Showing posts with label jake and cleo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jake and cleo. Show all posts

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Where WESTies Create - Episode 9: emms gEM's and jake + cleo

Welcome to the jewelry studio portion of my home!
I'm Emily of emmsgems and I'm also the shorter half of jake + cleo  and this is where jewelry is made. Last time we met, I took you on a tour of my sewing corner in the basement of my house, where I create my line of fabric bags, emmspocketshop. Now I'm giving you a peak at a room on the main floor of my home, where I design jewelry and my husband hunkers down in our home office.


I should mention that the room actually does triple duty. Under gEM's desk, and somewhat hidden by the rolling cart full of beads, is a cat litter box. I have an older cat who can't climb stairs so I had to find a space for her business on the main floor. This table holds bins, tins and towers of beads. There is always a piece of jewelry on the go in the work area, and is strategically hidden under a towel. It isn't that I fear the paparazzi peeking in the window and snapping pics of my work, but I have a second cat who loves to get her paws in to everything.


I mentioned that I help to create jake + cleo jewelry, and a portion of this room is reserved for this work. A great rolling set of drawers holds jake + cleo 's designing, creating, assembling and shipping needs. We can leave the drawers here, or roll it out to the light filled kitchen and spread out there.


The closet in this room holds a number of things. gEM's necklaces hang on hangers, earrings and bracelets are in boxes. Other boxes hold shipping supplies, display pieces, and extra things. We have two cardboard light boxes and one nylon light cube for photographing product. This mess is an organized mess.


Here are few other photos: a tackle box of beads, the gEM's layout board, and a kiln (hidden in the basement) for firing jake + cleo pieces.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Who's New Tuesday: Jake + Cleo


Who are jake + cleo?
Corina (the tall one) and Emily (the not-so-tall one) make up jake+cleo, a jewelry business they named after their cats from their single girl days.


Where are you From?
jake + cleo is based out of Winnipeg, Corina's hometown, but have been known to take their studio on the road to Kitchener, Ontario where Emily's family is located.

When did you open your Etsy Shop?
j+c opened their Etsy doors late summer of 2010. Emily has been selling her own beaded jewelry line on Etsy since 2008, emms gEM's and Emms Pocket Shop and convinced Corina that jake + cleo should give the Etsy community and platform a try.

What do you sell? 
jake + cleo design and create fine silver charms and pendants. Fine silver is a clay medium. We use a brand that is made with 100% recycled silver. When the clay is fired, binders and water burn off, leaving .999 silver. Our pendants and charms are then displayed on sterling silver chains and ear wire.


What is your favorite thing to make?
Our favourite thing to create is anything from our herb imprint line, in particular pieces made with dill or wheat. We love to see how they will roll out and what fine details will be picked up in the patina. And custom pieces are fun too!


What are your long-term Etsy goals?
This is a difficult question to answer. Our goals can't be given in numbers. For us, Etsy is an outlet for our creativity. As a result, this creativity has generated some wonderful feedback about how our jewelry carries a personal touch for those who purchase it either for themselves or as a gift. This feels good. To continue to use our creative release in ways that are meaningful to both us and our clients is our goal on Etsy.

Follow along all things Jake + Cleo here:
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Thursday, May 5, 2011

W.E.S.T. Design Challenge: "Earth Day" Results

The WEST design challenge for April was in honour of Earth Day.

Three of our talented jewelry designers came up with their interpretations of this theme with beautiful results.

First up is Marcella of Waterlelie Jewellery with a recycled vintage coin from Brazil on a sterling silver chain with a chunk of citrine.


Gorgeous!

Next up is Wendy from The Silver Agenda with her Green Blooms Necklace:

Wendy writes:
For this challenge I wanted my piece to be comprised of recycled materials. I'm happy to say that I have switched my metal clay supply to a brand that is made entirely out of recycled silver. The Prehnite briolette that is suspended from the fine silver pendant came from an old pair of earrings that were broken. Absolutely no materials were wasted in the making of this piece.



The next project comes from Corina and Emily from jake and cleo.

Corina and Em write:
We used dill flowers to leave the impression of a flower garden or trees on our fine silver pendant. The pendant was created with 100% recycled silver which starts as a silver clay and when fired results in .999 fine silver. Happy Earth Day! We're looking forward to real gardens to start popping up in Manitoba :)


I couldn't find the listing for this particular one (sold perhaps?), but I found a very beautiful one using blades of grass. Check out their shop for more eco-friendly creations.

Aren't these interpretations of Earth Day just exquisite?

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Stay tuned for the announcement of the May WEST Design Challenge!