My amazingly talented sister, Ainslie, and her crafty cohort, Laura, have decided to move from NJ to open a shop in downtown Tuscola, IL.  It will be a mix of a high end tattoo studio and a gallery shop featuring the works of local artists and fun kits and DIY stuff with some vintage items for sale.  I brought over some of my jewelry and a few Janet Hill paintings I have for sale and was amazed at the transformation going on it the place.

One of the most visually stunning changes they made was to the floors!  They took discarded old books and cut the pages out and decoupage them to the floor then coated with a varnish.  It is hard to capture the true beauty of this floor, but I am sure will be a conversation topic for all that enter the space.

Another unique thing they will offer for sale in the shop is an array of sodas from Homer Soda Company.  I made sure to sample several of the flavors today, and I loved each and every one!!!

 

There will be so many more thing for sale there that I could go on and on…and probably will once they open.  Here is a little sneak peek at what jewelry and garden markers I brought in today….

 

What does this list of amazing Hollywood Celebrities all have in common with Luster Metal Works?

1. Jeremy Piven

2. Tom Hanks

3. Bill Maher

4. Adrian Grenier

5. Kate Bosworth

6. P!nk

7. Leonardo DiCaprio

8. Dave Matthews

9. Rosario Dawson

10. Woody Harrelson

11. Julia Louis-Dreyfus

12. Daryl Hannah

13. Drew Barrymore

14. Ellen DeGeneres

15. Orlando Bloom

16. Jake Gyllenhaal

17. Josh Hartnett

18. Sting

19. Barbra Streisand

20. Alicia Silverstone

21. Courteney Cox

22. Cameron Diaz

23. KT Tunstall

24. Mark Ruffalo

25. Edward Norton

 

I’ll  let you speculate and guess until Tomorrow morning when I reveal the answer.  For those of you who already know, please don’t spoil the surprise!!!

 

XOXOX

Susan

As part of my jewelry making I like to feature copper that was reclaimed from my house…but lately I have been so focused on developing my jewelry business and growing it to the next level that I have neglected my home.  With 2 young boys and a husband, it has been all I can do to keep up with the daily necessities of laundry, shopping, cooking, cuddling and the light cleaning to keep chaos under control.

For those of you who know me, I am not a clutter person, I guess that is one reason why my jewelry designs are often not very fussy.  It is a true reflection of who I am.  Heck, I can’t concentrate if I have more on my desk than my 5 main item groupings; computer / mouse, light, paper / pen, cup of tea, and item I am working on.  Yes I know a little anal, but it keeps me focused and more importantly relaxed.

Well I have been feeling quite overwhelmed and directionless lately and I realized it was because the clutter bug has snuck into my home.  It happens so very fast.  So I decided to begin to tackle it.  I know from experience that if I don’t define segmented areas to focus on directly I get overwhelmed with the scope of the entire project.  So I decided I wanted to focus on my bedroom.  My thought is that if I have a clutter free space to begin and end my days I will be a much more peaceful person.

Of course I didn’t take before photos.  It didn’t even occur to me that the transformation would be as dramatic as it was.  But I do have one photo to share with you, the mountain of trash and Goodwill donations I eliminated from my room!  WOW…I had no clue I had so much stuff squirrelled in there.  So I will make my way thru all of the rooms in my house to see how much stuff I can eliminate from my life that I do not need and the stuff I do not want.

I would love it if you all shared with me some of your ways to fight the clutter bug on a daily basis

and even what you do when it comes to big purging jobs like this!

This year I was able to participate in the GBK Golden Globes Celebrity Gift Lounge as part of The Artisan Groups Celebrity SWAG Bag and Photo Lounge display. 

I had a selection of 5 copper cuffs from my Copper Tones Collection on display for the celebrities to look at and pose with for photos.

Included in the SWAG Bag for Celebrities and selected members of the press was my Interlaced Circles Copper cuff.

Are you curious as to what celebrities attended?  Well here is the list!  Over the next week I will be sharing some photos from the event….especially the photos of who I have trying out my items!

1. Ali Fedotowsky
2. Alicia Witt
3. Amanda Righetti
4. Angus T. Jones
5. Anthony Anderson
6. Anastassija Makarenko
7. Bailee Madison 
8. Barrett Foa
9. Beau Willimon
10. Ben Schwartz
11. Beth Riesgraf
12. Betsy Brandt
13. BooBoo Stewart
14. Callie Thorne
15. Camille Grammar
16. Candace Cameron Bure
17. Carly Craig
18. Cheryl Burke
19. Chris McDonald
20. Chris Noth
21. Christopher Heyerdahl
22. Connor Paolo
23. Cynthia Addai Robinson
24. Damian Lewis
25. Damian McGinty
26. David Banner
27. Dot-Marie Jones
28. Eden Sher
29. Elizabeth McGovern
30. Eric Stonestreet
31. Erica Durance
32. Gabriel Mann
33. Garrett Backstrom
34. Helen McCrory
35. Hill Harper 
36. India De Beaufort
37. Iqbal Theba
38. Janina Gavankar
39. Jason Isaacs
40. Jason Olive
41. Jennifer Love Hewitt
42. Jennifer Carpenter
43. Jeremy Irons
44. Jessica Parker Kennedy
45. Jim Rash
46. Joe Mantegna
47. Josh Sussman
48. Julie Benz
49. Karina Smirnoff 
50. Kathryn Joosten
51. Katie Leclerc
52. Kristi Lauren
53. Lana Parrilla
54. Lauren Bowles
55. Leslie David Baker
56. Mark Feuerstein
57. Mayim Bialik
58. Melissa Rauch
59. Mickey Rourke
60. Mireille Enos
61. Morena Baccarin
62. Nat Faxon
63. Natasha Henstridge
64. Nick Wechsler
65. Pat O’Brien
66. Rachael Crow
67. Raphael Sbarge
68. Reno Wilson 
69. Reshma Shetty
70. Rex Lee
71. Raini Rodriguez
72. Rico Rodriguez
73. RJ Mitte
74. Samantha Harris
75. Sarah Drew
76. Sasha Pieterse
77. Shailene Woodley 
78. Shanola Hampton
79. Steven Yeun
80. Thomas Gibson
81. Thomas Jane
82. Tinsel Korey
83. Tony Denison
84. Zach Woods

I wonder what Cari Cucksey of the HGTV show “Cash and Cari”

and owner of the wonderful shop RePurpose is searching for?

I think she is looking for the perfect container to use as a display for her new

reclaimed Copper and Labradorite cuff bracelet from Luster.

Starting this spring, I will be adding a line of wire wrapped and elegantly adorned bracelets and cuffs in my shop!

I have a feeling you will see a version of the “Cari Cuff” there!

I’m excited to announce the Luster Metal Works, in association with The Artisan Group, will be featured on January 13-14, 2012 at a luxury Gift Lounge hosted by GBK Productions at the L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills,
California, in honor of the 2012 Golden Globes Nominees and Presenters.

Over the next few weeks I will be giving you an inside look at what it took to make the 100+ bracelets that will be featured in the celebrity SWAG bags and press boxes.  The five cuffs featured in the photo above will be on display at the gift lounge for the celebrities to pose with in their promotional photos.  I wonder who I will have the privilege of having photographed with my items?

I hope you will join me on this exciting adventure!

I wonder what Ginnifer Goodwin is daydreaming about?

I bet she is wondering when she is going to receive this lovely earring and cuff set that she is going to get from Luster as part of a gift bag coming from The Artisan Group.

So why is Giuliana DePandi Rancic so happy in this photo?

 Well that is because she just received the perfect necklace to go with her dress…courtesy of Luster!

The necklace is a handcrafted Awareness Ribbon with the word “HOPE” hand stamped onto it.  It is hung on  a18” sterling silver chain. It is a simple yet powerful necklace that is a wonderful gift for anyone who has “Hope” that the cause that they believe in will someday be cured.

I am a member of a juried group that has the privilege of being asked to provide items for high profile events and gifts to high profile people.  One of the recent gift bags was a get well bag of sorts for Giuliana to cheer her up post procedure for her lumpectomy.  I am also working on another high profile gift as well as items to go into not only 1 but 2 celebrity events…they are pretty major and more will come on that soon!

I will be the first to admit that I am not a big fan of fruit pies.  I just don’t like the gooey sweet fillings, it is sugar overkill.  and I really don’t like pie crust either.  We have a tart cherry tree in our yard that is quite prolific and my husband loves cherry pies…so to be a nice wife I begrudgingly make him pies.

The other day I came across a recipe for a Crustless Cranberry Pie…I had an Ah Ha moment.  Cranberries are tart like pie cherries so I thought I’d give the recipe a try substituting some cherries.  To my delight, I actually LOVED the final outcome, and so did my family…and a few friends that stopped by and got a sample.  It is more like a cobbler than a pie, but not as dry or cake like as a cobbler.  It was perfect, okay except for the stray pits that you have to beware of.  But other than that  I loved it!  This is for sure a keeper of a recipe and I want to try it with other fruits like blackberries and apples.

So I thought I would share with you my recipe as submitted to All-Recipes.com:

 

Crustless Tart Cherry Pie

 

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Ready In: 55 Minutes

Servings: 8

 

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups Tart Cherries

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 inch pie pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Stir in the cherries, and toss to coat. Pour in the melted butter into the cherry mix and stir. In another bowl, combine the beaten eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Pour the egg mixture into the cranberry batter. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Enjoy!