Anthology

layers upon layers

The last couple nights that I've been waiting at the bus stop to go home, I've seen so many women walking by with multi-layers of necklaces.  Always-in-style-Chrissy out in L.A. put in a request for one of the terrace charm necklaces on a long chain and mentioned the layered look again.  In preparation for the next window, I put together this grouping - four different necklaces, with a mix of Vintaj brass and Jill Schwartz charms.  It's a fun way to switch things up a bit and use something old and pair it with something new.

story necklace; language and memory

 

Almost finished.... I know, you are wondering if it is heavy enough? and if maybe I've gone too far?  It probably wouldn't be a true Laura necklace if you weren't asking those questions.  I have zillions of charms collected over the years and I spent an enjoyable night pulling all the possible pieces to put into this necklace.  Probably four times more than can fit. 

(That's my mom's watch that she got when she graduated from high school, next to an earring I wore often in college but lost the mate to, and a round locket I got on Etsy, with Susan Lenart Kazmer charms on each side).

It's tempting to work on a series.  I love the idea of scrounging other people's bead and jewelry boxes to make a personalized necklace.  I hope you won't find this blasphemous if I say that it feels a little bit like prayer beads, running my fingers over all.  Sitting on the bus with the adorable girl this morning, we went through the various charms.  "What this is?" "Does this open?"  Susan Lenart Kazmer calls hers talisman necklaces, but it feels like a story necklace to me.

(especially for Facebook friends who were wondering about my mention of a diaper pin - here it is.  This was a gift when I was born, a pair of monogrammed silver diaper pins - from people who had way more money than my parents had at the time, which is to say that I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, though that would be another thing that could get incorporated into a necklace such as this).

It makes me think about what language we use to speak of other people, words, of course, but also physical objects and photographs.  I feel like a lot of people and times and places have gone into this necklace. There's Cinderella and Thumbelina, the Owl and the Pussycat, the cow jumping over the moon, Valley Ridge Art Studio (and the influence of Nina Bagley, Susan Lenart Kazmer, Kathy Malkasian, Michael DeMeng), the girls of Vintaj brass, the adorable girl,  Jill Schwartz, Kim Geiser, Susie Carlson, the Jens, Mom....  Is name-dropping so annoying?  Sorry, it annoys me too but I do feel it is  important to give credit to my muses.  There is Travel, Whimsy, Play, Memory, Loss, Family.  There is Luck.  Charm.  No wonder it's so heavy.  Truth be told, it's not totally comfortable.  I'm going to have to find a way to display it so that I can enjoy it without wearing it - though it did make for an enjoyable bus ride this morning.  Lily has already decided upon her favorite piece.  She calls it a button and pointedly seeks it out.  I wonder what she imagines is happening when she pushes it.

 

(this key is from an old lock of mine.  I couldn't fit the car key in, it was just a little too long.  The black oval is an unmatched earring from Mom's jewelry box - I remember handling it as a child.  The woman on the moon is from Vintaj).

I still want to do some resin work - maybe adding some snippets of text to the keys and other trinkets.  Oh, and there's a couple lockets and a box so I need to put something in those. And maybe tying on a few hand-dyed ribbons...  I can't stop...!!!!

(yet another key from a padlock, that blue and silver is another lost earring, and there's the edge of a round enamel piece that I've been eyeing from the Duluth artist we carry at Anthology.  The brown button is from Mom's button box, maybe an old coat?  I just remember handling it as I sorted through her buttons in those rare 15 minutes of peace that she could get from me.  The seahorse is also from Vintaj, another charm we carry at the store).

never enough nests, apparently

I guess it's an obsession, one that I do take breaks from occasionally.  But this week I found a new batch of the faceted aqua beads (at JoAnn Fabrics of all places).  I had kind of run out of enamel that coordinated with the birds' nests made from freshwater pearls, but now I have a whole new assortment to choose from.  I've been hoarding these two enamel pieces because they are such a lovely color.  And don't they look nice with the Vintaj brass bird?

so much charm

We just had a customer spend much of the afternoon at our craft table, putting together this awesome necklace.  It's so fun to see what other people do with the pieces that we've provided here - some charms from Persimmons, lots of Vintaj goodness and enamel from Duluth.  I love the way everything goes together.  Of course, all this charm gets pricey, but there are lots of options for creating your own charming pieces.  With a necklace like this, and also with the silk ribbon necklaces, it is easy to get started with some goodies from Anthology, but also leave room for adding other things.  A great way to fill up some space is tying little bows with silk ribbon (we're anxiously awaiting our order of hand-dyed ribbon), or use the mate of a missing earring, or parts of thrift-store necklaces or vintage clip on earrings, or Grandma's buttons....

aw shucks...

The first thing I found this morning while going through my run of email-Facebook-blog checking, was a note from Jess at Vintaj, telling me that she featured Anthology in their fun blog.  And of course I had to read the comments.  There is the danger of too much knowledge, even though I am willing to accept that I have my faults, it is sometimes painful to read or hear them - people who are disinterested in the store, don't get it, etc. etc.  At the same time, that is part of the risk that we take, posting things online, opening up a store and not hiding in a cave.  And some of my own growth comes from being able to accept the criticism and disinterest, not as a personal attack, but just more proof of this wonderfully diverse world that we live in.  That said, I couldn't help but read the comments section of the blog, and have to confess that it is GREAT to start out the day with comments like these:

"This is TOTALLY the best store ever! I discovered it on a trip to Madison with my kids within a month after they opened. It is like a secret little jewel on State Street (which is the best place to be in Madison!). I want an Anthology store where I live. I never miss a chance to go there, and I never walk away empty handed, and my head is so swirling with ideas. Wonderful! Enjoy the day!"

"This looks just like my studio. In my DREAMS!
It looks so inviting and cozy I just want to jump through my computer.

Charm bracelets are my favorite and Laura’s designs got my heart going.
Who needs coffee in the morning when I got My Vintaj going on."

Isn't that nice?  The girls at Vintaj are really the sweetest and it seems appropriate to have this conversation right now since both Sachi and I have spent the last couple nights making charming bracelets and necklaces.  We just got a new shipment from Vintaj so there are plenty of bird charms and wire (Sachi's been making sweet little nests and really been wanting more birds to go along with them).

more of Sachi's charms

One day away from the store and I come back to this...  Sachi's been thinking about such charming necklaces for a while and the snow earlier this week gave her a chance to try them out.  I love those little nest beads but don't really have the patience to make lots of them so she has the go-ahead to make them herself.  There's beach glass from our vacation wrapped up in there, as well as some Vintaj elements and beads from the French General goodies we've been getting each month.

never too much charm

Well, that's my opinion anyway.  I LOVE charm bracelets, and have quite a collection of my own.  One of many resolutions was to make more pieces for the store and I've been busy making some sweet charm bracelets for Valentine's Day.  At the rate I am going, I should finish 6 today.  I can get carried away with chunky charmed bracelets but I know that's not everyone's style so I'm trying to keep these a little simpler. I stamped more text on the flat brass charms from Vintaj and am combining them with an assortment of beads and charms.  I'm having fun coming up with slightly longer phrases such as "love you to the moon & back," "happily ever after," though my favorite so far is the aqua & coral that has "sea see the world in a grain of sand."

so charmed

I sure do LOVE Christmas.  I waited until after Thanksgiving to start playing the music and right now it is on shuffle along with non-Christmas music so hopefully it isn't intolerable for those of you who weren't thrilled to hear "Santa Baby" over the grocery store speakers.  But it is SO on! 

I have been working on presents for a while now and am in pretty good shape except for a few last-minute supply orders from etsy.com.  Have I said how much I love that site?  Well, I do.  It gets annoying when people equate Anthology with etsy as if etsy is the gold standard of crafting, but you can get some great supplies there.  I've been searching for bezels, cabachons, lockets... and if you know Sachi, shhhhh!  don't tell her!  (though I can keep enough of a secret, today anyway, that neither of these pictures is what she's getting).  This time of year is slightly agonizing for me because I usually have some present that I am really looking forward to giving to someone and I have to wait and try to keep it secret.  Not my strongest suit.  Let's just say that Sachi's present is almost finished and I think she will like it even if it isn't quite her usual style.  The Blurb book should be arriving in time too so I'm excited to see that.  Meanwhile, Lily's doll project is kind of at a standstill.  We'll see if I get some last minute inspiration to get that done in time.  I printed photos of various family members onto fabric, now I just have to convert those into doll faces.  And figure out what to do for the doll body.  Hmm.

Although there are plenty of other things to work on, lately I've been working on various jewelry projects.  I put together some charm bracelet kits for the store and also made some bracelets.  Since I can't show you Sachi's present, at least I can show you these two, which are the latest addition to the collection of jewelry for sale here at the store.  I do love stamping text on these Vintaj brass pieces, though I am told that I will love etching them even more.  Something to look forward to in the new year.

a productive evening

Ahh... isn't that nice?  Of course, it is offset by the email from my sister reminding me that I am sold out of Madison snippets and really should make some more for this weekend.  Still, I spent last night watching movies and working on some jewelery.  Finished another Vintaj bird necklace to replace the one that sold a few months ago.  Sometimes it is hard to focus - looking at the coffee table with the little baggies of beads and findings.  Where to begin?  I had some charm bracelets in mind and ended up going in a completely different direction.  The cloth button bracelet just needed a few finishing touches.  And, oh, speaking of cloth buttons, I really need to spend time cutting out more fabric scraps to make more of those.  The super mini cloth button bracelets are all sold out... but boy, those are not easy to make!  First, cutting those tiny circles of fabric, then pressing them into buttons, then gluing them on. 

After I finished those two pieces, I was still going strong, so then came this pearl charm bracelet which was a total whim.  I do love how the pearls look with Vintaj bead caps. Naturally I started gathering beads for several other projects.  Why is it that it is so much more fun to start a new project?  We got bottle cap beads and charms in so I'm making a fun bracelet of those.  Then I really need to look at my sales records and prioritize the list of things to make for the upcoming months.  Magnet picture frames, button bracelets, I know, but I'm sure there's more.

Meanwhile, my parents are starting to prepare to move from the house that they've lived in since I was in 5th grade.  Eek.  I'd like to think that I am a good daughter but yes, I am using their house as a storage unit.  I still need to make more room at my place, but I think I'll be moving the sewing machine over tonightt and start to get that set up.  The realtor is drooling a little at the thought of showing their house, but not with my fabric scraps strewn all over the place upstairs.  The irony is that a side job is cleaning and organizing other peoples' studios.  It is SO much easier when it isn't your own.  I'd better do some major sifting, sorting and cleaning and clearing.  Maybe when this is all over, I will have such a great space that I can take pictures and submit them to some magazine like Where Women Create (I'd still like to see more studios in there of everyday people, not Marie Osmond, their last covergirl. I don't know why but it is a real pet peeve of mine when people who are famous in one area crossover into another.  It's not nice because everyone should be allowed to do what they want to do but I feel like their fame gives them an unfair edge - like Madonna writing children's books or Marie Osmond making dolls.  I'm all about the fairness and you should have seen how diligently my sister and I monitored or childhood presents and slices of cake).

charmed, I am SO sure

Returning from Door County with my mind awhirl with possibilities.  So many fun places to stop, so much inspiration!  And quicker than that, new projects arriving to Anthology.  The wonderful Something Fishy in Egg Harbor was a heaven of charms.  You may not know this about me, but charms are a serious weakness of mine.  I have more charm bracelets than anyone could know what to do with, plus tons of charms I've purchased over the years with the intention of making into charm bracelets.  But this clever shop was using gorgeous silk ribbons and simply tying charms onto them.  SUPER simple, super fun, and SUPER lovely!  Hmmm....  One of many nice aspects of this project is that it is easy to untie and change charms.  Plus, you can combine three different silk ribbons for one necklace, then change out one of the ribbons and make a different necklace.  It's like a good statistics problem: how many possibilities are there?!!!! 

Anyway, silk ribbons arrived yesterday so I was up late last night making necklaces for myself (mostly for customers' benefit of course - they have to see samples to get ideas) and a few for the store.  But we'll also sell the silk ribbons individually so you can make your own combinations.  My head is reeling with options.  Besides the usual charms and pendants from necklaces, we've got those fun bottlecap beads and Vintaj brass charms, and also ceramic and enamel pieces on their way, and also Green Girls pewter charms.  And THEN, what about all those single earrings that you've lost the mate of?  Those could be a fun little trinket tied onto a ribbon.  The ribbons can also be used to tie your hair back or wrapped around your wrist as a bracelet.  fun fun FUN!