June 14, 2015

Catching Up

Happy Sunday, y'all!

It's been ages since I've posted so I'm playing a bit of catch up on my blog. I've been busy the past couple of months with work and traveling. My hubby and I took a trip to the UK in May for my 50th birthday. We had a fabulous time seeing England, Scotland and Wales and I had hoped to do some urban sketching while we were there, but we were on the move so much, I did most of my sketches from photos when I got back.

The sketches are made with Fresh Paint on a Surface Pro 3. I hope to get Photoshop on my tablet soon, but Fresh Paint worked fine for the small, quick sketches I'm doing. I hope to make a digital journal of our trip once all the drawings are done.

Enjoy!

Buckingham Palace Fountain Study, London England

March 20, 2015

B'Sue Boutiques Build a Line Challenge - Small Stuff Design - Part Three, The Reveal!

by Renee Allen

Welcome back, y'all!

*Drum Roll* It's the final blog post for our Build a Line Challenge and I'm excited to show you my "stuff". Before the reveal, a big thanks to Brenda Sue Lansdowne of B'Sue Boutiques for teaching this build a line class.

My souvenir spoon line has gone in a couple of directions and my Travel line has two collections: "Steamer Trunk" and "Route 66". Steamer Trunk is sepia toned, old world nostalgia. Route 66 has more of an Americana, rockabilly, five and dime kitsch vibe. I'm not ready to reveal my Route 66 pieces yet, but they are fun, y'all! *wiggly brows*

The Steamer Trunk collection is the one that has evolved the most. It's using the souvenir spoons from around the world, found objects and vintage travel graphics. Check it out:

Travel Charm bracelet made from souvenir spoon tops, vintage buttons, silver plated bookchain and vintage new old stock costume pearls.

Prototype Travel pin design with souvenir spoon accent.

Rings give me fits, y'all. This one is riveted but loose. Back to the drawing board.

I have lots more stuff, but I needed to get this posted tonight and I ran out of time for picture taking. :) I hope you like what you see!

Please check out the links below that feature my fellow jewelry designers. It has been a pleasure to participate in this wonderful project. :) Thanks again for stopping by!

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques

Jewelry Making Outside the Box

Marcia Tuzzolino

Aurora Designs

Jann Tague

Clever Designs by Jann

Judy King

Apt to Wander Studio

Linzi Alford

Magpie in the Sky, Spoil Heap Tales

Cynthia Wainscott

Carole Carlson

Lynn Stinten

Marica Zammit

Catherine Shattuck

Michaele Collie

Mary Craig

Lee Koopman

Erin Whitacre

Shattered Time Jewelry

Monica Casady

MJCasady Copper Works

Leila West

Cindy Peterson

Leila Belcher

Gloria Allen

Pamela Anger

Tammy Adams

Lynda O'Mara

Elizabeth Hildreth

Dana Hickey

Janet Calardo

Maria Clark

Lori Beekman

Jennifer Kroeger

Amy Jorgensen

Robin Reed

Artistry: Handcrafted Bead Designs

Ingrid Anderson

Lilis Gems

Louise O'Shields

Desire Divine Jewels

Susan Killam

Killam Creative

Mary Katherine Deis

The Rose Sword: Artisan and Vintage Collectible Jewelry

Nike Bottalico

Susan Bowerman

Woodside Wireworks

Kristy Le

Kristy Le Trendy Jewelry Designs

Jan Peters

Stylized Vintage

Mitzie Crider

Needful Luxuries Occasional Blog

Gina Hockett

Freestyle Elements

Linda Anderson

From the Bead Board

Alexandra Sefton

Imaginary Jewelry and Altered Art

Melida Boman

The Journey of Pens and Things

Teresa Shurter

TreeZ's Treasurs

Melissa Latimer

Smithed Up

Renee Hong

Fine and Dandy Jewelry and Art

Nadine Edris

Moondance Jewelry

Lori Meyer

Parisienne Girl

Jennifer Merrill Williams

Artists of All Stripes

Denise Lussier Poirier

Jewelry by Denise

Renee Allen

Small Stuff Design <---You are here! :)

Autumn Adams

Autumn Dawns

Elizabeth Owens

1996 Shabby Lane

Kat BarronMiller

Midnight Kat Productions Art Jewelry

Sandra Ballard

Mama San's Mojo

Coral Law

ab:coraldesign

February 19, 2015

B'Sue Boutiques Build A Line Challenge: Small Stuff Design - Part Two

by Renee Allen

I never collected spoons, but I love to travel. Something about seeing this image makes me want to pack a bag!

Hi y'all, welcome back! I'm psyched to show you what I have so far with the souvenir spoon jewelry line! My hope with this blog post is to show you a bit of my design process and where I am with all the pieces and parts.

A little recap before we get started:

What is this? Brenda Sue Lansdowne of B'Sue Boutiques is holding a master class with about 55 designers to come up with a cohesive jewelry line. My line will be a "travel series" made from souvenir spoons!

How much will the jewelry sell for? The goal in the challenge is to make a line that will retail for anywhere from $15 - $50. And this is where the challenge comes. I do jewelry that blows that price point to hell, but I've mainly focused on labor intensive, one-of-a-kind pieces that are more about learning new techniques than selling. This challenge will help me focus to design a line of jewelry in the price range that will still be handmade and unique, but also affordable!

When will the line be ready? Our next blog post in March is the final reveal (SQUEE!) and after that, I will be going live on this site to sell what I have.

Assorted spoon tops - the fancy ones like the California one on the right will probably end up as simple pendants with a drop.

I won't lie. I haven't been working on the line much these past few weeks as I've had lots of other things going on, but things are starting to gel. I'm still working on the designs and figuring out what works, what doesn't.

Working out a ring construction. Not quite there, but building it is making me develop a plan and design that will be both beautiful, but also sturdy.

Not there yet on these. I'm still playing with the designs and hope to lighten these up a bit. They look so serious. LOL!

I plan to make some tassel necklaces with these - I think. I dunno. I need a day or two to play, not think and just tinker. I have one more month to go and I tend to work better under pressure and a deadline. Right now, I'm just too tired to know what to do. I'll have a eureka moment anytime now. Or not. LOL!!

Meanwhile, my blog buddies are knocking stuff out of the park! Please go check out their amazing work!

Brenda Sue Lansdowne, B'sue Boutiques