Tag Archives: design

Class Spotlight: Perfect Pendants!

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Stand out from the crowd with a truly unique custom pendant of your very own design!

Saturday + Sunday | July  16 + 17 | 11am-5:00pm | $240 | Register Now!

In this weekend workshop we’ll be exploring different styles and techniques to create your Perfect Pendant.  Learn to construct bezel settings for cabochon, faceted gemstones, and fancy shaped stones.  Working with sterling silver, we use hammer and stamps, as well as high polish, and oxidized finishes to accentuate textures and highlight designs. Students may bring their own stones or purchase from the tutor’s collection. Materials are provided.

Check out some of our students amazing work!!!

 

 

Class Spotlight: Business For Designers + Jewelry Production Workshops

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This weekend!

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So you’ve taken a few jewelry making classes, have a fabulous idea for a jewelry collection and have began making samples, but wait! Have you thought about marketing? How about how to set up a business in New York? How to apply for a sales tax certificate, and when to collect it?

Running a Jewelry Business is more than designing and making jewelry.  In fact, there are many more aspects to business that most designers aren’t aware of when they try to launch a new jewelry line. But don’t fret – we’ve got two classes coming up covering these topics among other valuable practical knowledge for starting and running a successful jewelry business.

Business for Designers (April 3 | Sunday | $120 | 11am-5pm) is all about learning how to start a jewelry business. You’ll learn about different types of businesses from sole proprietorship to a corporation, different laws and taxes you’ll need to know, as well as building a web presence and marketing your work.

Jewelry Production (April 3 | $120 | Saturday | 11am-5pm) is all about developing a coherent line for production, production techniques, selling retail vs. wholesale, and much more. You’ll also have an opportunity to bring in a few samples, and to discuss individual questions in a one-on-one setting with the instructor.

Take them together, and you’ll set yourself up for a successful business launch!

 

 

Class Spotlight! The Amazing World of Wax Carving

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Spring classes are starting soon!  Intro to Wax Carving is a fantastic class to get your feet wet in this versatile medium!

You may ask What is Wax Carving?

Well, the art of wax carving dates back all the way to 3500 BCE!  Probably even earlier!  Ancient civilizations used the beeswax that had been leftover from harvesting honey to sculpt interesting forms, mostly depictions of animals and gods.  Today we have many different types of jewelers carving wax, each kind having its own special properties.  Carving wax is a wonderful technique for creating jewelry. Intricate details can be created in wax that you can’t achieve in metal. We are essentially making mini-sculptures, using  additive and / or subtractive techniques.

In this 6-week class we explore how to build up wax, carve and file it away at it to reveal a design.  Wax is extremely forgiving & versatile and can be used to make rings, pendants, bracelets, earrings or any other small object.  You’ll start off by making a ring for the first project and then a pendant for the second.  Students are encouraged to explore the wax as a medium as well as be challenged as designers by the instructor.   You can design, experiment, play, and create with the inexpensive wax until you get your piece just right.

We include a tour of the jewelry district and a complete list of trade references and supplier resources to provide the new student with a full introduction to the jewelry industry. Small class sizes are perfect for both beginners or those looking to refresh their wax carving skills. You don’t need any jewelry knowledge to take this class – absolute beginners welcome!

for all the class details check it out here!

Mar 23rd – May 4th  (no class 3/30) | $450 | Wednesdays| 6-9pm | wax included + tool list | Register Now!

here’s a fun slide show of our last classes finished projects, get inspired!

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Class Spotlight: Business For Designers + Jewelry Production Workshops

Leave a reply

 

photo (17)

So you’ve taken a few jewelry making classes, have a fabulous idea for a jewelry collection and have began making samples, but wait! Have you thought about marketing? How about how to set up a business in New York? How to apply for a sales tax certificate, and when to collect it?

Running a Jewelry Business is more than designing and making jewelry.  In fact, there are many more aspects to business that most designers aren’t aware of when they try to launch a new jewelry line. But don’t fret – we’ve got two classes coming up covering these topics among other valuable practical knowledge for starting and running a successful jewelry business.

Business for Designers (October 18 | Sunday | $120 | 11am-5:30pm) is all about learning how to start a jewelry business. You’ll learn about different types of businesses from sole proprietorship to a corporation, different laws and taxes you’ll need to know, as well as building a web presence and marketing your work.

Jewelry Production (October 17 | $120 | Saturday | 11am-5:30pm) is all about developing a coherent line for production, production techniques, selling retail vs. wholesale, and much more. You’ll also have an opportunity to bring in a few samples, and to discuss individual questions in a one-on-one setting with the instructor.

Take them together, and you’ll set yourself up for a successful business launch!

 

 

Student Spotlight: Susan Alexandra

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When did you first start making jewelry?

I started making jewelry when I was like…9. But my first proper metal working class was in 2012. And as Drake says, nothing was the same…

What class did you take at Liloveve?

I took the wax carving class with Emilie!

Baby Hold on Ring | ring created in Wax Carving I class

Baby Hold on Ring | ring created in Wax Carving I class

Fortune Teller Necklace | pendant created in Wax Carving I class

Fortune Teller Necklace | pendant created in Wax Carving I class

Where do you draw your inspiration when designing your work?

My inspiration is a mix of things that have shaped my aesthetic. Paintings by Frida Kahlo and Jan Bruegel, floral print scarves from Oilily, the gardens of Marie Antoinette and Instragram. I am also very influenced by my current emotional and mental state. A lot of my jewelry is meant to be saviors in the midst of chaos. 

Where do you exhibit / sell your work?

I sell through my site www.susanalexandra.com, retailers in the United States and Japan.

Have you been featured in any press?

Elle.com, March 2014

Elle.com, March 2014

Nylon Magazine, April 2014

Nylon Magazine, April 2014

What’s your favorite piece you’ve ever made?

Eye See Bracelet

Eye See Bracelet

Eye See Bracelet

Eye See Bracelet

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

Paris in the 1920’s, England in Medieval times where I was a princess in a castle, current times to Columbus, Oh to eat tuna noodle casserole made by my mama.

If you could collaborate with another designer/artist, who would it be and why?

Rihanna or Frida Kahlo. Or my brilliant best friend and artist Matthew Sabato of Measuring the Marigold.

What’s the most fun aspect of being a jewelry designer?

Working for myself! Creating what is purely my thoughts and feelings. Creating in general!

Where can we see your work?

OR my instragram, susan_alexandra

Check out Susan’s work on her website or follow her in instagram.

Student Spotlight: Monica Ruzansky

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LV: When did you first start making jewelry?

MR: I started my practice in Mexico City with the jeweler Adriana Lieberman back in 2006, then I paused for a few years and went and back again in 2010 with Caroline Glemann at Liloveve, Borislav Goynatsky as well as with Billy at Sterling Quest in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

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LV: What classes have you taken at Liloveve?

MR: Rose Cut Diamond Ring, Gold Alloying, Stackable Rings and Flush Setting, all really wonderful classes.

LV: Where do you draw your inspiration when designing your work?

MR: It really varies, it can start by looking at a stone – it’s color, or shape. Looking at patterns in nature is a very rich source of inspiration for me, and as well as I really take pleasure in looking at reflections or glimpses of light and I try to translate that into my work.

Other great unexpected inspirational moments happen in the studio during the design and production processes, where mistakes become a starting point for a new idea or even become an actual piece themselves.

LV: Do you sell you work? If so, where?

A few places in Brooklyn are: THE CLAY POT , CATBIRD, & THISTLE & CLOVER

LV: Have you been featured in any press?

MR: NY Magazine ‘The Cut’, Brooklyn Magazine, Travesias Magazine, Folio DigitalPicture 29

LV: What’s your favorite piece you’ve ever made?

MR: After my husband proposed to me I proposed to him with a not very wearable ring that I named “Ring de Rêve”. It’s a hollow ring that has a little drawer with a gold umbrella as a knob for opening it on one side, on the other side has a peep hole where if you get the right light you can see an engraved eye with eyelashes in side and lastly at the top there is a piece of rock from Iceland, the place where he actually proposed to me.

In terms of my own line, the Tulum Sunshine earrings and the diamond drop necklace are two of my favorites.

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Drop_earr_   drop_dia_

LV: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

MR: Cambodia.

LV: If you could collaborate with another designer/artist, who would it be and why?

MR: Julio le Parc. His his light pieces are something really special to me. Magic is something that happens by chance, involving timing and luck, but I think Julio le Parc’s art encapsulates experiential magic.

Julio Le Parc

LV: What’s the most fun aspect of being a jewelry designer?

MR: The satisfaction of seeing designs begin in your mind or on paper and then take physical form in your hands, as you bring them to life.

tulum_sunshine_e      IMG_1199

See more of Monica’s work at:

AILI Jewelry

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In the Studio: Handmade Custom Ring Design

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Liloveve designer, Caroline Glemann, recently created this gorgeous handmade custom engagement ring in the studio for a client. The ring is white gold with a center set labradorite and pavé set surrounding diamonds.

Here’s a quick peek into her process.

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The finished piece. Gorgeous!

Open Studio: Ruta Reifen

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Head over to the Museum of Art and Design (MAD Museum) today & check out the great exhibitions there. Their artists-in-residency are doing really incredible work. Once a week each artist opens their studios up to see their processes, view their work and ask questions.

Head over to Ruta Reifen’s studio today, and Israeli born jewelry artist and take a look at her vibrant, organic designs.

Received her B.Design in Jewelry from Shenkar College of Design , Israel, 2009. In 2011 she received a honors MFA from the Jewelry + Metals department at the Rhode Island School of Design.

While checking out Ruta’s work, take a look at the incredible permanent jewelry collection the MAD has to offer on the second floor of the museum. ruta 1 ruta 2 RutaReifen04

Studio Visit: Daniel Baez from Taba Casting

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A few weeks ago in our Intermediate Wax Carving class we were lucky enough to get a visit from Daniel Baez, the owner of Taba Casting in the Jewelry District.

Daniel gave our students a lesson in mold making- the practice of using a model to create negative space within a rubber form. Molds are essentially what makes the jewelry production world go ’round. Knowing how the process works is essential to anyone interested in producing their pieces on a large scale.

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Molds can be made from any number of things- anywhere from a finished piece of metal jewelry, to natural forms like tree bark or animal bones. Basically anything than can withstand the heat of melted rubber can be used to make a mold.

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In order to create a rubber mold, the model is covered in layers of raw rubber and placed inside a vulcanization machine. This machine heats the rubber up to 375 degrees and melts the layers around the model to create a solid mold. Once the rubber is melted around the model, it is cut open to reveal the negative space inside, which is an exact replica of the original piece. Here Daniel cuts open a silicon mold.

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After the mold is cut, a special type of wax is injected into the mold to create a wax version of the original model. This process can be repeated over and over to create any number of wax models which are then cast into metal to create multiples.

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There are so many kinds of molds! Interested in learning more about mold making creating multiples of your pieces? Check out our upcoming Mold Making workshop on August 10th and 11th!