progress. As a member myself, I wanted to be sure that my charms were done before any of the packages arrived on my doorstep!

Here are some of the other team members and their "works in progress":

experimetal with hand-formed and enameled heart charms.



rubygirl experimenting with colors creating a filigree patterned charm.



IstanbulDesigns hand sketched this Klimt inspired owl to be etched onto brass charms.



aubergine228 has taken orders to make each member's charm from her nature castings. I've requested a fox claw and a seahorse for the EtsyMetal Store.



KathrynReichert is stamping intricate nature scenes on sterling hand cut disks.

tuizui is water casting sterling cups that will be enameled and riveted on to a textured copper square.

sarawestermark is using leaf textured copper ornamented with sterling barbells.


Article by: Sara Westermark, Etsymetal member and Etsymetal Charm Swap 3 curator.

Etsymetal News 2.6.09

Etsy Metal Charm Swap 2, originally uploaded by experimetal.

The Etsymetal Charm Swap #2 is complete and shipped! Stay tuned for more details soon....and Charm Swap #3 is already under way!

As a team we have been VERY busy with our bi-annual member juries...new members will be announced soon!

Lots of individual Etsymetal members have news to announce:

Nina Dinoff has been selected for the "Loveliest Ladies' items" poll on the Etsy Storque! The polls close on Monday, February 9....so go vote for Nina NOW!!! Click here to enter the voting polls!

Sophie aka duckduckGoosestuff has been selected to show at SOCK, "a celebration of quality artists and makers"!

4 of Sarah Hood's amazing pieces are included in the Tacoma Art Museum's 9th Northwest Biennial, which is a juried show exhibiting the "best of Northwest contemporary art!"

Danielle Miller won Honorable Mention for the Mort Abelson Scholarship at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts and had her Midnight Marquise Chain Necklace featured in INDESIGN magazine!

Elizabeth Rosas was interviewed on Melissa Loves blog, her heart necklace was featured in the blog Anastasia Drawing and Dreaming and a few of her pieces have been featured at the fab Heart Handmade blog!

Sara Westermark will be exhibiting at Wilmington Chocolate Festival and has donated a chocolate diamond ring for the opening Gala which is a fundraiser for the Liberty Hospice. Check out her blog for more details! Sara was also featured on the blog Dream Mist Land.

Elizabeth Scott's lovely garnet ring is in the Etsy Storque article : Etsy Finds: Special Deals on Jewelry - This Weekend Only!


and MANY etsymetal members graced the front page this week!
CONGRATS to all!

Ceeb Wassermann

Ceeb Wassermann, of howlindoggie, is one of our wonderful members from Australia. She is a fantastic artist and I absolutely adore her pierced work.

1. Where do you live, and where are you from?
Sydney, Australia. Born in Rio, Brazil & grew up in Germany & Switzerland

2. How did you get started working with metal?
my mother was an artist & had me painting & making sculptures since I was about 5 yrs old.



3. What are a few of your favorite pieces at the moment?
my favorite pieces are more often than not, other jeweller's work and of mine usually the newer ones like my geometric ring

4. What inspires you (artists, objects, interests)?
japanese design, the ocean, flora & historical jewelry


5. Do you have any other artistic interests?
i paint & sketch and love doing on site installations

You can find more of Ceeb Wassermann's work in her Etsy Shop, as well as on her Blog and Website.

Weekly Review--The Twilight Series

Many of us at Etsy Metal are intrigued by all the vampire related media going on, such as True Blood (The HBO Series), The Sookie Stackhouse novels (which True Blood is based on), Twilight the movie, and the Twilight book series.

The books in the Twilight series are well written and quick reads. You can find out more about them on Stephenie Meyer's website.

Gallery of the Month : Allanstand & the Southern Highland Craft Guild

Q: Why did you decide to open a gallery? How long have you been open?
A: Allanstand Craft Shop has roots dating back to 1908 when Francis Goodrich opened Allanstand Shop on Main St in Asheville, NC. Today Allanstand Craft Shop is located at the Folk Art Center and is one of the five shops of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The Guild shops represent artists who live in the southern Appalachian mountains, from Maryland to Alabama.

Q: Describe your gallery, the work you carry, etc...
A: Allanstand Craft Shop exhibits the finest traditional and contemporary crafts made in the southern Appalachians. All work is made by Guild members who are juried into the organization based on the mastery of their craft. Allanstand features jewelry, wood, pottery, natural materials, metal, glass and mixed media.

Q: What is your price range of the products you sell?
A: Prices range from $10 to $10,000. This wide range offers something for everyone-whether it be a handcrafted keepsake from their trip to the mountains or an art quilt surely to become a family heirloom. The bestselling price range is typically under $100.

Q: Do you have special events?
A: Allanstand Craft Shop is located at the Folk Art Center which hosts special events throughout the year. The events include Fiber Day, Clay Day, Wood Day and Heritage Weekend. Guild artists share knowledge of their craft through demonstrations and hands on activities. The events often include live music and traditional entertainment such as clogging and storytelling.
You can find an event schedule here.

Q: Do you offer special services?
A: Yes. Allanstand offers the following special services: shipping, gift wrapping for the holidays, gift certificates.

Q: Do you sell online?
A: The Southern Highland Craft Guild operates an online store at www.southernhighlandguild.org
Q: Who is your customer base?
A: Located on the Blue Ridge Parkway Allanstand Craft Shop is a favorite stop for tourists to the western North Carolina mountains. Conveniently located just half a mile from Hwy 70 in east Asheville it is also a great spot for locals to find unique gifts. Given the Guild’s history and reputation Allanstand also appeals to collectors, whether they are searching for a traditional white oak basket or a contemporary glass sculpture.

Q: How do you promote your artists / store?
A: Various forms of media are used to share the mission of the Guild including advertising in newspapers, magazines, television and online at www.craftguild.org. We work closely with the Chamber of Commerce to familiarize visitors with the area and all that the Folk Art Center and Allanstand have to offer.

Q: Where do you find your artists / product?
A: All artists are members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Each Guild shop manager evaluates members’ work based on how well it will be received in their particular gallery. While drawing from the same membership, all five shops have their own uniqueness and personality.

Q: What is hot right now?
A: Scarves, greenware, functional pottery
Q: What do you think the next wave or trend is?
A: Navy blue is the “new black” with home décor. Eco-friendly items such as natural baskets, fiber wearables.

Q: What changes have been made from when you first opened the business?
A: While deeply rooted in tradition the Guild evolves to meet the marketing needs of an ever changing membership. The Guild’s mission is to bring together the crafts and craftspeople of the Southern Highlands for the benefit of shared resources, education, marketing and conservation.

Vote for Nina!

Etsymetal member, Nina Dinoff has been selected for the "Loveliest Ladies' items" poll on the Etsy Storque! The polls close on Monday, February 9....so go vote for Nina NOW!!! Click here to enter the voting polls.