Karen Landis » Inspiration

What Do You Use?

Karen — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:35:09 +0000

I’m going through a bit of a purge phase (e.g., sorting through old books, clothes, supplies, etc.). It’s got me wondering why I keep things I adore tucked away. I have some lovely pieces packed in boxes because “I don’t want anything to happen to them”. I never even look at them.

For instance, I bought an amazing sterling silver and crystal skull clasp at On A String a while back. It is cleverly constructed, gorgeous, edgy and was (for me at least) a splurge. It also reminds me of Alexander McQueen’s work which makes me love it even more. But it is put away, wrapped in tissue paper. Why not pull it out and design a piece for it?

And what about my collection of Depression Glass? Why is it upstairs packed in boxes in a closet? What would happen if I unpacked it? Maybe I should even (gasp!) use it as my dinnerware.

Jennifer L. Scott’s Daily Connoisseur video on using your best things, has inspired me to reevaluate not only what I keep but what I do with it.

If you aren’t familiar with Jennifer, she has a book “Lessons from Madame Chic: The Top 20 Things I Learned While Living in Paris” and a blog “The Daily Connoisseur“. I bought the Kindle version of the book on Amazon and am thoroughly enjoying it.

The Light

Karen — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:27:40 +0000

A day late (for the solstice) but still beautiful. May you find your light this holiday season and keep it burning throughout the new year.

Designing A Collection – Week 1 (Mood Board)

Karen — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:45:18 +0000

In preparation for the holidays on Etsy, I decided to design a jewelry collection. I suspect I’m also strongly under the influence of Project Runway since I’ve recently watched Seasons 1 and 2 of both Project Runway Korea and Project Runway Australia.

The mentor for Korea, Professor Kan Ho-sup, gave advice that stuck with me when I think about designing jewelry. Granted, I was reading subtitles but I hope they were close to what he said. I wrote down,

“A collection should show progression”
“Be compact”
“Connect, connect, connect” and
“Boldly throw out the things that need to be thrown out”

I thought I needed to work more like a fashion designer and create a mood board or inspiration board. I gathered up items that caught my eye recently because they fit ideas I’ve been sketching or thinking about. I’ll be honest. I usually throw stuff like this in a folder and never look at it again. This time, I taped them to a piece of black gatorboard I had laying around. I used the blue painter’s tape so I can easily reuse the board. And voilà, my Fall/Winter 2011 Mood Board:

It took a lot longer to make than I thought it would. Plus, I was in the middle of prepping for a garage sale. (Garage sales apparently also take a lot longer than you think they will to get ready for.) I’ve stood my mood board on the back of my work table to use as a reference. I hope it will help me over the next few weeks. By placing some constraints on my designs, I think it will make it easier to get started. In any case, I’m excited about working on this collection now.

Next step > Consolidate and finalize the sketches I have in about 30 different places!

Feeling Bad (About Your Work) Is Good

Karen — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:15:30 +0000

Ira Glass, of This American Life, gives such sage advice for anyone who makes things that I had to share this video with you. When you’re struggling with a technique, when you’re disappointed in a design, when you break a piece because you pushed it further than it was meant to go, ask yourself what Ira would do? And in your head (or online), you’ll hear him say, “”It takes a while. It’s going to take you a while. It’s normal to take a while. You just have to fight your way through that. Okay? You will be fierce, you will be a warrior, and you will make things that aren’t as good as you know in your heart you want them to be.” But as he mentions earlier in the video, the cure is “do a lot of work”.

30 Days of Creativity – Day 30

Karen — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:03:56 +0000

I’m finishing up two larger pieces today. Here is the first one. It’s a soldered sterling silver bracelet. I’m so happy with the way this turned out. It looks and feels good on your wrist. I will be making more bracelets with this design.

30 Days of Creativity – Day 29

Karen — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 05:15:35 +0000

Today, I created a DIY soldered sterling silver prong setting for a faceted stone. Believe me, it’s a lot harder to make than it looks! I can’t tell you how many times it took me to get this one soldered. I think it’s probably much easier with a larger stone.

Still working on that bracelet with the set stones. I’m pretty sure it will not be done until Friday.

30 Days of Creativity – Day 28

Karen — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:40:55 +0000

My large project (hint: it’s a bracelet) is still not finished. It’s ready to have the three stones in it set in the morning. Maybe I’ll have a photo tomorrow.

I didn’t want to shirk my 30 Days of Creativity responsibilities though so here’s a mod inspired pair of earrings. They are opaque, matte glass wire wrapped in sterling silver. I added some small sterling beads for a bit of an accent, oxidized and buffed them with steel wool.