SXSW!

It's that time of year again...Spring is in the air & that can only mean one thing around Austin, TX. SXSW!

This year is shaping up to be one of the best. So if you are planning a trip here in the next few weeks please be sure to stop by the local artist's market that I'm organizing. We'll be setting up in the Guero's parking lot & there will be live music showcases all three days!



Hope to see you there!

cheers!
xo diane

Le Garage Sale This Weekend

Come & join Tasty Jewelry in addition to many other boutiques & designers during Le Garage Sale this weekend at the Palmer Events Center. I will be showcasing new designs as well as featuring sale jewelry too!



Hope to see you there!!!

cheers!
xo diane

Wonderful cocktails...

The other night I was introduced to a place called Péché. Its an Absinthe bar with a staff that is super knowledgeable about all sorts of cocktails & libations. They only use the finest ingredients to bring you flavors that will make your mouth sing.

While I was there I was lucky enough to meet Russell Davis who besides being completely charming, was recently named one of the country's top 10 bartenders!

Here he is featured with an image from the Austinist:


I am a Manhattan fanatic so when he asked if he could make one for me I just couldn't refuse. It was by FAR the best cocktail I had ever had. Not only was it made with a traditional rye whiskey, Russell used his own hand crafted bitters & topped the whole thing off with a fig foam. It was do die for!

So if you are interested in having an amazing & creative cocktail, I highly suggest a trip to Péché to see Russell & his amazingly talented staff.

3 down, 4 to go!

Well, I've successfully completed the first three of seven shows as of this minute. I have only four more to go until the "official" Tasty Jewelry holiday market season is finished.

If you live in the Austin, TX area please come out and see me at my next four shows. I am organizing some local talent to show off their wares at Guero's for the next few weekends.



Hope to see you there!

cheers!
xo diane

Tasty Jewelry Trunk show at Adelante Boutique

Mark you calendars! I will be having a trunk show at Adelante Boutique on Decemember 4th & 5th. Here are the details:



If you are in the Austin area this is a fantastic time to come see some one-of-a-kind pieces that I won't have anywhere else. It's a great time to pick up unique and wonderful gifts for the holidays. I hope to see you there!

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

Red Carpet

So what do you wear for your first red carpet experience? Well, I decided to go vintage and try on a dress that I hadn't worn in about 7 years. Lo and behold, it fit! Its a Givenchy inspired "little black dress" that I accented with a black leather obi style belt. My purse was a vintage silver clutch which held the essentials; iPhone, lipstick, money & emergency granola bar in case I got hungry. :)

Here's a closer shot of Rob, Aimee and I:


We weren't really sure who the press was stopping to interview. It seemed sort of random so I thought maybe they'd grab me, but I wasn't so lucky.

The Austin Fashion Awards show was great. There were so many people there it was electric! Alpha Rev started the show while people were getting seated. Jenny Hart was the charming emcee of the evening, making everyone feel welcome with a lovely sense of humor too. The Soldier Thread & Ume both played live during 4 different designers' fashion shows and The Octopus Project closed out the night.

We had a great time chatting and meeting people that I feel like I could do that every week! I am going to miss having so many social events to attend.

A big thanks to Matt Swinney of Launch 787 for putting together this whole beautiful week. He and his support team did an amazing job. And kudos to Austin for being so stylish!

Austin Handmade Market this Saturday!

I have been a part of Austin Handmade since they started and this will be my first time participating in their handmade market. The event details are all included in this awesome flyer:



So if you are in the Austin area, please come out and see me this Saturday while I try to stay cool! I've got lots of really affordable jewelry and home accessories and will also be premiering my new line of copper jewelry too!

cheers!
xo diane

Rarest of Them All Event

Tasty Jewelry along with *annemarie* & Sweettooth Bags will be sharing a booth this Wednesday at the 2nd Annual Rarest of Them All event brings everything Austin to life for an incredible 4-hour event in the heart of downtown Austin.
LOCATION
This year's event will be held at the acclaimed Long Center for the Performing Arts (Last year's event hosted over 1500 people at the Monarch) overlooking the Austin skyline.

THE RAREST OF AUSTIN
We've invited local businesses who won the Rarest of Them All Reader's Choice awards (held by Rare Magazine) to host interactive vendor booths where attendees will have a chance to enjoy unique theatrics, entertainment, free cocktails and food.

LIVE MUSIC
Openers Harlem and DJ Manny are set to get the party started, followed by the incredible talent of White Denim. After dark, we will launch a spectacular fireworks show hosted by Wolf Stuntworks, followed by the Headliner Grupo Fantasma -- they're gonna rock the house!

Art Festival May 30th

Just a few days ago it was brought to my attention that the Hyatt Regency Austin was going to be having an Arts Festival and that they needed vendors. So I thought it might be fun to show my work.

If you are in the Austin, TX area and would be interested in attending, the festival is at the Hyatt Regency Austin on the Marker 10 patio from 12pm - 2pm Saturday May 30th. It is a short show and is free to the public. I'll be interested to see who is in attendance....Hope to see you there!



cheers!
xo diane

the lonestar ladies present: shop austin!

well, its finally here...the lonestar ladies present: shop austin. this saturday april 18th at saengerrunde hall 1607 san jacinto blvd in downtown austin from 11am - 5pm. featuring jewelry, handbags, soaps, glass works, art & more this is one show that can't be missed. there will even be a "beauty lounge" where you can get complimentary facials & make-overs. my friend stacy wooster of white daisy bodyworks will be there giving massages & i can tell you that she is wonderful!



"Attendees will enjoy shopping across a wide variety of gift friendly art and fine craft for all members of the family,including pets! Be sure to arrive to the event early as the first 30 shoppers to line up will receive goodie bags sponsored by DesignSociety.net, Shop Shop Designs and Southern Sister Designs, filled with fun
local must-haves, and fabulous products from Shop Austin vendors."



sisters anne marie beard & allison wall have teamed up to present a showcase unrivaled by any other in austin, tx. this is one event that you should not miss.

tickets can be purchased here for $8 before the show or for $10 at the door.

i am going to be showcasing some absolutely NEW merchandise unlike anything i've had before so come on out and see my new direction! you'll be glad you did! mention this blog and receive 20% off your purchase.

cheers!
xo diane

start of the new year

i've had several ideas of what i could do to make myself be more consistent with the posts, i.e. daily thoughts, creative influences, "themed days", i just can't seem to get it off the ground. so i start the new year with an attempt at more frequent posting...

so here's one for today. i'm currently working on taking tons of old jewelry that i have and getting it organized for a sale going on here in austin in a few weeks called "le garage" sale. its just that, but with a twist. tons of fantastic local boutiques have booths and they put all of their clearance merchandise out for ridiculous prices. meaning they are practically giving their stuff away.

my friend annemarie beard did the show last fall and invited me to share a booth space with her so i said yes. now i'm getting all of this stuff together that i just want to get out of my way...a perfect chance to make room for all new goodies for 2009!

here is a shot of my workspace:



i will post more about this sale later. i need to have something to post later this week...

cheers!
xo diane

Acknowledge Me

This Saturday December 6th I will be participating in a show called "Acknowledge Me" which will bring together Austin's indie crafters, artists, makers, community organizations, social justice groups & up-and-coming local bands. This is a local homeless assistance drive to help those in need around the Austin area.

The event is going to be held from 8pm - 2am at The Mohawk which is a really cool venue. If you bring a donation of a beanie, gloves or toiletries then your cover is $5. It will be $6 without.

Acknowledge Me is one of a few wonderful events that Mike Litt has produced and I am really happy to be a participant this year. If you don't know who Mike Litt is, then you need to check him out. He's a driven individual who believes that one person can truly make a difference! I agree.

Hope to see you there!
xo diane

tasty jewelry now found on austinhandmade.com!

recently i was contacted by two really fabulous & creative people from austin, texas named catherine & jason. they asked me if i would be interested in becoming a participant in their latest endeavor austinhandmade.com. austin handmade is an online retail space dedicated to austin artists and creators of beautiful things. when they told me all about it, i had no choice but to say yes...i loved the concept behind the website and after meeting them in person i was even more impressed.

they are having a website launch party on thursday october 16th at gallery lombardi starting at 7 p.m. here is a link to the evite for more information about that party. hope to see you there...if not, be sure to check out the website austinhandmade.com to see what the fuss is all about! ;)

cheers!
xo diane

first thursday tonight oct 2nd

if you live in austin, tx then the place to be tonight is first thursday down on south congress ave. its a monthly celebration of all things austin...live music, art, & good food. there are loads of street vendors with items ranging from candles & clothing to mosaic work & jewelry. speaking of the latter, i have been setting up a booth in the guero's taco bar parking lot now for the past 2 years! i found this photo on flickr and it just happened to show my booth in the background. (you can click on the picture to be taken to the "first thursday" website.)



first thursday is a great way to get to know austin's crazy side, well really, does it have any other? its a great place to find unique hand made items and do loads of people watching. so come on out and see me!

hope to see you later!
cheers!
xo diane

ACL festival this weekend!

If you know anything about music, you've probably heard of the Austin City Limits music festival that happens around this time every year. Its a three day musical extravaganza featuring some of the hottest names in music today. Click on the image below for more information. There are still one day tickets available for today & Sunday.



Speaking of Sunday....



I am SOOOOOOO looking forward to seeing the Foo Fighters again. It's been way too long since I've seen them. As a matter of fact, the last time I did was when they were playing much smaller venues like the Riviera, & the Aragon Ballroom both in Chicago. I just wish my friend and fellow Foo-lover Caroline was here to go with me. I'm happy that they moved it back one week from past years. Septembers in Austin are pretty hot and spending all day out in the sun doesn't leave you with much energy for the headlining show at the end of the night. But this year's weather is shaping up to be nothing less than perfect. Warm, sunny days and cool, dry nights. Mmmmmm.

So rock on all you ACL festival goers. Maybe I'll see you there!

new square pendants

i've been busy working on making these new square glass pendants. i do all the artwork myself on my trusty mac, then print out the images and seal them under a piece of hand cut square glass. i couldn't find the right bales to use (most of them WAY too expensive) so i decided to make them myself. bales are the metal finding that you attach to a pendant to allow it to hang on a piece of cord or chain. often times when i can't find just the right finding, i figure out a way to create it on my own. i think that also keeps my pieces truly like no other.

here are a few pics to see just how many of these i've made.



the most popular designs i have right now are the owls (which i also drew myself!)


austin is gearing up for its 7th annual austin city limits music festival happening sept 26th - 28th. if you EVER get a chance to come down here for it, do. you won't be dissapointed. the foo fighters are headlining this year as well as beck, robert plant & allison krause, david byrne, the raconteurs, gnarls barkley, vampire weekend, hot chip and many more.

parts & labour is a store where i sell my work and they are going to have a booth setup at the festival. i will be showcasing funky bauble magnet sets and these fabulous square pendant necklaces. you can find the bird designs here and the graphic designs here.

oh, and i don't want to forget to say that i got a blog mention on the fabulous purplepinkandorange blog yesterday. amy is so creative and generous. you MUST go check out her blog and see what's happening in the indie world.

cheers!
xo diane

Grand Opening this Saturday

Are you interested in learning how to make your own jewelry or perhaps how to sew your own purse? With workshops, classes and studio time available The Stitching Studio is the place to make that happen.
Whether you are a beginner just learning the fundamentals or an advanced crafter perfecting your technique you will love the variety of classes being offered here.

Now is the perfect time to get started...come join us for a fabulous grand opening this Saturday from 1pm to 5pm.

Meet the teachers, shop for some handmade goodies, and get inspired by all the crafty classes you can take. There are even classes designed for you to hand make your own holiday gifts!

I will be there selling my jewelry and registering people for my Swarovski® beaded ring classes offered next month. (Sept 6th, 9th & 30th)

So come out and see all the great things you can make yourself!

cheers!
xo diane

getting ready for a busy fall season

since i've been back from my vacation i've been gearing up for a busy fall season ahead. i have decided to start teaching classes at the stitching studio here in austin starting in september.

i will be offering a class in which you can learn how to make your own swarovski® crystal beaded ring as seen here:



they aren't as difficult as they look, but do take some time and patience. check out the stitching studio's website for more details on how to sign up and to check out the other great classes they offer.

they will be having a grand opening party on saturday august 23rd from 1pm to 5pm. if you are feeling crafty come on by and see what's being offered!

cheers!
xo diane

lazy saturday

well, this was a well-deserved lazy saturday. after working so diligently all week on new designs and taking over 100 new photographs, i have allowed myself to take a day off.

carlos and i rode our bikes down to uncle billy's brew & que for a pint of their anniversary ale and some eats. i got the pulled pork quesadillas and he got a super delicious cheeseburger. hey, i didn't say it was going to be a healthy day off, just that i was taking one.

i will be back to work tomorrow, however, to continue work on the necklace, home accessory and rings pages for the website.

cheers!
xo diane