Recent Work

A few new pieces as of late.

The first to show is this beautiful rose cut ruby engagement ring I recently had the honor of making. Set in shining 18K white gold, a hefty bezel surrounds the stone, which sits on top of my waving, organic shaped Rugged band.

Custom rose cut ruby Rugged engagement ring in 18K white gold.

Custom rose cut ruby Rugged engagement ring in 18K white gold.

Custom rose cut ruby Rugged engagement ring in 18K white gold.

Custom rose cut ruby Rugged engagement ring in 18K white gold.

New ring boxes with my logo. I am expanding my branding to all my packaging. I will be using the fleur in my logo more and more instead of my whole logo that encompasses my name.
These awesome boxes are perfect for popping the question and are
included in any purchase of $250 or more.

Also on the way are new 'jewelry care' cards that give tips on how best to care for your new jewelry, which will go in every package.

My new ring boxes.

 

Moonstone, beautiful moonstone. Now offering both 14K yellow and 14K white gold options, in the original 'dainty' size and an upgraded more substantial metal size. I can also custom make these in 18K white or yellow gold, too!

 

Rose cut rainbow moonstone in 14K yellow and 14K white gold.

Rose cut rainbow moonstone in 14K white gold.

Double Stone Rings (Lately Post)

 

 

 

Raw Beauty

 

Sometimes a stone comes along and there is absolutely no need to design anything around it in metal. The stone itself is so stunningly beautiful on its own that anything more would take that away.

This raw, lightly tumbled chrysocolla is one of those stones.

What you may not know is that before I began my path as a metalsmith, I was on an explorative path in the science of geology. Rocks just get to me. The fact that the earth makes something like this over thousands, millions, of years is mind boggling and just...incredible.

This is one of those pieces where that comes out in full force. Where the coincidence (or destiny? Fate?) of my last name, Freestone, is kind of brought to the surface, put on display, to examine and wonder about, much like this beautiful rock.

So, this necklace. :)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/211683050/held-raw-chrysocolla-rock-gemstone-prong?ref=shop_home_feat_4



Party Re-Cap and Updates

Me and guests at the Open Studio + 1st Friday

Friday, September 7th was my first night participating in Pacific Grove's First Friday event. The weekend was a fun and busy one for our small, sweet little town: in addition to First Friday, it was also the Art and Wine Walk, and the weekend of the Pacific Grove Triathlon. I had a great turn out, and cannot thank everyone enough for coming out to support me and my fellow artists here in town. What a treat it was to have yummy cookies fresh from the oven from Carolyn's Cookie Company, as well as the delicious party-hit sweet potato and date tea biscuits (yum!) from my dear neighbor, Lydia.

There have been lots of lovely people wandering around town and poking their heads in to the studio the past few weeks. The weather has been warmer (for our 'summer' standards) and I have seen tale-tale signs of the sun for longer and longer hours of the day. As the days advance, I keep looking forward to the great indian summers we have here on the coast.

Things in the studio and in my life outside of jewelry-making have been very busy lately. I have been easily caught in the 'daily grind' as it were, so I've had to remind myself that there is so much beauty and peace all around me--if I'd just hold still a moment, I could see it! I don't know about you, but if I find myself doing nothing, I begin to feel guilty or lazy, so I rarely give myself a break. Perhaps it is the peril of owning and running your own business. There is so much to do, and so many things that could be better than they currently are. Not to mention so many new ideas and things to try out for the first time, which are always exciting and tend to take precedence over the rest, pushing the other stuff onto a longer and longer list of to-do's.

To 'take a moment' I forced myself to a few trips to the shore, wiggling my toes in the freezing cold water, taking in the breeze and the sweet ocean smell, and admiring the tide pools. I'd like to share that with you if only in the hopes that you might find some beauty and marvel, too.

Sea Anemone Rings with sea glass and shells
© Erica Freestone

From these various adventures to the ocean, I couldn't help but be inspired by the fantastic creatures and textures found on the shore. I knew the 'moments' wouldn't last forever so of course I had to make some sea anemones for finger-wearin'. This collection was a joy to create because it helped me see the wonder of the world as it is, and appreciate each difference and idiosyncrasy as perfect as its imperfection is...



I hope this update finds you all well, loved, healthy, and creative.

Sincerely,

Erica

Open Studio 9/7/12 5:00-9:00 Join Me!

Join me for Pacific Grove's double-header 1st Friday and Art Walk 

on Friday, September 7th from 5:00 - 9:00 PM.

Complimentary treats and drinks will be provided for your snacking pleasure. Make your way through P.G.'s fine art establishments and support your local community of creative folk as we pursue our artistic dreams!

Come down and see my newest collection of

completely handcrafted and one of a kind

pretties for those digits,

adornments for that stellar neck of yours,

flashy finery for your sweet little 'lobes,

and perfect treasures for your amazing wrists.

See ya there!

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Open Studio

Please join me this Friday night for a little nibbles, drinks, good music, and to see my newest collection as well as my new space if you haven't stopped in already.

Mother's Day is May 13--buy Mom a gift that's as one of a kind as she is! 

I have marked down many of my pieces to make room for new ones.

OPEN STUDIO

Friday, April 13, 2012

5:00-9:00 PM

157 Grand Ave. Suite 109

Pacific Grove, CA 93950

It is also the PG Art Walk on Friday, 

so many other art studios in town will have their doors open and lots of goodies! 

Come support your local artists!

Buy Local. Buy Handmade. Support the Arts.

Much love,

Erica

Video Time!

Many of you have asked for a video of me working in my studio...

so, without further ado--here it is! I hope you enjoy it! :)

Much love on this cold yet beautiful February day,

Erica

Early September Update

Well, it's been just a little over a month now in my new studio, and it's coming together nicely. Every day that I'm in there, it feels more and more like 'my studio' and not just some weirdly-shaped office/storefront. It is so nice having my own designated creative space, but I definitely miss my artist friend (and his amazing family) at my old work studio. 

I have to admit, though, the best part about my new studio is that it's only two blocks away from this. (Yep, I feel pretty lucky.)

A lot of things have happened since the move, too. I took a collection of pieces to a beautiful art gallery up in historic Folsom City (just east of Sacramento on 50) called Fire and Rain Gallery. They have some really phenomenal artists in there, so I'm feeling pretty flattered that they accepted my work at all! I brought them a few of my big statement rings and some more of my simpler pieces. I am in anticipation to see how they all do up there. Fingers are crossed that every piece finds a new and completely stoked owner!

Also, my fall dance classes have all started, so among all my kazillion jewelry projects I constantly have on my plate, I am teaching 7 different classes a week at various studios here in the area. I've got a pretty diverse group of students to keep me on my feet, too. Choreographing warm up exercises secretly happens while I'm taking a breather from too much sawing or my hands hurt from filing!

I also decided to re-work my website and in fact re-do it almost completely. Before, it was created and hosted on Wix, a flash-based website builder, but I've been totally unimpressed with so many different aspects of it that I decided to try a different route. Low and behold I discovered I had iWeb on my mac this whole time! iWeb is so easy to use, I put it together in less than three days. It's still not completely finished, but it's a constantly evolving project anyway. Make sure to check it out! What do you think? 

http://www.ericafreestone.com

Anyway, since lots of you have been asking for them, I figured I'd share some more pictures of the studio and it all coming together!

Cleaning! Mess equals stress as my old boss used to say.
Started off with a clean slate. Well, okay, mostly clean. The space is a weird double hexagonal shape with windows on almost every wall. Kinda neat, but also kind of like working in a fishbowl.

See? Clean, empty slate!

Front doors to the studio.

My work bench and design table.

Design table with new fancy homemade bead rack.

Signage. (Also homemade. Having little to no money forces one to be creative.)

Well, many more things need to be added, like the perfect jewelry display cases. It's all a work in progress. Just like everything! Hope you liked the pictures. If you're around, come stop by and say hello! 

Erica Freestone 

Handmade Artisan Jewelry

157 Grand Ave. Suite 109

Pacific Grove, CA 93950

www.ericafreestone.com

Much love and many wishes for creativity,

E

September 1, 2011

My new favorite thing? Stacking rings.

Petite Sterling Silver and Copper Handmade Stacking Rings

Ah, I love these little rings! So cute, so versatile. You can wear one, or as many as you can fit on your finger! I love these little hand-cut flowers. Each has it's own personality, and oh so cute. I usually shy away from copper, but you've got to switch it up every once in a while, right? Now, I am having copper dreams... I love the mixed metals. It's perfect.

Sterling Silver Flower Stacking Ring and Green Onyx Stacking Ring

And what about mixing and matching? It's totally in right now (according to etsy fashionistas) so here's my mix and match. One of my sterling silver flower stacking rings matched with a beautiful green onyx stacking ring. So pretty. So unexpected. Lovely!

Well, that's the update. Much love to you all on this beautiful Thursday evening, and happy September!

-Erica

News from Pacific Grove

Sterling silver flower and turquoise necklace. Handmade by Erica Freestone. Available on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/listing/80112273/necklace-handmade-turquoise-and-sterling?ref=v1_other_1

Now announcing my new Open Artist Studio

157 Grand Ave. Suite 109

Pacific Grove, CA 93950

(on the corner of Central Ave. and Grand Ave. 

across from the library, next to Back Porch Fabrics)

Open Hours

Mondays 10 - 6

Wednesdays 8 - 4

And by appointment

This is a unique opportunity to visit a working metal artist in her natural habitat. ;-)

Stop in, take a peek at my newest pieces, see works in progress, google at all my neat tools (don't mind the mess!)--be a part of my creative process!

Let me make you something beautiful. 

Something you will treasure forever.

Something from both your heart and mine.

See you soon!

Hot Off The Bench!

This, my friends, is what 12 hours of my time looks like.  :)

Love,

Erica

Etsy Treasury

Good morning everyone!

One of my limited edition turquoise rings was featured in an Etsy Treasury!

Thank you so much Danu Jewelry for including me in this awesome collection!

More about this ring

This ring is handmade from sterling silver round wire (for comfort) that is hammered on the outside to give it a wonderful texture. Two bands are then soldered together, and a hand-picked turquoise stone from my collection is set in a custom made fine silver bezel which is then soldered onto the double bands. I file out one or two small slivers of the bezel to mimic all the lovely matrix in the stone to complete the look and bring out the character of each individual stone. I then dip the ring in liver of sulfur to oxidize just the right parts and then give it a high polish. The last step is to engrave my signature on the back of the stone.

This ring is made to order to size and is a gorgeous addition to any collection!

Much love as always,

Erica

Back In The Studio!

After a week with the flu, I was eager to get back into the studio to finish several pieces I had started last weekend. I love the way they all turned out!

I began this piece with a vision for the black onyx cab, thinking it would be so neat to have an interesting cut out in the back showing the back of the stone. I switched back and forth between a telephone (very pop-art of me) or another house or my logo (the little swirl with leaves), but finally decided the angel wings were the perfect fit. Like I said in my last blog, cutting them out wasn't difficult, but filing them and sanding them down to perfection was really quite a challenge! I think they turned out pretty cool. I decided to add the hammered circle on the back just to give the piece some depth.

Meanwhile, I had been trying to think of ways to re-use cut links from chains and had come up with these sweet little flowers with brass ball centers. I just had to add one of these flowers to this piece. The necklace is quite long (measuring 29"--hitting just at the sternum) allowing the pendant to flip back and forth between 'front' and 'back.' I added a little flower bead several inches from the pendant on one side to give it some asymmetry and made the bead with double facing little flowers. Very sweet! I hope it finds a home in a very stylish girl's wardrobe!


I can never work on only one thing at a time (ineffective time-wise!) so, while I was working on that piece I was also working on another little bow necklace. Here is the finished result:

This necklace can be worn two ways: with the flower facing out or the heart facing out. Again, to add asymmetry, there is a red brass heart on one side a few inches up along the chain. The lobster clasp attaches to another bow.




After a week laying in bed and trying to get through my classes (I teach contemporary dance) and no jewelry creating, I had been dreaming up another design for a ring. Here's what came out of that dream!

I love this ring. It's made of red brass, silver, and copper balls. It turned out so cool! It will be hard to see this one go!

Okay! Enough with the blog! I'm ready to get back into the studio again! :)