Steph Stargell Designs

Rain Rain Go Away – Spring is here….

stephstargell — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:07:06 +0000

I am a member of a group of metalsmiths that host a monthly blogroll on a specific topic. This month the participants are blogging about how the change of seasons, specifically Spring, influence their work, their designs, etc.

Spring is not my favorite season because it just means more rain here in the Pacific Northwest. This March was the 5th wettest on record, and it really wasn’t that inspiring. I spend a lot of the early spring at the ball field’s with my 3 kids at softball, tball, and baseball practice/games. It is rainy, it is windy, and most days downright cold. But there are a few glorious, sun-filled days that make me remember why I live in the PNW. Those beautiful sunny spring days do inspire me – from the robins in the yard, to the snow-capped peaks, from the frogs loudly croaking in our pond, to the first teeny blooms (Johnny Jump-Ups are my fave!).

Those signs of spring bring forth the desire to clean the studio (which I never do), sit on the porch with my sketchbook and soak up the rays (never do enough), and go through my stone collection and pull out colorful cabochons to start designing new pieces (always pick too many). These cabochons (pictured below) have been on the bench for about a week waiting for a sunny day and inspiration. There is dappled sunlight out my studio windows this morning – should I work in the studio, or go out and enjoy it?

Here is a list of other Aspiring Metalsmiths Team members blogs about spring:

Lilian http://girllovesglitter.blogspot.com

Pennee – All Wired Up Jewelry Designs http://allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com

nancycreations http://nancysjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com

SerpentsDanceDesigns http://dancetothedoor.blogspot.com

Autumn Bradley http://autumnbradley.blogspot.com

Contemporary Jewelry by Beatriz Fortes http://cjbf.blogspot.com

Jessica @ Abella Blue http://abellabluestudio.com/blog

Sylvia Anderson http://sylviaanderson.blogspot.com

Gloria http://gloria-hemlockhollow.blogspot.com

Amy Estelle http://amyestellemetalworks.blogspot.com/2012/03/spring-has-sprung.html

Esmeralda http://jewelry-by-silverblueberry.blogspot.se/2012/04/signs-of-spring.html

Happy Spring Inspiration!!

Epic fail for the USPS!

stephstargell — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:53:21 +0000

I sent out an order to a customer. All was well in my world until ….I checked my mail yesterday. This was in my mailbox….

So not only were the pearls crushed, I get to remake the earrings and shipping them again at my expense. How is a girl supposed to run a small business and make a profit when this happens?

Thanks y’all,

Steph

Summer Sale 2011

stephstargell — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:24:20 +0000

Summer is ending, and autumn is it on its way. To celebrate, I am having a 20% off sale in my Artfire shop!!

Here are few items available:

So go take a look at my artfire shop, and share the sale on twitter and facebook please!

Thanks,

Steph

Happy July – A BIG birthday, an AMAZING blog feature, and a HUGE sale!

stephstargell — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:04:10 +0000

A BIG Birthday -

Happy July everyone! Today my first-born turns 13!! Did you hear that?? THIRTEEN! Happy Birthday Samuel – I am so proud of you! Here is a quick pic of the birthday boy – love you Sam!

AMAZING Blog Feature

I was also featured on an Ashley Berthelot’s amazing blog – Fancy Designs today. Thanks so much Ashley for the kind words and sharing of my designs!

And the last thing before I am off to bake a chocolate/chocolate, vanilla/vanilla birthday cake!

HUGE SALE in ALL my sales venues!

Steph Stargell Designs on Etsy - 20% Off all items – Use coupon code “SummerSale2011″ at checkout for your discount.

Steph Stargell Designs on Artfire - 20% Off all items – No coupon code needed – prices already reflect discount.

And on my website – Steph Stargell Designs - You will receive 20% Off and Free Shipping on all items – I will refund your discount via paypal upon checkout.

Wishing everyone a fun, happy, and safe 4th of July weekend!

Steph

Strawberries, Summer, and Sales

stephstargell — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:48:57 +0000

1st Strawberries of the season!

Summer is finally here. How do I know? I know because we bought our first half flat of local strawberries yesterday. We have eaten half of them already, the rest will be gone today. I will be buying more for jam, recipes, and the freezer. There is nothing like a WA state strawberry – super sweet, red all the way through, and they always kick off summer here in the Pacific Northwest. We also bought bing cherries, nectarines, watermelon, and canteloupe yesterday. My kids love summer fruit and warm sunny days.

As it is finally summer, I must have my quarterly jewelry sale. Luckily, I have 3 venues now to buy from. I finished my new website this week, my Artfire shop is fully stocked, and my Etsy shop is in full swing. All three venues are having sales. If you purchase from my website, you will receive a free pair of sterling silver hoops. If you purchase from Artfire, you will get an immediate 15% discount on your purchase. When buying from my Etsy shop, if you enter the coupon code “SummerSale2011″ at checkout, you will receive a 20% discount off your items.

So, shop now for yourself, for birthdays, and for those upcoming special occasions.

Happy Summer

Steph

Big Changes for Steph Stargell Designs

stephstargell — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:30:29 +0000

Happy Thursday morning Just a quick update to let you know how to find me My Etsy shop currently sits empty as I move all inventory to My Artfire Shop , and to my new website. I will be working on the new site all weekend, and hopefully debut it on Monday June 20th. If you are looking for my designs they are all available in the Artfire shop and you can also contact me at stephstargell@gmail.com . Thanks for your patience while all this moving around is taking place.

Hugs,

Steph

A special “Thank You” !

stephstargell — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 20:29:14 +0000

I just wanted to send a special “thank you” out to all those that have supported me the past several days in my “Open Letter to Etsy”. My Teamies from The Aspiring Metalsmiths, The Artisan Group, Facebook friends, and sellers from Artfire have been so supportive and encouraging. I truly appreciate all your advice, help, tweets, blog posts, and FB posts. I belong to a great community

Steph

The Artisan Group blog is featuring me as their “Spotlight Artist” today!

stephstargell — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:48:48 +0000

I recently joined The Artisan Group, a promotion company that provides celebrities with swag bags at awards shows like the Emmys, the Oscars, and the Golden Globes. I will be participating in the Primetime Emmy Awards Gift Lounge this fall. I have been busy designing new pieces for the celeb’s gift bags, creating a display piece, and purchasing my materials for 110 bags. The Artisan Group’s Blog started a feature this week called “Artist Spotlight”. They chose to feature me this week, and I couldn’t be more excited! Head on over to the TAG blog to read a bit more about me and my jewelry designs. Here are the pieces I picked as favorites for the blog feature!

Thanks so much TAG! I love being a member of this fabulous group

Steph

New stones!

stephstargell — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:53:51 +0000

Woohoo! I bought some new stones last week. I love to shop for stones, both in person, and online. There is something about looking at trays full of stones in person – trying to pick the perfect one, the best one of the lot, the stone you have been dreaming of. When buying online, it is sometimes harder to choose. You worry about if the seller is dependable, if they cut their own stones, are the colors correct on my monitor, are the backs polished. Later this week I will show you a few of my favorite online stone cutters. For now, I will show you what I bought last week!

New ring-size labradorites. This just might be my favorite stone. I love the fire and the eye-catching color of labs – I have a lot of labs. Here are my newest – 4 round and 4 cushion cuts. Aren’t they fabulous?

And these smaller labradorite, citrine, and lapis lazuli cabochons for new versions of my posy spinning rings.

And other new larger cabochons for pendants, rings, and maybe a bracelet! A fossil, a blue/gold tiger eye, a blue quartz, a couple of thundereggs, a bruneau jasper and others. Soooo pretty!

That’s all for today. But is was quite a feast for the eyes.

Have a happy day

Steph

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my growing Artfire Shop! http://www.artfire.com/users/StephStargellDesigns

Spring is on the horizon…maybe.

stephstargell — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:33:42 +0000

For some reason I am on the look out for any signs of spring. On Monday, I was actually happy to see the gravel of our driveway. Really I was. The snow was finally melting off, I was able to take photos outside, and I started to feel the groove of spring. Well, that was Monday. Tuesday morning, more snow. It feels as if this winter has gone on forever. Maybe that is why I picked out some spring colored stones to set?

A gorgeous pink rhodochrosite that reminds me of the apple and cherry blossoms that will hopefully soon appear in our orchard.

And a gorgeous kelly green, grass in the middle of summer green, GREEN sea sediment jasper for your finger. I love this stone. I have already set hot pink and cobalt blue pieces of this stone into pendants for my Etsy shop. This time I went for a BIG ring!

And a fun and whimsical piece I made for the Aspiring Metalsmith’s Team February Challenge. I finished a bit late, so here it is. Spinning Posy – Sterling Silver and Labradorite Spinning Ring!!

Sterling Silver Spinning Posy Ring

Here is a link to a youtube video of the Posy ring in motion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2eIep0frmI

To see these and all my other jewelry designs, go to my etsy shop – http://sstargell.etsy.com

Thanks,

Steph