Nicolette’s Design Diary

My mother was a computer programmer when I was growing up. When I was a little girl, Mom would often take me to work with her and I got to see these huge computers that would fill up entire rooms that were freezing cold because the air conditioning had run constantly to keep those massive machines from overheating. It’s funny to think that the MacBook Pro I’m typing on now is more powerful and has more memory than those gigantic computers I grew up with. Along with those computers, there were other interesting things in those computer rooms like big bins of colorful used computer punch cards, and large stack of dot matrix computer sheets, and big containers of data and cable wire which I use to play with when I got bored. I like to think that I got my interest in wirework because of those early days of playing with data wire.

Those days of playing with wire came back to my when I was looking at the work of Courtney Watson from Twisted Handmade. She makes fun and colorful jewelry out of twisted data cable and wire. Really cool stuff. You can check out the rest of her work here at the Maker’s Market and on her personal blog. In addition to jewelry, she also makes baskets out of data wire. Check it out!

(via Craftzine)

Just got word that my Peas in a Pod Book Earrings got picked for a book-themed Etsy Treasury by Kids At Heart Designs! It’s always great to be picked for these treasuries, especially since they can be so hard to get. I especially like this one because I love all things that deals with books. The picks by Kids At Heart includes things like Novel Book Purse, a Steampunk Valentine bookmark, and a Hollow Book Safe with a 6oz stainless steel flask to fill with your favorite liquid. Some really cute stuff!

This treasury is going to expire around noon on Monday, so be sure to go check it out before then here. And be sure to check out Kids At Heart Designs Etsy store too. She has some pretty cute vintage paper goods stuff in her store!

My beloved 60GB iPod died a couple months ago and I hadn’t had a chance to get a new one. But this clever iPod Shuffle cover pendent might encourage me to get a Shuffle to tide me over. Very cool!

(via Daily Art Muse)

I just got in a new set of paper samples this weekend for my small book earrings and my paper bead earrings and been hard at work experimenting with new designs. This time around I ordered a lot of my favorite kind of paper, Japanese washi.

Japanese washi a medium weight paper made with mulberry fibers. There is a variety of different types of washi, but the kind that most people are familiar with, and the kind I use in my jewelry is Chiyogami or Yuzen washi. This type of washi has a variety of colorful and decorative patterns silk screened on the plain mulberry paper base.  One thing about making jewelry with paper is that you have to pick patterns that will look good on a small scale, otherwise you’ll just get large blocks of color instead a mixture of colors and patterns. Chiyogamil washi is perfect for this purpose.

I got a lot of washi where the dominant color is green to make more green book patterns for my “Wearing o’ the Green promotion on my Etsy shop. So look for

Some of the other papers I’m testing for new jewelry include Pasticcio prints, which are silkscreened cotton rag paper from India.

I’m also intrigued by this new type of paper made of recycled cotton viscose called Stardurst Chiffon. Basically it has a semi-translucent texture that feels similar to fabric.

It has a nice glittery background and is printed with delicate patterns of flowers and vines. What I like about this paper is that fact that it has glitter in the background without it becoming too overpowering like so many other papers that use glitter in the base of the paper. So I’m very interested to see how this paper turns out in my test designs. So keep an eye out!

I just got a note from Etsy user leentastic letting me know that she included my book jewelry in her new book-themed Etsy Treasury. If you’re not familiar with what an Etsy Treasury is, it’s an Etsy feature that allows members to curate themed lists of items. With the millions of items that get listed on Etsy, it’s always an honor to be included.

You can check out leentastic’s book-themed Treasury here. Be sure to do so before Sunday as the Treasury expires on November 8th. And if you’re an Etsy user, be sure to comment and check out the work of the other artists in the Treasury!

It’s Halloween Madness at the Etsy store starting today October 22 until Halloween! This means Free Shipping on all of the items in my Etsy Store until October 31st. Also, look for a special Halloween Madness Deal of the Day where you can get a special deal on any items in the shop that has an orange border around it. The items change daily, so check on my Etsy store daily, or check here on the blog to see what the Halloween Madness Deal of the day is. Get some holiday shopping done early!

Here’s Today’s Deal

Multicolored ovals of yellow, pink, and green on white makes for a fun set of book earrings. Covered with acid-free paper designed by Peek Stationers, these earrings also have inner pages of Brockway text paper and are bound with Italian book cloth. Ear wires are 14kt gold fill french hooks.

Normal Price: $17.75
Today’s Halloween Madness Price is $14.75 + free shipping!

Each pair of earrings come on an earring card that doubles as a mini-book. Open the pages and read about “The History of the Book”! Click here to check them out!

Plus, check out the new items on the store as well

It’s Halloween Madness at the Etsy store starting today October 22 until Halloween! This means Free Shipping on all of the items in my Etsy Store until October 31st. Also, look for a special Halloween Madness Deal of the Day where you can get a special deal on any items in the shop that has an orange border around it. The items change daily, so check on my Etsy store daily, or check here on the blog to see what the Halloween Madness Deal of the day is. Get some holiday shopping done early!

Here’s Today’s Deal

The bold black Chinese characters on a pale cream background makes for a memorable pair of book earrings. Handmade with Japanese kozo paper, with inner pages of Brockway text paper, and bound with Italian bookcloth. Ear wires are made of 14kt gold fill french hook earwires.

Normal Price: $17.00
Today’s Halloween Madness Price is $14.00 + free shipping!

Each pair of earrings come on an earring card that doubles as a mini-book. Open the pages and read about “The History of the Book”! Click here to check them out!

Plus, check out the new items on the store as well

While I’ve been plugging away on some new jewelry (and some TV series), I’ve also been updated the Etsy store as well. Some are one of a kind so if you like what you see, visit the store now and get them before they disappear. Click directly on the photos to see them or you can visit the shop directly to see the whole selection!

If you want up to the minute updates on when new stuff goes up on my Etsy shop, follow me on Twitter!

I just added three new pairs of small book earrings to my Etsy store yesterday. These are actually one-of-a kind designs so once they’re gone…they’re gone! Click on the photos below to check them out or go directly to my small book company etsy store to see the entire selection.

If you want up to the minute updates on when new stuff goes up on my Etsy shop, follow me on Twitter!