Hello! If you're new to the blog, please take some time to sign up for my monthly newsletter, The Monthly Bling! Get tips on jewelry care, jewelry trends, and get a chance to win a free piece of bling in my monthly jewelry giveaway!
I love jewelry that combines two mediums. That’s why when I read about this jewelry by Australian artists Maja Rose and Tess Lloyd of Polli on the design*sponge blog…I had to run over to their website and read more about them. This line of jewelry, the “Woven” line is made of etched stainless steel and hand stitched cotton thread.
The combination of fiber and metalwork is enough to get me interested, but what’s even better is the story behind this line of jewelry. According to the design*sponge blog post, this line was inspired by Maja Rose’s family. In the 1930’s, Maja’s uncle became so inspired by persian carpets when he was working in the middle east that he decided to try to recreate one himself. This project ended up spanning over four generations with Maja herself putting in the final stitches to complete that carpet. The “Woven” line is her homage to that persian carpet project started by her uncle so long ago.
I was just reading my monthly e-newsletter from the Museum of Contemporary Craft last night and found this great link to a video interview from artist Mandy Greer. Mandy braids and sews yarn, beads, fabric and a variety of material to make these interesting room-sized sculptural installations. I love it when craft and art collide!
Just a quick note to let you know that I’ll be leading one of the Special Event Event Seminars at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore next week on Wednesday, February 25.
The ACC holds a series of “Tabletop Breakfasts” during the wholesale section of the show where artists, gallery owners, and retailers can Q&A about a variety of topics. They were kind enough to ask me to lead the topic on Web Marketing and Blogging for Artists. I’m a bit nervous but excited too!
If you’re going to be exhibiting or attending ACC Baltimore next Wednesday and you’re going to attend one of these “mini seminars”, be sure to stop by my table and say hi!
If you were watching “Ugly Betty” last night, you saw that i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g metal and glass dress with wings by that kooky designer Heinrich. By coincedence I ran across this cool choker that would go right along with it. The choker made by EJP Creations is called “There is Time Enough” and is made out of metal clock hands.
I heard a bit of sad news yesterday. It turns out that one of my favorite galleries in this area, Vincent Hester Gallery in Portsmouth, Virginia has closed as of the end of January. I wish the owner, Barbara Hester well, it was really great working with her for all these years.
I imagine with the economy this won’t be the last gallery closing I’ll hear about. Times are tough for everybody. If you’re an artist, it’s likely that times have already been tough for quite a while. I remember when I was doing shows back in 2005 and 2006 that there were already a lot of artists that were saying that sales were off and things were slowing down considerably. It seems as though artists along with other a lot of other similar professions are the canaries in the coal mine. When bad financial times are headed our way, we appear to be among the first to get hit and among the last to recover.
I watched President Obama’s press conference last night on the stimulus, and while I think that he’s doing all he can, there’s still going to be a tough road ahead for quite a long time. Is it the right thing? Is it too big? Is it too small? Is the money going to the right things? Is it going to work? Everyone seems to have an opinion, but in truth no one is really going to know until we go through it. And we’re going to go through something whether we want to or not.
He says that things will probably be bad until next year. Frankly, I wouldn’t be too surprised if it lasted longer than that. Will the economy implode? I doubt it. If anything I guess the economy will probably be like Japan in the 1990’s, what was referred to as “The Lost Decade” where stocks and real estate basically collapsed and stay flat for over a decade after several years of real estate and stocks being greatly inflated. Sounds suspiciously familiar to me.
I am not trying to be doom and gloom here. I wrote about how artists can survive a downturn on my Crafted Web blog several months ago and gave some tips on how we can get through this. While the prospects seem bleak and is probably bleak for a lot of artists, I also do believe that we’ll get through it especially if you’re willing do what it takes. It means changing your product line or your marketing. It means finding a new market for your work or finding new ways to make money or finding additional ways to supplement your income. It means being more frugal and smart with the money you have. It may mean making the tough decision to downsize or close altogether like Barbara Hester did. But it also means telling yourself that this isn’t the end of the world and if one door closes perhaps another one is opening somewhere else. And it means sticking together and helping each other out when we can.
As I announced earlier, this week, I’ve done a complete overhaul of this blog and my jewelry website and changed my company name from Mixed Media Designs to Nicolette Tallmadge Designs. Well, to celebrate this change, I’ve decided to hold a big fat jewelry giveaway. From now until January 18th, you can enter to win one of the following:
One lucky winner will get a Narrow Links Ojos necklace, earring, and bracelet set packaged with a handmade wooden box by ViVá. (a $400 value)
Three lucky winners will get a pair of Paper Bead Earrings packaged in velvet tarnish resistant bag ($40 value)
Three more lucky winners will get a pair of Ojos Earrings packaged in a velvet tarnish resistant ($40 value)
And two lucky winners will get a complete Jewelry Care kit containing 1 Sunshine Polishing Cloth, 1 7-oz container of Sunray Jewelry Cleaner, 1 bottle of 3M Tarni-Shield Silver Polish, 3M Anti-Tarnish Strips ($45 value)
Altogether, this represents over $700 worth of prizes I’m giving away!
You can enter the contest by doing one or all of the following
Join my free newsletter, The Monthly Bling!- Get monthly tips on jewelry care and jewelry trends. Plus, as a subscriber, not only are you entered into this giveaway, but you’ll automatically will be entered into my monthly jewelry giveaway! To subscribe, fill out the form below:
Become a fan of the Nicolette Tallmadge Designs Facebook page- If you’re on Facebook, become a fan of the Nicolette Tallmadge Designs Facebook page! Keep up with what’s going on and meet and interact with other fans! Visit my Facebook page here
Follow Nicolette Tallmadge Designs on Twitter- If you are a Twitter user, follow me and get updates on what’s going on my website and get info on new designs! To follow me, visit my profile page at http://twitter.com/NTDesigns
Purchase something in my online store- There’s all sorts of goodies in the online store…and current customers automatically get entered into the contest.
Increase your chances of winning!
The more ways you enter, the more chances you have to win! If you join the newsletter and follow me on Twitter, then your name is entered in twice! So be sure to enter the contest in as many ways as possible!
The contest ends at midnight on January 18th. I’ll be announcing winners on January 20th. Don’t miss out! Enter Now!
14kt gold fill chain beaded with Swarovski crystal
I’ll be teaching a class on how to make this beaded chain bracelet at the Saint Patrick’s Catholic School, in Norfolk, Virginia on February 12th.
Every year St. Patrick’s Catholic School holds “Evenings at Saint Patrick” where local experts from the community hold evening classes over a six week period. The proceeds from the classes goes to fund the scholarship and financial aid program for school. I’ve been teaching this class for going on three years now and it’s always been fun!
If you are from the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, and you’re interested in my class or any of the other 140+ classes in the course catalog, visit the Saint Patrick’s website and register. Classes are away from $30 to $60 and space is limited, so be sure to register soon at: http://www.stpcs.org/evenings/index.html
I love seeing how other artists are making jewelry with paper. Renee from My Ugly Kitty has made these cute little pendents out of security envelopes…you know those envelopes that have the pattern in the inside that prevents people from seeing the letter inside. Very cool and who would have thunk? You can check them out for yourself on her blog.
This has been a long time coming, but I’ve finally updated both my blog and my jewelry website after weeks of frantic and sometimes hair pulling work. You can visit my newly updated website at http://www.nicolettetallmadgedesigns.com.
I’ve also got a few more announcements coming. Some of it involves winning free jewelry…so be sure to stay tuned!
Get monthly tips on everything that has to do with Bling! Get tips on jewelry care, jewelry trends, and get a chance to win a free piece of bling in my monthly jewelry giveaway! Click for more info
I love jewelry that combines two mediums. That’s why when I read about this jewelry by Australian artists Maja Rose and Tess Lloyd of Polli on the design*sponge blog…I had to run over to their website and read more about them. This line of jewelry, the “Woven” line is made of etched stainless steel and hand stitched cotton thread.
