Rings, Rings, & Rings! Mistymoto Designs, Les Beaux Metaux, Fruition Jewelry

I am overjoyed with the artists I have met at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles and I wanted to share a peek at some of my recent purchases since I am running out of fingers.

Just around the corner from me is a booth featuring Mitsymoto Designs and Object Mfg. Co. I really love both of their work and I have become obsessed with Lauren of Mitsymoto Designs jewelry. Here are some awesome shots of what Lauren is up to:

She is super talented and has a really wonderful aesthetic. Their stall is mixed with vintage pieces, nostalgic figurines, skeletons, and more cool things than your brain can decipher from a glance. I could spend hours asking her about all her wonderful displays and the techniques she uses for her products. I am so uninformed about what all the great metalsmiths I am posting about today are up to technique wise...
One thing I do know is that I like them and that they are all badass. Oh, and that I sure enough can't do what they do.  I at least know that much for sure.

Want a virtual snap shot of the fun?

All kinds of things to explore!

I think she is rad, and this ring I purchased (on index finger) looks pretty great with my ring from Fruition (on ring finger).

Raychel's ring was the first one fueling my addiction.

Fruition is a curated booth and you can find a mix of her stellar jewelry as well as wall art, pottery, and plush art.

My latest love was found yesterday at Les Beaux Metaux.

Yeah, once I put it on it was over! I really love the texture on both the band and the stone and just had to have it.  It pairs so great with all my other rings too it was a must!

Her shop is just across from Lauren in Mitsymoto Designs. Here are some pictures of her market stall:

Kristen turned me on to this artists beads made out of bottle caps that she has below:

It is a total game changer knowing that these beads are a thing!!! They are kinda pricey to have made so I might not be turning all my bottle caps into beads anytime soon, but I am really inspired by the fabrication of these suckers.

Well, we are looking forward to a full week of fun ahead of us! Hope you had a stellar weekend and a super awesome week to come :)

XOXO, KC

What I Wore: Friday 8/3/12 - Crazy Cat Lady

I scooped up this amazing vintage bracelet covered in kitties in a vintage shop in Brooklyn and I absolutely love it! It is a nice brassy gold that has the perfect sheen to it. I also like that the kitties are strung across two chains giving it great movement. I like bracelets that have some good movement to them so the bracelet has some personality as you are wearing it. Plus, the little smiling cat faces put a smile on my face no matter what the day may hold for me :)

Friday brings another full weekend of fun at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles and this weekend. We have reconfigured our shop and brought in some really great new products! This Sunday we are having Craft Beer Tasting from 2-6PM with the delicious craft brews from the San Pedro Brewing Co. with a DJ set by DJ Ernie G just outside our booth in the market. Stop by and enjoy some craft brews while perusing craft artists :)

But mostly, the folks at Make. Shop. Live. hope you enjoy your first weekend in August!!!

XOXO, KC

What I Wore: Friday 5/25/12 * Unique Finds: Enchanted Leaves

Greetings from NYC!!! I guess I win the award for bad packer because I packed kinda crazy for my trip. I dunno why I decided my bag should be filled with fancy dresses and shoes, nothing really casual.  I had to suck it up and get this dress as I was passing through Target just to have something to wear.  It is paired with a pair of Blowfish shoes which I found on the same day that have a "Blue Belieze Blanket" pattern. This is my first experience with successfully mixing patterns and I am pretty jazzed for this new addition to my wardrobe - even if I did have to buy everything new. My staple accessory that has been getting some great compliments is my Hunger Games Mockingjay necklace I purchased at Unique LA from Enchanted Leaves one of my favorite stops for fun jewelry.

This necklace is so perfect for me!!! The length of the necklace is great and it is a really sweet size. I am so into Collins's series that when I spot the necklace out of the corner of my eye, I knew it had to be mine!

Enchanted Leaves will be at the Patchwork Shows in both Santa Ana and the show we'll be at in Culver City on 5/10. For more details and location information check out their website here. We are huge fans of E.L. and you can see our previous post on their awesome-ness here.

I hope you have a super weekend!!! We have a full holiday weekend of wedding fun in Brooklyn and next week we will be posting WEDDING details all week long :) Yay!!!!
XOXO, KC

Unique Find: Eco Resin

Hi Friends! Got another great find from Unique LA this past weekend. Get this, environmentally friendlier resin... I know! If you are a crafty, you know resin is one one of the nastiest things to deal with, not only because you have got to protect yourself from the chemicals when working with it, but also because those chemicals are no bueno for the earth.

We stumbled across this amazing new product when we were checking out the jewelry by Cast & Combed. Her booth caught our eye with it's funky and bright accessories, but we had to stop by when we saw the sign that said, "Made in LA with Eco Resin." Turns out, the eco resin is ALSO made in LA (double bonus for shopping local and sustainable). The stuff is made by Entropy Resins in Gardena, CA using sap. Genius! And like their website says, "There is no better chemist than Mother Nature." Agreed.

We hope to be trying this stuff out soon on upcoming projects. We're pumped to have found this great product. To see what it looks like fully finished, check out the Cast & Combed website.

Got a great eco-friendly craft product you are working with? Tell us about it and we'd love to review it (or you can too... we are totally open to guest bloggers)!

Unique Find: Upcycled Skateboard Accessories

One of the best things about doing shows is all the wonderful vendors we are surrounded by! Some of them are our friends so it's great to catch up (like Maiden Voyage and Fruition) and others are fun discoveries (like this Otter Wax that I'm sure we'll be writing about later). This last weekend at Unique LA we came across a vendor doing some really rad stuff. As fate would have it he was just a few tables down from us.

Mukee is jewelry and belt buckles that were formerly skateboards. Upcycling +Jewlery= Make Shop Live Love! Designer Derek Keenan used to be in the Peace Corps in West Africa. He was inspired by locals who would not let anything go waste--tops of broken flip flops become muzzles for mules for instance. When he got back to the States he wondered how he could embrace that ingenuity and disdain for waste. And all those wrecked skateboards out there suddenly have a new life!

  

 *photos from Mukee's Etsy site

If you think abou it, skateboards are their own works of art and there's a lot of craftsmanship that goes into making them. It would be really heartbreaking if you couldn't rescue them from the trash heap.

I had to buy these guys... you like?

So cute! I'm in love with my purchase.

Did you find anything spectacular at Unique LA? Please share with us!

-Sharon

How-To's Day: Make Paper Beads (and Enjoy too!)

I got these beautiful necklaces from Amanda Pearl created with BeadforLife paper beads at a sample sale downtown 2 weeks ago.  I had no idea that the Cooper Building Downtown held my new favorite jems and a reason to look forward to making the trek downtown at least once a month now!!!   

The Cooper Design Space (Unfortunately no relation to me...) Has a ton of great showrooms and it is where the UNIQUE Office is located now.  I got lucky and went in on the last Friday of the month when the whole building practically has a sample sale!  These necklaces where the only thing that came home with me mostly out of appreciation of the BeadforLife's amazing beads!  
*Check out this blog post for more details on Amanda Pearl's trip and these necklaces here*

If you haven't checked it out already please watch this YouTube video with some behind the scenes and a quick, fun and easy tutorial that is kid friendly.  I am breaking down the main steps here:

MATERIALS AND TOOLS NEEDED *Scissors and Beading Needle Requires Supervision*

Here is a Deckle Edge Ruler-

The strip needs to be more triangular than straight.

Place the Deckle Edge Ruler down and hold firm with left hand.

PULL the paper Towards you.

 

The triangular strip of paper-

Start with the fatter end on your paintbrush or bamboo skewer.

Roll it away from yourself to hold nice tight tension.

  (Leave around ~ 2" tail for gluing.)

Rub the glue on the strip on scrap paper so you don't mess up your work surface ;)  

Roll the glued section up.

PINCH the bead. Especially where the glue is for ~30 sec.

A BEAD :)

There is a bit more on simple stringing at the end of the video if you want to make a necklace or bracelet with your finished beads.  I haven't included sealing or water-proofing since this was a fast demo and for kids.  That can be accomplished with many different things like clear nail polish or polyurethane.  I personally would rather treat my items delicately and just with a couple of coats of Mod Podge you can achieve a really nice and pretty protective surface for treating the paper beads.

 

***ENJOY***

KSaint P and Linda Lundgren

Last week I gave a post about I am going to a Jewelry Event featuring my dear friend Karen or KSaintP and her mom Linda Lundgren.  The Preview jewelry sale last week was awesome!!! Both ladies jewelry lines are really fun, the price points are AMAZING!  Each beautiful piece is a fun mix of styles for all ages.  Most pieces can be customized to length so we all had a blast trying on everything and finding the perfect pieces :)  

Karen St.P gave me this awesome shot of her in action-

Karen St.P has been sold in Urban Outfitters across the country and sold at boutiques on the east coast. Her work is all hand made using vintage, new and repurposed materials.

 Here is a shot of all the great pieces Karen featured-

Linda Lundgren's pieces were fab! She works with some really beautiful stones-

Linda Lundgren’s pieces (above) have a fresh new style with high-end fashion that makes all your outfits shine.

Here are the one's I brought home with me.  I purchased the "Bay" Earrings and bracelet from Linda Lundgren and Style #1 from KSaintP on the right-

Cali Cat is having some tummy troubles and is being very demanding today- I hate it when that fluffy little face is not feeling well!

I found out that surgery is a go for my shoulder and will let everyone know when my web hiatus will begin- But, as of now I am having the surgery on September 20th.  Kevin and I will be busy trying to get this summer season wrapped up and Christmas prepped before my recovery/ down-time.

I purchased some wonderful Jewelry items last week, and tomorrow I will do a second post on KSaintP and Linda Lundgren following up on the Jewelry Party I attended last week. 

ALSO- Yesterday I met with my friend Alicia and she said that I can finally post the casting tape we shot together for a pilot she has been pitching :)  Look out for that this Friday!!!

KSaintP

Lots of fun for the week to come! There will be a tutorial this week.  A sneek peek of all the new items for UNIQUE OC, AND-

I am going to a Jewelry Event this evening that I look forward to sharing about :)  My dear friend Karen or KSaintP has a jewelry line that is always super fun and I can't wait to see her new looks!   

Her blog always has the greatest styles and sneak peeks of some amazing behind the scenes looks.

My favorite Sneek Peek at Juicy Couture's Fall campaign!

I am sure there are amazing finds to pair up for all the hot looks tonight at the preview!!! Can't wait to tell you all about it :)