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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Kathy Maresco Matthews Stemke 2013 Year in Review on Facebook

This is soooo cool! facebook took my most popular pics and put them into a slide show. Check it out by clicking on the following link: Kathy Maresco Matthews's 2013 Year in Review

Here are some of my recent creation on Etsy!



This and the horse necklace are sterling silver beauties!





















 
The following necklace is made from an authentic WWII dog tag!
 




 

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Jewelry Tips!

 
 
Jewelry Tip of the Day: Stack your bracelets.

Women's Wear Daily declared the bracelet THE piece for this season. Wear any style you like: thin, thick, cuff, beaded, silver, gold, bronze. Many trendsetters are stacking them. Often it's the same style stacked together. Or it's the same color in a few different styles. Or it's a group in complimentary colors. Any way you want to wear a bracelet, you'll be a fashionista.


 
 
 

 
 
For other great bracelets, visit my etsy shop!
 

20% OFF MY ETSY STORE!!
Coupon code: NOEL20
To use a coupon code:
Once you have added the item(s) to your cart, click the (blue)
APPLY COUPON CODE button
Enter the code in the box ~ prior to clicking the ~ (green)
CHECK OUT WITH PAYPAL button.
Thank you!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Victorian Steampunk Jewelry

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the 19th century's British Victorian era. It may also, though not necessarily, incorporate additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre. Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or subcultures, that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction, art nouveau design, and films from the mid-20th century.

Victorian Steampunk is my niche in jewelry design. Sometimes my jewelry leans to the technological side of this genre, but other times it leans heavily toward the Victorian side. Many of my pieces incorporate antique or vintage jewelry in them.

Here are some of my Victorian leaning designs.

 
 


 


 
 
 Here are some of my more techy designs!
 

 

 
For more unique items designed by Vintage Memories Jewelry visit my home page: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageMemoryJewelry

Friday, August 16, 2013

Train your Artistic Eye with these Exercises



exercise for positive and negative shapes1. Draw an object in a realistic way.  Really see the object and then draw what you see. Don't assume you know! Sit down with a simple shape like a vase or a peach and start noticing. Is the stem of the peach round or does it taper? Does the stem stick straight up or does it lean in one direction? Keep seeing and drawing; you may be surprised at what you discover.

2. Photograph patterns. A walk in the woods is a great place to start. Take shoots of fungus, tree bark, or leaves. Print the image out in grayscale and see how many patterns within the pattern you can find. Trace the lines to see what shapes you can find.  How might you use these lines and shapes in your artwork?

 

 
3.Accentuate the negative.
Take a piece of paper and randomly draw connected lines on it. Photocopy the paper and then with a set of drawing pencils or crayons, color in what you perceive as the negative shapes on one of the pictures. On the other picture, fill in the opposite shapes. See how your perception of the drawing changes. Try this exercise with your photography.
Have fun discovering things and see how it translates to your creative projects. I did masters work in DANCE. So much of what I experienced in dance translates to my jewelry designs. For instance balance, variety of textures, asymmetry, color and shapes I learned to work with in choreography ends up influencing my jewelry.

Monday, August 12, 2013

My New Jewelry on Etsy!

We finally got my granddaughter off to her first year at the University of Georgia! Thanks to all her well wishers. Now it's back to work for me. Check out some of my new steampunk jewelry designs.



 
Okay, so I love butterflies, vintage watch parts and cameos.
 
 

Don't you just love this steampunk bird (parrot)? I do!!!

 
 
This beautiful necklace is also a locket. You can fit two large photos in here.
 
 
 
This steampunk castle necklace SOLD at my shop in Helen, Georgia!!  Yipee!!