Shahasp Valentine Jewelry - Combining Elegant Design with Precious Metal Clay

One of our favorite PMC jewelry designers is Shahasp Valentine. The grace and elegance of her precious metal clay pendants, necklaces, rings, and earrings are reminiscent of old-fashioned heirloom pieces.

This necklace is called Nouveau #3




Even though her handcrafted jewelry is new, it looks antique, like an heirloom handed down through generations.


This one is called Rococo Necklace




These are pieces that speak to the spirit of remembrance; to the spirit of memory that lies within us.


This one is called Classical Necklace #2

She describes her work in such an enchanting way:

"historically-inspired designs based on great jewels of the past, architectural details, stained glass windows of great cathedrals, and elements taken from virtually every period of history. .......the work in this collection is distinctly regal and intended to appear ancient. "

This necklace is called Salisbury




The flowing designs she creates in this Modern Artifacts Collection are mesmerizing. Each piece is hand-formed, signed, and numbered.

Here is a necklace called French Shell




We'll conclude by saying that we believe Shahasp is an artist who creates a whole lot of enchantment and romance in the form of jewelry. This is romance we can wear. Each lovely design, while formed with bold intention, displays every delicate detail that the artist envisioned. Her inspiration is apparent in every design.

How do you find your inspiration?

What mesmerizes your imagination and pushes you to create?

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Kathleen Dustin Jewelry - Inspiration Celebrated in Polymer Clay

Ever since we first saw her work several years ago, we have found inspiration in the polymer clay jewelry art of Kathleen Dustin. We find ourselves repeating the words, over and over again, "Wow. This is polymer clay. How does she do that. How does she create that."





This one is called "Leaf Bracelet."



Most noted for her exquisite evening bags, her work has been celebrated for its emotional images of women, for the translucent depth of surface that she creates, and for her painstaking use of both vibrant and natural colors.



Her art-to-wear jewelry is equally as striking.



This one is called "Pinchpot Necklace." Looking at her work we feel inspired. Inspired by her ideas. Inspired by her techniques. Inspired by her choices of color and form and texture.




Her own thoughts are inspiring also:


"People often ask me, ‘Where do your ideas come from?’ I feel that part of my job as an artist is to pay attention, ....The imagery of my work comes from taking a deep look at my life, responding to it, and expressing it so that it strikes a cord in someone else too, encouraging them to pay attention."



This is "Tornado Bracelet" from her archived collection.
When viewing Kathleen's work we find ourselves having a strong emotional reaction that takes us to new places in our minds and ignites our creativity.






ok, so we just had to sneak in a photo of one of Kathleen's exquisite evening bags...... maybe it’s not jewelry, per se. But as true "art to wear" it still qualifies as jewelry for us....we would wear it as a piece of jewelry, no doubt about it. (It's called Corn Catchfly Purse.)


As Kathleen states on her website, ". . . these purses are functional, you are supposed to touch them, caress them and examine them. Your life is enhanced because it´s wonderful to carry beautiful things around with you and use them. And that is what I want my creations to do."



We leave her website thinking about inspiration and the role it plays in keeping us motivated to achieve our goals.

We're sure you've had a similar experience where you find yourself deeply influenced by an artist's work.

It is this energy of inspiration that can be used as fuel to keep us moving in the right direction.


So, what inspires you to keep pursuing your art jewelry dreams?


Where do you find inspiration?

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Dead Artists Might Have Made Jewelry

It would be awesome to be able to see, purchase, wear, and discuss jewelry made by some of the world’s great artists, who never actually made any jewelry.

Our point of view is that their particular artistic creativity might actually have translated quite well into pieces of wearable art.

For instance, wouldn’t it be interesting to see what kind of necklace Louise Nevelson might have created? Once described as, ‘one of the most important American sculptors of the mid-20th century,’ we imagine that with her large, chunky sculptures and monumental installations, it would seem that her jewelry might have appeared just as chunky and monolithic. She wasn’t intimidated by new ideas and creativity in sculpture, so our feeling is that she wouldn’t have held back in her jewelry design, either.

How about someone like, Georgia O’Keefe. How would jewelry that she might have designed actually translate into fashion? With her eye for color and texture, her artwork was fairly commercial in her lifetime. It’s quite likely that her jewelry might actually have become extremely commercial, also.

Again, what if someone like Lenore Tawney, using her weaving skills, and her eye for texture and substance, had been inspired to create fiber-based necklaces? A woman who achieved greatness in the weaving discipline, beginning her career at age fifty, and living to the age of 100, Tawney helped create the fiber art medium, as we know it today. We imagine those pieces would definitely have found homes in some of the museums of the world. And a lot of celebrities probably would be diehard fans of her jewelry, too.

Another icon of the art world, Eva Hesse, produced for so short a period of time, that who knows, maybe she may have actually been led to the field of jewelry had she had enough time. With a career spanning only ten years, we feel she had the most possibilities in pursuing a new field.

Who knows what these masters of their genre might have produced had they shifted their focus for awhile and tried their hand at a new field of endeavor.

We, Shelby and Carmela, would love to have seen their work. How about you?

Do you feel, as we do, that once one expresses creativity in one medium, that there is a strong possiblity that one may actually translate that creative spark to another?

Who would you like to have seen produce jewelry who did not actually make jewelry in their lifetime?

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Welcome

Welcome to The Secret Life of Handcrafted Jewelry.


We love handcrafted stuff.....especially jewelry.


WE imagine you love handcrafted stuff, too.


Especially jewelry.


The purpose of this blog is to share our love of the handcrafted, artist-made jewelry that we have discovered on the web over the past few years.


Here are designers, artists, artisans, jewelers.


Here are the self-taught individuals and those with degrees. Here are the people who create from their need to share their vision. These people inspire and enlighten us with their spectacular creations. Their jewelry is truly Art to Wear.


Share and enjoy this journey with us.


Offer your comments, ideas, ramblings, suggestions.

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Care Tips for Sterling Jewelry

Here are some silver care tips:

• Store your jewelry in a cool, dry place.
Leaving jewelry out in the open even if in a jewelry box will be a sure way for your jewelry to tarnish.

• Remove when cleaning, swimming and taking a shower.
The chemicals used during these activities are hard on all jewelry components. Chlorine will blacken silver nicely as will sulphur and rubber will destroy your sterling!

• Remove when sleeping. Movement during sleep can also cause stress on chains, ear wires and clasps.

• 92.5% Sterling Silver has base metals in it - usually copper and a smidgen of zinc. So it WILL tarnish if left out and not properly cared for.

Oxygen and Light, and Oils from skin are the prime reason for tarnish.
Tarnish aka Patina or Patinizing when desired! can be easily cleaned.

• 99.9% Fine Silver is pure. Fine silver will still tarnish some, but not to the degree sterling does.
Fine Silver will yellow a bit in time, but can be cleaned easily.

• A great way to clean your jewelry is with this home made silver dip.
Get an aluminum pan, like the disposable pie pans.
Add really hot water, not boiling, but very hot.
Add 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 1 tsp. of salt.
Stir a bit.
Add jewelry and let soak for 10 min.
Rinse and dry thoroughly. Viola’ just like new.
This will remove tarnish, and also is safe for all jewelry components including Swarovski crystals and pearls.

Buy a Jewelers Cloth from any good jewelry store that has been impregnated with rouge for every day polishing of your silver :-)

Marnie

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Online Ring Sizer

"In order to print the ring sizer above, be sure that your printer is set to 100%. Make sure that you have not reduced the print size in your printer 'page setup' area. You can verify that the sizer printed correctly by measuring it with a ruler; it should measure from A to B: 3 1/2 inches long.

Once you have printed the sizer, follow these directions to find your ring size:

1. Cut out the ring sizer
2. Cut a slit for Slot 'A'
3. With the numbers facing out, wrap the sizer around the finger where the ring will be worn.
4. Pull the pointed end Tab 'B' through Slot 'A' until the sizer is snug, making sure to allow size for the knuckle.
5. The number aligned with Slot 'B' is your ring size.
6. If the measure lands between two numbers your size is a half size Ex: Between 5 and 6 ring size: 5.5. If half sizes are not available, order the next largest size.

Click here to start shopping for rings!"

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Ismoyo's Playground - fun fun fun!

Super cool shop with so much to offer. I found these simply awesome pillows at Ismoyo's Playground and couldn't get over their scrumptious cake like appeal! Ha ha! They're so much fun! Oh, but the fun doesn't stop there...stop by Ismoyo today and find all sorts of colorful fun treasures from pillows to soft sculptures to magnets and mini art! This shop is not one to pass by!

Ismoyo's Playground absolutely DELICIOUSLY sweet!

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