The Artist of Unicorngems & MyGemstoneBox

My friend, Diane Giesel, and I share the same passion of jewelry making. She is a self-taught artist, learning from books and magazines to explore different techniques and media. Her work reflects her love for adventure and knowledge, making each piece unique and special.

Here are a few of my favorites but you can find more spectacular jewelry in her Etsy store or on her website. Besides gemmy pieces, Diane makes rosary beads for both men and women in an array of colors. When it comes to the making of jewelry, she does not overlook any details. Let’s have Diane tell us a bit about herself:

“I have dabbled in art all my life. As a youngster I would draw Precious Moments figures, horses and of course, unicorns! My Etsy shop name, Unicorngem1994, is a combination of those items I love to collect and have around me - unicorns and yummy gemstones of all colors. The date is the year I was blessed with my son (unicorngem1994).

As I got older I began painting and crafting especially during the holidays...I loved making things as gifts for Christmas. I share this hobby with my Mom - she lives next door and is quite crafty too!I believe this hobby balances me as I have a very analytical day job as a quality engineer for a flexible packaging facility in Providence, RI. I enjoy my evenings with family and my art.

I am the Social Marketing Director for eSMArts Team. The Etsy Social Marketing Arts Guild (eSMArts Guild) is a global collaborative of mixed media artisans intent on further understanding and applying eCommerce advertising and promotion techniques.”

Through the Etsy street team eSMArts, I get to know Diane to be an incredibly warm and helpful person. She is always eager to help, especially in the area of Social Networking on the internet. She is also the editor for the Jewelry Collecting channel at BellaOnline - The Voice of Women.

Diane is a life-long resident of Rhode Island. She is currently living in Smithfield with her husband, Freddy, and their 15 year old son, Rich. To find out more about Diane, her passions and her jewelry, please visit her blog and say Hello!

But Never Doubt I love

I finally settled on a Shakespeare quote for this sterling bangle that I made last week. It is from "Hamlet".

Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.

Shakespeare is such a great writer, and I'm learning to appreciate his work only after my high school required readings.

Extra time was spent in truing up all the surfaces so it can have clean crisp lines. The corners are rounded off slightly for comfort. I've signed and dated the year on the inside. All surfaces have a high polish. Actually, the high reflectivity made it quite a challenge to photograph.

I hope a Shakepeare fan will buy this bracelet from my etsy store.
3/31/09 Update - This bracelet is on it's way to a happy home. Yay! Upon request, I can make another one with the same or an entirely different quote. Check out my store listing for more detail.

5/21/09: Here's a customer's feedback - "I'm extremely happy with my purchase. As I write this, I'm deployed in Iraq, and the gift I bought my wife through Studio618 brought tears to her eyes. If that's not good work, I don't know what is. Doing business with you was a pleasure, and I'll make sure to visit your store again. Thanks for bringing a smile to my wife's face."

3/15/10: I feel very fortunate that Etsy is featuring this sterling bangle in the following Storque article - http://www.etsy.com//storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-such-stuff-as-dream... Many thanks, Etsy!

What Smith Are You?

A blacksmith works with iron and steel. The ancient traditional tool of the blacksmith is a forge or smithy, which is a furnace designed to allow compressed air (through a bellows) to superheat the inside, allowing for efficient melting, soldering and annealing of metals. Today, this tool is still widely used by blacksmiths as it was traditionally.

A bladesmith forges knives, swords, and other blades.

A coppersmith, or brownsmith, works with copper.

A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals, usually in modern times to make jewelry. Historically goldsmiths have also made flatware, platters, goblets, decorative and serviceable utensils, and ceremonial or religious items, but the rising prices of precious metals have curtailed the making of such items to a large degree. A goldsmith should be skilled in delicate manual work, have creative imagination and artistic flair, be good at drawing and designing, and be interested in metals and minerals.

The term, metalsmith, often refers to artisans and craftpersons who practice their craft in many different metals, including gold, copper and silver.

A pewtersmith works with pewter.

Traditionally a silversmith, or brightsmith, mostly made "silverware" (cutlery, table flatware, bowls, candlesticks and such). Only in more recent times has silversmithing become mainly work in jewellery, as much less solid silver tableware is now handmade. Unlike blacksmiths, silversmiths do not shape the metal while it is red-hot but instead, work it at room temperature with gentle and carefully placed hammerblows.

A tinsmith, tinner, or tinker works with light metal (such as tinware) and can refer to someone who deals in tinware.

A whitesmith works with white metal (tin) and can refer to someone who polishes or finishes the metal rather than forging it.

Clematis Ring

Took advantage of the warm weather the last 2 days, I got myself out of the slump from being on the road doing holiday shows. With some sterling materials lying around, I made some bangle bracelets and matching rings. Oxidized to show the intricate flower pattern, but mirror polished to slide on you like silk. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Surprise Visit

Once in a while, I like a surprise.

This past Thanksgiving, I went up to Lake Tahoe for the long weekend. Since I am not a skier and the fact that there was no snow on the ground, I mapped out my route for Reno on Saturday. My destination was the Magic of Santa Art & Craft Faire in the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center. Like years past, my eSMArts buddy Tina Cowan of M5 Creative Corners was there with her handmade quilts. I had been admiring her work on cyberspace only. Since Reno is relatively close to Lake Tahoe, I took the opportunity to pay her a surprise visit.

After years of experience at this show, Tina staked out her “permanent” booth spot conveniently located near the load-in door and adjacent to the restrooms, which is always a high traffic area. She’s smart, huh! I believed it took her several seconds to realize who I was. She welcomed me into her booth and we chatted for the rest of the afternoon.

ESMArts Guild is an Etsy team that I joined in September (see my blog post dated September 29). Since our team members spread on 3 continents, we had only emailed and chatted online. No wonder it never occurred to Tina that another team member would stop by to say hello, in real person. Besides, I was able to meet her wonderfully thoughtful daughter, Alyssa, who brought us lunch.

One look at her online store, you’ll realize too that her quilts are not the typical quilts you find in your grandma’s house. Her quilts are like mosaic art composing a theme or an image. The entire afternoon hanging out at Tina’s booth, I fell in love with this beautiful blue and black quilt with a safari silhouette theme. I asked her if she can make a similar but bigger one for me. This gorgeous piece on the right is now proudly hanging in my bedroom. With the close-up pictures, you can see the impeccable details of her craftsmanship. Isn’t this a masterpiece?

Creations by JAE

Jaime of Creations by JAE started stringing seed beads on fishing line at age 10. She started making anklets and daisy chains part time for the past 16 years. About 4 years ago, she saw a Swarovski bracelet made by a co-worker. This bracelet inspired her to return to jewelry crafts. Her love of beads (gemstones, glass, and crystals) is apparent in her work. One of her goals is to learn to work with silver and to weave pieces with beads.

Jaime has been featured on Rena Klingenbert’s “Home Jewelry Business Success Tips”, like several of the eSMArts Guild team members. More info can be found about her at her Etsy shop Profile. Besides being the Marketing Director for eSMArts, she can also be found at numerous online sites: Beaders Showcase, Jewelrygeeks, my Handmade Registry, mySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Twitter