I heart this ceramic ring

How great are these? Ceramic rings inspired by Barbie!
via Mixko

I'm not sure whether to laugh or look away!

"Barbie hoodie"
via flickr

Ahahahahaha okay, I'm laughing… what? it's funny! and gross… and weird. and so me. Thanks for sharing Diem :-)

Alloy Gallery

New work recently sent to Alloy Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island:

Smiley Necklace on torque
Sterling silver, Barbie™ doll smiles, resin.

I will likely make another version of this necklace at some point in the near future, because it's an idea I'm really excited about. I've never built up in tiers before, and I like how it allowed me to really layer and overlap the smiles to make it feel even more "crowded." I was aiming to create a chaotic 'audience' feeling, which I think I achieved.

This piece was the biggest ordeal out of the whole grouping however. It was a huge learning experience and overall I'm okay with the results, but I still feel like I need to give it another go 'round with slightly different construction/format to feel like I've really satisfied the concept.

Smiley Necklace (detail)
Sterling silver, Barbie™ doll smiles, resin.

Blue Eye Clover Necklace
Sterling silver, Barbie™ doll eyes, resin.

I struggled with the design/layout of this necklace for quite a while. It sat on my table for weeks while I kept re-arranging the parts. In the end I decided to just pick an idea and run with it and I turned out being pleasantly surprised by the results. For one thing, it's super comfortable to wear and hangs beautifully. I would say it's much more exciting on the body than off. I wish I took a close-up photo of the hand-made chain. Each link has been individually hammered which gives it a really unique texture.

Make-a-Face Necklace
Sterling silver, Barbie™ doll parts, resin.

6 Pack Abs Ring
Sterling silver, Ken doll abs, resin.

Pure fun with this one. Can't wait to use the abs in other works!

5 Senses Earrings

Sterling silver, Barbie™ doll parts, resin.

Smile Bracelet in Pink
Sterling silver, Barbie™ doll smiles, pigmented resin.

I'm enjoying 'breaking out of the circle' lately. One of my favorite things about this style bracelet is the shaped wire lips toggle that threads through the pink circle at the other end for closure.

Artist I'm Loving…

Houston, Texas based photographer Cara Barer's work is a mix of sculpture and photography. Barer finds discarded books and transforms them; sometimes by soaking them in water for a few hours or by folding, bending and manipulating the book's mass. The resulting photos are beautiful kaleidoscopic images, with fluidity and balance transcending the books original form. I think they're just lovely. For many more images, visit her website.

© Cara Barer

© Cara Barer

"Half Price Books became a regular haunt, and an abandoned house gave me a set of outdated reference books, complete with mold and neglect. Each book tells me how to begin according to its size, type of paper, and sometimes contents. "
- Cara Barer

© Cara Barer

© Cara Barer

© Cara Barer

© Cara Barer

6 Pack Abs

6 Pack Abs ring
sterling silver, plastic Ken doll parts, resin. © Margaux Lange 2008.

Quite the cocktail ring, no?

new Thank You cards

I finally bit the bullet and decided to purchase custom thank you cards from uprinting.com They arrived the other day and I'm pleased with how they came out, color/paper wise. It's great because now I'll be even more inclined to send off quick notes to people.

I made the VERY stupid mistake however, of not putting the title of the piece, copyright, my website info, etc, on the back of the card! Wow, dummy. I considered printing a sticker with the info on it but it just seems like an extra annoying step, (though it would be less annoying than hand-writing it all every time) I'm afraid a sticker may also be kind-of cheesy looking… I may still do that though, we'll see. Any thoughts?

In honor of Anti-Procrastination Day

Anti-Procrastination Day: A self-imposed weekly nudge to make the things I've been putting off HAPPEN. Be it writing a thank you card, cleaning the kitty litter… or in this case: blogging! (An idea discussed during my "Get Organized" class - which has ended.) I thought I'd take this opportunity to get you caught up on what's been going on in my crazy busy life these days…

• Working as my own boss full time RULES. I couldn't be happier about this decision and the timing was perfect. I'm taking on new galleries, filling wholesale and custom orders and have found my studio routines are really shaping up. Thanks so much to all of you who commented and expressed your support about this decision.

• I have an intern! Ashley, or more appropriately "Awesome Ashley" has been helping me out in my studio for the past four weeks and she's fantastic! I feel really lucky to have such great help. (more on that in a future blog post…)

• Pop Culture Collision Exhibition opened at Shaw Jewelry Gallery in Northeast Harbor Maine, where my work was exhibited alongside incredible jewelers such as Harriet Estel Berman, J. Fred Woell and Robert Ebendorf (wowza!)

• Alloy Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island is exhibiting my one-of-a-kind works starting this month, so if you live nearby… go check 'em out.

• I made a new grouping of work for Julie Artisans' Gallery in nyc that will be for sale exclusively through their website… a new venture for that gallery. The work I made for them is part of my wholesale line, (so it's made in multiples.) This is a big change for us because for the past five years they've sold only my one-of-a-kinds. Their new improved website is due for its' reveal this fall, so stay tuned. Here are a few glimpses of the pieces for sale:

POP smile Necklaces $210

(POP smile detail)

Smile Cufflinks $170

'Have a Heart' Necklaces $180

• I'm on twitter! I just joined, inspired by the fabulous Megan Auman. I've added it to the sidebar on my blog so you can get to it that way as well.

• Something BIG is in the works that I hinted at a while back… unfortunately I still can't talk openly about it, but soon soon soon! I'm really sorry for the tease (…sort of ;-)