Monday, December 20, 2010

JETs on the Move: Jennifer Smith-Righter at The Revere Academy of Jewelry Art

Our very own Jennifer Smith-Righter of WearableByDesign is a magnificently talented jewelry artist. Back in June, Jennifer was honored with an Honorable Mention Award in the 2010 Silver Accessories Contest in Tokyo, Japan. Her winning necklace, Equilibrio , was the only US entry to win an award out of 647 worldwide submissions in this year’s competition. The piece was held on display at the National Art Center, Tokyo from June 23 – July 5, 2010. Recently, Jenn took a course geared toward perfecting techniques for the professional jeweler. The course Jenn took was the Jewelry Technician Intensive course at the Revere Academy . It was a total of 320 hours of instruction and lab time. The classes were 8 weeks, 5 days a week, where they learned the basics of the jewelry trade. The courses were broken down into the following components with materials to learn and to practice with: Casting Fabrication 1: Beginning Fab 2: Chains & Carving Fab 3: Construction Polishing & Finishing Repair 1: Basic Repair 2: Intermediate Setting 1: Basic Setting 2: Prongs Setting 3: Beads & Pave Trade Practices The sessions were split up into morning and afternoon sessions. Students were taught mainly by Alan Revere himself as well as Vaskin Tanielian and occasional instruction in other subjects by various members of the staff. It was very cleverly crafted so that each new subject taught built directly upon the previous project and felt very natural. The largest and most time consuming project they did was a box ring. This was one of the few projects where students were able to incorporate their own design. The project was to create a box ring and to decorate it using a sheet of roughly 1 inch square 14 k gold. They were to use less than 8 hours total time spent and could incorporate any other components or processes that they felt comfortable with. You can see the entire class' finished rings here. "My box ring was not the most creative ring -- there were several who were far more creative, but I was in a very serious frame of mind and wanted to focus on doing the task at hand rather than being a clever designer. I figured I could do that when I had my solid foundation of principles to draw from (insert giggle here!). "~Jennifer Smith-Righter

"So now, I'm eager to use my newly minted skills to create designs that incorporate gold and gems in ways I was unable to accomplish before. If anyone is even considering taking this course, I cannot recommend it highly enough!"~ Jennifer Smith-Righter

Congrats Jenn on your award and on completing such a rigorous course! You are an inspiration to the whole team!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

JET Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide Part 3: Vintage Jewelry

When I think of the Ghost of Christmas Past, I imagine her in the most stylish vintage bling! Here are some great ideas to turn Christmas past into Christmas "presents"! Stunning and sparkling are these Vintage Rhinestone Clip Earrings from BeadzNBling. Or if you crave something eye-catching around your neck, this Vintage Gemstone Trillium Shaped Pendant Necklace from ForetTwo should do the trick.
Soft and feminine are these Vintage Rose Quartz and Gold Earrings from DesignsbyCher.
Or, if the person on your list is looking for something more casual, this Vintage Hinged Wood Cuff Bracelet from LittleBrownBird might be just what they need.
You can find lots of fabulous vintage jewelry from the Jewlery on Etsy Team by selecting "Vintage" in the search box on Etsy and search the term JETTEAM.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

JET Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide Part 2: Alternative Gifts

Although our wonderful team is centered around jewelry, our members are certainly multi-talented! Here are some great gift ideas from our team members for the person on your list who, for some unknown reason, doesn't want jewelry this year. (**cough cough** I think that last part got stuck in my throat.) BirchhillStudio, the alter-ego of OliviasGarden offers this gorgeous print titled Red Velvet Dahlia

EmotionalOasis has this super cool fused glass Pulsate Keychain

Juliaa has an alter-ego as well. Her shop Knitorama has these clever little stitch markers. They come in all different phrases, even custom. These Cake or Death stitch markers are among my favorite.

AbacusBeadCreations has lovely watches in her line. Here is her beautiful Pink Green Blue Lavender Pastel Watch .

EndlessBounty makes some wonderfully yummy lotions. This is her Cross Cage Lotion Set.

SatinDollCo has this adorable Queen of Morocco Yoga/Pilates Mat Wrap.

Search JETTEAM on Etsy to find more fabulous gift ideas from our wonderful Jewelry on Etsy Team.

Treasury Challenge: 12 Days of Christmas Part 2

Part 2 of our treasury challenge on Etsy featuring the theme "The 12 Days of Christmas" Challenge treasury by beadsme

Challenge treasury by peacesofindigo

Challenge treasury by jemsbyjbandcompany

Challenge treasury by TheBrassHussy

Challenge treasury by Dashery

Challenge treasury by DesignsbyCher

Challenge treasury by thebeadgirl

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Treasury Challenge: The 12 Days of Christmas

Today, I decided to present my teammates with a challenge. Make a holiday gift guide treasury on Etsy featuring the 12 Days of Christmas. I asked that the curator use at least four teammates in the grouping and find, among our team and the rest of the Etsy community, representations of all 12 days. The 12 Days of Christmas, as the song goes, are as follows:

1 Partridge in a pear tree
2 Turtle Doves
3 French Hens
4 Calling Birds
5 Golden Rings
6 Geese A-laying
7 Swans A-swimming
8 Maids A-milking
9 Ladies Dancing
10 Lords A-leaping
11 Pipers Piping
12 Drummers Drumming


The first treasuries of the challenge are in, and I have to say, the curators did an outstanding job! I can't wait to see the rest of them!

The first is done by Maureen of mcrdesigns. You may click on the picture below to see the actual treasury and the items included. Please take the time to check out each of the fantastic items by some wonderful Etsy sellers.