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

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

Homage to the West

Just finished this ring (which reminds me very much of my cowboy Grandpa, so is lovingly titled Homage to the West)

Come see it (and me!) in person at the MPC Mother's Day Jewelry Sale, May 3-5!

Love,

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! :)

Buttons and Social Constructionism

I've been thinking a lot lately about buttons.

It probably has something to do with the new collection I've been working on lately, or maybe it's that I haven't written a research paper in a while, but I kept wondering about buttons and their purpose in life, until I finally caved in and asked my favorite know-it-all, Google.

Just as I suspected, a button's main purpose throughout their long expanse of being (over 5,000 years!) has been functional and practical: fasteners for clothing. But, they have also had a historical use as ornamentation and seals, political campaign propaganda, lockets to hold miniature compasses during wars, and containers for drug smuggling.

What a fabulous smattering of uses!

And now, here I am (although definitely not the first to come up with the idea) making jewelry out of them. The buttons I am using in my jewelry also have an interesting story behind them.

Victorian Black Glass Buttons

Although they are not scarce, Victorian black glass buttons can be difficult to find and some, particularly the imitation fabric type, are quite valuable. They were first made in the 1500's, but it wasn't until the death of Prince Albert in 1861 that they became popularly used in dress. Queen Victoria wore nothing but black until her death in 1903, and fashion trends of that time followed her lead. You can find more about them (and all sorts of other buttons!) here.

The buttons I have that I am using in my new collection have all sorts of different designs, patterns, and images. One of my favorites looks like a seashell. Most of them have a beautiful silver luster and are faceted, which make them extra unique and serve beautifully as re-purposed 'stones' in my jewelry. I love to re-use items in ways they weren't originally intended for, and these buttons are finding new loving homes set in sterling silver as one more form of ornamentation. Their life goes on!

Here are a couple pictures of my two finished pieces set with these beautiful adornments.

Meteor 2010
© Erica Freestone
Sterling silver necklace pendant set with vintage Victorian black glass button.

Vintage Princess 2011
© Erica Freestone
Sterling silver double-banded ring with vintage Victorian black glass button.