My Work Featured On the Runway: Boston Fashion Week!

I am back from Boston and am excited to report that some of my pieces were chosen by Keith Lissner for his runway show! If you are not familiar with Keith, he was a contestant on Bravo TV's The Fashion Show, which aired this past spring. He is a very talented designer, with some of his pieces being worn by celebrities, including Janet Jackson! His pieces were lovely, and I wish I could have gotten some good pics of his show. If only I had a better camera!

Keith liked my dangly and bold earrings, which he chose for his models. All the girls either had short hair or had their hair pulled back as to see my earrings! Above are some of the earrings Keith chose for his show. The first pair are gold-filled chandeliers with lots of citrine and peridot. The second pair are a lovely, plump Rose Quartz briolette with gold-filled chain. You can purchase them at my shop!

Emerging Trends Event: Boston Fashion Week

I'm not quite sure why I've waited until now to share this with all of you, but I'm participating in Boston Fashion Week tomorrow!! I'm super excited, nervous, stressed out, and exhausted. I've been working very hard the past 3 weeks after I found out I was going to be exhibiting my line of handcrafted jewelry. I will be a part of the Emerging Trends event, which is being held at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers. The event will enable up-and-coming designers the unique opportunity to showcase their collections to hundreds of fellow fashion enthusiasts, retailers, press, and media.

I think this is the biggest show I've ever done and I'm really hoping it goes well! I've made a lot of new pieces, many of which were firsts for me. I've worked with some unique gemstones because I really wanted my creations to stand out. Here are a few of the pieces I've created for the event. The first picture is a statement necklace made of Biwa stick pearls in a pretty silvery green shade. I've accented them with tiny green Swarovski crystals, sterling chain, and a magnetic clasp. The second picture doesn't do the lovely Mystic Blue Topaz briolettes justice. Nonetheless, I think they're gorgeous dangling from sterling leaf chandeliers. The piece above was hard to photograph. It's solar quartz, which is a very rare gemstone. It's accented by faceted green onyx on a gold-filled chain. The last piece I will share is new for me. The collage necklace is made with antique brass findings and chain. What do you think?

The HoPo Shindig

I am gracing you with two blog posts today. Call it procrastination, but I have some things I want to share with you. First is the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Grand Opening Celebration of the HodgePodgery. I wrote about this lovely shop a few weeks ago, as I am teaching jewelry classes there. Dawn and her daughter, Jessica are lovely ladies and they have lots of fun in store. Their ribbon cutting was postponed back in August, so they're super excited to finally have it tomorrow evening. If you're in Central PA, pay them a visit!

Meet Our New Puppy

Last week, to the utter delight of my daughter, we got another puppy. As you loyal readers probably know, we had to put our miniature dachshund, Andy, down a year ago this month. It's taken awhile to mourn the loss of him, and while our new puppy will never replace him, we felt it was time. Now, I had forgotten about the crying in the middle of the night, the biting on everything, and the "accidents". Truly I don't remember Andy keeping us up at night, but I have to say that before I had Chloe, I was a pretty sound sleeper. Not only does Chloe frequently get up in the middle of the night, but now so does the puppy. The lack of sleep is starting to get to me!

Now I'm sure you're wondering what we named the puppy. Andy had gotten a nickname because of all his peeing in the house. Not quite sure how or why, but we started calling him Weber, as in Potsy Weber. Chloe insisted we name the puppy Weber, and since she has taken the loss of Andy so hard, I obliged. It's kind of weird to have a puppy that looks almost identical to our old dog, and walking around yelling Weber. Nonetheless, we are very happy to have him in our lives. I can't say the same about our cat, though!

My First Jewelry Class

I will be teaching my first jewelry class Friday at the Hodge Podgery in Harrisburg. This lovely shop is owned by mother and daughter, Dawn and Jessica. The Hodge Podgery is dedicated to promoting the independant arts & crafts movement in PA. Described as "A Consignment Shop and Studio for Recycled, Repurposed Arts and Crafts in Midtown Harrisburg." I am very excited for my "BYOB Jewelry Classes". This week we are going over the basics and making a pretty brass and crystal pearl necklace and lucite leaf earrings. What a great way to spend a night out with friends!

Back To School

The past few weeks have been quite a whirlwind! My family and I had a wonderful, if not painfully hot, trip to Disney World. Right before we left, I had a weekend show in MD which had been planned before my vacation. Upon return home from Disney, I had 5 days to get my house back in order and get my little girl ready to start pre-school. Chloe had 4 days of school last week and it was quite bittersweet to see her go. Thankfully for both of us, she goes for 3 hours in the morning. It is a nice little break, but I can't help but be a little sad at how big my baby is getting. It's been quite a journey and I'm so blessed to have her as my daughter.

Of course I'm not the only one getting their little ones ready for the start of the school year. I see Melanie over at Bags by Melanie is just as crazy as I am! While she's getting her son ready for school (poor little guy has a broken wrist), she's also working on orders. I have to say I've been blessed with two custom orders this past week! She's also working on a Christmas tree skirt for her mom. Can't wait to see it once it's done!

Carol of Shwanda has a blended family with 5 kids at 5 different schools! Wow, I can't even imagine! Carol has some great posts that deal with her life, one of which I'm going to be sharing with a family member who has just gone through a divorce. Shelley from I'm Still Standing has a wonderful blog about her life, which includes her lovely daughter who is disabled. She's also getting into the swing of things in getting her kids back to school.

The picture above is of one of my new pieces. It's so perfect for fall, with a deep wooden pendant, that's accented with a cascade of olive jade. It's all done on a natural brass chain and is long enough to wear over your heavier tops.

Hello Bluebird Grand Opening

I was fortunate enough to meet Alex McCarty through Twitter and am very excited for her shop to open this Thursday! Hello Bluebird is a brick and mortar store in West Reading, PA that specializes in promoting the indie craft movement. I am so blessed to have some of my jewelry in the shop, some of which sold already!! If you are in the area, please join us for a fun-filled night.