Kathryn Designs at the GBK Gift Lounge for the American Music Awards

After all the excitement for The 46th Annual CMA Awards, I am thrilled to have another great gifting opportunity so soon!  Via The Artisan Group, my Gemstone Teardrop necklaces will be gifted to celebrities attending the GBK Gift Lounge for The 40th American Music Awards.  The gift lounge will be held in Los Angeles on November 16th and 17th.  The award show airs on ABC on Sunday, November 18th.

Gemstone Teardrop Necklace

In shopping news.....Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are fast approaching.  I will be offering some great deals on my Kathryn Designs Website.  In the meantime, check out some amazing offers via The Artisan Group Deals page.  My gemstone flower cuff is currently on sale for 60.00 (normally 80.00) until November 18th!

Gemstone Flower Cuff

Feeling grateful and blessed for all the wonderful, supportive people in my life.
My heart goes out to those who are still suffering the after effects of Hurricane Sandy.
<3kathryn

Vacation in Naples, Florida and a necklace for Vanessa Lachey!

I'm slowly getting back into the groove after a lovely, pampering, totally indulgent trip to the amazing Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida..  If you are ever looking for a place to be treated like a queen, it is the place to be! The service is just unparalleled.  The beach is gorgeous, the restaurants are fabulous, and I did not want to leave!

Ritz Carlton Naples

Yes, that is me under one of those umbrellas :)

When I got home, I finished up a necklace that is being sent to Vanessa Lachey, via The Artisan Group.

Sunset Necklace with Fire Opal

I am also working on some new designs that are completely different than anything I've done before- unisex designs in faux ivory, metal clay, and polymer clay.  Stay tuned for photos!  

Mixing My Media: Metal Clay Plus Polymer Clay

I have worked with Precious Metal Clay and Art Silver in the past, but for my most recent creations, I wanted to try out some of the cool new base metal clays.  I have been a huge fan of Hadar Jacobson's work for several years.  In addition to being fabulous artist, she makes and sells different types of metal clay in powder form.  I love this idea, because there is no concern about the clay drying out. She provides detailed instructions on mixing and firing the various types of clay. The mixing is pretty simple.  It just involves adding distilled water to the powder until the right consistency is achieved.  The firing is a little more complicated, as I learned through trial and error. Best of all, base metal clay is far more affordable than pure silver or sterling silver clay.

I used Hadar's White Bronze Metal Clay for my first experiments. I test fired a few simple shapes and they came out just fine.  However, when I fired my first few "real" pieces I realized they had not sintered because they were thicker than my test pieces (sigh....). Fortunately, all was not lost, and I was able to re-fire most of the pieces at a slightly higher temperature and they were a success!

Here is the first piece I made combining White Bronze and polymer clays:

White Bronze and Polymer Clay Heart Necklace with Garnet

I made a textured dome form out of polymer clay and added a garnet cabochon and some swirly designs. 

I wanted my next piece to be more complex, so I decided to make a test piece with polymer clay only and THAT project became a very fun distraction with a life of its own for several days!

Amulet in Polymer Clay with Fire Opal CZ and Garnets

Here is the White Bronze and polymer clay version:

White Bronze and Polymer Clay with Pink Sapphire CZ, Lab Ruby and Pink Tourmaline

I used a layered construction in both pieces to add an element of depth.  I will absolutely be doing more with metal clay in the near future!

In other news, I was fortunate to have my work included in gift bags for the press at the GBK Gift Lounge for the MTV Awards, as a member of The Artisan Group. 

Press Release for GBK Gift Lounge for MTV Movie Awards

Polymer clay plus gemstones for Rachael Ray!

I am very excited to share my latest opportunity via The Artisan Group!  I am contributing a necklace that will be included in a special swag bag for the lovely Rachael Ray.  I have recently become interested in using gemstones in my polymer clay jewelry, and decided this was the perfect time to focus on gemstones as I created a unique piece for her.

Rachael Ray, photo by The Heart Truth

Here is the necklace I will be sending Rachael:

Necklace featuring a lab sapphire (orange padparadscha) and natural garnets from
Kathryn Designs

I read that her favorite color is orange, so I decided to use a gorgeous orange lab sapphire.  I paired it with four natural garnets.  The background is luminous peach, pink, and gold, and the bezel was hand formed using polymer clay.  I am so excited about this new direction for my work!  Here is another sample of a piece I created using a beautiful Olivine CZ and moonstones:

More to come as I pursue my newest obsession in jewelry making!  I have lots of stones that I have purchased over the years, and now I know what I will be doing with them.

Here's hoping Rachael loves her new necklace!