Posts by Ashley - Ivy and Gold Handcraft - Page 3
We’re all a little weird
“We are all a little weird, and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love” Back in April, my cousin Katie’s husband, John, contacted me and said he wanted to have something special made for their first year anniversary coming up on June 1st. John, being the very thoughtful person that he is, wanted to incorporate paper which is the traditional first anniversary gift. As you might know, I don’t generally work with paper too often, but I was completely open to the challenge. Now, I realize that it doesn’t sound practical, paper jewelry. My first thought was necklace… I could draw something cute… put it in a handmade locket… BRILLIANT. Then I remembered, Katie can’t wear necklaces. No matter what the material it always irritates her skin. I begin to panic, and I turn to John for some help. He agrees that a necklace isn’t a good idea and he thinks a ring would be best. A lightbulb goes off… Katie is an English teacher, she loves reading. I can put a quote on the ring in paper. ...
Where Do I start, Where Do I Begin?
It’s so typical of me, I have done nothing but put pressure on myself for my first blog post. Tons of thoughts started running through my head as I sat down about a month ago to write this. How do I start, what should I write, I hope I don’t bore people. I mean, its so important because first impressions are everything right? Despite my utter insecurities as a writer, I sat myself down with a strong cup of coffee, my macbook pro and decided to just dive right in. Back in spring of 2007, my best friend Emily called me up one afternoon and asked me if I was interested in partnering up and starting a jewelry store. I immediately agreed, even though I had a good job working as a bench jeweler at a local jewelry store (that had benefits, benefits!!). I was learning so much working as a bench jeweler. I learned different things compared to what was taught to me in art school. I learned how to set diamonds in all sorts of configurations, repair old worn jewelry. I had acquired expert torch control and obtained pretty awesome polishing skills. Even though I was learning all ...