In the works

So Adorned by Morgan has been busy busy busy as of late, and it's awesome. Now, if only my hands could keep up with the ideas zooming through my head! Isn't that always the case, though?

Tomorrow I have an appointment with Love Brigade in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The store sells high fashion-type clothing, and if you visit its site you'll see there are very interesting story lines that propel the clothing lines its designers create. I like that concept of linking clothing and a theme through a plot like that; it adds even more meaning to already-individualized styles of clothing.

Anyway, this is kind of monumental for me, as a member of Love Brigade actually approached me about carrying my work, instead of vice versa. I'm still relatively new to this whole brick-and-mortar deal, and I'm very happy with how it's been going so far, so I was even more blown away when someone contacted me. Apparently this girl had purchased a necklace of mine from SITE and loved it! It's really such encouragement that keeps me trying to grow and promote Adorned by Morgan, so I was totally flattered.

Needless to say, I've been working (and buying, uh oh) quite a bit since last week and hopefully I will have enough to offer Love Brigade tomorrow in terms of a range of choice for products to try out. It was funny because my contact had asked me about providing a line sheet (basically a list of descriptions, prices and sometimes photos of the pieces that you offer) and I had to explain that I don't have them. While there are certain pieces I will reproduce, Adorned by Morgan generally consists of one-of-a-kind items. I plan on keeping it this way for a number of reasons, including that it's more fun for me to explore new challenges than take on ones I've already tried, and it ensures that my clients are really getting unique pieces.

Part of the reason I decided to get back into jewelry making was that I began to find I was buying mass-produced jewelry in stores while on the checkout line just because they were readily available for the grabbing and a cheap buy. But quick and easy-- despite any shiny qualities-- kinda lacks meaning, doesn't it?

At least for me it does, especially when I see a handful of people wearing the same thing I am on any given day.

Which brings me to my obsession with vintage. Vintage items are great for jewelry making because not only do they promote recycling by giving new life to a piece that has gone by the wayside, but they also carry a story along with them. Somehow, older components like beads and findings just hold a greater meaning for me in a lot of instances that those that have also been mass produced and put on the shelf. Many bead stores carry the same new products, and so even when creating your own jewelry it can be difficult to be original. With vintage items, the chances of reproduction are fewer and far between, and they give you a link to history.

Using vintage items also allows me to keep in touch with my love of archaeology and historical artifacts. There's nothing like digging up just the right component in a fruitful search that has left your fingers blackened with decades-old dust.

Ah, the sweet, stale smell of history. And don't worry, when I get those pieces-- they'll be nice and cleaned for your wear!

The Coolest

So one of the most awesome things happened to me as Mark and I were on our way back to Astoria from a friend's graduation party.

I tend to notice jewelry as a form of habit. I study it on other people (yes, even on the subway-- don't mind me). I'm a very visual learner and I like to observe what others find attractive in jewelry.

Anyhow. As we are falling asleep on the subway, I'm doing the usual glance over of the usual shiny things, and all of a sudden my eyes stop on a pair of earrings and my mind goes, Those look familiar...

A girl was wearing my creation! A pair of Adorned by Morgan earrings that she had gotten from Candy Plum. I'm really modest in general, but this is just something I had to share. It's one of the proudest moments I can ever remember having. There's really nothing like seeing something you've made with your own two hands adorning a stranger you've never met, but whom loves your design purely in and of itself.

At the time when it happened, Mark and I were exhausted, but I got a total rush and was just smiling like crazy.

Mark told me to introduce myself, but I love being anonymous right now. There's something magical about it. It's like this whole persona I have that is totally separate from everything else I do. That's really why I went with my middle name as opposed to my first when titling the business; I wanted to keep making jewelry as a fun, distinct entity from things like my writing and editing career.

Anyhow, I'll post a picture of similar earrings I recently made later on hopefully.

Beads of Paradise

On my lunch break today I dragged Mark to a bead store I had been meaning to check out for a while now.

Located in Union Square (New York City), the store is great for avid bead or antique collectors. However, it's not so fitting for those of us who just want to get our hands "dirty" looking for just the right component. In fact, you can't touch about 95 percent of the beads there as they are displayed behind glass.

Now, I totally understand why Beads of Paradise would want to showcase their items in this manner; many of the bead strands, findings, jewelry and even figurines they carry are a century or more old and worth quite a pretty penny.

I even saw Chinese trade beads in the window there from between 500 and 200 b.c.-- pretty fascinating for an archaeology-inspired nerd like me.

The store was a decent size for New York city bead stores, and all of the (oooh shiny) bead strands or tiny bowls of beads in its numerous glasses were extremely well organized. I'm sure had I asked for assistance I would have easily been able to get a handle on what I wanted to see, but I wasn't really going there to buy, more to "windowshop."

Bottom line: This place is great if you are looking for a certain item to add to your collection, or a even a unique and rare bead to start one, but if you just need your basic gems and components, stick to your local store where the items are more tangible and easier to study.

Vintage Costume Sandor Jewelry

I found this piece at one of my favorite local haunts and was about to repurpose it into some earrings when I had a stroke of "Why don't I see if it's signed?"


Turns out, this bracelet is from the Sandor line, which was started by Sandor Goldberger in the 1930s. The company closed in the 1970s. Even better, Sandor's enameled jewelry is highly collectible, as are those with floral themes-- most often, his flower pins.

Yay for unexpected vintage finds.

New boots

For the first time in a long while, I actually didn't mind anticipating a rainy day. Why, you ask? Because I'm wearing a darling pair of ankle-height, kitten heel boots! Add their baby blue hue to the mix, and I'd say that's definitely cause for a casual attitude towards the rain.

I don't have a pic of them as yet, but I will!

Also, I have been meaning to post a review of the Renegade Craft Fair in BK, which took place this past weekend; so as soon as I have the time I will do so. For now it's just a quick hello and...

A resolution: no more beads until I make some more sales.

After paying some larger-than-usual bills, I've realized I've been spending way too much to justify on this part of my life. OK, OK, it's justified by the fact that some of them will be used in projects and sold, others will be given in gifts and some are too darn pretty to pass up (see the blue, vintage Czech beads in a post below)!

I've been thinking about setting up another Etsy shop just to destash all of the extras I don't use, although I have simultaneously been thinking of collecting beads just for the sake of doing so. Vintage beads can be so beautiful in and of themselves (I have to post a pic of the Swarovski pear-shaped crystals I found; they're stunning).

The thing is, I don't have room in my tiny apartment for all of the collecting/crafting I would like to do.

I've also taken to collecting whole vintage jewelry pieces. My oh my!

Anyway, just this quick hello for now, expect shop updates soon.

Best,

Rachel

p.s. I saw a brown-and-cream-colored pigeon yesterday, and it was actually really beautiful. Its colors reminded me of a vintage fabric scheme...

The Crazy Chihuahua

This morning on my way to work I was approached by a flying chihuahua. I know I don't officially "wake up" until the clock hits double digits, but I was actually not dreaming. Walking by the corner store near the subway, I see this cute little puppy on a leash, sitting on a ramp that leads into a store; and as I glance over-- she is suddenly in the air. At first I was like woah, she's gonna get pulled back like some sort of ridiculous yo-yo puppy! It happened too quickly for me to react and get near her or anything, and she actually-- get this-- jumped so hard she broke free of her harness. All of a sudden there is a puzzled puppy staring up from my feet at an equally puzzled me. There was no barking or vicious lunging; I think she just wanted a hug or something.

I pointed for her to go back so she wouldn't run away and she actually headed in the direction of the store, just as her owner came out proclaiming "Sandy! You're crazy! What? Did I take too long [in the store]?"

So yeah, that's how my day started. Oddly enough, this was not the first time I've had a strange Astorian animal encounter.

The other week I saw a blue and gold macaw drinking a Snapple. Actually, he was guzzling it. I'm a total parrot freak, and it's kinda hard not to notice something so random, so I went over to inspect. The parrot was so sweet, unfortunately his owner [a.k.a. the Snapple holder] was not. I was all "Yay parrot!" and he was very I'm going to sit here and ignore you. The cute parrot let me pet him, though, so I was happy.

Uh yeah. Other than this news, I had a great week in San Francisco last week. I picked up an insanely large amount of vintage beads at this store in Berkley, vintage jewelry and some grammar and a jewelry book. Berkley was totally beautiful, San Fran was fun as always and Napa was pretty but uber boring.



Highlight, we saw the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill!


Yay conures!

Vintage Czech