To two 2 today

A rainy day but a fine day for a blogger update. I'm sending out two orders to stores today to two really fabulous stores which means that my international customers will be able to get styling for Fall by Urban Bloom.

Now that I'm building my own website the Etsy shop hasn't been as much of a focus lately though I did upload some new photos to the store for the Golden means and Rain droplet earrings. Here's an updated photo of the magical Once upon a time necklace which is available on Etsy.
There's a good chance I'll open that shop to sell my beads and pieces of my supplies that I don't have a use for.

The web shop will be opening within the next two weeks and I'm while I'm building the links page I'm sure I'll post a couple here as well.

Good charma

Photography has been the most frustrating obstacle to getting my website up and running. Thanks to a number of great online photo tutorials and the help of my friend Gary I've been able to finally get a glimpse of what great photoshop skills can bring to the design of my website.

My favorite trends so far this season have been long necklaces with chunky pendants and delicate boho florals for a romantic look, and a huge array of skulls, cameos, and lockets.

PPO logo

Two very exciting consignment opportunities are keeping me busy. I'm working on promo materials and came up with this logo. I'm going to play around a bit more and see what else I can stir up.

I'm smitten

The shop is on the way and includes necklaces like the one above.

Mellow yellow

Today was a mellowed out vacation day with plenty of bright spots.

Mock site #1

Here's the site when it first loads...


...and after the boxes at bottom have been rolled over...


...and after a catagory has been clicked on, items will be displayed.

Workflow in color

I've been away from the blog since I purchased my domain name and hosting. Coming Fall '06, I'll have my own shop for your viewing and spending pleasure at UrbanBloomnyc.com. I'm a learn-as-I-go type and building a website takes a whole lot of manpower so I'm going slowly. I'm spending a lot of time determining the color scheme and working on what will compliment my pieces, appeal to visitors, and also reflect Fall's palette. Color trends and forecasts on the Pantone site are helpful. I've browsed around their site before because they also have lots of free articles on the psychology of color which totally fascinates me.

When there's time to play - and there's always time for creative fun - this is an awesome, hilarious project about advertising and the unexpected combinations of text and image.

The Look

I put a new banner up on Etsy and it's been so much fun to play with the new image for Urban Bloom. Is it trendy or kitschy? Elegant and luxurious? I'm drawing closer to defining the company's image since I'm hoping to launch the website fairly soon. I've read some great articles on design and typography at HOW magazine's site but I still have more experimenting to do before I decide.

Lockets and the like

Sun delights

Vivid colors all year round at Urban Bloom...

Mod for you

Custom orders are always welcome. They force me out of my (design) comfort zone. I take into consideration the person's personal style, body type, coloring, and how often they wear accessories. My biggest challenge to date was making a set of earrings and necklace for a woman who never wears jewelry and doesn't have pierced ears. Difficult as that might sound, the results were really quite lovely. Anna, my coworker, has placed a few custom orders (thanks, Anna!) and each of the resulting designs are definitely part of my core collection.

This current order is for my sister's friend who's very stylish and has modern taste. The shells I choose have the geometry and simplicity my sister asked for. I created one with a dangling silver leaf and another with a thin MOP small circle. Unfortunately she really liked the silver leaf but the irridescence of the shell (eh-hem! i love pink) is a bit too much. I'm under a tight deadline so it's back to the pliers for me!

It's an Etsy day:
There's nothing quite cuter than this charm of two lovebirds kissing. The pale blue briolette hangs down the center of 14K goldfilled chain with a gold plated charm to one side and on the other are three small briolettes (in pale blue and peachy pink).

Happenstance

my shop on etsy is growing at a rate of 2 pieces/day and the site visits are increasing but sales are nil. i know bc i'm checking my email every 2 minutes! word about the etsy forums is that it's a slow for everyone this time of the year. i feel like the shop is a great way to get experience. if anything it forced me to sharpen some of my photoshop skills in the process bc product photography needs to be as professional as possible and, in my case, without paying a professional. eventually i'd like to have my own site but until then i'd like to sell the pieces on etsy and others' stores. there's something so exciting about having my own jewelry collection with a running list of stockists. so, i contacted a shop owner of an awesome store that sells indie goods and she was interested! good news considering her awesome reputation and customer base. silver sells better in her store which and i came up with a bunch of styles in the hopes of consigning them to her boutique. a sneak peak of my proposal to her is above.

so, for now, urban bloom can be found at: my space, flickr, the bust directory, and delicious.

weekend updates including adding "golden means" and "blush" to the etsy shop but also include a link to copacetique(an awesome boutique who's name says it all) and santamistura's blog(an endless resource for awesome links and inspiration). thanks to janice and patricia for linking back to urban bloom!

xo.

Golden means

Buy Blush


Buy the Secret Garden.

Skull necklace with crystal on 14K gold filled chain available on Etsy.

Rain droplets

These remind me of morning dew. Available at UrbanBloom's shop

It's the Etsy things in life

My shop on Etsy is open for business. Don't know what Etsy is? Imagine an Ebay type site devoted entirely to handcrafted, fresh, and hip designs. You're about to discover a whole new world of crafty indies selling their wares where you can search for items based on color hues and saturation. I've got a wish list a mile long including paper goods from Pressure Letterpress, Port 2 Port, Magic Jelly Emporium, and housewares by Joom. Browse below to see my shop's goods and stayed tuned to the flow for what's on its way. xo.

Available for purchase online