bren design

lemon tree love

2010-03-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

It’s really sad that “Shop at awesome new online store” has been on my to-do list for two weeks!

I finally made it over to Lemon Tree Square tonight, and I am super excited about the goodies (and gifts) that are on their way to me. This new site is all eco-friendly gorgeousness, with a focus on sustainable items that are manufactured in the USA, and, bren design jewelry is in the lineup! Visit my Seed Earrings and Necklace (shown above), and Basic Bangle in the jewelry collection.

Other fun finds include shoulder bags from RetroActif made from reclaimed vinyl billboards, bamboo cutting boards from Element, and recycled paper stationary from Greenfield Paper Company.

The offerings I couldn’t refuse include a Bliss soy candle, the bamboo washcloths and soap by Bamboosa, and I really hope that spring is serious about showing up, because I won’t be able to wait to wear the bamboo jersey nightgown!

saturday show

2010-02-08T18:09:00.001-08:00

Thanks to everyone who visited my booth at Cupid’s Gems in Lenexa on Saturday. I had a nice little space with plenty of natural light, and I really enjoyed the beautiful venue. The above photo is from my booth looking into the main barn room, and the image below is my space.

I was quite excited to meet a very talented Midwest metalsmith, Makenna Bartel, who recommended a couple of Kansas City summer shows that are now on my wish list. Visit her etsy site here to see her lovely work.

cupid's gems

2010-01-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be at the Cupid’s Gems show in Lenexa Kansas on February 6th. This is my first year to attend this juried all-jewelry show featuring over 30 regional artists and a variety of media including 18-karat gold, sterling silver, hammered silver, semi-precious stones, antique buttons, pearls, and quilled paper.

After looking at images of the Lenexa Conference Center Thompson Barn, a recently restored space, I’m quite excited to see the building, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed I’ll get a space in the main floor of the barn. It’s beautiful.

I hope to see you there!

Cupid’s Gems
Saturday, February 6
10am - 5pm
Lenexa Conference Center Thompson Barn
11184 Lackman Rd, Lenexa, KS 66219
Free parking and admission
For more information call 913.541.0209

vessels

2010-01-03T15:57:00.000-08:00

I have love for vessels. A whole shelf in my tiny kitchen is stacked with hand thrown bowls, gathered from art fairs and shops. My collection of cups, baskets, and wooden spoons spills out of the kitchen and into every other room of our apartment. It would only follow that this soft concave form would find a place in my metalwork. I’m quite delighted with a new addition to my tools: a dapping set, comprised of a 2” square block covered in half circles, with twenty-four steel punches with ball ends. A flat piece of metal is placed in a cup in the block, and the corresponding punch is hammered into the metal, gradually shaping the piece into a hemisphere.

After playing a bit with scrap metal (shown in the image above), I combined one of the small 3/8” diameter recycled sterling silver cups with a small handmade copper bead and a curling ear wire. The finished piece is around 1.5 inches long and beautiful worn front or back.

happy new year

2010-01-01T18:51:00.001-08:00

We have survived the holidays and winter weather, and enjoyed an easy afternoon (because we slept through the morning) watching the lazy snow outside and contemplating the responsibility of a brand new decade. A habitual list maker, I am duty-bound to create a collection of new year’s resolutions. True to the scale of my weekly lists they show an inflated optimism with my time and abilities. I will not bore you with the particulars, but share this one: I resolve to be more generous in the new year; generous with my time, and money, with my patience (with myself and everyone else), generous with love, with laughter and food, generous with forgiveness and kindness, generous with thanks.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I hope your new year is one of abundant happiness.

thanks

2009-11-30T19:20:00.000-08:00

It has been a difficult month. A month of bruised and broken promises, of closed doors. A month of bills and bad news. A true fall.

The one shining light at the end of this November tunnel was the promise of escape; a vacation, a seasonal celebration, but not in the traditional sense. I ran away with my family to the Current River in south Missouri and spent nearly four days wifi free and far out of cell tower range.

It was bliss.

Thanksgiving day we floated the river in canoes, watching wildlife. The morning air was crisp. We layered our heavy winter clothes and slipped silently through the water, guests at the table of eagles and otters, of trout and a lonely coyote.

That evening in the cabin we circled our holiday feast with thanks.

My offering went something like this: I am thankful for the many challenges this year has presented to me. I am thankful for the opportunity to learn more about myself, to grow and change, and I am thankful for all of the people who love me enough to help me evolve.

And I feel ready, if not prepared, to face the rest of this year, this decade, with a grateful and happy heart.

l.a. in october

2009-10-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend at the L.A. fashion mart for work, viewing spring styles for ’10, and I’ve been scrambling all week to catch up! Amazing what kind of craziness can happen when you slip out of your world for three days.

In between appointments, I did get to spend time with my friend Brook, who is lucky to live in this land of sunshine and flowers. We took a walk down the beach before dinner on Sunday, and I enjoyed the nautical compositions that trace a line between sand and water. I can see them all as bracelets, or pendants, or rings, and I’m home in the cold rain now, dreaming of seaweed in silver…

new

2009-10-11T21:17:00.001-07:00

My new pieces are up on etsy! I'll be posting more this week...

handmade nation

2009-10-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

The Handmade Nation documentary will be out on DVD November 3, 2009. I can’t wait! You can get your own copy here.

applefest

2009-10-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth at Weston’s Applefest this weekend. I am so grateful for all of the support and positive feedback about my work. I’ll be posting new styles from this show on my etsy site this week.

Many, many thanks to my family who let me borrow tables and a tent, helped with last minute display preparation, transportation, set up and takedown and general maintenance of my frazzled little mind. You all kept me sane!

Weston, MO is such a fun little town. We enjoyed a break in the rain, and even some sunshine on Sunday. My booth was close to the stage, and while it was incredibly loud, we enjoyed the entertainment. I have to admit that the bouncy banjo sound is delightfully contagious. My favorite group from the weekend was The Prairie Acre, a bluegrass band from Lawrence Kansas.

I didn’t have time to explore the stores, but did enjoy a lovely cup of tea at Artemis, and a tasty vegetarian squash stew of sorts from the Vineyard Restaurant’s booth.

We spent Saturday night at Saint George Hotel (the building in the front right of the photo), an historic site. The space was clean and comfortable, and after our very long Saturday we enjoyed a drink and live music in the wine bar, complete with ghost stories. Our room is apparently haunted by one of Weston’s ladies who, um, ‘worked’ the hotel. If we were visited in the night, I was too exhausted to notice!

small stones

2009-09-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Three weeks to go before Weston’s Applefest! Little plastic bags filled with finished pieces keep pilling up, and I took time this weekend to play in between soldering and hammering to-dos.

The lovely little beads above were born of scrap silver. I squirrel away filings, destroyed creations, and any extra pieces of metal as I work. These little bits were piled into a well in my charcoal block, and heated until they melted and pooled together.

It was delightful.

…until I had to drill the holes, which demanded deep breathing and zen-like cursing. (Do zen masters curse? I would.) Eventually I was able to line them all up into this row of uneven, textured beads, each like a small stone. I can’t explain how incredibly happy they make me.

Below are two of the beads decorating a simple, curved earwire.

new book

2009-09-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

Need an end of summer read? I have a new addition to my bookshelf, The Zamler’s Last Stand, a first novel by our friend Matt Caldwell. Finishing a book is a seriously cool accomplishment, but most importantly, Zamler’s is a wonderful coming of age tale. The story is complex and human, mixing friendship, baseball, and mystical Judaism against the New York skyline.

ps22 makes me happy

2009-08-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

This makes me seriously happy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0FPZolbYns

NPR interview with Mr. B, ps22's teacher: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112336166

jangle your bangles

2009-08-18T20:11:00.000-07:00

brendesign will have a booth at the Weston, Missouri Applefest October 3rd and 4th! It’s my first arts and crafts festival and I really have no idea what I’ve gotten myself into, and I have a lot to do, and am trying to not get freaked out by the limited number of weekends between here an there.

Every spare minute is spent working producing for the show, but still have a long way to go. The above and below pics are an assortment of bangles that will be included in the group.

I do have most of my booth ideas in motion, and will just need to confirm tables…and figure out what do to about covering them. You see, I’m not exactly a table skirt kind of a girl, and I tend to channel my inner Ms. Hyde when forced to sit at a sewing machine.

I also need to design and order new business cards.
...and figure out tags.
...and bags.

Nope. Definitely not going to freak out.

Missing: One Tomatillo Plant from Garden #4

2009-07-06T11:41:00.001-07:00

Returning to the garden after a long holiday weekend I find half of my little lettuce row cut off at the ground. Someone enjoyed a huge salad. Huge.

Curiously, this does not bother me. I’ve been eating lettuce for weeks now, and planted too much for two to eat anyway, and am ready to move on to my beautiful new green beans. I’ll plant lettuce again in the fall. Also, we’re eating the first tomatoes, an indescribable thrill. Not enough to taint with a recipe, the Early Girls are eaten sliced, with salt, and the Sun Golds are popped into the mouth right off of the vine.

With a bag full of zucchini, beans, basil, and tomatoes I turn the corner of my tiny garden to pull a few beets and notice…something is missing. Strange to detect an absence in such a crowd, but, there is the disturbed earth, and my tomatillo plant that was tall and happy and healthy and blooming last week…is gone. Not cut, or bent or crumpled. Not holey or yellow, or curled from insects. Gone.

It makes my heart hurt…not really because someone pulled it, more that a new experience is taken from me; this was my first tomatillo plant, and I was excited to see the bloom curl into a papery lantern and the green fruit fill the inside. I was excited for salsa verde for two (or one—who knows how much one plant produces).

But I realize that this year I’ll be buying my tomatillos from market, and I start to feel quite despondent about myself and the sorry-ass human who felt a need to destroy.

I am not relying on this garden for food. But I depend on it, desperately, for my sanity. Working all day at a computer in a tiny apartment, it is my chance to be outside, to relax into a rhythm of weed pulling and watering, to get my jeans dirty. I feel welcome in this bouquet of gardeners, bound together from the possibilities of space and time, seed and water and sun. I know their names, and they know mine, and in a new city there is nothing more wonderful than that. I give my time to the garden, weeding once a month and lending a hand with the youth garden…but often what we need to give is not what we offer. I know that being apart of a community (the garden, this city, the world) involves exchange. Some of the give and take is tangible, and some, not.

I’ll offer this tomatillo plant up as a part of this exchange. It wasn’t really mine to begin with, the genetic makeup developed before me and will long outlive me. So, I’ll relish the bounty from the variety I’ve planted, appreciate what I’ve learned from this one lost plant…and plan to put in five extra next year.

more than a month…more circles

2009-06-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been more than a month since I’ve blogged.

Cue: Guilt.

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that summer can be deliciously deviant. Every day has an indolent manifesto: Must Be Outside! Must Garden! Must Play Tennis! Must Take An Hour-Long Lunch In The Sun!

…so it’s not that I’m not busy…just not exactly productive.

The one new piece I have to share has been my favorite thing to wear, an extra long chain of circles. This 32” chain started out as 100” of 16ga recycled sterling silver round wire. I cut, soldered, pickled, sanded, and hammered it into a string of bubbles, which can be worn long, or doubled over, or worn as a belt over a dress. The perfect piece for these long summer days.

And just in case you were wondering, I thought I would share a few things that have been fantastic distractions:

1. The Katy Trail: Pell, Mom and I spent Memorial Day weekend biking 51 miles along the river bluffs, listening to blues, watching hula-hoop dancing gypsy children, and ultimately walking away with sun tans and sore bums.

2. Kids: I was midwife-in-training for the birth of two goats (my parents keep a small herd).

3. Scuba Diving: Under the instruction of a very patient Father/Instructor, Pell and I completed our confined water dives for our PADI scuba certification. Next up: Open Water.

4. Vegetables: I have a garden! The fantastic group at Gifford Park Community Garden has welcomed me into their world, and I’m happily enjoying basil, lettuce, spinach, zucchini, beets, arugula…and more from my 5 x 15' plot.

5. Film: Sita Sings The Blues. My new favorite film. A funny, creative handmade work.

fire+metal=circle

2009-05-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

I can brag about a new toy in town, an addition to my studio collection, a defining tool that separates the metal workers from the metal players: The Torch.

It rests, with its torch tail sweetly curled on one corner of my desk, waiting for the whoosh of the regulator valves and scratch of the striker before bursting into an elegant little 4800̊ degree flame.

I admit I’m still slightly terrified of this thing.

But, I am willing to grit my teeth and face my 5th grade fear of power tools to make a circle. It is magical, this ability to take a piece of wire and connect end to end, so perfect now with the cyclical season change from cold into this blessed sunshine.

This new tool crowds my desk with its friends, a turntable with charcoal blocks on pumice, and a pickle pot. In my effort to maintain a sustainable studio I’m using a mixture of water and citric acid for my pickle rather than the standard sulphuric acid, which is toxic and quite scary to use. The citric acid is food grade, and won’t burn holes in my skin or clothes if I accidentally splash, and it is much easier to dispose of. The only disadvantage is I have to leave the metal in the pickle a little longer to remove any oxidation…long enough to have a cup of tea. Not a bad trade at all.

The above and below photos detail my first hoops. What began as four pieces of recycled sterling silver wire ended as 2” hammered hoops and ear wires finished with a beaded end…another fun metal melting trick.

leaves, la, and love

2009-03-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

A new design for spring…whenever she finally decides to show up. This organic leaf shape was hand cut and pierced from a 22ga recycled sterling silver sheet, then hammered like crazy to end with a crinkled, curved surface. At 1 ¾” long, they make a statement! I enjoyed wearing them out last night for a dinner and movie date.

Last weekend I traveled to LA for my day job. And it rained. I refused to believe weather.com and packed sandals and a skirt anyway. I was freezing. Now I’m home and we’re back to 30 degree weather, and I’m still freezing.

Mr. Brainwash, an LA graffiti artist, left this message outside of the fashion market…

...and my husband left this message in our living room…

I think they are both quite right.

The very big news (that I should’ve shouted about first) is that I have finally updated my etsy site, new policies, and most importantly, new pieces! Check them out here.

steel and stone

2009-03-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

My next door neighbor is a construction site.
From my desk I witness carefully choreographed cranes dance above a ribbon of cars, piecing together eight stories of steel and stone.

These three pieces reflect imposed order, cut from a 22ga recycled sterling silver sheet with slightly irregular rectangular piercings.

window 5/8 x 1/2"

door 1 1/4 x 1/4”

building 1 3/4 x 5/8”

hair

2009-03-01T14:34:00.000-08:00

Change can be addictive.
Just as I started to settle into this new version of normal, boxes unpacked, work schedule in place, insomnia routine established…I felt like there was something missing I had left to do—something that I did not purge myself of before leaving Oregon.

It was my hair.

So, Friday I headed to the salon, whipped out a downloaded photo and declared: “It all must go!” My stylist, after clarifying that I wasn’t joking, separated my hair into three pigtails (to be donated to Locks of Love), picked up her scissors…and cut.

I thought the two women on either side of me were going to run out screaming.

They didn’t. And neither did I.

I arrived home Friday night a new person, free of all of those heavy, bothersome curls.

Saturday I woke up, looked in the mirror, and cried.

Today I think I am coming to terms with my altered reflection. A lot of hair-control-paste-goo helps, and the fact that at least my three pigtails will be put to a good use…and my hair grows quickly anyway…

Ultimately I have learned two important life lessons from this:

1. Never make rash decisions in February in Nebraska. It doesn’t matter if it is 4 degrees outside. The sun will shine again and you will miss your hair.

2. Never, ever, ever, cut your hair to match a character in a movie (mine was Jack’s Girlfriend’s hair in Hotel Chevalier, the prelude to Darjeeling Limited). You cannot look as cute as a movie star. Accept this. Buy shoes instead.

2000 miles to a new home

2009-02-17T18:28:00.000-08:00

We moved from Oregon to the Midwest last month, cardboard, cat and all.

Traveling across the country with a cat is not an experience I would wish on anyone. Our kitty, The Bubbs, is normally quite shy and lazy, preferring to spend his days napping and eating, and napping again. Once placed in his oh-so fancy padded carrier he channeled Mr. Hyde and shredded through the zipper closure to run loose in the cab of the moving truck. We received horrified looks from hotel staff across the country as we carried our “one well-behaved animal weighing less than 60 lbs” in a carrier held together-barely-by duct tape.

It was a long 2000 miles.

We made it, thankfully, through the mountains without any scary weather, and when the Great Plains unfurled at the feet of the Rockies, my heart was so happy. I’m home again.

The above photo was taken in Colorado, looking back to say goodbye to the mountains.

The photo below is a view from the back porch of our tiny Omaha apartment. I’m adjusting to a new city, and it’s time to get back to work…

mosaic memories

2008-12-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Hooray for a holiday weekend! I finally feel caught up with work and moving preparations. After unearthing my desk from piles of cardboard boxes and packing tape, I found myself, sitting, with metal and saw in hand.

These earrings have lived as a sketch since my trip to Italy. It was amazing to witness the abundance of history, buildings built on ruins of other buildings, and beautiful bits of mosaic and tile that peek out from layers of time (certainly a study in the futility of physical attachment). I was especially drawn to a section of tile (see the image below) tucked away in a room of illuminated manuscripts inside the Duomo di Sienna, which is famous for its mosaic floors representing the sibyls and stories from the Old Testament.

Starting with a one inch recycled sterling silver circle, I’ve repeated the crescent shape, with smaller cuts to represent tiles. An extra long ear wire allows the piece to swing one and a half inches away from the ear.

giveaway...flyaway

2008-12-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

Naturals of Ashland is hosting a promotion this weekend, one of my handmade recycled sterling silver Small Lunar Necklaces with every $200 or more purchase! Check out the homepage with banner here.

In other news, it has been a busy few weeks. I've been happily learning new techniques, soldering and casting, and am feeling a little more comfortable with the idea of introducing a flaming piece of equipment into my workbench lineup. However, hunting for my very own torch will have to wait until spring, as Pell and I are relocating from Oregon to the Midwest!

In January.

(Yes. I know. We’re renting a truck and driving across the mountains at the same time of year when, those who can, pack their suitcases and travel south. Our parents are trying hard to be supportive.)

Our days are filled now with sorting through bits of papers and randomness accumulated from four and a half years in one state, searching for jobs, and hunting out a new home to flyaway to…

new

2008-11-02T14:49:00.000-08:00

Something new for this week. A single piece of recycled silver, hand cut, drilled, and sanded. I was thinking sprouts, but they do look like fireworks. I think we're all ready to celebrate the 4th of November (It can't come soon enough for me).

turn

2008-10-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

The economy has turned, pieces of on my own world have turned, and now the weather has followed this head-over-heels tumbling act.

After two hard frosts, it was time to turn the garden under, ending the abundance of summer, and preparing for cool season crops like leeks and lettuce. A couple of weeks ago I took down a massive bunch of bolted arugula from where I had hung it to dry. In the driveway outside my studio I sat and separated seeds from pods. It was warm then. No 10% Dow drops, no news yet about reeling world banks.

This weekend, after composting the last frost-wilted tomato plant, and feeling quite sorry for myself and overwhelmed with the world, I saw bits of green arugula peaking up through the river rock, in hard-packed earth, in between the stones and our feet, and despite all impossibilities.

They wink at me: Your turn.

distractions

2008-10-06T16:49:00.001-07:00

My poor neglected blog...I have had several delightful distractions, and after a couple of weeks with family, and a weekend in Portland, I am now ready to tackle the monstrous piles of to-dos and to-files and to-do-not-forgets that seem to be interbreeding on my workbench. I must, sorrowfully, admit that I have nothing new to share with my metalwork, but I've posted two pictures from my rainy visit to Portland.

The above shot is a detail of Allan Houser's bronze sculpture Desert Harvest at the Portland Art Museum 's sculpture garden, and the image below looks into the Zig Zag Bridge (yatsuhashi) at the Portland Japanese Garden.

pod blog

2008-08-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

These began their lives as tubes of recycled sterling silver and survived cutting, sanding, hammering, drilling, sanding, hammering, oxidizing, hammering, buffing, and general overworking. The result: two pods, minus peas.

twig

2008-08-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I can adequately describe the kind of crazy my day job has snowballed into, so spending time in the studio this weekend was a must. Nothing like a hammer and anvil to make a girl feel like herself. These earrings are a new favorite in an attempt to balance both of my worlds. I cut, etched, and oxidized a curved piece of recycled sterling sliver to look like a twig, or piece of bark. They're light and lovely and will be a talisman against the hordes of post-its tomorrow.

In other news, brendesign is now included in the collections at Circular, an eco-friendly, earth inspired shopping haven in Anchorage Alaska. I'm happy my work has found a home in the 49th state, and I would so love to visit...

still sleepy

2008-08-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

I good day in the studio ended in another addition to the sleep series I started two weeks ago. Half of this 1" recycled sterling silver circle is cut, etched, oxidized, and bound with a 14k recycled gold wire wrap.

sleep

2008-07-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

Last night was a roam the house night, which doesn’t really work, as there are only 5 rooms and the hardwood floor creaks. So, last night became a sketch the dirty dishes on the counter night (I was desperate).

Needless to say, Sleep is the only thing on my mind in the studio today. The result is a set made in honor of my evanescent goddess, a ¾” piece of recycled sterling silver, the front buffed to a shine, and one edge a delightful uneven cut oxidized to a smoky grey. A contrast of our (occasionally) lucid state, and the subconscious beyond…

home again

2008-07-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

Hello, all--I'm finally back and unpacked! Italy was absolutely everything I hoped it would be and more. I would love to go back...soon. I don't have my pictures online yet, but will post them when I get around to sorting and labeling. The above photo is at the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, where we wandered through water gardens and rooms filled with frescoes.

I came home to piles of work and to-dos that should have been finished before I left, but that is just how my world is. One fantastically fun to-do was to harvest my giant heirloom Oregon Applegate garlic and hang them to cure. Aren't they beautiful?

Now it's back to the studio for me!

arrivederci

2008-06-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

Friday I leave for a two week tour of Italy with my mother, a holiday we've dreamed about for years and now, finally, is a reality. I have Italian phrases and travel dos and don'ts swimming around in my head with last minute to-buy lists. So, please excuse the short post, but I have some serious packing to do. Just how many pairs of shoes can one cram into a carry-on?

condiment

2008-05-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

These past two weeks have been action-packed with outdoor activities, and not the fun let’s-go-camping kind, or the let’s-play-in-the-garden kind. We’ve been working on making our yard picture perfect for this temperamental housing market (anyone interested in a quaint Southern Oregon home?). After a day laying edging and reseeding the lawn neither I nor my hubby feel like braving the kitchen and sorry-looking fridge to scavenge for dinner. Out to eat it is! After moderate debating, we decided to give a downtown Chinese place a try. The parking lot is always full, so it couldn’t be too awful, right? We entered to find a clean, busy establishment, even though it was after eight at night and a full menu with our favorites followed by several American dishes on the back pages. We ordered vegetarian egg rolls, veggie chop suey, and hot tea. Our server was quick to bring our drinks, and accompanying the tiny teacups and shiny pot was a bright red plastic bottle. Ketchup.

sketch

2008-05-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce the arrival of a new addition to my tool family, the Flex Shaft! No, this is not the lead character to a ‘71 film (or awful 2000 remake), and yes, this tool is for my work bench and not my panty drawer. A flex shaft attaches to a Dremel drill, with a long, well, shaft, ending at a hand piece that is held like a pencil. With an additional etching bit I can now draw on metal. Which, I don’t mind saying, is pretty freaking cool.

simple shapes

2008-05-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hooray for a productive day in the studio! I’m in love with the shape above. It’s a 1” recycled sterling silver circle hammered, curled, and oxidized, with the outside brushed for contrast. I’m not sure yet what to call it, or if I need to add some gold wire wrap, or just leave it alone. Below is another new earring, a teeny-tiny hammered recycled silver piece wrapped with recycled 14k gold. Not cute, but sweet. There’s a difference.

I’m also excited to announce that I’m up at NIMLI.com now! Check out my pieces here.

a dandy landscape

2008-05-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

There are two divided camps in the rampantly spreading aesthetic of American monoculture lawn gardening; those who care and those who don't. I fall into the latter category, and the above shot accurately represents the variety of species that thrive in our tiny front lawn. It makes my neighbors twitch to look at it.

when i close my eyes i see two colors

2008-04-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

We're painting our little house in between snow flurries/rain/hail. This weekend was all sun and time for trim.

bag lady

2008-04-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Bags seem to be on everyone's brain. My local food co-op will begin charging 10 cents for bags this month. Paper or plastic. How progressive! Yes, except we are a bit behind.

While Taiwan had already banned plastic bags in '01, 2002 should be crowned the year of the bag bans. Bangladesh took the lead, banning all plastic bags, and Ireland followed with a "plastax" of 15 cents for every plastic bag handed out. In '03 South Africa banned plastic bags, and the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh passed a law that could fine or imprison anyone caught using a plastic bag for up to seven years (um, a bit drastic?). By '07 the UK had caught on, with an abundance of bag banning spreading across the country. The use of plastic bags plummeted.

Where is the US, we ask? Following. Slowly. San Francisco was the first city to ban the plastic bag for major retailers in '07 and Seattle mayor Greg Nickels is pushing for a required charge of 20 cents for every disposable bag (paper or plastic) starting Jan. 1 2009. Non-recyclable plastic food containers and utensils would be banned in Seattle by 2010.

Now the plastic people are getting worried, right? Because how can they make millions off of their flimsy petroleum product if we as a world community decide we don't need them. So, they point to paper bags manufacturing process, arguing that paper is less environmentally friendly than plastic. Read a press release from the Progressive Bag Affiliates of the American Chemistry Council (seriously, who would put that organization on their resume?) concerning the debate of an Oakland, CA plastic bag ban here.

We're back to the usual paper vs. plastic debate. I'll have to agree with my co-op and choose neither. I do bring my own canvas bags with me shopping, but am guilty of using copious quantities of those thin clear plastic bags for my bulk items and produce, and this new bag charge has me searching for a way to impose a personal bag ban. I found a few answers in Project Felt's shopping green article on etsy about ways to green one's shopping experience (I love kootsac's amazing bulk bags), and ReusableBags.com provides a range of reusable container options. Instead of paper vs. plastic, now I'm debating organic cotton vs. hemp...

sustainable surprises

2008-04-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Truly, it is the thought that counts, but I must admit that presentation is everything for gifts. While each brendesign piece arrives ready to give in a recycled paper box with hemp knot, I have searched for a sustainable gift wrap option for those extra special occasions, and found a solution in furoshiki, a Japanese fabric wrap technique that was traditionally used to contain clothing during bathing at a public bath house.

I put my fibers background to work, using low-impact dyes to color heavy silk charmeuse, a fabric with a shiny satin front and crepe back that results in a beautiful, reusable wrap for perfect presentation. Look for this gift wrap option on my etsy site soon, or, make one yourself. For a step by step tutorial that details some fantastic folding click here (I’m using the otsuka tsutsumi wrap with the extra flap folded over the knot) and imagine the wrapping possibilities.

Look out Christo and Jeanne-Claude!

indie love

2008-04-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

It was a busy weekend in the Rogue valley with the Ashland Independent Film Festival, and five days of indie film is heaven to me. In exchange for tickets they allow an army of volunteers behind the scenes, which is even more fun than standing in line with a ticket in hand. So please excuse the short blog post this week, because after two days of ushering, set up and strike, today is a designated studio day, which means I must get to work!

slow spring

2008-03-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

Spring brings grand notions of change, new life, possibilities, and the nagging feeling that I Need To Get Busy. So, I close myself in my studio and work like a crazy woman, and that is exactly what I become.

I spent (what seemed like) a whole afternoon searching for a round file, a handy, indispensable tool used for smoothing the interior edges of circles. As my studio is small, messes from multiple projects crowd each other for space, and I searched through reclaimed wool sweaters, old paintings, potting soil, and rocks (yes, I do posses a box of rocks, and yes, I have ranked my mental capacity a shelf above them). Frustrated, (I won’t finish an order!) I abandoned the studio for the couch, a cup of tea, and online shoe shopping.

Lately I’ve been reading (along with everyone else in the US) Michael Pollan’s books on food, and would love to adopt his confidence in the equation Slow equals Positive Change. As the Slow Food movement develops, so does the slow arts and crafts, where real individuals support themselves by hand making all the items our culture loves to buy from the big box stores. I wish to live mindfully, to attempt to practice the slow movement, not just in food, but in the everyday, and especially in my small business. I just need to be a bit more literal in my definition of Slow.

The goal in the studio for today is to not only take or make time, but to forget time.
And find that file.

hand-sewn wings

2008-03-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

[Heart Offering (8"h x 12"w x 9"d) Hand-dyed silk, steel wire]

Hammering metal bits into jewelry is an incredible stress-reliever, but combining metal and fabric with hand stitching, the meditative action of pushing a needle through fabric, is soothing to me, especially if I am not forced to follow a set pattern or shape. I work from a wire armature, adding a machine sewn form stuffed with scrap fabric. Fabric shapes are hand-sewn onto these forms, sanded, cut again, and sometimes hacked apart entirely.

I am inspired by objects that seem to have dropped from a storybook or myth, well-worn from so many adventures. Birds are my current subject of fascination. I think I like their awkwardness best, as they have one motion that transcends them into gracefulness, flying, the coveted and dream-inspiring action that produces envy in all land-locked creatures. However, when faced with alternative elements, such as the ground, they reveal inelegant movements. I relate to those struts and hops of my everyday, and appreciate the visual reminder that we are all able to fly.

Here’s a sneak peek at my current work in progress. I'm using hand-dyed silk, found cotton muslin, and found copper wire.

silver silk crepe

2008-03-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

I’m off to LA for a couple of days, so I’m posting early!
I’ve had a good week in the studio with new work up on etsy (like these crinkled crepe-like recycled sterling silver circles). Want to see more? Check out brendesign at flickr, where all available styles are carefully arranged in complete randomness.

cheese princess

2008-03-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend I joined the ranks of an unusual group of DIYers. I made cheese.

I didn’t have to pour through ancient bovine manuals searching for instructions, either. My cheese kit arrived at my door, courtesy of Ricki the Cheese Queen (yes, that is now she refers to herself) in a bright pink and yellow box, with perky graphics, and enough supplies to make 30 pounds of cheese. Now, really, I ask you, what more could a girl need?!

The 30-minute instructions were simple; mix milk with citric acid, heat, add rennet (which is either cow stomach or vegetable-based. I chose the veg option), and leave it alone. At this point the curd (solid white mush, or, ricotta cheese) separates from the whey (clear water-like stuff), the curd is then drained, re-heated, and kneaded until it stretches its way into cheese.

With fantasies of fresh mozzarella goodness, I was off to the store for one gallon of pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized) organic milk. Milk is treated in several different manners which are incredibly boring to read about, but apparently quite necessary to understand when making certain kinds of cheese. Milk that has been treated at very high temperatures (hence the ultra) will not make mozzarella. Period. That should make milk-intended-for-cheese purchases difficult enough, but dairy companies are not required to accurately detail how the milk has been processed, so even though the first gallon of organic milk I carried home was labeled with the p not u-p word, it was interested in only going half of the way to mozzarella heaven. Ricotta was all it wanted to be, poor thing.

So, I journey back to the store and bring home another dairy company's promise of p not u-p milk, repeat the recipe, and end up with mushy curds again.

Containers of ricotta are crowding the refrigerator, and I slouch on the couch, defeated by cheese, and question our ability to consume 2 pounds of ricotta in the next week. Then I despair at the logic of attempting to consume 2 pounds of ricotta in one week.

My ever-internet resourceful husband is online in an instant, and in a few minutes finds one, just one, local organic dairy that distinguishes between the regular and ultra. Off we go to the one, just one, store 20 minutes away that carries gallon jugs of Organic Valley’s pasteurized whole milk, and back we come, milk in one hand and lasagna noodles (for the ricotta) in the other.

Five hours and three gallons of milk later, I have curd that has separated from the whey, and when reheated, It. Begins. To. Stretch! We ate, very late, my husband’s homemade pizza dough with my very first mozzarella. I know I am worlds away from Ricki’s Cheese Queen status, but perhaps with a few more tries I’ll vie for the Cheese Princess title.

seed, soil, and string

2008-03-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

Absolutely nothing was accomplished in the studio this weekend. Instead, I spent my time during the little peeks of sunshine playing in the soil. It was lovely.

I feel I must apologize to my Midwest friends and family who will read this and hate me as today they are expecting a couple of inches of snow, but, here in southern Oregon it is time for planting lettuce, spinach, onions, and carrots.

Even with a short west coast winter I was sill climbing the walls this year. My 80 year-old gardening neighbor agreed with the claw-mark inducing weather we've had, as he handed advice and a few extra garlic cloves over the fence, and checked on the 'Egyptian walking onions' he gave me last fall. I am always excited about any plant that walks or flings itself into unexpected an unplanned places. I'd much rather weed volunteer dill seedlings than grass, and I believe that our dear Mother N. has quite an excellent sense of vegetative composition. I'm looking forward to watching these onions walk like an Egyptian.

With rows marked and watered, I then brought my dirty fingernails inside, and started my brandywine and roma tomatoes, tomatillos, oregano (I could not find a single organic oregano plant to put in my garden last year. Oregonians don't like oregano!?), and leeks.

Yes, these are toilet paper rolls. Gayla Trail details how to make these perfect seed starter homes in her You Grow Girl blog. I cut my rolls in half, as all of my tomatoes will be replanted into larger containers before they venture beyond my living room window and into the Great Outdoor Garden, the dream every tomato seed.

repeat after me: r, r, r

2008-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

My husband is having an affair with craig and his list.
He faithfully visits The List every morning, coaxing computer keys to reveal the secrets of our neighbors’ garages, searching for the wants and never-knew-we-neededs. I must admit that I have benefited from this reuse relationship, most recently by the find of a metal shelving unit for my studio space (above). Not that I’ll be any more organized, but now I won’t have to dig through boxes searching for tools, and I am quite excited about that.

In the interest of green self-education, I’m reading The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman, and finished an article, The Last Empire, by Jacques Leslie, in Mother Jones. Both works discuss the impact of our consumer machine. Fishman illustrates how it is created and sustained by following the growth of the world’s big box monster, and Leslie digs into the consequences of our unquenchable consumption on China’s environment. Both works provide a case for an educated consumer base, and now have me guiltily questioning and accessing all my recent purchases, from new siding for the house, to my most recent curly hair care product.

While I am envious of the dedication of groups like The Compact, who refrain from new purchases for an entire calendar year, I seem unable to commit to limiting my consumption that drastically, possibly because I work in retail, and most certainly because my little jewelry business is based on the temptation of new (albeit recycled metal) earrings. However, I do believe that all businesses, economies, cultures, and environments would benefit if the overheard and underused Three R mantra could be dug out of our closets, dusted off, and practiced in order: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

So, in my home and for brendesign, I’ll be pushing to reduce my consumption past the recycled metal, to produce limited samples, to use only recycled or reused paper and materials for packaging, and reuse or recycle all metal and paper scraps. I’m also encouraging my husband’s romance with online junk trading, and will therefore have to bravely argue against the acquisition of all the lonely motorcycles, trailers, and mechanical tools of southern Oregon….but, free chickens, now that would be great fun!

spring circles

2008-02-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

Today, spring line sheets are on the to-do, so I'm sharing a sneak peak of a few new pieces I'll have up at etsy and (hopefully) in a few shops in the next couple of months. Circles still dominate my designs. I love circles! Big and round and complete, they are the perfect symbol to attach to our struggling selves as we search for the whole within us.

The Full Moon series (above) is just that, full, round recycled sterling silver circles with a feel-good reflective brushed surface.

A bit of texture is added to the brushed silver in the Sewn series, with a recycled 14k gold wire stitched in an arc across the piece. I'm thinking about adding another element, maybe a gold or oxidized silver disk, so that the gold 'thread' holds the two pieces together...

The Dream series adds dimension to the circle theme, with flat recycled sterling silver circles hand hammered into bowls, oxidized, and edges buffed to a shine, leaving smoky centers.

recycled mountains

2008-02-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

Before any pieces were hammered or photographs taken, a goal was made for brendesign that all materials used would be recycled. Two works greatly influenced this choice (as previously I had tinkered with what the local bead stores had to offer, and the metal origins were not discussed). The first is a fantastic indie documentary, The Devil's Miner, which follows 14 year old Basilio Vargas as he works in the Bolivian silver mines to support is family, and the Tio, or devil, that determines the fate of the miners. The second is In Search of King Solomon's Mines, a book by Tahir Shah, which details his adventure into Ethiopia as he searched for the mines of biblical fame, and the environmental and cultural devastation created by the demand for mass quantities of gold.

Our current cultural trend to consider the origins of our objects of consumption is an exciting and beneficial practice. We have become quite familiar with the exploitation of natural resources that lead to pollution, poverty, and war. Asking questions is the most positive and progressive action we can offer as we attempt to redefine our needs and wants.

the handmade guerrilla

2008-02-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

I do not knit.
I've attempted, but the closest I've come is wire crochet.
Also, I have yet to participate in a guerilla group.
Admittedly, I am envious of anyone who can combine the two.

Last week's Bryant Park Project's Knitting Guerrillas Rock the Yarn, covered Sabrina Gschwandtner's new book KnitKnit about the expanding world of knitters, the groups, materials, and messages. I was most interested in a group called Knitta, who supply their city and various spots on earth with knitted graffiti. Hand knit cozies circle accessible spaces from telephone poles to a brick on the Great Wall of China. Like the guerilla flowerpot gardeners in Tokyo, the Knittas are altering their urban landscape and culture, returning man-made to handmade.

welcome to stories from a small studio

2008-01-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

Stories included in this little blog will follow my obsessive quest of building an eco-conscious small business from nothing more than a pile of recycled metal bits and Mondays off. I'll also post about all things handmade.

Handmade is an important word. I believe in this crazy world where Mass Production dictates our daily bread, cars, wars, loves, that we need space to remember that we can all create something good with our hands and hearts. This may be an earring, or a painting, a poem, a cup of soup, cookies, or a boat, a coat, a book, a garden...

I believe this process empowers us, and people who are empowered make positive choices and changes, simply by participating.