I'm kicking off the Spring Show season this Saturday, April 10 at the Suzuki School's Artist Market.

Come by and check it out!

settling in

Do you ever have those days (days, weeks, or even months) when you feel like you are running to catch up? That is what my life has been this past month.

Our secretary at my day job (JFF Jeweler Supply) was diagnosed with cancer. It was all very sudden, she knew something was wrong, she went to the doctor and they told her she had multiple meyloma. She began treatment immediately. She is a wonderful woman and definitely a fighter.

In the meantime it has left a huge gaping hole at JFF. Not only because we are missing a working member of the business (our secretary/bookkeeper), but she is a life-long friend (as she was our neighbor when I was growing up). In the meantime, I have been working longer hours at JFF to get all the work done then move to work in my studio.

But I can't dwell on the negative. We must push forward. So here are the things I am working on in my studio in the next few weeks :
I am working on a men's line.
I am sending my jewelry to Beehive New York. (which will be for sale beginning Feb 1)
I am making some new rings.
I am working on making a main web page.

In personal life news, Dan and I will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary February 10. Things have been wonderful with us and I'm super excited because we have a reservation at Craft to celebrate!

Also, Dan and I are taking another trip up to New York/New Jersey, February 12-14. I know it's going to be SUPER cold but I am excited for the trip. We are going primarily to celebrate Dan's father's 75th birthday. But we have also scheduled in time to visit the Beehive New York store! I am so excited to go check it out! We will also sneak in a quick visit with Dan's friends, who I now consider my friends as well. :)

You never can expect the bumps in the road. But I think I'm finally settling into 2010.

sweet talk

What is your favorite part of Valentine's Day?

Is it the heart shaped boxes filled with chocolates? A romantic evening to spend with your special someone? The love filled cards? The cozy, romantic restaurants? Or the excuse to send your secret crush a valentine?

Personally, my favorite part of Valentine's Day isn't romantic at all. My favorite are the little conversation hearts, you know the ones, the candy shaped hearts with the cutesy phrases on them like "be mine," "i love you," or "text me."

Last year, just after Valentine's Day passed, I had the idea to make a necklace with little silver conversation hearts on them... just like the candy. Immediately, I stopped what I was doing (eating candy hearts no less) and began working. Nearly a year later, I finally get to spill the beans!

These little sterling silver conversation hearts are just as sweet as the real thing, but no calories! They are $74 for the plain heart without the stone, the heart with the emulated garnet is $84. The conversation hearts are only available for a limited time in my etsy & big cartel studios, and available on the beehive co-op website. So hurry before they are all gone!

I really think I have a thing for "food" jewelry... fortune cookies and now conversation hearts?!

2010, a new decade?

I'm not sure if I have been so busy and I didn't realize, or I'm just not that smart, but today it really sunk in that we are entering into a new decade. I don't know how I missed this!

What makes it even crazier is it has been 10 years since the y2k scare, I visited California for the first time, I graduated from high school, and I moved away from home went to college... Part of me thinks that it really doesn't seem like it's been 10 years. But when I try to think about what I was doing back then, what I was thinking about, what I hoped to be when "I grew up" I realize it really has been 10 years.

If you would have asked me in 2000 where I would be in 10 years my answer would be: a clothing buyer definitely not working for my dad anymore. I would be married by 24 with 2 children living in San Francisco and very, very happy.

However, today I am working for my father by day and jewelry artist by early morning and night. I am single at 28 but dating a wonderful man, childless and technically petless, STILL living in Atlanta (but finally visited SF this year), and still figuring out what I want to be "when I grow up." But I have to say, I am very very happy where I am right now walking into 2010.

I said I wouldn't post until the new year, but I couldn't resist. All of this has got me thinking and when I get all thoughtful I think it should record it in history! (it doesn't happen all THAT often!)

Before I really sign off until the new year I wanted to let you all know that I have some very exciting new designs that I will be releasing in the new year. And here's a little sneak peak of one idea:

This ring is a new series called rock candy rings that I will be expanding on, along with my gumdrop rings. Each will be one of a kind and resized to fit to order. They are not yet available in my etsy or big cartel store but when they are, rest assured, you will be the first to know!

Here are also some future gum drops rings.


I hope you all have a very happy new year!

a happy accident

One of my friends from Beehive commissioned me to do a feather pendant for her husband. It is something that is pretty far out of my normal realm of design, but I thought it would be fun to play around and try some new techniques.

I began with a little pow-wow session with my dad (he always has great ideas of how to do something that I would have NEVER thought of). I used sterling silver sheet, a saw, half round wire, some steel line tools and a hammer. I am SOOO happy with how this pendant turned out, that I just HAD to share! (please ignore the quality of the photo, it's a scanned image of the necklace since BOTH my camera batteries are dead!)


This feather has inspired me to make a peacock feather and add it to my line of lucky jewelry! (horseshoe and wishbone necklaces)

day 20 : $20 off when you spend $100 or more

Last night was our annual girls christmas party. we all bring delicious food, drink wine and have a "white elephant" gift exchange. Except the gift exchange has turned into a really nice gift exchange. Every year, I bring handmade jewelry.

This year I thought I would make a new design for earrings that I have tossing around. Kind of "test my market." They were a hit, so I will be making some more and putting them up for sale in the next week or so.

Just to let you guys know, today is the last day to order and receive your jewelry by Christmas Eve, by standard or priority mail. (You have until Tuesday for express mail).
christinakober.etsy.com
christinakoberdesigns.bigcartel.com

day 17 : wishbone necklace 10% off

I would first like to wish my dad a very happy birthday! He has the day off of work, so I'm sure he's going to spend his day searching for old records and antique radios.

Second, I would like to thank everyone who came to my trunk show to support me! For those of you who weren't able to make it, here are some photos!


Today I am introducing my newest design : a lucky wishbone necklace! I have been wearing this necklace around a lot recently, you know, "testing out the design." I personally love it! It hangs from a 28" fine ball chain and is a great piece for layering OR to wear alone.


This brings me to today's advent calendar promotion!

day 5 : 5% off everything in my etsy studio AND in my big cartel studio

happy weekend!

It's the fifth day of the advent and today we have a super exciting sale!!!!


I have opened my big cartel studio for business. So now, if you don't have an etsy account, you don't have to get one. Just hop on over to www.christinakoberdesigns.bigcartel.com

Of course, you can still purchase on my etsy site also!

Don't forget everyone who participates in the sale will be entered for the final sale...which I promise, you don't want to miss out on!

'til tomorrow.
xoxo

trunk show at beehive

get some last minute holiday shopping done at a christina kober designs trunk show at beehive co-op on december 16! the trunk show begins at 6:30 pm. come enjoy some yummy refreshments and beautiful jewelry. there might even be a surprise sale or giveaway!

christina kober designs has the perfect gift ideas to hide under the tree this year... get your mother a block letter initial necklace, your sister a fortune cookie necklace, your best friend a gum drop ring, and while you're at it, get yourself something fun too. maybe one of my new designs that will be revealed to the public for the first time!

take a break from the mall rush, the kids, bring a friend or two, and enjoy a relaxed evening of shopping and fun.

Day 1 : It's a Happy December Giveaway!

Happy New Month! I am so excited to kick off the Advent Calendar of Promotions today! So what will the first promotion be? ...drumroll please....

A Happy December Giveaway! The giveaway is for my new Ampersand Block Letter Necklace.

To enter please leave a comment on my blog. You have from 12 midnight until 11:59pm Eastern today (december 1) to enter. A winner will be drawn the old fashioned way, from a hat, and announced early tomorrow morning (december 2).

So good luck and stay tuned for the next promotion tomorrow!

the hugest, biggest christina kober designs sale EVER!

Ok...so I can't hold it in any longer! I'm SOO excited to share this idea! I tried to wait, I tried, but I can't do it!

I love advent calendars. I grew up so excited for the next day to find the little door for the day and and have my precious piece of chocolate. {Until I realized that there was nothing stopping me from opening all the little doors and eating all the chocolate in one sitting. Then proceeding to hide the evidence by closing the doors back up so my parents would be "never know"} This year, I decided it would be fun to celebrate the holiday season with an advent calendar of sales!

Beginning on December 1, I will reveal the sale and promotional code for the day on here (my blog) and via email (don't forget to sign up!). Each day will be a new sale and a new promo code for you to use on my etsy shop! How exciting right?! And the more people that participate, the better the final surprise on Christmas Day! WOO-HOO!

are you part of an and?

me: "I am."

you: "What does this mean?"

me: "I am part of an and: Christina & Dan. The concept being that the 'and' connects Dan and myself. The 'and' representing love, friendship, commitment, a relationship."

you: "This tiny three letter word represents ALL of that?"

me: "Yep, and so does the ampersand symbol (&)."

you: "Well, why do you bring this up now?"

me: "That's a funny story let me share, hopefully it makes sense!
As many of you know, I have a line of initial pendants called the block letter necklaces (formerly mommy & me initial necklaces). The design was inspired by the little alphabet magnets my mom would keep on the refrigerator to help me learn spelling (clearly not grammar). My idea, which is still coming to fruition, is that the letters are given to a mother or grandmother, each letter representing the first initial of the child's name. So as there are more children added to the family, there are more initials added to the necklace.


In addition to wearing multiple letters, you can also add the birthstone of the child to the bottom right hand corner of each initial (more on that in another post)."

you: "Oh, very cool. But what does this have to do with the ampersand?"

me: "Well, I also had the idea that a couple (dating, married, etc) could have their initials on a necklace. But without an '&' symbol it just looked like a jumble of letters. And I felt that the addition of the '&' was really important to the symbolism. Then I started thinking more about it, maybe I shouldn't be so literal. The & makes the relationship, it is what connects the two people, maybe have the & stand alone. VOILA, the idea was born! (plus it just looks cool!)

So I present to you the sterling silver block ampersand, now for sale in my etsy studio!"

happy friday

Wow, I can't believe it! I hit 200 sales on my etsy site today! (and about a week ago I hit 1000 people who "hearts me")

I feel like I've really hit a huge etsy milestone and I just wanted to share with you my excitement! I will have to do some sort of giveaway in celebration! So stay tuned you will be hearing about it soon!

Speaking of giveaway, don't forget to head over to Sara Plays House and enter to win a Sterling Silver Fortune Cookie Necklace with your own custom fortune! You only have one more week until the drawing!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I will be taking it easy this weekend & working in my studio!









ps: here is a little preview of one of the options I'm working with on my logo!

playing catch up.

I apologize for my absence. I have been running around playing catch up since my being sick 2 weeks ago. I'm ALMOST all caught up, although I'm sure something will pop up that I have pushed to the back recesses of my mind.

I barely realized Halloween past and it was November. Shame on me! And in my rush these past few days I haven't even taken photos of what I have been doing...but I'm going to share anyway!

1. A few custom fortune cookie orders to complete. One in particular I love! As a special birthday present for his wife, a man asked me to make a fortune with her favorite quote: "I'll eat you up - I love you so" If you aren't sure what this is a quote from, its Where the Wild Things Are. (I am DYING to see this movie)
   
2. While working on the custom fortune cookies, I have redesigned them. There were some problems with the Fortune Cookie Lariat in particular and I'm really excited to re-post these in the next few days with the "NEW" same but different design.
3. I am reworking my logo and packaging to have a more consistent style. I hope to unveil all of this before the holiday rush.
4. I had a small trunk show at my friend, Miranda's house. Thank you to Miranda for hosting and all the lovely ladies that came by!
5. I am participating in the Whimsical Wares Show this Wednesday through Sunday. I dropped off all my initials and new Fortune Cookies on Monday. Let me tell you if you are in the Atlanta area (Marietta to be exact) this weekend, you should DEFINITELY check this show out. There are tons of great goodies there, including of course my jewelry! ;) But it is also in the most amazing house.
6. I had a custom order for a vermeil mommy and me initial pendant. For those of you who don't know, vermeil is sterling silver with a thin coating of 18K gold on the outside. So it keeps the cost down while also giving you the look of 18K gold. downside: it's not permanent.
   Because I work at a jeweler supply store, and my dad is pretty awesome, he let me experiment with a plating machine and vermeil some of my peices. It was WAY too much fun and I'm looking forward to making a line of vermeil initials!
7. Last I want to tell you guys about a giveaway I'm doing on a blog that I follow. Sara Plays House is a great blog that is about Sara and her family. She has two adorable daughters, who keep her busy and writing entertaining posts, like her Saturday Night Art Show. Definitely a great read! So hop on over to Sara's blog and check it out, and while your there enter to win a CUSTOM FORTUNE COOKIE NECKLACE!!!
   

it's the whole alphabet (minus "u")

I have big news! My handwritten initial alphabet is FINISHED and for sale in my etsy site, at Beehive Co-op and in St Louis at Charm Boutique!

The chains are now adjustable at the back to be either 16" or 18". Which ever your heart desires. (I'm also working on having a 18" or 20" chain available also)

Well actually if you look closely you will notice there is no "u." So technically I'm not really finished...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Also, if you have been following me on facebook & twitter (and if you were paying close attention above), you have noticed me talking about a new boutique. I'm happy to let you know that I'm now in my second store: Charm Boutique in St. Louis!!!!!

happy weekend

The weather doesn't look very promising for my show on Saturday. But by the looks of the sky right now I'm really hopefully the radar is just wrong! :)

Things to come next week on my blog:

Monday or Tuesday: photos from my trip to NY...a little belated

Wednesday: because I love shopping so much I thought it would be fun to have a weekly blog post where I pick out an outfit I either own or wish to own. this way I am not spending the money on something new but I am sharing the outfit with others... and I can rediscover things in my closet! Brilliant!

Thursday: I will be posting some new items on my etsy shop the next few weeks. I have finished my handwritten initial and am finally ready to share! And I also have some new designs that are coming to fruition.

Friday: an update on my 28 resolutions

(i'm hopeful I will stay on schedule!)

Oakhurst Artist Market

Look it's me! {under the jewelry category}

I will be participating in the Oakhurst Arts and Music Festival October 10. It is a one day festival from 10am until 7pm.

If you are in the Atlanta area, you should come by! Great music, beautiful art, and a great time!

number 14

This past weekend I began work on my first item on my 28 to-do list; number 14 organize my studio.

My studio has always been in my apartment, beginning in the kitchen of my studio apartment, then moving to the 2nd bedroom of a 2 bedroom apartment, then the dining room of a 1 bedroom apartment, and now in the hallway of my 1 bedroom apartment. I am very unhappy with the location of my studio as I have no room and I end up spreading out to the dining room, kitchen and living room, much to Dan's dismay.

I thought the space issue would be over because Dan and I were moving out of our apartment at the end of September into a house. But alas the stars did not align and to save our sanity we chose to renew our lease for another 6 months. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel...my Dad offered to let me to set up my studio in an unused storage room at work.

So this past weekend I thought it was the perfect time to move because Dan was out of town for a bachelor party. {I am one of those annoyingly independent people who thinks they can do anything, including lifting heavy objects, with no help at all} I had hoped to be all settled into my new space by yesterday and as you can well imagine, not a one box is unpacked but things are starting to look a little promising...hopefully!

East Atlanta Strut

I have been burning the midnight oil preparing for my shows this fall. This past weekend was my second art festival, East Atlanta Strut.
As many of you have heard the rain has been awful in Atlanta; however, we pushed through 9 hours and had a pretty good day! A lot of great feedback and exposure!

Here is a collage of photos of my booth. {you can see my trooper of a boyfriend holding down the fort on the lower photo}
There was some entertainment? We also saw some Elvis impersonators, a woman walking on stilts, a garbage man {literally, a dude dressed up in moss and garbage}, and a lot of other interesting sights.

I also had a great surprise! I won the merit award!

Happy New Month!

When I was in high school, every new month I would bake cookies or cupcakes and decorate them with some seasonable icing. I would bring them to school and pass them out to my classmates and friends (and the boys I thought were super cute). Wishing everyone a "happy new month." These days the months come and go so quickly I barely get a chance to breathe before it's another "new month." Just in September I have:

• 4 days until College Football season officially starts for CLEMSON!
• 14 days until my 28th birthday.
  
• 19 days until my second art festival.
• And 26 days until I have to be moved out of my apartment!

But I have been a busy bee in preparation. After a lot of procrastinating, last night I almost finished the alphabet for my initial pendants! (I have been saying I will do this for about 1 1/2 years now!) I'm so excited that I can't keep them a secret. Here are my new, and some are improved, initials.

please keep in mind these are a work in progress. So they aren't cleaned up yet! also, i have to make w, x, y & z. a, c, d, j, k, & s are already available on my etsy website.