End of Summer update

Well, it looks like Summer is winding down, despite my every effort to deny it. I love Summer and I'll miss it. Fall is another favorite of mine, though, so it's not all sad. In July we had a serious heatwave and I decided it probably wasn't in my best interest to sit out in 105 degree shadeless sun at Last Thursday. August saw my one street fair canceled due to too many jewelry vendors at the event, so that was disappointing. Thankfully, August also saw a few challenging and fun commission pieces to keep things interesting.

The first interesting piece was a shamanic ritual amulet using goldstone and feathers from a red shafted Northern flicker woodpecker. The brass around the amulet and a stylized hook clasp were shaped, hammered and then carefully antiqued to mach the warmth of the chain links. Other stones used were onyx, carnelian and yellow calcite. I am very pleased with how well it turned out. The necklace was actually slightly altered and I wasn't able to get pictures of the final version before it was delivered but this is a good representation.




The next piece, and possibly my favorite, was a piece of rainbow obsidian that is securely surrounded by antiqued brass wire sculpted into a unique windblown tree with a pentacle on the back. This one took a few attempts to get just right but I'm totally in love with it. I'm definitely going to look for more stones to do this with.



September will be busy with school starting, a street fair and an indoor craft fair among other things. I'm also going to be busy getting Halloween and Fall pieces made and up on the Etsy store. A couple of friends think I'm crazy but my favorite bit for Halloween are these insects/arachnids I found encased in lucite. I think they're awesome and I refuse to believe I'm the only one that these appeal to. I guess if I'm wrong I'll have a lot of bug jewelry to wear and keep all for myself. This is an idea of what I'm talking about -



You can't tell me that isn't cool!! Next up is the black scorpion. I can't wait!

I'll not be down at August's Last Thursday today since I have a serious backlog of photos to take and I really need to buckle down and get them done. The next vending date for me is the Belmont Street Fair on September 12th from 10 to 5. Friendly faces are always a welcome sight!

Hope you guys are enjoying these last days of summer as much as I am. :D

New Stuff up in the store!

Whee! OK, with the August lull, I've been uploading some things onto the Etsy store. Bunches of new stuff and more still to go! Check it out - LaurasDesigns.com :D

Etsy Buy Handmade LauraSalisburyDesign

Division/Clinton St. Fair

This one was easier since I had a little experience with it this time. We got set up and were ready to go with plenty of time to spare. I didn't have the greatest spot and it was organized so the vendors were all spread out in small clusters on side streets over many, many, many blocks. Add to that an extremely hot day and I didn't see very many people at all. No one wants to walk that far, especially in the heat. I'm not sure I'll do this one again but, hey, live and learn, right? I finally called it at around 5:00 and packed it all up. When I got home, I had an epic water battle with my 7 year old son which made me feel a lot better.

August is kind of a dead zone and we're in the middle of a heat wave here so I may not do much of anything until the street fairs in September. Which means...website updates!! I can finally get around to listing all of my new stuff in the store - yay!

Mississippi Street Fair

I have to admit I was really nervous about this street fair. Not only was it my first street fair but it's the biggest one in Portland. My friends had gone to the Oregon Country Fair for the day, the tables didn't fit in my car and I had family visiting from out of town. Solution = put the family to work. Mwuahahaha! We got it all set up and were ready in time. What a day! There were so many people! When I stepped outside my tent and looked down the street, all I could see were tents and people as far as the horizon. It was so awesome! Everyone I met was super nice too, despite the fact that we were all melting from the heat. Always a plus. My favorite compliment was when a girl came in and said that my jewelry was the kind of jewelry she has in her head and has always wanted to see. :) I highly recommend attending this street fair if you're in the area next year - it was a blast. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to leave my tent much so I don't have many pictures, but I did get a few.

June's Last Thursday on Alberta St.

This was fun, as always. The setup with the new jacks on the earring display worked like a charm and the breezes were...well... a breeze. I think I may have to start leaving some stuff at home cause the table is looking cluttered to me. The highlight of this month was the random lady who offered to buy my shoes. o_O Cute they are, but, really?? No, sorry, not for sale. So weird. Anyhoo...here's the pics (which, btw, cost me $45 to download from my phone so you can bet I'll not be forgetting my camera again!)

commissioned pieces :)

Yesterday, I finished a couple of necklaces that a friend of mine commissioned as gifts. They each have specific and yet different purposes and a lot of research went in to finding the right combo of stones and materials to fit the situations. I'm really pleased with how they turned out and I'm so thankful that I had the chance to do these cause it was a fantastic opportunity to learn and find creative ways of mixing different elements. Plus, in my search for the rubies I uncovered a couple of new suppliers that look really promising. So. Anyway.

The first one is for a woman, is about 18" in length and is made using silver hoops, beads and figure eight links and silver wire for the stone links. The stones are faceted raw Indian rubies, black tourmaline and tourmalinated quartz. The rubies are flanked by small faceted rondelles of black spinel. It was finished with a silver plated lobster clasp and a 2 1/2" extender with a black tourmaline bead dangle on the end. I chose the lobster clasp instead of a hoop and bar, which would have actually fit the style better, because this is intended to be worn while sleeping and the lobster clasp is far more secure.





The second one is for a man, is about 19" in length and was made by combining leather cord with wood beads and silver wire-wrapped links with stones. The wood beads in the center are redwood and have silver rondelle accents. The links contain bloodstone and autumn jasper. The cords were each finished with silver crimp rings and it has a lobster style clasp. In the center is a sterling silver feather hung from a silver bail. For the relatively small size of the bloodstone beads I was impressed that they had such good coloration.

and, by the way...

There were so many talented artists at Last Thursday last night and it occurred to me that I want to start posting some pics of other people's stuff here too. So, to kick things off, here are some cool things that my friend Frost is experimenting with. Bicycle pouches, belts, wrist straps, bags, cell phone holders, etc. all made out of used and upcycled bike tubes and tires and truck inner tubes. I am currently sporting a fetching double-stitched bike tube wrist strap that is very, very comfy. The thing I like about them is that all of the marks and writing and whatall is still there so they are all unique.