December Studio Events

Amid the hustle and bustle of the season, with company coming, and special dinners and parties to host, with shopping to do and baking, too, we have both been so busy. You have too, I'd bet. We can help you out, we hope. With affordable, handcrafted gifts, check out the specials at the studio. And if you want to make your own handcrafted gift, we can help you do that, too.

We've planned a special sale item every week. (Purchases must be made at the studio for special prices to apply.) This week:


Stone pendants on a leather necklace, only $10. Mix and match to create your own combination.





Do you want to make a gift to give? Join us for Drop-in workshops.Come to the studio to make a gift for someone special. We are open on December 2, 5, 9, 12, 16 and 19; 9:00 – 11:30am. Come make Gypsy Bracelets, Collage Journals, Glass Ornaments, or Gypsy Journals. Other projects may be available, just ask.

Artist Profile - Christiane Robinson

Kerry discovered Christiane Robinson's beautiful pendants and we couldn't resist inviting her to participate in our fall art sale. Her work is amazing!

Christiane describes her work as whimsical and colorful, we would also add beautiful and unique to describe her pendants. Under the name Aspengold Artisan Jewelry, Christiane makes pendants and earrings by applying high quality papers, including Japanese chiyogami and Florentine papers, to glass, dominoes and wooden Scrabble tiles. The papers are often accented with swarovski crystals or micro beads and sealed with a special process. Strung from a leather cord, organza ribbon, or silver necklace, the effect is stunning!

She says her inspiration often comes from the beautiful chiyogami Japanese paper she works with, or from nature, her children and travels she's made. She also has an eye for color, trends, the seasons, and art. Christiane will look for paper in the style of artists like Mondrian and Monet.

Currently a Colorado resident, Christiane's childhood was spent in Pennsylvania and Germany. She can trace her artistic tendencies to her youth; she said, "My love of arts and crafts goes all the way back to my childhood. I was born in central Pennsylvania. My father was a college professor of history and art and my mother was an artist trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. As my father is European, I spent periods of my childhood growing up in Munich and Heidelberg, where I was frequently exposed to the arts and music of Southern Germany. I graduated from Salem College in 1992 with dual degrees in history and German. While attending college, I began my first foray into the arts by taking an art class on stained glass windows. For the next decade, I periodically assisted my mother in building leaded glass windows as part of her studio, Arran Art Glass. I am still a member of the International Guild of Glass Artists."

We love the whimsy of the pendant on the back of a scrabble tile or domino. Her glass pieces are equally beautiful with their clean, crisp look. We are impressed with the quality of her craft as well as her eye for color and style. Surely you will agree.

Her work has been sold across the world, from California to Australia and we are pleased she will be joining us next weekend. Come and see it for yourself; it's simply beautiful!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

First the good, Kerry and I received an adorable ephermera pack all the way from Canada from Altered Kat at Great Musings. She has a great blog and a really neat website with wonderful ephemera and embellishments. She does lots of giveaways and offers freebies galore. Thanks Kat, for the great packet of things. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Stop by and visit her when you have a chance.

The bad, we are offering a fabulous class next week--The advent calendar class. (see the photo) We loved making this project! So much so, that we each made two. One for December and one for the fall months. So what's bad about this? We only have two people signed up for the class. We may have to cancel!

We offered lots of classes during our first year in the studio. We pulled back a bit during our second year. Our friends and studio regulars started asking for new and different classes again, so we came up with a few. We have lots of interest and few sign-ups.

So many variables go into whether or not some one signs up for a class. the time of year, holidays, money, other time commitments, family, class topic, etc, etc.... Kerry and I haven't become mind readers, yet. Someday we'll have it down and know how to make everyone happy.
In case you're interested, here are our two classes this season. If you're not local, we're sorry. If you know someone in the area of Boulder and East Boulder County Colorado, pass along the information.

UPCOMING CLASSES:

• November 8 (NEW DATE!!) Magnetic Mixed Media Advent Calendars – perfect for your home or as a special gift. Check out our samples to see the possibilities.
  7:00pm – 9:00pm
  $45
  
• November 27 Collaged Candles and Wine boxes – It’s your call, make as many as you like!
  7:00pm – 9:00pm
  $10 per item

The ugly. Sometimes customers can be tricky. We always hope that our customers are satisfied with their purchases, from Amazon, from our Etsy shop, or from our website. We make every attempt possible to make a customer happy if they are not satisfied with their order. That being said, we have come to realize that some people are hard to please. Others are, in fact, impossible. It is that occasional, impossible person that causes things to get ugly. Recently we had an order for a cute little pendant from our Amazon shop. In fact this pendant has been flying off our bench--we have to keep 4 or 5 in inventory just to keep up! It is simple, it is easy to wear with lots of styles, and it is inexpensive. This pendant is made from something called Crazy Horse Stone. Our gem and stone wholesaler describes this stone this way: Crazy Horse Stone~ A kind of limestone material (from China) exhibiting natural circles and lines of flamboyant colors and combinations. No two pieces are alike. This material mixes well with many colors. Coated with clear epoxy to provide better luster and hardness.

So here is the ugly part, one of the recent customers who ordered this pendant wrote a review (rating us 1 out of 5) that says this: "show and said stone...when real is plastic!!!" Not only that, she has filed a complaint with Amazon against us. This is upsetting to both Kerry and myself. We certainly have offered this customer a refund, but her goal now seems to cause trouble for us.

The truth is, we don't sell plastic jewelry. We don't attempt to misrepresent our jewelry or ourselves in any way. We do want our customers happy. But, how do you resolve a situation with someone who doesn't really want resolution?

So, there it is folks, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I guess we'll tough it out! We hope you all have a great weekend!

There we are...

Today we were listed on the SheFinds Blog about their Shop for the Cure fundraiser for ovarian cancer research. 20% from the sale of our two designs will benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Take a look at the SheFinds Blog to find out about all the wonderful artists participating in this worthwhile fundraiser.

Cowgirl Spirit!

Kerry and I love vintage and kitsch. We love reinventing vintage and kitsch into new things in our work. Take a look at our salute to Cowgirl Spirit:

(available at Amazon.com in the Milagro Jewelry storefront.)

American Idol

Recently Rachel was googling us, (Yes, we google ourselves, doesn't everyone?) and found us on the American Idol site. Apparently Gina Glocksen, who was unfortunately voted off, had one of our necklaces listed in her style section. You would think we would then have a huge run of selling these pieces but unfortunately not. But it is nice to have our work recognized on something with such huge exposure. I am including the link for anyone who might be intersted in looking.
http://getthelook.americanidol.com/IdolLook.aspx?path=women&mediaId=1&titleId=719&contestantId=725&episodeId=908&userId