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

TERRI INEFUKU

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!!!!!