Fabulous Finds....

I just found my jewelry listed as a fabulous find! (Although I am a day late) Thanks Ollie McKay's Chic Boutique! ...check it out here: Ollie McKay's Chic Boutique Blog: Fabulous Finds on Tuesday!

Happy accidents

Not too long ago I sat down at my bench and spent time working on some pieces for my Heart Collection. When using the hydraulic press to "puff" the sterling sheet I "pressed" too hard and put a nice big tear the silver. "OK that sucks. This better not be one of those days where everything I make turns to crap" I thought to myself because I have had days like that in the past. So I looked at the piece again and thought "Maybe I can still use this. What's the worst that can happen? It's already headed for the scrap pile so I can't really do any more damage." So I continued on. I cut, filed, "puffed" some copper pieces for the back sides of the pendants, etc, etc. Then it came time to solder all the pieces together. The first few went together perfectly. But the fourth one had solder run the wrong way. "Not that bad I can fix that" I thought to myself. Now it was time to solder the torn heart. I set it all up, turned on the torch and began to heat the piece. Before I knew it the solder flowed and so did the silver. I accidentally melted some of the silver around where the tear was. "Just great" I said out loud. Threw the piece in the water to cool it off before I put it in the scrap bucket and went back to the other pieces. When I finished with the "perfect hearts" I went back to the one I was now going to be scrap. I pulled out of the water and took another look at it. This might not be as bad as it looks. I cleaned it and finished it like I did the other pieces and in the end it became one of my favorite pieces that I ended up keeping it for myself and wear all the time! Gotta love happy accidents!

What to do Part 2....

Well, since my first "What to do" post I've decided that I should take some of those pieces apart and make something else with them which turned out to be a great idea! 3 one of a kind necklaces became 3 new one of a kind rings and I am VERY happy with the way they turned out! Let me know what you think of these new pieces....

michele grady designs

Just added "share/save" buttons to all the items on my website so anyone can do just that if they find the need to :) I figured I would post about my favorite bracelet to test out the new buttons and see if they really work so here goes! michele grady designs

What to do...

Have you ever made something you totally loved and then after a while decided you didn't quite like it as much as you thought? I have a few of these pieces sitting around and I have been trying to figure out what to do with them for a while now. Do I take them apart and start over? Do I sell them at a discount? Do I add more detail to them to make them better? hummm..what to do, what to do...any suggestions????

2010 Philadelphia Flower Show

This past week was the annual Philadelphia Flower Show but since my camera and computer were not getting along at the time I couldn't post any pictures. Now they both seem to be back to being friends and are allowing me to download my pictures again...My uncle is a member of one of the groups exhibiting there and got us exhibitors passes so me and my sister went to check it out. This was one of my favorite exhibits. It was called "box" and was made up of stacked metal shipping/storage containers. Inside of each container was a different floral display.

This is the dining room inside of one of the containers. I would love to have this as an outdoor space!

close up of the table "leg"

This is a close up of part of the outside "alley" that was created along the back side. The contrast in colors of the graffiti and the flowers really caught my eye!

inside another "box"...the white on white was really pretty despite the "mess"!

etsy store

I just reopened my etsy store again after not being able to keep up with it for awhile during the construction at my house since we are doing a lot of the work ourselves. So check it out! I will update daily with one of a kind items not found anywhere else as well as some of my favorite pieces...And as soon as I figure out why my camera can no longer upload pictures to my computer I'll post some updated pictures of the progress at my house... that will have to wait til next week though because I am off to Pottstown, PA this weekend for the Owen J Roberts High School 30th Annual Craft Show!

the coolest idea..

I just came across the coolest idea today while surfing the web...you can check it out here. A group of jewelry artists have come up with the idea to make one ring a day starting Jan 1, 2010for a total of 365 rings from each person! I wish I knew about it earlier because I am SUCH a ring person and would have joined in although it would be really tough with my studio still torn apart!