further along

The last batch of bronze has been fired.  We had an intense skype call this afternoon - everyone a bit cross-eyed - nailing down details, configurations, lengths, "when are you getting there?", "how long are you staying?", "will be great that you can help out backstage" ... Hay Sus ... still feels utterly surreal.

Now I've got to solder on various elements and then work on the faux finishing ... it's all got to be in
Brooklyn a week from today ... oh my!

My unprecedented Etsy sale continues.  Closing in on having the plane ticket covered ... now there's the hotel and food and all those little travel details.  There's a lot of seriously yummy pieces waiting for their new home, so head on over to my Etsy shop and plug in the coupon code "PORTLAND" to snag yourself a 50% discount on your purchase!

with deep gratitude and light filled blessings ......
l i g a - kvk

sale extended ...

... for at least a couple of weeks. What the heck, I mean really ... how often does an opportunity like this come along.  So I've updated the coupon code to "PORTLAND" to get 50% off anything in my Etsy shop.

The work is coming along ... the first batch of components are in the kiln and it will take several firings to get them all done - probably at least 4 or 5 firings.  We've decided on bronze and I'm going to use gilders paste to create a faux silver finish.  I thought about using Accent Silver, but just didn't want to deal with so many firings. I've just started experimenting with this crazy gilders paste stuff and there's a bit of a learning curve ... so I'd love it if anyone's got any pointers they'd like to share.  I like the look of it so far and just ordered a few more colors to use under the silver to give it more depth.

I'll keep everyone posted as the process continues.  Of course, no big reveal until after the runway show on October 12th!

Thanks to everyone who's already made a purchase ... I am deeply deeply grateful ... as is my c/cd balance!

love and light filled blessings ...
l i g a - kvk

HUGE News !!!!!

So I've been dying to share this ... wanted to make sure it was a definite thing before I did.  I just booked my ticket to the Pacific NW.  I'm flying into Seattle and hooking up with my BFF Teresa (former owner of Artisans On Taylor in PT).  Then we're heading down to Portland where I'll be joining Fabio Costa and his design partner Rebecca Diele for the premier of their Spring/Summer 2014 collection at FashioNXT ... you see we're collaborating! 

I'm designing and making some very special jewelry for their new collection and Fabio's invited me to join them backstage for the show!  You might remember that I've been a huge Fabio fan since he was the runner up on Season 10 of Project Runway (this time last year).  We got to be FB friends and had a couple of nice email exchanges about mutual admiration of each others' work.  Then I made a couple of rings for him back in January which you can see in this sweet little Lord & Taylor video.

So, if you feel any inclination towards buying some of my work over on Etsy, now's the time to do it and don't forget to use the coupon code at checkout, "COMMUNITYDEAL" ...  got to pay for my travel expenses to my first ever runway show.  I'll be hanging with PR designers and lord knows who else.

 ... also need to remember to breathe!

with so much gratitude ...

l i g a - kvk

p.s.  thank you so much to everyone who's already made a purchase ... I am deeply grateful.

 

just a reminder ...

l i g a - kvk

I'm on a mission ...

... to transform my business.  You might remember, early August I completely dismantled my sample collection and started over.  Last weekend, after five weeks of intense focus, I finished my wholesale catalog, an enormous amount of work, but it was truly a labor of love.  I sent out email links to existing accounts and followed up with mailing hard copies of the catalog on Monday.  Here's the cover. 

I've started in on the website redesign and am loving the look of it.  I was hoping to build the new site on a new platform and have ecommerce straight away, but I've got too much going on to learn a new program and my old software will just have to do ... at least for another month or so. 

As if designing a new website and relaunching my wholesale business is not enough, I'm also in the middle of collaborating on a very special collection of jewelry.  I'm about to bust with excitement and dying to share, but I'm not quite ready to divulge the details ... let me just say this is a major opportunity and an enormously cool project.

And my life's getting even more interesting ... A couple of days ago, I had this very compelling dream.  I'm riding along in a car with someone I perceive to be a friend although she doesn't look anything like the person.  I'm in the passenger seat.  We're barreling along a two lane road and coming up fast on a fork in the road.  Considering our speed, I'm fully prepared for us to take the main road curving to the right, not quite as prepared to take the left fork which is a dirt/gravel mountain road.  I am wholly unprepared for what we actually do ... keep going straight over a grassy embankment and down a precipitous slope.  I see where we're going and am thinking, "OMG, we're going to die."  Only we fly over the embankment and continue barreling along down the steep grassy incline and I'm thinking, "Well, this isn't as bad as I thought it would be" ... and then I wake up.  Gotta say, this one's pretty obvious, dontcha think?

It's been a crazy week and that dream has really stuck with me.  So in the spirit of taking the unexpected way and the road NOT traveled, I've decided to do some studio cleaning.  I'm going to be listing a bunch of new pieces on Etsy ... I've got discontinued samples as well as pieces that I've made along the way and have never tried to sell.  I'm going to have a sale starting today.  Etsy peeps will get, for the first time ever, 40% off everything.  And here's the big payoff for my blog and Facebook followers ... you, my beloved community, can enter the coupon code COMMUNITYDEAL for an unprecedented 50% off and the sale will run through September 22nd. 

I mean business here.  Looks like it will be tomorrow, but I'll be listing at least 4 new necklaces and 2 dozen pairs of earrings ... most of which have never been seen.  I love all the work I make and am not really a fan of sales, but it's just time to move on.

So the COMMUNITYDEAL coupon is active and you can go ahead and use it ... just be aware that over the weekend, I'll be listing a bunch more work.

onward!
l i g a - kvk

and the winner is ...

... via Facebook - Stacie Florer! 

Thanks everyone for the excellent feedback ... I certainly have a lot to think about.  I spend so much time immersed in my own work and world.  Your comments have really helped give me a fresh perspective - seeing through the eyes of another is a beautiful thing.

No telling where all this will lead, but it feels like just starting the conversation is an important step.  I'll keep you posted.

with deep gratitude ...
l i g a - kvk

gone fishing ...

... for feedback + a givaway!
In addition to working on revitalizing my wholesale collection, in the last week or so I've been getting little nudges to get back into teaching.  Thing is - it's been a loooooooooong time since I taught anybody anything - a couple of private instruction gigs here and there, but that's it.  I used to have fun with the mixed media/Artfest approach, but I'm totally out of touch with that genre.  I've done the whole beginning PMC thing and don't really want to go back there + there's lots of peeps out there doing a fine job of teaching metal clay, not to mention they actually keep up with what's going on in that world. 

Bottom line, I'm seriously out of touch with this big wide world of teaching and I don't have a clue where to start.  I do what I do and live in a very insulated community.  What I do know is there's been serious changes to all the teaching models and venues that I knew way back when I stopped teaching in '06. 

So here's my question for you.  If I were to get back into teaching, what would you like to learn from me?  Techniques, methods, project or process oriented, online, teaching retreats, private parties ... this inquiring mind is really curious!

And hey, I should do a drawing to encourage feedback - one of the new pieces for my wholesale collection - a pebble wrap bracelet.  It's 21" on hand-plied cocoa nylon, so it can be worn 24/7 as a necklace or bracelet - a $98 piece of swag.

... I'll give this a few days and draw a name on Sunday, the 18th.  It would be lovely if anyone feels compelled to shop this idea around to your own circle of peeps.
Can't wait to hear what y'all have to say!
Thanks in advance.

liga - kvk

fresh start

I finally decided to do it.

Dive in, take it all apart and start over.  

What you see here is my entire wholesale sample collection.  Well almost all.  Since I've had my samples back I've used a few pieces here and there to fill orders ... but for the most part this mondo pile of jewels represents a major part of my life since 2005. 

Once I took everything off the sample boards and piled it up to take a snap, I proceeded to dismantle the whole shamoozie ...

And in case you hadn't noticed, that's a butt load of silver.  Next I ran everything through the tumbler to brighten it up and give it some fresh juju.

Then it was on to sorting tumbling media from silver.  Et voila ...

Like I said, a mega pile of silver.  

Then it was sorting it into my little plastic bins and getting ready to dive into putting together a new, updated, fresh interpretation of my wholesale collection.

I'm pretty excited about starting over and I'm still very much in the middle of the whole process, but progress is being made.  

It's been a long long time since I was at all motivated to work on this side of my business.

Along with the production side of things, I've made a bunch of new, one-off pieces.  I had thought I would get them listed on Etsy today, but got completely bogged down with another project. 

Ah well - here's a sneak peek at what's to come .............

Two pieces using the 'shard' components from the samples - 

this one with a lovely trio of peridot colored sea glass

and this one with shards of crystal quartz ...

Then here's a couple of pieces using the petal components.  

The first one with a major stack of tiny Chinese turquoise slices and wonderfully flat slate river pebbles ...

and this one with a stack of white sea glass and the slate river pebbles ...

And of course, I'm still obsessed with my ocean color palette ... hugely obsessed with those colors and these tiny gravelly pieces of silver.  I would love an unlimited supply of metal clay to just make these all day.  

Then I decided to bump things up a notch ... well, kind of a big notch.  This one has 27 tiny silver beads inspired by the shells and coral I used to find on the beach in Port Townsend.  

Worked in with the silver, a yummy stack of sea glass, Roman glass and my own, hand-formed lapis nuggets along with some cobalt trade beads ...

and the Pièce de résistance
this one is so over the top amazing, it makes me giddy ... she's 48" long and has virtually a whole gem show's worth of treasures ...

So I'm hoping I'll get pieces listed this weekend ... we'll see.  That and the continuing re-creation of my wholesale collection.  Looks like I'm gonna be a busy girl.

Have a lovely weekend!

l i g a - kvk

finally ...

... back to working on what I'm hoping will be a revitalized wholesale collection.  It's been forever since I've had any such inclination.  Might help that it's a lovely sunny day, 73 degrees, nice breeze, ambient music to balance out the chain saws and house construction next door.  While a fresh cup of tea was steeping I gathered a few flowers for my worktable to place in this sweet little vase ... a precious gift from my beloved Port Townsend friend and mentor, Laura Popenoe. 

I'm enormously grateful for this quiet and productive morning as I contemplate what lies ahead later today ... we're heading over to our old stomping grounds, Bryson City for a birthday party and NOC reunion.  We were employed there and a part of that community for over 10 years and it's quite a mixed bag for me.  Not always the happiest of times or the best memories and I'm hoping to put a few demons to rest.  Wish me luck ...

l i g a - kvk

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Sale!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!

Hey!  Today's our anniversary, Dave and little ol' me, 33 years ago today.  So it's time for my annual Etsy Anniversary sale.  If you feel like a little shopping, head over and plug in the coupon code "HAPPYANNIVERSARY" to get 25% off everything through Monday the 22nd ... KVK Etsy site.

Golly we were cute ...

Happy Day, Happy Shopping!
with deep gratitude and light filled blessings ...
l i g a - kvk