Lacy Pendant Lamp

There are so many cute lamps now but the patterns are just a little too trendy for me.  I think this lamp from west elm is so timeless; the intricate cut out design is traditional and modern all at once.

Quality time with an old friend.

So today, I decided to browse a bit on Etsy, which I haven’t done in quite a while. Now I’ve got more to add on to my list of favorite things!

First, how incredibly sweet is this little cup. $30 by Vessels & Wares. Really beautiful work, the detail is sweet and I think keeping the colors simple and basic really lets the craftsmanship stand out. I also love their scalloped plates, I want a whole cabinet full.

Le Photique is filled with these great necklaces that have old cameras and film reel images on them. Would make such a great gift (for myself). $18.75

I first saw Fern Animals at Renegade this past summer; I stood there and awwed obnoxiously for five minutes. Really, the most adorable little creatures ever. Some have beards, some have hoodies. All of them are preciously crafted with great expressions. This is the last little guy left in the shop right now, $26.

 

I love him.

Welcome Craft: blog readers!

Just noticed a spike in my traffic and was wondering what that was all about.  Turns out Craft: zine blogged about my lace earring tutorial; thanks you guys!

To all my new visitors, thanks for coming by and hope you enjoy all my scribblings and videos.

Read! For small business.

The weather in NY today is perfect for staying in and curling up with a book.  There are errands to run though, so reading will just have to be for another day.

  There are so many books on my reading list these days– Meg Mateo Ilasco just came out with a book: Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business that I definitely want to check out soon.  There are probably a bunch of things that I could learn from and it sounds like the perfect thing for start ups.

  There is so much information out there about small business!  Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, there was a huge article about blogging and business.

To summarize that article in a couple sentences, it basically said that although time consuming, it’s worth it to keep a blog for your business.  It cites examples of people who have succeeded because of their blog– to the point where their website became pretty much obsolete!  They were getting clients directly from the blog.  This is stuff I knew to be true; I can think of a bunch of artists and designers that I know have used a blog to launch their careers.  But reading it in the Wall Street Journal made me realize that this didn’t just work for the individual.  It works for huge companies too!

There was also a bunch of articles about ’serial entrepreneurs’; people who start up successful businesses over and over again.  I know it’s yesterday’s news, but if you can get your hands on a copy, it’s worth a read.

Video #3: a little paper project

This is something I’ve done pretty much all my life so at this point, it’s all intuitive. So.. the video isn’t exactly a tutorial but maybe you can take something away from it!

Enjoy!

I, interviewee.

I was interviewed by indieshopping; read it on their blog here!

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Also, I’m very aware I missed this month’s promotion deadline (8/15). Better late than never, though! This month, I will be giving away this pair of earrings:

They’re such a simple hoop but have great old world style. I think the colors make it great for fall.

So the giveaway is going to just be a drawing, so email me at prismeradesign [at] gmail.com to enter! Or leave a comment. The drawing will take place on 9/1/07. Good luck!

Look at the time!

I was planning on shooting a quick video for you guys today but before I knew it, there was no more sun.  I snapped a quick photo of the disappearing light for a glimpse of my windowsill.

Gem Melange

Sometimes one just want to make beautiful earrings out of some really amazing gemstones from one’s stash.  Out of that comes:

Gem Melange! 

(Imagine the e has an accent on it.)

Part of the Glint Collection, Gem Melange is a showcase of 5 one of a kind earrings that will be replaced as soon as each of them find a home.  I will occasionally choose to replace one or two if I want to take it to a craft show so snatch up your favs.

Oops!

Due to technical difficulties, there will be no other parts to the ring tute. I couldn’t get the video off my camera! Trust me, I’ve been trying for a while. Sorry everyone!

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Right now, I’m working on a small collection of bib necklaces inspired by succulents; the one I made for Greenjeans’ went over so well and was so fun to design that I came up with a bunch of other designs and am in the process of tweaking them. Still trying to decide if I should offer them only in gold, or the original raw brass, which I personally liked better than the gold plate. The brass will also age nicely.. so I guess I’m leaning towards that. We’ll see, I guess!

You can find some great unusual looking succulent plants here. How sweet are these guys? The last one is called ‘Jelly beans’. Oh, the cute.

Okay, okay. I’ll stop and leave it up to you to browse.

Video #2: How to Make Wire Rings

Here’s the link to the actual video tutorial on youtube. Enjoy!

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Before you make your own wire ring, you’ll need:

• Pliers, round and chain nose
• Wire cutters
• 28 gauge wire
• ring mandrel or dowel
• a cool looking button

Follow video instructions to create a nice little button ring of your very own.

And the ring shown in the tutorial can be purchased here.