Just a note about my first little Black Friday Sale! Enjoy 20% off everything on the Parks & Olive site with code THANKS20 - https://www.etsy.com/shop/ParksAndOlive


Thank you!!!

Alison's Adventures in Wonderland

Having so much fun putting together some organic water cast pendants. Water casting entails literally melting the metal (silver and gold) and carefully dripping it into a big water bucket where it instantly solidifies. I love that you can slightly influence how they'll turn out, but you can't ultimately have much say. A small glimpse of chaos theory in action.

So... about the Etsy situation. I've decided to pull all my traditionally cast pieces so I don't have to deal with their bureaucracy. I've left up my fabricated pieces and some of my quick cast (water, cuttlebone, charcoal) will be up there as well. I should have these guys (above) up within the next few days.

I've been accepted into Amazon Handmade, and I hope, hope, hope to find the time to get all my pieces (traditionally cast or otherwise) up there on the site within the next two weeks. Boy, do I need an assistant!!

Desperately Seeking An Etsy Alternative

Wow, turns out Etsy is getting harder and harder to deal with. Case in point - I have some of my pieces cast by my friend on the central coast of CA. In his backyard. Now Etsy is requiring me to fill out an excessive multipage manufacturing relationship form, including photos, process and diagrams. Not even kidding.

And so, I am hereby looking for an alternate handmade marketplace.  If anyone has a suggestion, please throw it my way via comments or an email.

Conversely, it may just be a sign that it's time to do my own site and build up the business a bit more. Yes, it could be that time...

Blue, Blue, My Ring is Blue...

So this ring has taken a while to complete.

While I carved the beast out of wax and had it cast months ago, I took my time to mull about adding a little something extra. 

I wanted to do something special, so I ultimately decided to flush mount a stone on the underside of the ring. A little pop of color. A little secret something. I rather liked the idea of a hidden surprise.

I drilled the initial setting and tried out an amethyst, a tanzanite, an orange-y garnet, but nothing looked quite right.

Then, joy of joys, I found the right stone! I found a clear blue aquamarine at my go-to stone guy's place downtown in the jewelry building. (Yes, there's a jewelry building here in Portland. Building is from the 20's. You get buzzed in and everything. Coolest thing ever).

Anyway, though the stone looked wonderful, the damn thing wouldn't fit. I tried every which way to get it to seat correctly. After many attempts, I finally got jiggy with the setting bur and tried a little expansion in the width. Bingo! It snapped in last night and I spent several hours burnishing it into place.

So, yeah, smiling about this one! Just put it up on the Etsy site - https://www.etsy.com/shop/ParksAndOlive with a couple other new pieces. Have about 40 more completed pieces that just need to get photographed and uploaded, ack! So, stay tuned! More good stuff coming soon!!

The Silver Scrunchie

I made this little bit of wonderful as a request from my daughter. It's a sterling silver ponytail barrette (there will be a covered elastic attached to the underside). The barrette is kind of a rif on what we used to wear in the 1970s. But a touch more aerodynamic : ) I've field tested the beast and it fits and works just perfectly. Looks smashing too!!

After my move I'll make a few more and post them on my Parks&Olive etsy site. Maybe I'll make some with different textures, maybe some with a touch of 18k gold. Excited about the possibilities!!!

Bands of Gold

Created for a special order that came in from Australia, my first wedding bands!! Happy little project... ok big project! But very fulfilling.

When it Rains...

Good gravy. How is it that my jewelry business decides to blow up just when my life is getting busy with SO many other things? Custom orders, brick and mortar stores, even a few Etsy sales. Well, I guess it's a good problem to have. Going to be a lively year!!

Creating the Oeuf!

Having a great time in my metal surfaces class at the Multnomah Arts Center! Today I sawed an egg shaped mold out of a slab of solid acrylic. A good hour's worth of sawing. Then I used a hydraulic press and mass quantities of torque to suck the textured copper into the mold. Nifty! Puffy! This will eventually be the core of a pendant to go with a massive turquoise necklace.

I usually create small pieces, but heck, this time I'm going large.

Never stop learning!!