Locks and Keys Mini Collection : SNEAK PEEK!

At the urging of Amy over at Ponder & Stitch, I've recently been trying to put together my own take on locks and keys. It took a lot long than I had anticipated to come up with my own key design that I felt was cohesive with my brand and style, lovely and structurally sound...the locks came a bit easier for me, but the key, the key was the issue!

Anyway, after lots of sketches and even more hemming and hawing, I bring to you a sneak peek of my new Locks and Keys mini-collection ( although I'm not totally sure I like that name for the collection)! There will be pendants and earrings as well, just haven't gotten to those yet! I'll be trying to get these rings posted some time today, in my Etsy Shop!

So guys, what do you think so far? Are we liking it? Any alternate ideas for the name of the collection?

Promo Photoshoot #1: McKenzie's Back!

Earlier this week I shared with you some of the photo's from my promo photoshoot with my best friend, Lindsay, wearing my Enchanted Vines Collection. Today, I share with you, the fruits of photoshoot #2 with my friend McKenzie!

I've know McKenzie and her family just as long, maybe even longer, than Lindsay. She is the newest A.N. Original Jewelry "girl", and we have so much fun working together and she has such an intense look! I took these photo's of McKenzie around my hometown of Saratoga Springs. In fact, some of the shots were even done in front of the dumpsters at my apartment complex, although you'd probably never know it! The rest were taken in the historic Yaddo Gardens.

Anyway, I have many new items to list in my Etsy shop, and little brain power to work with, so I must get to work! Check back to see what I'm listing today and also to see photo's from a shoot I did with McKenzie. and her pride and joy, Scout!

*P.S. I'm thinking about doing a post series about how to host a successful home trunk show as my own have become quite popular, and how to separate yourself from the mass produced gimick-y home parties like Lia Sophia and Pampered Chef. Is this something you'd be interested in reading? Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts :)

Promo Photoshoot #1: Say Hello to Lindsay!

I'm one of those people that wears many hats in their life. Lucky for me, before I took the plunge into the world of jewelry, I was planning and training to be a big time Media Makeup Artist. Around this time, I started getting REALLY into photography as well, and the two sort of go hand in hand. Both of these hobbies have really helped me in the development of my jewelry business by way of being able to produce my own promotional photos with models, something that I personally think is REALLY important to developing your brand and having people take you more seriously as a designer.

That being said, when I say models, I really mean, my pretty friends. I by no means hold casting calls and all that junk, I just grab one of my friends and we get to have a day of playing dress up, gabbing and generally just acting like goofballs in between camera snaps. It's one of the things that I get REALLY excited about when I have a new collection. I'm able to let the part of me that dreamed of being a Media Makeup Artist and painting peoples faces for the cover of Vogue take over and forget about making jewelry for a minute. I can lose myself and all my worries while behind the camera and concentrate on creating the perfect "moment" on film. It's truly one of the things that helps to keep me sane as sometimes I am utterly burnt out on creating jewelry and sometimes start feeling like a little wind-up worker elf. (Nothing against elves in general of course)

Anyway, this particular shoot was done for some of the pieces from my "Enchanted Vines Collection and a couple pieces from my Halloween collection. The lovely model you see is actually my very best friend of 10 years, Lindsay. Lindsay is actually a 1st Grade Teacher, but I bet you wouldn't know that from these stunning pictures! Lindsay and I have been friends since we were 15/16 and actually lived right next door to each other. Some people have said we have a "unique" sense of humor but we generally just think we are hysterical and can pretty much have fun during any situation. In fact, we got in a scary car accident when we were about 17/18 and we ended up laying in the car, eating gummi build-a-burgers and laughing hysterically. Why? I'm not really sure, it's just how we deal with things I guess. Ok, back to the point... Lindsay is awesome and I think these pictures came out gorgeous! It's always so exciting have your vision come to life when a photoshoot is a success and have fun with your best friend in the process!

Hope you like these shots as much as I do! Please don't forget to let me know what you think of the new collection to help me forecast which designs will be big sellers come holiday shopping time! You can see the collection in full in the previous post :) Stay tuned for photoshoot #2 with my friend McKenzie :)