The Magpie's Treasure

Jewelry Design Gets Personal

Oh my gosh! The big brown UPS truck just pulled out of my driveway, and left behind this beautiful book-- The Penland Book of Jewelry: Master Classes in Jewelry Techniques.

 

It looks like it's going to be an amazing read. Each chapter is devoted to a specific jewelry artist.

The artist tells their own story--in their own words, and that gives this book a very personal feel. Almost like the feeling I get when I read artists's blogs.

 

Then the artists provide step-by-step "how to's" for their favorite techniques.

And, finally they share photos of work done by their favorite jewelry artists.

 

The content of this book seems so different from the usual cut and dry technique-based books. It looks gorgeous, too. I can't wait to dig in!!

'Tis The Season To Be Jolly And To Spread The Glitter!

Holiday shows are rolling around, and I need to have lots of packaging on hand. And ordinary packaging simply won’t do--no way! So yesterday, Carolyn and I teamed up and spent the afternoon handcrafting packaging and tags for our jewelry. 

I made this festive box wrap using a technique I found on the Bethany Actually blog. All that I needed to get the job done was: tissue paper, aluminum foil, Mod Podge, glitter, some fancy hole punches, and card stock.

It was so much fun--I am still finding glitter everywhere, though. Oh well, 'tis the season to spread the glitter!