6.29.2013

My First Press!!!!

If there's anyone reading this out there, I just wanted to share with you my very first press!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

You Deserve a Metal

Sierra Keylin's handcrafted sterling silver jewelry

Sierra Keylin

If you've ever seen Lord of the Rings, then you know two things:

1. Orlando Bloom is way hotter as a blond.
2. Never underestimate the power of precious metal jewelry.

Get ready to go googly-eyed over Sierra Keylin Jewelry, a line of sterling silver rings, necklaces, and more, all hammered, soldered, and stamped by hand in Keylin's Punchbowl studio, and accented with colorful stones and earth minerals.

The 34-year-old designer started taking silversmithing classes at the Honolulu Museum of Art when she moved from Seattle in 2007. She's been obsessed with jewelry making ever since, churning out bold, yet classic pieces with clean shapes and rustic textures.

Keylin's newest collection, Nomad, was inspired by antique, unearthed treasures (think old coins, talismans) transformed into beloved pieces of jewelry. Fixate on hammered, oxidized half moons hung from a knotted strand of faceted Sleeping Beauty turquoise beads. Covet dangling earrings with riveted, hand-brushed discs that barely graze the collarbone. Best of all, you don't need to endure a life-threatening trek to procure them - a simple click to her newly launched website will do.

Lastly, the rings. Keylin makes custom, one-of-a-kind statement ones: layered, ridged leaf-shaped sheets of sterling silver topped with agate, or slabs of opal set on geometric base plates with molten accents.

We'll understand if you start muttering, "My precious..."

Pieces range from $45 earrings to $200 custom pieces. Bonus! Save 20 percent on Sierra Keylin Jewelry's Etsy shop with the code LEICHIC through Sunday. For more information, visitSierraKeylin.com. Photos courtesy: Sierra Keylin.
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I am SO EXCITED to see my name, and my work in a real live online publication...Somewhere other than what I put out there myself on facebook and this blog. This is the direct result of me MAKING things happen and not waiting around for opportunities to come to me magically.   The past few months have been an exercise in small business education...I've thought long and hard about what "success" means for me, and I'm plotting and planning, and learning all that I can to make it happen.  I've been compiling lists of potential wholesale opportunities, soliciting local publications for press, researching craft shows and markets on the mainland, and browsing blogs for possible partnerships/advertising opportunities/features.  The common theme in the business exposure department for me seems to be the "if you build it they will come" mentality...One that I wasn't so convinced of before.  With so much social media, and my obsessive browsing of other artists/makers work, I found that I had put myself in a place of constant insecurity about the state of my work and my business.  I've fallen victim to the common mistake of constant self critical comparison to the perceived success of others, and the feeling that maybe I'm lagging behind somewhere.  Flipping the switch on that way of thinking and turning that shit OFF is the best thing I have done for myself since I started this silversmithing journey.  How can I move forward, grow, learn, and create if I'm always looking sideways at other people...Answer, I can't!!!  So, it's pretty clear to me that the solution to all those thoughts and feelings is to close the door on them, lock it up tight, and never look back.  I'm making a promise to myself, for my own sanity and the future success of my business, to stop the voice in my head that thinks about how everybody else runs their business, or creates their body of work.  My process, my work, my jewelry, my business is ME, and it's supposed to be fun dammit!!! 
So, that was really long winded and way more than I planned on sharing, but sometimes you've just got to let it all out...
You may have notices things look a bit different here on the blog lately...bare with me as I continue to tweak and fine tune things a bit.  I've been working with a wonderful graphic designer and we are almost finished with all of our new branding, and the new look for Sierra Keylin Jewelry, including a "real" website and new webshop!!!!!!!!!!!! WooHoo for progress!!!!!
 

6.28.2013

Here and There...

A few things...
New friends are a beautiful thing.  New friends inviting you over for a sunset lounge session in the garden, with a view of Diamondhead, and a pinky glow of a summer sunset, are a very beautiful thing


Afternoon light, and new pillows make me happy.



Jungle-like plant encounters in the middle of the city, on my walk to work...


Mr Maximus always makes me smile when I'm having a bad day...Thanks buddy!



I finally tackled a cuff project that I've had in my head for a while...She needs some proper photographs to really show off how chunky and awesome she is, stay tuned for this and a few other, more dainty cuff creations to be hitting the shop ASAP.  



Happy Friday...with love from The Land of Aloha~

6.11.2013

June?

When I'm feeling overwhelmed with thoughts, like I need to brain dump all the things in my head, they often don't come out right.  I'll spend an hour writing a long post of all my worries, my dreams, my insane internal musings.  Then I'll read it over and decide it's not worth sharing, or it's just too negative, or too whiny, or too whatever...So I'll write a Haiku instead!


I see the numbers
Days come and gone so quickly
Life on fast forward

I take my sweet time
When I should be pressing on
Dreams don't build themselves

Like sand through fingers
The dates on the page pass by
I'm left feeling late

I should, I will...what?
Wait until the perfect time
As though it's out there

There is only now
And she's a fleeting mistress
But soon, now is past

All I seem to have
Is a head full of ideas
And little work done

Time for a jump start
I want to shed the old ways
Start anew with LOVE


In other randomness, below are a few snaps from the past week...

I love it when the clouds roll in like this...

Planning, plotting, dreaming, scheming, building, forging, hoping...

Insaaaane foliage on my walk with Max

Stalking my favorite old houses in one of HNL's oldest neighborhoods

I love it when the palm trees are planted in a straight line like this,
something about it seems so formal and regal.  I know they take a long time to get that
tall and it makes me think of what the property must have looked like when they
were planted.

We used to live around the corner from this house, I would walk by slowly and try to sneak a peek
inside.  What you can't tell here is that the property is HUGE.  This tree is GINORMOUS, there's a huge
fish pond, and circular driveway, and all of those clumps up in the tree are clusters of
Staghorn Ferns...It's seriously like something out of a dream.  I took Max for his walk yesterday and
for some reason I wanted to go back and visit this house, and my old neighborhood.  It was about 8 degrees cooler
up there, a thin layer of clouds and a perfect breeze...It was a lovely break from the hotness at home.

We had another commune dinner last night, good people, good conversation, many belly
laughs, and lots of dogs.  Also I got a lesson in red wine that has sparked my interest...
A bit of well placed information can really make you appreciate something
you thought you never cared to learn about.