It's here.....

The new website: tastyjewelry.com



cheers!
xo diane

where's my pot of gold?

I just went outside for a second and look what I saw!



It was the biggest, fullest, brightest rainbow I'd ever seen. So I quickly took a few shots. These next 2 pics show the entire arc. I could see the whole thing! It was a great way to start my day...





So I was just wondering...where's my pot o'gold?

cheers!
xo diane

my life in concerts - updated 12/4/09

Ever since my first concert in 1982 where I saw The Police play with Joan Jett as the opening act, I've tried to keep my ticket stubs to the shows I've seen. Now there are obviously some that are missing...either I was on a guest list or there was an electronic ticket issued. There have been quite a few times that I've even managed to hang out backstage with some of the artists.

I've met the Smashing Pumpkins, Elliott Smith, and INXS (amongst several others). Speaking of INXS, I have an old pair of ripped up jeans the the entire band signed including Michael Hutchence who signed them a few times also writing "Salubrious Salutations" and added a heart w/arrow on them. I still have those jeans...



So the following is a list of the bands that I have seen in my lifetime. I thought it would be cool to list the years & venues too. Here goes:
The Police 3/31/82 Assembly Hall w/Joan Jett
***UPDATE***
KISS 12/29/84 St. Paul Civic Center, MN w/Queensryche
Howard Jones 6/21/85 Aragon Ballroom
***UPDATE***
Tina Turner Early 1986 (got a free ticket) Assembly Hall
New Order 11/21/86 Aragon Ballroom
Ministry 5/7/87 Mabel’s w/ Front 242 & The Revolting Cocks
U2 10/22/87 Assembly Hall
R.E.M. 11/7/87 Assembly Hall
INXS 11/13/87 Braden Auditorium* (partied w/ band)
Echo & the Bunnymen 1/27/88 Foellinger Aud. Gene Loves Jezebel
The Church 10/8/88 Foellinger Aud Tom Verlaine
The Buzzcocks 1988 Mabel's
Depeche Mode 7/3/90 World Music Theater
Deee-Lite 11/1/90 Shelter
Harry Connick Jr. 10/5/91 Chicago Theater
Big Audio Dynamite 4/11/92 Aragon Ballroom
Public Image Ltd, Live, Blindmelon
Alice In Chains 9/26/92 Aragon Ballroom
Soundgarden 6/11/94 Aragon Ballroom
Babes in Toyland 11/12/94 Lounge Ax
Marilyn Manson 2/3/95 Metro
Smashing Pumpkins 2/28/95 Double Door (special ticket)
Smashing Pumpkins 10/23/95 Riviera Theater (World Premier & party)
Soundgarden 11/10/96 Aragon Ballroom
Foo Fighters 7/4/97 Riviera Theater
Verve Pipe 8/15/97 Vic Theater
Aphex Twin 9/2/97 Vic Theater
L7 9/7/97 Vic Theater
Foo Fighters 10/21/97 Aragon Ballroom
Smashing Pumpkins 7/7/98 Soldier Field
Beastie Boys 8/12/98 Rosemont Horizon
Elliott Smith 4/8/99 Metro
Fastball 4/22/99 House of Blues
Pavement 6/10/99 Metro
Pavement 10/15/99 Vic Theater
Smashing Pumpkins 12/21/99 Metro
Elliott Smith 2/26/00 Empty Bottle
Elliott Smith 5/25/00 Metro The Minders
Elliot Smith 5/26/00 Metro

One of my favorite moments:



Foo Fighters 1/9/01 Riviera Theater
Duncan Sheik 4/12/01 Park West
Coldplay 6/8/01 Aragon Ballroom
Depeche Mode 6/22/01 World Music Theater
Garbage 5/9/02 Riviera Theater
The Breeders 7/20/02 Metro
Queens of the Stone Age 9/15/02 Riviera Theater
The Strokes 10/11/02 Aragon Ballroom
Soundtrack of our Lives 11/13/02 Metro
Interpol 1/12/03 Metro
Queens of the Stone Age 4/1/03 House of Blues
The Vines 4/6/03 Vic Theater w/The Music
Fischerspooner 4/18/03 Metro
Interpol 10/6/03 Stubb’s
Jet 7/20/04 Stubb’s w/Sloan
ACL Festival 2004 9/17 – 19 Zilker Park
The Killers, Sloan, Broken Social Scene, Franz Ferdinand, Gomez, Soundtrack of our Lives, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, The Pixies
Modest Mouse 9/17/04 Stubb’s
Snow Patrol 10/11/04 La Zona Rosa
Interpol 11/2/04 Stubb’s
Interpol 2/23/05 Austin Music Hall
Citizen Cope 5/25/05 Antone’s
Spoon 6/11/05 Vic Theater
Blackalicious 9/22/05 Emo’s
Santana 10/11/05 AVA Amphitheater
Spoon 2/3/06 La Zona Rosa
Jurassic 5 8/1/06 Stubb’s
Ghostland Observatory 8/5/06 Emo’s
ACL Festival 2005 9/15- 17 Zilker Park
Stars, Gnarls Barkley, Thievery Corporation, John Mayer, Ghostland Observatory, The Shins, The Raconteurs, Kings of Leon, Massive Attack
IV Thieves 7/19/06 Stubb’s
Citizen Cope 10/6/06 La Zona Rosa
Wolfmother 6/22/07 Stubb’s
Smashing Pumpkins 11/13/07 The Backyard
The Cure 6/8/08 Austin Music Hall
ACL Music Festival 9/28/08 SIlversun Pickups, The Raconteurs, Foo Fighters
The Black Crowes 11/22/08 Austin Music Hall
***UPDATE***
ACL Music Festival 10/2 - 10/4/09 Zilker Park
Phoenix, Them Crooked Vultures, Yeah,Yeah,Yeahs, Citizen Cope, Ghostland Observatory,
The B-52s, White Lies, Arctic Monkeys, Girl Talk, Pearl Jam
Pinback 10/19/09 Emo's
Wolfmother 10/30/09
The Cribs 11/13/09 Bowery Ballroom NYC

***I'll keep updating as I attend new shows!


Enjoy my list...please let me know who you've seen. I will probably do a few follow up posts to this one describing some of the shows that were memorable to me in different ways.

cheers!
xo diane

più della dolce vita...

Here are some detailed images of the wine charms that I'm making for the Austin Museum of Art's event in a few weeks. They wanted 35 sets of 6 wine charms which means I needed to make 210 individual charms total.


All the charms had to be printed, cut out, heat treated, then sealed.



The next step was to line all the edges in black so they would look nice.



Then each one (don't forget 210 of them) had to have a jump ring attached to it so it could hang on the ring that goes around the stem of the wine glass.



I attached them to one of my earring cards then that got slipped into a clear plastic tube that I cut to fit. I love coming up with fun packaging for items. These tubes are really versatile and useful. They can be reused for lots of things...I hope people recycle them.



So that's what I've been up to for the past few days. I can say that I am in dire need of a good arm & hand massage. I will be dropping these of next week and am looking forward to hearing what they have to say.

On another note...the website is pretty much ready to go. I'm just waiting now until the month is over so that I can honor the sale that I have going. I'm just saying that there are going to be lots of things no longer available, so you might want to go over and get the goodies you like while you still can. And at 40% off, I'm wondering if I'm just crazy or something. :)

cheers!
xo diane

la dolce vita....

Yesterday I was contacted by my friend Justin O'Connor from the Austin Museum of Art who was wondering if I might be interested in collaborating with them on some promotional merchandise. When I found out that it was for their upcoming 20th annual La Dolce Vita Food & Wine Festival out at Laguna Gloria I just couldn't say no.



So I am making them a special edition set of six wine charms. There are 20 different artists who have designed a pair of wine glasses that will be auctioned off as well. (More details about that auction are here.) All proceeds will benefit exhibition & education programs at the museum. And you know I'm all about that!



If you get a chance you should really try to attend this event. I hear its quite something. I'll be there eating and drinking my way around all the art that night so if you see me please say hi.

cheers!
xo diane

sneak peek...

Well, it's been quite a trip and its almost here. The new website...

I'm taking Tasty Jewelry in a whole new direction and am anxious to share it with you all. So here's a snippet from a page of a new item I'll be offering...



Just to whet your whistle. Enjoy!


cheers!
xo diane

p.s. And a very special thank you to my friend Tim for his ideas & modeling skills. I couldn't have done this one without him.

moving on...

I think anyone who knows me realizes that the past year has not been one of my best. I would have to agree, but that being said, I can add that even though it's been tough, its also been a great opportunity for me to learn & grow.

Recently losing my mother to a rare illness and then letting go of a relationship that wasn't meant to be are two incredibly difficult things for anyone to experience. Having both of them happen within 10 months of each other, well that's a different story altogether.

When you are in the middle of crisis you just don't see things clearly. It takes time and a lot of courage to find your way out. You just take it a day at a time until one day you just realize that its over, you've survived, and most importantly, you've learned something about yourself and your character.

Recently I had that day. A moment of clarity, an awareness of what I wanted and where I wanted to be. It really felt great. It really feels great.



So here's to all the wonderful people that helped me through the first part of this year...I'm looking forward to finishing it with a big smile on my face.

cheers!
xo diane

hammered

So this post isn't about how I went out on a bender last night with my friend Kristen & how much Maker's Mark we put back. (Although that might make for a very interesting post...) It about how I've been hammering my little arm off this weekend making hand forged hoop earrings.



I started making these back in college where I outfitted my entire group of friends with them. I made myself a tiny one that I still wear to this day and recently on a trip to NYC I had lunch with my friend Chris (from college) and she still wears hers too!

Basically its a loop of wire that I form then hammer to work harden it. Work hardening gives the hoop stability and pliability. Each earring gets hammered approximately 100 times and well, multiply that by 40 pairs and you've got yourself an arm that's pretty much toast for the next few days.



I offer these lovely earrings in sterling silver, 14k gold-filled and copper in various sizes and shapes so look for them when I relaunch the website at the end of the month. They are definitely a must have item!

cheers!
xo diane

finished...

That's 450 magnets, done and ready to go...



You can purchase a customizable set of 6 here.

Have a great weekend...

cheers!
xo diane

making magnets

It's been awhile since I've done a large magnet blitz. I've been using such fine jewelry techniques lately that my hands have just about had it. So I needed to do something a little, say, "less tedious" on my digits.

So its off to glue up a whole mess of magnets today. Here they are in their glory...(or at least whilst they dry.)




I still have a whole line of rock n' roll graphics that I'm going to be featuring soon; guitars, drums, keyboards, bass guitars, headphones, turntables etc... They will be on sale here in Austin at Parts & Labour during the ACL festival weekend for sure.

cheers!
xo diane

Fall Fling Sale!

Ok, so for the remainder of the month of September only I will be offering 40% off of everything on my website. That's right I said 40%. And it's on everything!!!!



All you have to do is use the code: fallfling in the "discount coupon" box and hit recalculate to receive your savings.

Several items will be discontinued from the site once I relaunch, so be sure to purchase what you like now because it might be gone!

Feel free to pass this on to whomever you'd like. Blog it, tweet it, facebook it, whatever...just be sure to take full advantage of it. :)

cheers!
xo diane

Virtual insanity...

When you work for yourself sometimes you have to find different ways to keep entertained.

Motivation is not a problem for me, most days are pretty straight forward...wake up, hit the running trail, shower, breakfast, then sit at the workbench for say, about 10 hours, then find something else to eat...unwind a bit, plan for the next day. Repeat.

The challenge that I have with working for myself is the lack of human interaction on a daily basis. Sure, being able to wake up on some days and work in your pajamas might seem like a desirable thing, but not having people around to just simply chat with is excruciating. Talking to yourself just doesn't suffice. Trust me. So to lessen the pain of this solo-flight job that I have chosen for myself I have turned to listening to podcasts.



What's a podcast you might ask? Well, think of it as a pre-recorded talk radio program, without the commercials and usually with a lot more snark. (At least the ones I find interesting.) And they are free to download. There are thousands of them out there...just take a look on iTunes. From talking about music or politics to just recording a personal journal, you get to learn a lot about other people if you want. So I've turned to these podcasts as a sort of "virtual" water-cooler experience, except that its one-sided and unless I send an email or phone in a comment, they don't really know my side of things.



Oh well, I didn't say it was a perfect answer to my solo dilemma, it just helps to lessen the effect of it somewhat. I've met some really wonderful people who I have a lot in common with by listening to these podcasts. Well, not necessarily "met" in the face-to-face way of meeting per se, but met as in the virtual world where they read my emails and then respond.

That being said, recently I have had the fortunate opportunity to actually meet several of these podcasters in real life. Holly came to stay at my house on a recent vacation. Jennifer and I met for some Maker's Mark manhattans & girl talk near Columbus Circle. It felt like I knew them both for years. Which I did, just hadn't met them face to face before. It was a wonderful experience with others too, having lunch in the Village with Tim & Ron then meeting for coffee with Eric & Brett in Chelsea followed by happy hour & dinner in Hell's Kitchen. A blast!

I can't say that at any time I felt awkward or strange about being with any of them or they with me. There was an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation meeting each and every one. I guess it would sort of be like having a pen pal for years that you finally get to see in person. Just fast forward a few years where no one actually picks up a pen to write anything and you don't have to wait days or weeks for a letter.

I think its brilliant how technology enables a girl like me who begrudgingly sits alone all day with no co-workers to fill up that empty space with "virtual" co-workers who have now turned into true friends. It's truly amazing the type of people that you can meet online. ;)

cheers!
xo diane

how fun was this?

I think there comes a time in everyone's life where they just need to fess up to their desire of being a rock star. C'mon, let's face it, interactive games like Rock Band & Guitar Hero have made us all "believe" that we could really do it. Even the most shy, quiet or reserved people want it, I've seen it and its invigorating!

On my recent trip to NYC I had the opportunity to live out a little of this rock star fantasy with some friends. Let me just say that it does take a little coaxing to get me to perform, but that I truly love it when I'm up there. It's just a hell of a lot of fun...

So here I am (with back up singer in tow) singing "Do You Wanna Touch?" by Joan Jett. It was a blast and I think I'm still shaking...but it was well worth it.



rock on!
xo diane

rain & a little history...

Since I've been back from NYC its been pretty rainy here. I must say it's a great change of pace from the 100+ degree weather we've been having. Not to mention that we're in a drought so huge that it would take probably 40 days & 40 nights of straight rain to even put a dent into it. Anyways, its keeping me indoors and chained to my workbench.

Don't get me wrong, I love what I do so it doesn't really feel like work. There are the occasional times when I have to do some administrative stuff which is definitely my least favorite part of owning my own business. Some day I'll have "people" to do that for me, but until then I digress...

So a little history...I thought I'd share a little about how I got my start. When I first moved to Texas several years ago I was in San Antonio for a short time and got a job at the original Adelante Boutique in Alamo Heights.



At that time it was newly owned by Marla Mason Ross who had taken over the reins from her grandmother Mama Pat. Marla had a great eye for what the store would become and was the first one to purchase and sell my jewelry in her shop. She continues to bring fresh and innovative merchandise to her shop as well as pursues her own entrepreneurial spirit.

Well, fast forward to about a year later when I moved to Austin. I had met my now best friend Kristen who was working for the Adelante Boutique in Austin. She introduced me to Tricia Roberts (who is Mama Pat's daughter & also Marla's aunt) who had opened her own shop back in 1992.



I started selling my jewelry there immediately and think I even had a trunk show within the first few months of being in town. Tricia and I quickly realized that we shared a common interest in aesthetic & design. After many years of building our relationship we decided that we should collaborate on a private label line of jewelry for her shop. Which is where we are today. I've learned so much from her and look forward to continuing on this journey...

So there's a little peek into how I started & now maintain my business. To Marla, Kristen & Tricia I feel like I owe the world. It's such a pleasure knowing them all!

cheers!
xo diane

just back from NYC....

So it's been awhile since I've last posted anything here. Its not for lack of anything going on, quite the contrary. I've been quite busy indeed. So here's a quick rundown of what I've been working on:

1) Re-designing the website with LOTS of new merchandise. I found that I'm really being drawn back to my original style of making contemporary and mod jewelry with metal and semi-precious stones. The printed graphic work that I've been doing for the past few years has been completely satisfying, don't get me wrong, but tends to be a bit more limited in its execution. It will make its way back but in a completely new and fantastic form. Relaunch of the website is scheduled for late September with a party to celebrate it!



2) Doing more social networking and socializing in general. Getting out and about in Austin and letting people know that I exist has been really great so far and I've made some wonderful new friends & contacts in the process. Follow me on twitter as: tastydiane if you want to really keep up with my daily goings-on.



3) Preparing for New York. Its been 6 years since I've moved to Texas and while its been a wonderful experience (for the most part) I feel like I've done what I've needed to do here and am ready to move...home. I just spent the last 8 days in New York mixing a bit of work with pleasure and it just completely solidified what I have known all along. That I belong to New York. Every fiber of my being, who I am, what I stand for, my energy level, my design aesthetic, my motivation, my want to be a part of something big, everything points to being there. So I am preparing to go. Is anyone I know really surprised? Not at all.

And a nod to a new friend who made my trip so much fun. You've got a great sense of humor, great taste in music, know how to drink a proper pint, and have great taste in people. Cheers!



xo diane