And now, my first 2020 post! (Whew!)

Things have been insane this year, right? In fact, it was shortly after last Christmas that Covid started here in Washington State. We have friends still unable to see family because they live in a nursing home and the whole of 2020 seems like it was just one long train wreck since the virus arrived.

I know, 2020 is still here, but we are on the tail end of it at last. In fact, it's already holiday shopping season, so I am making my stock available to you again in time for Christmas and Chanukah. My year was mainly taken up with elder care, but I still have plenty of stock from last year. I will feature some here, but mainly I hope to move my sales to Etsy over the coming months. Watch the blog and website for more information about my Etsy shop, meanwhile, I will still have items available at www.pwmarcus.com .

I hope you will consider gifting some of my jewelry this Holiday Season! Small packages and padded envelopes can make your socially (or even antisocially) distant gift-giving easier. In fact, I can wrap and send directly from my studio to any US or Canada location, just add where you would like it to go in the note to seller box on PayPal! I have loads of shiny goodness available for your own festive home times, as well.

Best wishes to you and your family this Thanksgiving and Yuletide Season, be happy and well! 

Penny

Blue and Silver Jewelry for the Holidays

The Chanukah Blues are up at     www.pwmarcus.com! I had fun creating the blue and silver collection, which would look wonderful for any holiday, of course. The silvered glass is German glass glitter in various sizes. Some of the silver may gain a beautiful antique silver patina over time, but others will remain shiny because they are totally encased in resin. Mainly, the pieces with chunks of blue glass will gain a patina. I love how it looks! You can mix and match, including the bracelets. 

Happy Holiday Shopping!

Penny

Black, Gold and Silver

A quick post to let you know that this week's new pieces are the formal black, silver and gold pieces for the holidays. If you are looking for something to jazz up your little black dress for a party, these would certainly work!

This is my smallest Holiday Collection. More colors and holiday-themed collections to come, including Classic Holiday Sparkle, Chanukah blues (or just because you love the color), Holiday Greens, and Carnival Color Sparkle. Check in again each day this week each new collection.

Cheers!
Penny

Autumn is Here!

Things were crazy busy this summer and early fall, so, along with the whole change of season, I am trying to get back on track with the jewelry business, in spite of needing a new septic system and construction on the former studio. Life has a way of getting in the way at just the wrong moment, doesn't it?

Natural materials in resin have been added to my
fall collection and will be continuing in various
forms throughout the year

For gifts and for parties there is the upcoming
Passionate Purple collection. 

Part of getting on track involves the move of my arts and crafts studio. I had to split it out into two places: the woodshed for alcohol ink painting and our office space for everything else. My shed is being made into a bunk house/guest room. Insulation and wallboard will be a bonus for me if I ever turn it back into a studio. I was hoping to it all done this summer, but we're still working on it. Still taping and have painting to do on the shed, along with rebuilding the lofts. I'm looking forward to getting everything in place!












I have been adding collections for fall and winter, including the natural materials in resin, several sparkle and shine pieces using glass and resin along with my paintings in purple, gold and silver, and some classic black and gold pieces that will shine during those holiday parties.

Black, gold and silver pieces will look great with your best 

holiday regalia. 

 

There are elk in starry skies, open backed bezel pieces, holiday red, green and gold, as well as a few surprise experiments to post as we go along.

Starry nights and winter scenes are coming up, like these on a deep blue night
sky background.

You can reach me at penny@pwmarcus.com if you would like to order something specific or if you just want to cheer me on. I hope you are looking forward to the holidays as much as I am!

Cheers,
Penny

The 100 Day Project, In the Studio, and Spring Fever

Today marks Day #7 of The 100 Day Project, and of course, my course has already taken a turn. My original plan was to get outside into the world for 100 days, but I realized after 3 days that it was a poor choice. Instead, I have switched over to documenting 100 days of making, whatever that might look like.  (Actually, it looks a lot like my usual posts, but the point is to do it every day. My posts start on Instagram as PW Marcus and are copied to my FB page Designs by PW Marcus.  Feel free to follow me on either platform, comment on what you like or answer a question that might come up.  The more the merrier is the motto for The 100 Day Project.  I have successfully posted a full week now, so I'm pumped to keep going. 

In the studio this week I have been in pre-idea mode. This basically means I have been doodling, painting small things, finishing projects, and sealing paintings.  I have been thinking about what to do with my old Moo mini cards.  The printing quality is so nice and there are a lot of different photos and artworks that I have done on the photo side that I hate to just have them go to waste.  Some will make nice little pendants, but I have also tried using them as a starting point for the alcohol ink. I think they look pretty cool, but I have to try sealing them before I know if they can be used for jewelry.  I'm looking for some inspiration for other uses, as well. 

I am definitely in Spring Nesting mode. Everywhere I look in my house I want to make changes. This urge has hit like a sledgehammer this week! I want to move EVERYTHING in my rooms, just to see what it looks like. It all may go right back to where it was, but maybe I will find a new arrangement that looks fresh and feels more open. (It's been a long, long winter.) I know that we could paint the walls and that would make me feel happy, especially if we could lighten up to a nice yellow instead of the different greens on all the walls. I'll have to ponder that.

What are you doing for spring fever? Do you do a yearly spring cleaning, repainting, moving around the chairs, May Pole dancing? (Which actually sounds racier than is meant.)  My potting shed will be getting a workout soon.

I can't wait for warmer weather again to get outside and shake off the claustrophobia that has settled in!  How about you?

Driving, Illness, and Resin

One thing about living in Packwood, you have to be ready to drive if anything happens! This week my mom was in the nearest hospital with pneumonia for a few days and we had to pick up my mother-in-law's glasses in Tacoma.  As a consequence, we have spent a lot of my non-work time driving, not my first choice of activities.  Fortunately, Mom came home yesterday, so we could take that day to run down to Tacoma and turn right around and come back.

Meanwhile, everyone across the creek where she lives has a really cruddy virus.  It sounds like a hospital ward over there.  So far we have been lucky over here, just tired and cranky, not sick.

I did get to play in the studio the last few days.  I have been experimenting with UV-light-cured resin. It sure is great when it works right away. I fear that I used it over a wet layer of another coating on a tile, because it just doesn't quite feel dry, even after a long time under the UV flashlight. I will be playing with this more, though. SO nice to have it be dry in minutes instead of days! I did the pieces above using the new epoxy.

I enjoyed making the owl pendant below and the cashier at Costco was very admiring of it yesterday.  Her mom used to love owls and apparently collected them.

The owl is actually embedded in the epoxy. This took a few layers to get everything level and covered, but so fast in between layers! I'm looking forward to finding more ways to use the UV epoxy. I love using up pieces of tings that might otherwise be wasted. The little owl came off of an earring blank. I think he's pretty cute as a singleton in the green with blowing gold leaves, don't you? 

Have a great week!

Penny

Warning: Bright Color Ahead

I have had color on my mind for the last week or so. Today, in particular, I was drawn to yellow and orange, bright, gotcha colors, and not so much shine as this winter. I still love the glittery, shiny stuff, but this week it was all about color, strong color or ways to make pastels look a bit more sophisticated.

I adore orange, but I don't feel comfortable wearing shirt that is orange. It's is nice to know I can use it in small doses as earrings or bracelets. It looks amazing with dark blues. It can also be just what a neutral khaki and white outfit needs. I have combined it with a brilliant sun yellow in a few pieces, and it reminds me of sunsets in the summer.

I have also been using some neutral backgrounds, pale green with some pearly shine with pattern on top. The pinks with black are appealing to me now, too. If you are a wearer of pink, there are some pale, shell-like colors that are toughened up a bit with the black line work on top.

How do you wear strong colors? Are you awash in black? No problem, they all look great against black, too. I spent years wearing black for concerts, so any opportunity to brighten it up a little bit was welcome. I would have definitely liked some of these fiery colors in my earrings for those evenings.  Come see more fun jewelry at www.pwmarcus.com.  New pieces are added weekly!