Artists Crossing Holiday Party!

by

Cristina Hurley

Cristina Hurley Jewelry Design

If you love holiday shopping, and you love fine, handmade crafts and gift, look no further than Artists Crossing in the downtown crossing area of Boston. Members of Boston Handmade are displaying their work there through the holidays!

Some of the artists include Jessica Burko of Reclaimed to You,

and Nancy MacCallum of Nancy Rosetta.

If you are feeling festive, make sure you stop by the shop on thursday December 1rst. They are having a 3rd Anniversary Party, from 4-8pm. you might even get to meet some of the artists!

Here's the location:

Artists Crossing

505 Washington Street

Boston, MA

Happy Holidays!

Like their page on Facebook

New inventory has arrived in the Shop!

New Inventory Has Arrived!

by

Cristina Hurley

http://www.cphurley.etsy.com

I'm really looking forward to a great holiday season in my shop, especially with all of the new inventory that is starting to come in from my fellow Boston Handmade members! they make such beautiful things, and my shoppers are already commenting on how nice the items are, and how cute the shop looks.

Jessica Burko of Reclaimed to You dropped off lots of beautiful hand knit scarves and hats! Go to her site for other fine pieces, artwork, and paper goods.

Jennifer Tang of Majenta Designs, makes beautiful asian inspired pendants and purse hooks.

These pieces are by Karen Mahoney, of City by the Sea Ceramics. Raku and other techniques are used to create these unique pieces.

Beautiful jewelry inspired by nature by Nancy weller, of Nancy Rosetta. She uses different metalsmithing techniques and materials to give the pieces great color and dimension.

And of course, there's always me! I am making new designs every day and getting very excited for people to see them. you can even see me making jewelry in my shop! It's also my studio.

Come visit us Wednesday through saturday, 11am-6pm...

3 Rockland Street

Canton, MA 02021

781-562-0421

Hope to see you!

Change is Good

A Much Needed Change

by

Cristina Hurley

my etsy shop

I had a very busy and rough couple of weeks, which culminated in a big craft sale which was a bit of a disappointment. The next day, I decided that I needed to change things up a bit in my shop/studio.

The easiest and most effective way to revamp a space is to paint... So I decided to paint half of this wall with paint I had been using to paint in the shop. I painted and then decided to add some custom hand painted swirls...
I love swirls, they are organic and fun to do freestyle. No need to mark or measure, I just began swirling out from the straight edge I had painted the wall up to.

The swirls are all over my shop in different ways, so I thought they would look nice and add a bit of whimsy to my decor.

Cool! the swirls are all done! they only took a couple of hours or so. The paint dried quickly, so I began to hang up what had been on the wall already. In this case, a display with some jewelry in it.

All done! All I had to do was put everything back, and I decided to rearrange the furniture and displays. I think it looks nice!

And that's just one wall!

I made changes in the entire shop.

Stay tuned for the next chapter...

The window wall!

:)

Cristina

1 Year Anniversary Open House this Saturday, Nov. 5th!

by

Cristina hurley

http://www.cphurley.etsy.com

Come join me this Saturday, November 5th to celebrate my 1 Year Anniversary in my studio/shop!

I've been working hard to spruce up the place, and have really made it into what I imagined my little shop would be.

There will be refreshments, music, a free raffle, tarot card readings, and much more!

Come visit anytime during the hours of 10 am and 6pm. You will get to see some of my new designs too!
Cristina Hurley Jewelry
3 Rockland Street
Canton, MA
781-562-0421


Hope to see you! It will be lots of fun!

Anniversary Open House, This Saturday nov. 5th!

1 Year Anniversary Open House this Saturday, Nov. 5th!

by

Cristina hurley

http://www.cphurley.etsy.com

Come join me this Saturday, November 5th to celebrate my 1 Year Anniversary in my studio/shop!

I've been working hard to spruce up the place, and have really made it into what I imagined my little shop would be.

There will be refreshments, music, a free raffle, tarot card readings, and much more!

Come visit anytime during the hours of 10 am and 6pm. You will get to see some of my new designs too!
Cristina Hurley Jewelry
3 Rockland Street
Canton, MA
781-562-0421


Hope to see you! It will be lots of fun!

New Kenpo Collection

When Two Arts Collide

by

Cristina Hurley

http://www.cphurley.etsy.com

There are I two things I enjoy doing more than anything else in this world. I want to tell you a little bit about both because in some ways they are different and yet so similar to me.
One of them is making jewelry. I am very lucky to have found my creative calling at such an early age. It has been one of the most rewarding and satisfying aspects of my life. When my mom signed me up for a jewelry class back in 1990, I had no idea it would change my life forever, and put me on such a wonderful path of self discovery. Not only did I find my creative outlet, but I found what I wanted to do for a living, and what made me truly happy. There is nothing I can think of that makes a person more fortunate than finding a career in something they love to do, something they would even want to do for FREE.

Sterling Silver Universal Pattern Keychain

The other is Kenpo karate, something I began to do relatively recently, and to my surprise I have grown to really enjoy. Kenpo has begun to give me that same feeling of fulfillment that making jewelry does.
What is so intersting is that I feel as though I did not find kenpo... I am starting to believe that Kenpo found me. I wasn't looking for anything new to learn but I now know that I had become complacent, and that I needed a new outlet for my creativity; I needed to grow and learn something new. My husband took me to a class at the kenpo karate studio he went to, and I figured I would give it a try. It was really hard but I wanted to give it a chance. It was definitely not second nature to me but my teacher, Craig Lowe, and the other students, were helpful and encouraging.

Universal Pattern Pendant

I've found something new and exciting to be passionate about, but I don't have to give up one for the other. Instead, I have found inspiration in one, kenpo, for the other, jewelry. I have been inspired to make pieces using the beautiful images created by the founder of this martial art, Ed Parker. One is the Universal Pattern, shown above in the silver and red pieces. you can see so many different shapes in the pattern. I find it to be so beautiful, and just had to do some pieces using it.

Sterling Silver Dragon Pendant

Kenpo also uses animals as symbols, the two most common being the tiger and the dragon. The tiger represents strength, the dragon wisdom. I was inspired by this to make this dragon pendant pictured above, and am working on designs for the tiger pendant as well.

I am so thankful to have these two arts in my life, both stimulate me mentally and physically, but in different and yet complimentary ways. I find so much inspiration in both, enough to probably last a lifetime!

Photo story: Creating an Engagement Ring

:)

Custom Silhouette Charm Necklace Contest

Contest Title:
Custom Silhouette Charm Necklace Contest

What you’ll win:

A handmade Custom Sterling Silver Silhouette Charm Necklace in the shape of your choice. The Charm will be designed uniquely for you per your description in your winning entry. The silhouette shape can be geometric, an animal silhouette, a letter or number, or a symbol you like, anything that can be made into a Silhouette Charm. (Click here to see an example of a shiny Butterfly Silhouette Charm Necklace that I made recently.) It can be oxidized (blackened), or have a shiny or matte finish. The Charm with be around 1" in size on a chain available in either 16" or 18" inches.

How to Win:
Write a sentence stating your description of the shape you would like a Custom Charm to be made in and post it to your Blog, Twitter, or Facebook with a link back to https://sites.google.com/site/customsilhouettecharmcontest/ then email churleycontest@gmail.com with your entry, OR just email your entry to churleycontest@gmail.com.

Contest Rules:
Three (3) winning entries will receive a Custom Sterling Silver Silhouette Charm Necklace, handmade by me! Winning entries will be selected at random. The contest ends on 8/31/2011 @ 11:59pm!

I was a Featured Customer!

I love wall decals and have a couple up in my shop. The company who did the decals contacted me to do an interview and put a very nice article about me on their blog!
You can see the article here:
http://dalidecals.com/backlot/customers/featured-customer-cristina-hurley/
Decals are a great way to decorate a space without having to do a lot of work, they can be of almost anything you can think of. They come in many colors and sizes.
Check out the article, then check out Dali Decal's Website!

When Two Arts Collide

When Two Arts Collide

by

Cristina Hurley

http://www.cphurley.etsy.com

There are I two things I enjoy doing more than anything else in this world. I want to tell you a little bit about both because in some ways they are different and yet so similar to me.
One of them is making jewelry. I am very lucky to have found my creative calling at such an early age. It has been one of the most rewarding and satisfying aspects of my life. When my mom signed me up for a jewelry class back in 1990, I had no idea it would change my life forever, and put me on such a wonderful path of self discovery. Not only did I find my creative outlet, but I found what I wanted to do for a living, and what made me truly happy. There is nothing I can think of that makes a person more fortunate than finding a career in something they love to do, something they would even want to do for FREE.

Sterling Silver Universal Pattern Keychain

The other is Kenpo karate, something I began to do relatively recently, and to my surprise I have grown to really enjoy. Kenpo has begun to give me that same feeling of fulfillment that making jewelry does.
What is so intersting is that I feel as though I did not find kenpo... I am starting to believe that Kenpo found me. I wasn't looking for anything new to learn but I now know that I had become complacent, and that I needed a new outlet for my creativity; I needed to grow and learn something new. My husband took me to a class at the kenpo karate studio he went to, and I figured I would give it a try. It was really hard but I wanted to give it a chance. It was definitely not second nature to me but my teacher, Craig Lowe, and the other students, were helpful and encouraging.

Universal Pattern Pendant

I've found something new and exciting to be passionate about, but I don't have to give up one for the other. Instead, I have found inspiration in one, kenpo, for the other, jewelry. I have been inspired to make pieces using the beautiful images created by the founder of this martial art, Ed Parker. One is the Universal Pattern, shown above in the silver and red pieces. you can see so many different shapes in the pattern. I find it to be so beautiful, and just had to do some pieces using it.

Sterling Silver Dragon Pendant

Kenpo also uses animals as symbols, the two most common being the tiger and the dragon. The tiger represents strength, the dragon wisdom. I was inspired by this to make this dragon pendant pictured above, and am working on designs for the tiger pendant as well.

I am so thankful to have these two arts in my life, both stimulate me mentally and physically, but in different and yet complimentary ways. I find so much inspiration in both, enough to probably last a lifetime!

Event Today

It's finally here. My Summer Solstice Soiree is today from 11am-6pm!




The shop's looking spiffy for the event. There's still time to stop by and enjoy the refreshments and fun. Tarot card readings will be available from 3-6pm.

We're offering 10% off, if you mention this blog!

Summer Soiree

Don't forget to stop by the studio this Saturday from 11-6. There will be food, Free Tarot card readings, fun and more. The studio's really coming together for the event with it's new paint job, and all. :)

Party Info HERE

We'll be partying rain or shine!

Hope to see you there!

~Cristina

MAP

My Website

New work

Summer Solstice All Day Soiree

School's almost out, summer's almost here....and who doesn't need a good party? Channel some good energy and come party with us as we celebrate the coming of the summer season. Mystical, magical things could happen! Refreshments will be offered. Free Tarot Card readings from 3-6pm! Party Info HERE

We'll be partying rain or shine!

Invite your friends it's an open event!

Hope to see you there! MAP

~Cristina

My Website