a little bit sleek, a little bit old school

as long as technology, fashion, politics and culture keep rolling forward at this exponentially-increasing rate, we will long for echoes of the past.  retro-fever shops, vintage boutiques and antique stores would have no business being in business otherwise.

when i was in high school, kids were listening to silverchair, better than ezra and the gin blossoms; but i would come home from school and raid my dad's collection of big band LPs.  my friends and i would get together on friday nights to learn new jitterbug steps (i still remember the pretzel), watch war-era movies, and practice our martha tilton impressions.  and we dressed the part: white gloves, polka-dotted calf-length dresses, black stockings, and spectators.  with all that twisting and turning, i never really managed to find the point in wearing heels.  of course when i packed all my things for college, i left those spectators behind for some thrift store treasure hunter.  and i regretted it for years.

until today.

while shopping for new tank tops at tucson's original buffalo exchange (didn't find any, btw: whoever invented the long, drapey tank look must've been a freaking surfboard), i saw these from halfway across the store.  a half size too big, but i have thick socks.  and they're in gorgeous condition.  i love them and will probably wear them every day for the rest of the summer, 100+ temperatures be damned.

so.  i'm high on new shoes.  which is a perfect time to make jewelry.  i was so inspired by my blast from my blast from the past (yeah, i meant to type that), that i decided to work on a whole new line of jewelry that goes perfectly with my spectators: sleek and elegant and old school.
first go out of the gate and i'm on a roll:

raw brass, goldfill chain and ear wires, mystic spinal.  these ones are gonna be hard to part with.  regardless, watch my etsy site for your chance to own 'em!

a little bit classy, a little bit rock and roll

as long as there are fashion runways, magazine spreads, and bright nail polish, there will be cocktail rings.  they're those rings you can see clearly even if you're 1000 feet away from the model.  me, i love unnecessarily large jewelry: i've never shied away from earrings as big as my fist or a necklace that extends down to my belt.  When it comes to rings, though, i steer for the simple, straight and narrow.

i suppose it has to do with the way i've chosen to live my life: as a furniture finisher, a plant cultivator, a seamstress, a bartender, a guitar player, and a jeweler, i can't do my job with a fishbowl of glitter hanging off my knuckle.  and i think i've always concluded that, if you have to take a ring off to do something as simple as washing your hands, you really shouldn't be wearing one.

until now.

sometimes awesomeness outweighs practicality.  and i found a whole grip of awesome during my recent month-long gem show adventure.  it's easy to get distracted while marching up and down aisles of rubies and tanzanite, so i've developed a system for blocking out the things i don't need (it involves bringing friends who tell me i don't need any of it).  but these stones glimmered right through my blinders, and i snatched them up quicker than you could say, "spending ceiling."  watch my etsy site closely: later this summer i'll be launching a line of glittery, iridescent, gigantic (adjustable!!!) cocktail rings.  the prototype above is mine, of course, so you'll just have to be patient!