:discomedusa:

studio acorn

i just picked up some castings from studio acorn, a 'married team that makes lots of fun things' here in porland.  

casting was one of my favorite things to do when i was in school (massart, boston 2000-2004), but sadly, i don't have my own equipment yet...

in the meantime, beth at studio acorn does a fantastic job and is much more dexterous than i am at adding the tiny sprues that have increased the success rate to almost 100%!  (thanks, beth!)

studio acorn's own designs are simply flawless- sweetly stylized designs 'influenced by (their) love of Japan and all things kawaii.'

more 'jewelry that's cute like you!' on their cute new website and in their etsy shop.

jessi taylor

hello. my name is jessi. i'm a ringaholic.

the other day, while i was oggling jessi taylor's work at redux, i resolved to finally write this post!

i met jessi last summer at a craft fair & was immediately taken with her designs, craftsmanship, creepy doll display, and general way of being....
knowing knew she could do well on etsy, i urged her to open a shop &join etsymetal.
about a week ago, jessi celebrated her one year etsy anniversay ('etsyversary') with more than 250 sales!

yay, jessi!!!

both her website and etsy shop have tons of great photos of her work, plus fantastically whimsical  and compelling descriptions.
like me, jessi is 'a bit obsessed with post-apocalyptic scenarios.... and not in small part because post-apocalyptic styling is HOT.' 

oh, how i love the 'battlestar ring!' (above right- that's battlestar galactica for the uninitiated!)
she also makes a fierce eyeball ring (below left) and has brought us the mangle (man-bangle, below right)

yep, i'm a fan!
(now if only i could get a photo of the fabulous gauged omega hoops i saw at last year's craftywonderland....forget a photo- i need the real deal, jessi! xoxo)

redux pdx

hooray!

i finally brought some pieces over to redux, the cutist, most densely packed & well merchandised store in portland!
(tamara must get sick of me saying so every time i visit...but really, it's remarkable!)

redux features a broad assortment of innovative designers, including many old friends and new (with related blog posts pending...) cyberoptix, lucky looloo, jessi taylor, & rubygirl.

located across from the doug fir lounge, redux is a convenient and necessary stop on any shopping tour of portland (just not on a monday or tuesday)

(thank you, tamara, for being so fabulous!)

DISTRO.Y/the void above

also from the days at miko was born my friendship with gillian (whom i love & adore & miss terribly!)
over the last ten+ years, we often talked of all the creative projects we would embark upon together, but we have yet to collaborate!  (because i up and moved to oregon!)  

while i've been busy developing my jewelry business, gillian and terrence began DISTRO.Y, a specialty silk screening business.  they print their own collaborative designs (top right), as well as images by artists they admire (including Star St.Germain, middle right.)

gill has also been working on her own higher end line, The Void Above, featuring garments made from 100% organic cotton and TENCEL®, which she has hand dyed, cut and placed by hand, embroidered & screen printed (bottom right)

many many thanks to both gill and tea for all of their support over the years! (including- but hardly limted to- hosting discomedusa.com on Punkhost....one of these days i'll put a proper webpage together!)

(wishing two of my favorite people much success on all of their (ad)ventures! xoxo)

quarantine projects

one of the first people to inspire my love of stretched piercings was jaime lakatos, my predecessor in the flogger-making department at miko exotic wear in providence, ri (circa 1998.) 

we recently reconnected via myspace, and i have enjoyed looking at her portfolio, which i wanted to promote here. 

some of her work is for sale at skeletonart.com(feral gallery).

jaime's work is 'strongly visceral and unnerving...' and i love it! 

(someday....!)

 

pdx etsy tea time

as a portland-based etsy seller, i am a member of the pdx etsy street team.
(which, btw, is having their final summer show at the psu park blocks/farmer's market this saurday, august 9- see website for details.  i will not be vending at this event, for lack of time, money, and energy- but there will be dozens of other friendly and talented  crafty vendors, along with yummy food and produce, and live music)

one of the many benefits of being a part of this very active street team is pdx etsy tea time every thursday.
enjoying a day without babysitters and enticed by the promise of other toddlers, i finally made it to one last week!
hosted by autumn of autumn comfort candles (all natural hand poured candles in hand cut recycled glass bottles) with a photography tutorial by leah pellegrini (glass mobiles and other fun), it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon! 
thank you ladies!

i was inspired to make my own ghetto-style light box from tissue paper and a cardboard box....it's such an improvement over holding some filters in my teeth, the camera in one hand, and a light in the other...!

still working on mastering the subtleties of photographing jewelry, but i'm very happy with the light quality!
(shown here reflecting off of a most deliciously satisfying pair of 10g sterling silver earrings.)