Cuff Link Ring Process

early Early

In 2003 I started selling my first commercial jewelry designs at Spool in Kansas City. Spool was owned by my friends Cobi Newton & Hadley Johnson who supported my craft and gave me my first opportunity to sell my pieces. Thanks to them I gained the confidence to push designing jewelry & grow into creating Early. From there I started organizing local shows & seeking out national stores to consign my jewelry. More history to come...but Early did not become my full time job till the fall of '06. Pictured above: a reconstructed necklace & blue feather earrings on my first business card. View more early Early pieces on my flickr.com

Zambia

In 2001 I lived in Zambia for 6 months working for an HIV/AIDS project. I have started scanning in my photos and uploading them to flickr for postarity. I will post some of my favorites here on the blog. In the above pictures-1. Zebras in the Luangwa National Park where we took a few days holiday. 2. The solar eclipse occured while I was in Zambia, this photo was taken at a street kids school where I viewed the eclipse. The children are modeling the glasses that were donated to the school from a local business.

Business advice from Kristen Ferrell-(recommended to those interested in doing a creative business endeavor)

Advice from Kristen Ferrell about starting/maintaining a business in the arts, design, or anything based off your creative juices. Good advice found HERE on her blog. Kristen is a feisty sprite who once lived in Lawrence, KS and who really helped me navigate my way to starting my own business. Kristen is an artist who also has a line of clothing which is awesome. I totally recommend checking out her link if you have or are interested in starting your own business. Miss Kristen.

Copied

After my first tradeshow months later I recieved an email & the image above from a store I sold
to asking where I had my screenprinted wood earrings made. They found these earrings(above) in a massive wholesale warehouse in L.A. which sells cheap foreign made jewelry. I was confused, as my pieces are all being made here in Lawrence, KS. I am glad they contacted me, & since have had many people say they have seen these designs out there. Most recently on Mtv Real World. Being a small designer you are warned about being ripped off, as in this instance. The rip-offs used the exact patterns only inversed & the notched circle design which I had presented at the tradeshow. There is nothing you can do, it's done, but take it as a compliment & keep truckin.

The history behind my screenprinted pieces. I took a screenprinting class in college & revisited the studio to do some sample printing on wood a few years ago. With this first experiment I used a handsaw to cut the individual pieces. That obliderated my wrists, so I did some research & found a laser cutter in my area that could cut the pieces quickly out of the wood. I have a girlfriend who screenprints the wood for me here in Lawrence, she uses a waterbased ink which is safer & easier on the environment to use, rather than the plastic based ink I had used for some previous runs. They are then laser cut & I drill the holes and put the piece together. Any questions please comment, about being a small designer who discovers your being copied, or about my screenprinted pieces.

Screenprinted Earrings

Screenprinted Birch Wood Earrings- Small Side Hanging, Lillie pattern, Black ink, w/ Sterling Silver earwires.

Screenprinted Walnut Wood Earrings-Front hanging, Ruth pattern, Silver ink, w/ Sterling silver earwires.

Ensemble for polyvore.com

Jenny from Wiksten created this ensemble for polyvore.com which include my Engraved Owl Earrings & her Haeshu Dress. Jenny has a very successful blog dedicated to her Designs, fashions that inspire/seduce her, & life. Visit her blog here & her online shop here. Cute & Casual, perfect fit. Thanks Jenny!

Make Shop Rock 2

The MAKE SHOP ROCK show is an evening centered around designers showcasing and selling their handmade work, alongside performances from Boston & Pittsburgh musicians!
My friends Raymond & Minette who do Ray Min Shoulderware have organized another Make Shop Rock show. Last years was a total blast & we had such a fun weekend, I am very bummed that it will not work out for me & my boyfriend to go to Pennsylvania to do the show & visit our friends there. Early Jewelry will be available at the show, please stop by if you find yourself in the Pittsburgh, PA area.
Make Shop Rock
July 12, 8pm
@ Brillobox
4104 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh PA

Send Me Your Photo's

Emma, sent me this image of her wearing her newly purchased Front Leaf wood engraved earrings that she had purchased from my website. This very art aware lady had this photo on her myspace and let me know about it, & it made me so excited! Please send me images of you wearing your Early Jewelry pieces, if you don't mind the public views & I will post them in the blog. Would love to see who, what, & where my pieces are worn. Take Care!

Decoylab

Maiko Kuzunishi the designer behind Decoylab has been key to Early Jewelry's aesthetic look. Helping with all major design elements creating the logo, packaging, tags, lookbook layouts, and various graphics. She is absolutely amazing, sweet, & so very talented. Besides graphic design Maiko also has her own products available for sale thru her website, www.decoylab.com. Her adorable brand new wall-hanging clock $28, & Postcard design for Early Jewelry's Website Launch Party pictured below. Maiko lives and works in Kansas City.

Tee & Toast

Claire Mullan my friend from Northern Ireland has a super cute line of t-shirts, hoodies, tea cups, & accessories available online at, www.teeandtoast.com
Claire's product pictured above: perfect cuppa tea tee design, grumpy raincloud childrens tee(oh my god the little gal in this image is so cute), & Mr. T tea cup. These are just a few of the sugary sweet, funny, happy items Claire provides the world. Thanks Claire!

Back from England

Pals. Laurie Robertson(Anorak), Claire Mullan(Tee & Toast), & Me in London.
Claire came over from Ireland to visit me while I was in London. Us 3 went
to the same university in England together. It was great to catch up with
my friends in England. I had such a fun time & already miss it & them.
Great times.

B/W of Grandparents Farm

More shots by my cousin Chris of my grandparents farm.

Sneak Peek

The High Noon collection which debuts-SOON-at the Pulse tradeshow will
have rings! This is a sneak peek at what these look like, sterling silver or gold vermeil, (3mm band width). Not available till mid June 08.

New PM Rings

Our new addition to the PM collection is our vintage cuff link rings. The PM collection
uses vintage or found pieces constructing new jewelry out of the old. Due to the quick demand
for the PM collection we rarely have a chance to post product online. If you are interested in
personally purchasing this line please contact us via email.

Anorak

Anorak's "Kissing Animals" is the launch collection for Laurie Robertson. Laurie is a close friend of mine that I met while studying in England. Anorak will also be exhibiting at the Pulse Tradeshow & is the reason for our involvement with Pulse. Seen above (kissing horses bedding & kissing rabbits garden kneeling pad). I am very proud of Laurie!

High Noon

My next collection "High Noon" is influenced by the wild west, 70's western movies, parlors, horses, saloons, & the like.  Above is a picture of Grace Kelly in the movie High Noon.  I will be debuting this line at Pulse tradeshow, this is my first collection which will have rings available.

Fragments from my Grandparents Farm

My grandparents live just down the road from my farm where I grew up. So lots of time was spent there. As you can see my roots are deeply sewn in the earthiness of farm life. These photos are by my cousin Chris who does Dirtroad Photography, he captured the place beautifully. I will continually post pictures taken by Chris, whose sensitivity to rural subjects also reflects my own.

Pics from the Studio

The studio(research station). This is my friend Star's white chair that has been left with me, it does not get used enough.

The toolbox.

Looking Glass

I have been making these compact mirrors with special Early Jewelry images as a complementary gift from my business since our website Launch party in 2005. We love handing them out to people interested in Early. I am now including one with online orders. They go quickly so we were constantly "out", we are making a strong effort to keep a supply always on hand. There are about 7 different images available, some designed by my friend Ilka Iwanczuk. Below, Kristen who assists me with jewelry production is making a compact in the studio.