a y m a r i e k e

From Eden

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:52:00 +0000

A few vintage treasures I have my eye on, via Eden.

Lately

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

A few photos from the past month or so, taken around town (and my studio) with Instagram. January slipped by so quickly! It feels like I just worked and worked and worked and did very little else. Hopefully the coming months will continue to be productive (which the expected horrible weather here in Portland should allow for) and I'll manage to find some time to sneak in a little bit of completely unproductive, self-indulgent fun.

A few new projects

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:53:00 +0000

I'm really sick right now, for the first time this year (and, come to think of it, for the first time in quite awhile before-hand.) I'm dosing up on vitamins, bracing for the work-week ahead, and cataloging some of my newer work.

Ink & Peat carries a collection of vintage jeweler's dies (dice?) and I've been treating myself to one whenever I can. My die (dice?) family is up to four now. Their's has dwindled a bit and I hope they manage to restock because these are hard little tools to find. It's sort of wonderful to be able to use really old jewelry-making tools to make new pieces of jewelry, even if my methods are a little different than the original owner's likely were. I wish I could see some of the jewelry these dies (dice? really I don't know) made in their first life, or the women who wore it or the individuals who made it, or all of the above!

Here are two of the projects I've made recently using my new-old tools. I'm especially keen on this silver daffodil necklace. In other news, I'm really, really excited to announce that me and my jewelry will be in attendance at a private Valentine's Day event Eden is throwing at Wieden + Kennedy for W+K staff. A couple more cool things are in the works but I really don't want to throw any jinxes out there so I'll keep the rest under wraps... for now.

Cats about Town, The Rice Museum, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:03:00 +0000

A few photos taken in the earlier part of January. Sorry to be a little quiet around these parts - I'm working away on jewelry and between that, my real job and trying to get out occasionally, there isn't a lot of time!

I did reignite my Pinterest account (it's funny to notice my whims swing to and fro between pinning images and tumbling them) so if you're on Pinterest, we can follow each other there, if you like! (I've also got a Tumblr but it hasn't been updated in a little while.)

NYE

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:03:00 +0000

Photo taken by Dave sometime during the late afternoon on 1-1-2011.

2011 was a pretty good year for me. I took a huge risk and quit a job that was destroying my soul, draining my energy and causing my hair to fall out (and was soon after rewarded with a wonderful job I wouldn't have otherwise been able to take.) I proved to myself that I'm still capable of hustling up a living income doing things like selling old clothes. Although I had really bad anxiety for so much of the year, and I although I wish that my anxiety hadn't caused me to avoid doing things that probably would have been fun or good for me to do, I did manage to overcome my fear that having an acetylene tank in my house would be the death of me (wasn't,) that riding the bus would give me fleas, pink eye, scabies or bed bugs (didn't,) and I am (slowly) learning to silence the persistent inner-mantra that says I'm not good, or capable, or talented enough to succeed at what I try. I'm happy to have been able to surround myself with really good people; to have made new friends who I hope to know for a long time, and to have done a pretty good job at staying in touch with old friends who live far away. Almost everyone I care about from Colorado has come to visit me since I moved to Oregon two years ago and I am very grateful and lucky for it. Besides that, I'm grateful for my fat stacks of postcards and letters from some very dear people, and I'm grateful for Dave, more than I could coherently express here.

I don't really resolve to do anything differently. I'd like to read more (my friend Janine-In-Alaska has by now probably exceeded her goal of reading 100 books in 2011 and she's an inspiration for me to attempt the same, even if I set a number closer to 1/2 or 1/3rd of hers.) I'd also like to write more – despite receiving a degree concentrated in writing, and emphatic encouragement from my professors and thesis committee to pursue a career as a poet, I haven't put down anything of note in nearly two years. (My friend Daniel says this isn't the end of the world and I believe him, but it's still unnerving.) I would like to spend more time outdoors: in the woods, on the coast, near water, especially in summer. I want to return the favor of visiting new homes and cities of friends who have come to visit me, as well as visiting my grandparents, nearly all nonagenarians and for the most part, quite lucid. I'd like to see jewelry-making grow to be more profitable (there are some really cool plans in the works thanks to the help of Dave and my friend Megan.) I hope to get better at remembering when movies that I want to see are coming out and making the effort of going to see them in theaters, because watching on my 13" laptop screen can be a little underwhelming. I'd also like to give myself permission to buy Days of Heaven, Badlands, Hitchcock's Rebecca, Gilda, Last Year at Marienbad and Easy Rider on DVD so I can watch them whenever I feel sad or nostalgic and not have to walk all the way to Video Verite to rent them. That's about it.

Real Christmas Gifts To Myself

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:41:00 +0000

I told myself I would hold off on getting myself anything for Christmas this year (normally, if I buy anything for me around the holidays, it's pretty small) but yesterday, I ended up making two little splurges that I happen to like a whole lot.

This blue, silk wrap dress from Anthropologie (purchased second-hand, but next to new) and these earrings made by my lovely, very talented friend Annie, who also shot the Eden look book a few months ago. And that's it 'till the New Year!

Lately

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:02:00 +0000

Some more recent photos via my Instagram. I've been working a lot lately in anticipation of taking a week off to go home to Colorado for Christmas. I'm so, so, so excited! Sunshine on snow, cheap (good) thrifting, (hopefully) seeing some friends I haven't seen since moving to Oregon two years ago, plus some friends I've been lucky to see / visit with frequently in that time, plus parents, plus home cooking and driving around listening to Cruisin' Oldies, the primo oldies station and Open Air, my best friend Jessi's new radio station (well, it's not technically hers, it belongs to Colorado Public Radio and she is the music director.) Five sleeps till Colorado!

My friend Carly (Ng)'s basement studio (well, her whole house, really) is fantastically decorated and has motivated me to craft some DIY motivational signs of my own for my workspace.

ThanksgivNG at Carly's house.

Post ThanksgivNG karaoke at Chopsticks II.

I had the pleasure of meeting this adorable cross-eyed kitty on a walk home from work.

Sunset in Irving Park.

My first trip ever to the bins. I found two vintage (working!) table lamps, a carved agate candle-holder and a great little ceramic vase / jar that's the perfect size for coffee spoons. All for $6! Now I understand what all the hype is about (though I believe it when I hear that the bins are not as good as they used to be.)

Carly making friends with a sweet pup.

The most beautiful kitten I have ever seen.

My pretty mum in a tree at age 25.

My Dad's family (he's on the far right - I love those bell bottoms and that beard!)

I recently cleaned up and organized my "paper life." This is the stack of correspondence I've received – just from friends, family is another stack – since moving to Portland. Needless to say, I felt moved and very, very lucky all day after seeing all these wonderful letters and cards again.

A beautiful blue-sky day. For whatever reason, it has been dry and sunnier than normal and feels just like a Colorado winter, which makes me really happy but also even readier to go back!

Mules

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I'm in a bit of a cart-before-the-horse situation. I wrote a few weeks ago about a vintage kimono I'd just bought with the intention of wearing around the house as a robe. The only issue is that it's quite long, long enough that it drags on the floor a bit if I'm barefoot or wearing super-flat shoes. The pattern is along the hem so there's absolutely no shortening it.

Clockwise: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4

Consequently, I'm on the hunt for 1950's Spring-o-Later style heeled mules but am having a very difficult time finding anything that will work because (a) the vintage ones that I find on Etsy and fall in love with are never, ever, ever a size 10 (or if they are, they're woefully overpriced) and (b) all of the other ones I've found online seem to have been designed for pole dancing instead of puttering around the house. Xtabay had a lovely collection of these shoes last spring (some pictured here) but again, they were all far smaller sizes than I could wear.

1 • 2

The Loved One collaborated with Jacques Levine a little while back and their designs are pretty much exactly what I'm hunting for (well, maybe minus the leather rosette) but they don't seem to actually be available anywhere? Or perhaps I'm just not looking in the right places...?

Clockwise: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4

For now, I suppose, the search continues...

1940s New York by Stanley Kubrick

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:28:00 +0000

Dave just sent me a link to this site which features a collection of images taken by Stanley Kubrick during his time as a Look Magazine photographer during the 1940s and before he became a famous film director. As D. pointed out, there's obviously a bit of cross-over where Kubrick's talent behind a camera is concerned!

Here are a few of my favorites. You can see the rest here (they're even available to purchase as prints, which seems like a wonderful gift idea for the film enthusiast.)

Imaginary x-mas gifts to myself

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Clockwise: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4

Clockwise: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6

Clockwise: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4

Clockwise: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6

A few recent projects

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5

Sheer

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:00:00 +0000

I first saw this photo of Eleonora Carisi earlier this week via Mr. Newton.

Every fashion week, there is usually a sheer blouse or two that goes down the runway on a bra-less model. The presentation is often cheeky, perhaps blithe, with a touch of what one might attribute to third-wave feminism, juxtaposed with a tone of innocence.

I haven't (to my knowledge) seen street style present this on a "real" person – not that Eleonora is the best example of a lay person – although, as somewhat of an after-thought, I don't know that many lay people would even be interested in wearing what she's wearing.

Despite the fact that I'm half-terrified of living in any city bigger or more urban than Portland, seeing photos of such as this makes me regret that I've never (yet) lived in a city such as NY with a (more) highly evolved sense when it came to things of a sartorial nature.

How could life ever seem boring when you might chance upon someone dressed like this while walking down a public street?

Lately

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Some photos from my life lately... I've been quite busy, but looking at these, you probably wouldn't know it. These are all from my Instagram feed, which you can follow right here.

Pumpkins at a now-defunct funeral parlor.

Homemade naan bread.

Pretty autumnal colors.

Cocktails at my neighborhood bar, The Secret Society.

Mushrooms from my neighbor's front yard.

The shop-kitty at Eden, where I work.

Some flowers from my friend Dottie in a vase from Flutter, where I also work.

One of two hand-sewn swan pillows (that perfectly match my seafoam velvet couch and armchair) - all from Flutter.

My neighbor's cat (my favorite cat!) Bunny.

Some silver I reticulated for a jewelry project.

Homemade French toast!

A geode ring I made this past weekend (along with some other jewelry projects I've been working on lately.)

It will be years before I need to buy socks again.

The Favorites of Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:21:00 +0000

Whoops - this is a little late, but I composed a guest post for my friend Jen's blog, Honey Kennedy a couple of weeks ago. Earlier this year, Jen connected me with my current job (which I love!) and is generally just about the nicest lady around. Honey Kennedy is also one of my favorite blogs, so personally it felt like kind of a big deal.

You can read more about these favorite things here.

Ay Marieke Jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:36:00 +0000

After a laughably too-long period of time that involved tinkering, re-working, photographing, hours of procrastinating, reading not enough blogs, eating too much ice cream and watching countless seasons of Law and Order, I've managed to start listing some of the jewelry I make in my online Etsy shop. I'm going to be adding a few new pieces a day for a little while before going back to the drawing board to work on even more designs (and hopefully be whipping up a few new orders!)

So, be a pal and check it out? Thanks, dudes!

Eden Fall Look Book

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:55:00 +0000

I am so pleased and excited to finally be able to share these photos from the Eden Fall Look Book! Eden is the shop in Portland where I work as a blogger and shop girl. To coincide with our website launch, we took a trip up to the Washington woods and spent the day taking pictures in a mossy paradise. Many talented women applied themselves towards this and I think everyone's hard work is showcased beautifully in Annie Montgomery's photographs.

Photography: Annie Montgomery
Videography: Genevieve Liberte
Art Direction: Allison Jones Design
Jewelry Designers / Assistants: Jesseca McCloskey and Brehan Todd
Hair: Laura Walker
Makeup: Firiel Harbin
Models: Dottie Swain, Consuelo Wise and myself, Marika Emerson
Furniture and clothing sourced by Eden’s proprietress, Cindy Rokoff

See the rest of the Eden Look Book here.

Floor length treasures

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:13:00 +0000

One vintage 1940s coral beaded gown and one vintage 1940s floral patterned silk kimono. I like to think that each were worn in their time by two equally glamorous women who just happened to live on opposite sides of the world.

Both from Eden.

Turkish Delight

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

One of my favorite things right now: a vintage vermeil and silver Turkish ring, set with ruby and emerald colored cz's. I got to wear this piece during the Eden Look Book photo shoot. I'd already fallen halfway in love with it at the shop and something about wearing it during such an incredible day in the woods convinced me to keep it. Also shown, silver stacking rings, made by me, and a little shell box, found at a thrift store.

In the Woods

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:53:00 +0000

Here are a few photos from a project I helped work on last week. The shop I blog for, Eden shot a fall lookbook in the Washington woods. I'm completely blown away by these first "sneak peek" results! What you see here is the result of much collaboration by many wonderful and talented women. The rest of the photos will be out in time for the launch of Eden's official website by the end of this month.

Photography: Annie Montgomery
Videography: Genevieve Liberte
Art Direction: Allison Jones
Jewelry Designers / Assistants: Jesseca McCloskey and Brehan Todd
Hair: Laura Walker
Makeup: Firiel Harbin
Models: Dottie Swain, Consuelo Wise and myself, Marika Emerson
Furniture and clothing sourced by Eden’s proprietress, Cindy Rokoff.

Anja Verdugo of Clever Nettle was also present taking behind-the-scenes photos all day long. You can see some of her gorgeous photos from the shoot here.

Gray & Black

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:55:00 +0000

Today Portland experienced the first heavy rainfall of the season. With as much jewelry work (among other crafting projects) I have slated for the next few months, the damp, cloudy weather will be an excellent motivation to be productive. My only fear is that the rain will hinder my mobility.

Forever 21 wool dress, Bodkin salvaged jersey dress, Ralph Lauren (diffusion line) leather ankle boots.

This shall be my uniform for the next months, sometimes worn with wellies or under a favorite cardigan. I'm currently quite excited for cool, rainy weather but my experience of last year's winter makes me slightly apprehensive about how much time will pass before Portland's wet climate again begins to wear on me.

How I've been passing time

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:40:00 +0000

Apologies for my undue absence as of late. My days have been busy lately between working at Eden and Flutter, tending to my boyfriend Dave as he heals from a bike accident, and making lots and lots of jewelry. I'm a little shy about sharing this but here it is!

Silver pendants with hand-formed and -finished silver rings.

Top two rows: Catholic saints and religious iconography.

Bottom row: edelweiss flower and sand dollar.

Oceanic baubles.

Left to right: sharks tooth (molded from a real sharks tooth), coral branch (molded from genuine coral,) sand dollar, sharks tooth (strung with steel quartz and freshwater pearls.)

Brass and silver series.

Left to right: woven brass circle earrings, tiny silver ring necklace, silver band featuring a chunk of recycled silver, shield earrings (traced from a vintage pocketwatch component.)

Cameo series. Brass and silver boy and girl pendants on silver rings.

At left: hand-formed brass teardrop rings with aquamarine briolettes and peridot beads.

At right: shield pendant (customizable) featuring zodiac constellation and initials.

More about this jewelry:

•All components (excluding chain and beads) are designed, formed and finished by me.

•I use exclusively silver ear wires.

•Chain is silver, gold-fill or brass.

•Everything here is available for order (and will be listed on Etsy very soon.)

•Contact aymarieke [!at] gmail.com for prices / to order.

Blue & Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 22:50:00 +0000

Check out my tutorial for a 1930s-style manicure here on the Eden blog.

100 years of dancing

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:47:00 +0000

How cool is this video of a century of style in East London? While watching it, I found myself thinking, "I would wear that!" with a fair share of the outfits and "definitely not" on many of the others.

Uzbeki Tea Bowls

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:00:00 +0000

I'm enamored with these tea bowls from the 1920s. Designed for Uzbeki horsemen to carry in their saddlebags, these were traditionally used as tea receptacles. I think I would keep jewelry in one.

$28 at Eden.

Pheasant

noreply@blogger.com (Marika) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:00:00 +0000

I always enjoy a good hat, so obviously, I'm fond of this one (via Xtabay Vintage.)

In my own hat collection, I actually have a (less exceptional) green hat embroidered with a red and violet colored bird but I'm often hesitant to wear it for a somewhat silly reason.

Reason being: green hats are considered bad luck according to Chinese superstition (or so I've heard; I'm not in any way Chinese.) They symbolize that the wearer is a cuckold (heaven forbid!)

I find this to be a real shame because green is by far my favorite color but I'm also rather likely to give credence to these types of superstitions, even if they seem silly.

That said, my - what a really lovely hat. If it happened to show up in my closet one day, I'm sure I'd find an exception to the weird "no green hats" rule.