Beautiful Winter and Beautiful Winter Looks @ YIKES Studio

This winter season has gotten off to a gorgeous start. Christmas was beautiful here in Lucerne, Maine, with the recent ice storm we experienced coating the trees and bushes with a shining coat of ice that shone merrily in the sunshine. No decorated indoor tree could compare to looking out over acres of gracefully bent trunks and branches, each wrapped in  a natural coat of glittering tinsel.

I've been focused on celebrating the holidays with family-- both at home and in Portland, Oregon-- and staffing the artisan gallery, SevenArts, where my work is represented in Ellsworth during the Christmas season. Soon I'll be back in the studio in earnest, though, and I'd like to share with you the focus of some of my upcoming work.

Over the past few years I've had a growing interest in fiber arts. Knitting, and then felting, became interests for me. But if you know any small business artist types, you know that our interests don't tend to stay simply hobbies for long-- we develop our work, tweak it, and start to offer the finished products for sale. In 2014, I'll be working more intensively with fiber arts and integrating these into my product line.

Here are a few pieces from 2013. What jewelry styles did you like most in the past year-- YIKES! pieces and others?



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Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

What's On My Workbench: Links Necklace

In the studio, I've been working on a new series of jewelry constructed from interlocking links. The design creates a dynamic and exciting visual piece and a new way to present vibrant colors!

At left is a links necklace set up for curing. The piece is done in multiple stages of curing and sanding. 

I have been enjoying the construction aspect of making these-- they're an exploration of form just much as color. 

The links necklace is finished off with sterling silver wire wrapping and rubber cord.

Finished green links necklace

Pile of beads ready for stringing

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Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BFA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

A Sanctuary for Art (and Wildlife): Maine's Gilsland Farm Audubon Show

YIKES! Studio necklace

This year I'll be wrapping up my summer craft shows with the Gilsland Farm Audubon Show in Falmouth, Maine. I'll be showing the best of my summer collection, and I'm excited to share these pieces-- from earrings and bangles to showpiece necklaces with loads of beautiful detailed patterns and colors.

The show itself takes place this upcoming weekend, Aug 17 & 18, at the Maine Audubon headquarters, a sixty-five acre wildlife sanctuary on the Presumpscot River, near Maine's most populous city, Portland.  

The sanctuary is a hub of education and environmental advocacy, with programs to help protect and preserve a number of animal species in Maine. (You can find out more about getting involved with their very interesting tracking programs here!)

The sanctuary is not only a beautiful setting for a craft show, the Gilsland Farm Audubon Show is also raises money for the Maine Audubon. The small admission fee ($3/members, $4/nonmembers) benefits the Audubon's programs.

If you want to check out the rest of the sanctuary, you'll find that Gilsland Farm’s 2.5 miles of trails wind through meadows, in and out of woods, and along the shore of the Presumpscot River estuary. All of the trails are gentle with no steep grades.

Along the way, you might see meadowlarks, warblers, frogs, and red fox. It's the perfect chance to see some wildlife and some lush greenery before summer starts to slip away!

A print from 2013 Gilsland Farm Show artist Kathleen Buchanan of Grey Seal Press	A YIKES! Studio necklace headed for the show!

This juried show is in it's 17th year and presents only handmade items from over 70 craftspeople. The show will be open from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, August 17 and 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, August 18 at 20 Gilsland Farm Road, near Rt. 1 in Falmouth (see a map here) Catered food will be available and the walking trails will be open, so come by and make a day of it! ❉

38th Annual DIRECTIONS Show on Mount Desert Island

One of Maine's finest and most successful craft shows is coming up this weekend. The Mount Desert Island DIRECTIONS Show, organized by the Maine Crafts Guild, starts this Friday, July 26 at 5 pm. The show will be open Friday until 9 pm, Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm.

This fabulous show features a mix of 80 artisans, displaying some of the most interesting and beautiful jewelry, pottery, gifts and heirloom quality craft work in Maine. The show is held in the newly renovated cafeteria and gymnasium of the Mount Desert Island Regional High School, located at 1081 Eagle Lake Road/Route 233.

I have so much wonderful work to share with you at this show. Bright, fresh, exciting colors and forms abound in my summer collection of cuffs, necklaces, bangles and earrings, with plenty of eye-catching sparkle.  Don't miss this great show nestled in the green hills of Mount Desert Island, one of the most beautiful spots in Maine at the height of summer!

July's Etsy Spotlight: Beach Party

 

YIKES! Etsy Spotlight is where we check out what's new and gorgeous in handmade fashion and accessories from the Etsy marketplace, while pairing up some of our finds with a specially selected item of YIKES! jewelry from the Etsy shop. This roundup represents the height of summer fashion, with cool minty greens, lavender, and spots n' stripes, to help you keep cool and stand out. I hope you like it, and if you do, please share! (You can click the bottom right-hand corner of any image on my blog to post directly to Pinterest-- Just hover over any image and you'll see the "Pin it!" button pop up.) Thanks for reading, and enjoy!


YIKES Mint Green and Lilac Polymer Big Bead Necklace with Sterling Silver
Mint green and lilac come together to make the sweetest big polymer beads enhanced with fashionable sterling silver links and sparkling Swarovski crystal. Update your wardrobe for spring/summer 2013 with this substantial necklace. Can you imagine this colorful necklace paired with a crisp white blouse or perhaps worn on a romantic summer evening in a mint haltertop with a plunging neckline? This piece goes lovely with orange for a fashionable pop of color or wear with ease with more subdued color combos. Pairs very well with many greens.

MINT CONDITION Retro Inspired Halter Tie Top
This mint-green, retro inspired halter top is made for curves, and has that great vintage pin-up style that will get lots of compliments. The color is a divine minty blue-green. It's made by MySugarDoll, who offers many other halters and bottoms in a variety of great vintage styles.

Retro Mint and Black - Kindle, Nook eReader Cover
So cute! This eReader cover will protect your reader from sand and stray droplets at the beach, and from scratches or dings in your bag or at home. It's handmade by Dana Designs, and she can custom-sew covers for a whole bunch of popular eReaders.

Hey Sailor.. Navy and White Stripes Tote Bag / Beach Bag
This bag has plenty of room for beachwear, and it's design is extremely versatile-- it can be retro chic or fairly conservative looking, depending on what it's paired up with. Bayan Hippo makes these sturdy bags. ❉


Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

 

Yikes! Studio Summer Selection is Going to Make You Feel Beautiful

Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend and whatever your travel plans (or your stay-at-home-and-relax plans!) I hope you travel safely! This week I've been working in the studio to bring you my fresh summer collection, full of bright summery hues.

My beautiful, exciting and wearable pieces of jewelry are handcrafted with an artist's attention to detail and craftsmanship-- although when you're wearing them, you'll simply notice how beautiful they make you feel.

First up, I want to show you the necklace that I consider the "perfect summer necklace" (Okay, I might be a bit biased.) But I think you will agree!

The beads are handcrafted individually by hand using multiple polymer techniques. They are then cured and lightly sanded. The sparkle comes from generous Swarovski crystal embellishment.

Tangerine Dream is the name of this bright sparkling orange, fushia and gold polymer necklace. Easy elegance, it's an ideal necklace to accentuate a pretty sundress, or add dressiness and a feminine sparkle to a crisp button-down shirt. What do you think?

See it here on Etsy.

My cuff bracelets this year embrace the nubbly textures and cool colors of the echinoderm-- the sea star! These pretty, sparkly and bright cuffs are so fun to wear! 

These cuffs are handcrafted through a painstaking and careful process to create one of the most interesting and eye-catching bracelets you'll find anywhere.


To order one of these limited edition starfish cuffs, visit yikesstudio.com (see the bottom of the page for quick ordering!) or contact me directly to order yours-- just email suzanne@yikesstudio.com!

 I have one more special piece to show you today-- the fuchsia bangle bracelet. An amazing, brightly colored polymer bangle bracelet made with great attention to detail and excellent craftsmanship.

I've decided to run a limited-time sale on these bangle bracelets. These fully hand-crafted, lightweight, bright and beautiful bracelets are made to last and bring you joyful color for a long time. Right now they are just $72 from my website. Scroll down to see your choice of splashy, vibrant colors and choose one that is you, through and through! ❉

Creating: Bird Bangles, Blossoms, and Buttons for Knitters

   

"Bird Bangles" polymer, seed beads, copper, brass, enamel on copper

Really excited about new work coming out of the studio these days. Hardly time to do anything else!

"Turquoise and Blue Blossom Set", polymer, sterling silver, enameled copper, Swarovski crystal.

Really sweet set that I have been wanting to create for such a long time. Finally everything came together and I got it done. The little earring blossoms remind me of Fuschia flowers in their shape.

"Fox" and "Black Bird" buttons. Expanding my buttons into new shapes.

Now that I'm a knitter (wow, really, I can knit!) I am really interested in buttons! These two are fairly large and have a loop on the back to sew them on. Would be so great on a chunky sweater.

Hope you enjoyed looking!

Suzanne

Polymer Clay Daily Blog

Cherry bomb necklace and cuff bracelets
at Aarhus Gallery, Belfast, Maine

Yikes studio was featured in the Dec 10 Polymer Clay Daily Blog! This is a great blog for and about polymer clay and I am honored to be included. The blog has over 4,000 subscribers! So nice to be noticed.

Speaking of being noticed, I just realized I never posted a link to the fantastic article that the Bangor Daily News did for me. It's hard to remember everything when you're a one woman show!

• Visit Yikes!Studio on Etsy | Handcrafted earrings, necklaces and cuffs starting at $26
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New Fun, Fall Pieces!

Unfortunately I haven't had the time to update my website recently, so I thought I would post some pictures of my most recent work here on the YIKES! blog.

Some of these have sold and some are still available.




Turquoise, red and yellow collection





The Buttercream collection



earthy and rich fall pieces






Wire neckpieces with adorable pendants set in sterling silver





ORDERS
Working away at getting commission pieces finished and out the door. If you are one of my customers who have been anxiously awaiting your pieces--thank you for your patience and your pieces are on their way.