Thursday, October 21, 2010

Is it the holiday season yet?

First of all...my friends are GORGEOUS!!! Just look at these photos taken by the talented photographer Denise Bovee (Here's here site). Denise contacted me through Facebook almost a year ago. She had found my jewelry on etsy and asked if I'd be interested in a trade... jewelry for a photoshoot. After looking at her incredible photography style, it was obvious that I desperately needed to take advantage of her talents. It took a long time, but we finally found a day that worked for both of us (and luckily my friends too) to schedule the shoot! We met at Denise's sister-in-law's dreamy vintage cottage in La Verne. I wanted not only every piece of furniture she owned, but all of the wall decor as well. The backyard was to-die-for, right out of a summer evening in the south. My absolutely stunning friends Gen, Sarah, and Emily dressed up in a mix of vintage dresses and furs and Denise and I styled my jewelry around her impressive vintage clothing collection. Here are my 3 favorite photos from the shoot....

Genny Penny wearing my massive Ram neckplate and filigree knuckle ring
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How hot is Sarah? She is my resident foxy lady (and muse).
I just listed this Foxy Fringe necklace in my etsy shop
here
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Emily JUST got her hair trimmed before the shoot and this cut is so cute on her, it's ridiculous.
She likes so precious in this Fringy Cameo necklace.


And I guess this is as good a time as any to update on my holiday show schedule!!

1. Loschy Designs will be featured in the sales gallery at the CSUF Grand Central Art Center, a project dedicated to the investigation and promotion of contemporary art and visual culture: regionally, nationally, and internationally through unique collaborations between artists, students, and the community. www.grandcentralartcenter.com





From November 7 - January 7
I'm creating a completely new and exclusive Woodland animal collection.



2. Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival







You can find me vending at both the Santa Ana and Long Beach shows!

PATCHWORK LONG BEACH
NOVEMBER 21ST 11-5PM
MARINE STADIUM- BAYSHORE @ APPIAN WAY

PATCHWORK SANTA ANA
NOVEMBER 28TH 11-5PM
2202 NORTH MAIN STREET @ BUFFALO SANTA ANA, CA 92706



3. Holiday MART

December 4 +5
11- 5 Saturday and Sunday
Hosted at the gorgeous Jodi Fuchs Gallery
2000 Main St, Santa Monica 90405

4. UniqueLA!


This will be the first time I have my own 10x10 booth, hopefully filled to the max with new jewelry at affordable prices as well as a kick-ass display.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Rocktober

Things have been busy at Loschy Studios! I had a great time vending at the LA Roller Derby on Saturday Night. My man and a bunch of his friends attended for the first time, and I think it's safe to say they are derby fans now. It's definitely my favorite sport to watch live. I was surprised to sell some of my larger, statement animal jewelry, overall it was a success!

On Sunday, my mom came along with me (and a very patient BF, THANKS KEVIN!) to the Aura Fashion Gallery's Grand Opening in Newport Beach. They had a dj set-up and free sofia champagne in a can. LOVE those! It was really exciting to see my jewelry as part of visual merchandising in the store. My mom took plenty of photos, of course. Typical mom thing, but I'd regret not having any photos later.



Perhaps the thing I'm MOST thrilled about is all of the vintage and broken jewelry lot's I purchased on Etsy. I never knew there were so many destash mixed piece lots in the supply section! I purchased 4 and had to stop myself from buying a bunch more. I'm aware that I won't be able to use nearly half of the pieces, but the lots are so inexpensive that it makes it worth while.




Monday, September 27, 2010

Loschy Designs on Consignment

On Saturday, I stopped by my new friend's shop in Newport, right by Alta Coffee. It is the cutest little store! She asked me to bring some jewelry to put on consignment there and I took a photo of what I left at the shop.


I came at the perfect time because this girl was in the shop looking at dresses for her birthday party that night and the moment she saw my upside-down st. basil necklace, she fell in love with it, and BOUGHT IT before Thyme and I could even figure out our consignment agreement! I'm hoping that bit of good luck will be a sign of more sales to come in the future!


Aura is having it's grand opening this Sunday starting at 12:00 pm. You can RSVP Here!


Lastly....I'll be vending at the LA Roller Derby bout this Saturday night in LA
Here's the info about tickets and what not

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

iLove my iPhone and freetime

For a while, "Busy" wasn't even a term I felt I could use to describe the insanity of the schedule I had gotten myself into. The months of July and August were as jam packed as can be. My plate was more filled than one at the Las Vegas Flamingo's Grand Buffet, and it was my own fault. My day-job required me to work longer hours as well as travel to Orlando for a big conference and then to San Diego where we hosted our own conference. I'm officially dubbed the "Tech Chick" and I love it.

I participated in UniqueOC right after that in my own town, Costa Mesa. It was so fun, I met a ton of new jewelry clients, and even saw Billy Gibbons from ZZtop strolling around, peroozing fellow crafter's booths! (I saw the band play with my boyfriend and parents later that night at the Pacific Amphitheater. Seriously one of the best concerts I've seen in awhile.)

I went to the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs with a list of friends numbering over 30. I haven't had a chance to take a real vacation in almost 2 years (and the next one won't be for long time) so this 3 day, 2 night getaway was a welcome adventure. I have nothing but positive things to say about the Ace Hotel.

A few days after I got back from my company's conference in San Diego, I was locked in my studio for hours upon hours preparing for the Orange International Streetfair where I sold my jewelry to families, kids, tattooed bombshells, drunkards and the like from friday to Sunday (F: 5-10pm, Sat: 10-10 and sun 10-10, 25 hours in the circle, yikes!) It started off slow, but business really picked up for me towards the end of the weekend.

...THEN...to my dismay, on Labor Day, my covetted and hated Blackberry went kaput. The operating system on my 3rd blackberry in less than 2 years crashed. And speaking from experience, that means your phone is FINISHED. So...rather than giving a 4th blackberry a chance, I decided to bite the bullet and drop $400 on the new iPhone4. I think I had a slight 5 second panic attack when I signed the receipt, but 2 weeks later I'm singing its praises. I LOVE the iphone. What have I been doing these past few years without it?

So...since things have slowed down (I've had to politely, regrettably but willfully step down from some of my involvments and committments) I've been a LOT happier and even more creative. The first app I purchased on my phone was hipstamatic (yes I know...cliche I admit it) and I know why ALL of my friends have it too. It's pretty hard to take a bad picture with any of the lenses or films they let you choose from. But that leads me to the fact that I've had time to experiment with different craft projects and even some cooking!!!

Experimentation in creative nails: 1 coat red polish, wait until it's almost dry and press on some
gold leaf flecks (yes, I ALWAYS have gold leaf in my studio) then coat with clear polish.


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Experiments in cooking: Kevin and I nicknamed my kitchen the "Kontaminated Kitchen."
I don't really know why, but here you see what we made on Monday night:
Garlic Herb potatoes, asparagus and fillet of sole breaded in flour, corn meal
and cayenne topped with a homemade Dijon Basil May
Recipe I used

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Experiments with cool hip events with cool and hip friends: Last Saturday night I went to "Cinespia" at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary with my boyfriend Kevin, and best friends the Carlsons, Nikki who was in town from NY, and my Costa Mesa clan. They screened "Night of the Living Dead".... in a CEMETARY!!! Come on!!! It was so cool and we had a blast drinking wine and eating cheese + crackers. Nevermind that we had to wait in line for 2 hours for a mediocre spot, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


Dammit, that was long. I had to make up for lost time. I suck at blogging, I spend too much time reading too many amazing blogs. In giving this little page a facelift, I hope to at least update on some of my creative projects. ::Sigh::

Monday, September 13, 2010

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Mad (men) about my new place!!

The latest news in my life, I'm MOVING!!! I found the coolest place that's less than 1/2 mile from where i live now. It's a 1 bedroom apt with vaulted ceilings and an entirely retro feel. Since this is the first time I've lived alone, I have a LOT of work to do, furnishing the place. I've decided to embrace the already-existent design and will be decorating my living room and kitchen in a mid-century modern style. Here are some inspiration photos!










Thursday, April 1, 2010

Brides, Weddings, Custom Orders OH MY!!!

So I've stumbled upon an awesome situation all thanks to my best friends Lindsey & Bryce and their February wedding. Lindsey asked me to make knuckle rings for all of the bridesmaids and I HAPPILY did so (as well as made a special one for her). Then this radical girl Noa of Feather Love Photography was hired to shoot unbelievable photos of the entire wedding and she took this badass pic of all of us ladies wearing our rings.



This started a chain of events.....
The wedding and Noa's photographs were featured on 100 Layer Cake and I even got a shout-out! Noa featured it as well on her blog.

.....and NOW I've enjoyed helping other brides with their custom orders! (most of them found me through Noa's blog and 100 Layer Cake). So a massive thank you to Noa and Lindsey for insisting that my etsy shop get linked in both articles.


Here is a ring I just finished for a bride using a silhouette of her
that she had done at Disneyland when she was a little girl. Cute, right?





And lastly, I'm so fortunate that I got to meet Miss Emilia of Sweet Emilia Jane handcrafted designs. (She made the absolutely delicious cupcakes that were served at Bryce and Lindsey's Wedding). She is getting married in July and she has decided to custom order cuff bracelets for all of her bridesmaids from me!!! I can't wait to get started on her pieces.

If/When I get married, there's no competition for me....Noa from Featherlove is my photographer and Emilia is in charge of the sweets.

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Need custom jewelry or accessories for your bridal party? I give discounts for ordering 5 or more of an item and the Bride automatically gets something custom from me!!

Send me a convo through my etsy site.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

I have Badass Friends


Who like to have badass BBQs





And who own badass dogs.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Interview with LadyLux

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Joanna of Ladylux.com.
Here is the interview. You can also read it on the actual website.

Melissa Loschy is making a mountain out of a molehill… in a good way. When fine jewelry shops are closing on every street corner, Melissa has carved a niche with her crafts-inspired, natural adornments that are made from tools as simple as a needle and thread. Paying more attention to her passion than runway presentations, every piece by Melissa is unique from the fox faced necklace to the Russian inspired rings, and she is definitely setting trends in her hip hometown of Costa Mesa, California. Melissa took a lunch break with LadyLUX to discuss her creative route from Girl Scout to jewelry designer.

LadyLUX: Have you always made jewelry?
Melissa Loschy: I haven’t always made jewelry. I’ve been crafty since I was a kid. I was a big product of Girls Scouts and I worked at Michaels for 3 years as a craft instructor and event coordinator… and then I studied graphic design at Chapman University. So I’ve always made things and I learned to sew at a young age. After I graduated I did a lot of soul searching—traveling and working various jobs. I married the craft elements and the design elements, and decided to make jewelry.

How did you choose jewelry?
ML: I made jewelry for myself because I couldn’t find anything I liked that matched an outfit. So I’d make something and other people were like “I like that, you should start selling it”. That’s how it started a couple years ago.

Your jewelry definitely has a nature and arts & crafts theme. Do you think Girl Scouts and Michaels added to your aesthetic?
ML: Yes, definitely. I’m always looking for creative solutions. I don’t have access to soldering equipment or precious metals. I’m always figuring out a way that I can do it myself with a needle or thread.

What do you like most about your line?
ML: People don’t understand this when they first look at it, but I’m using extremely unconventional materials. The images in all of my jewelry are printed on Epson luster paper. It’s actually paper jewelry that is wrapped in fabric. It’s fun to have someone to look at my jewelry, and tell them what it is made of, and they don’t believe me. That’s the joy of making it. I can pretty much make any image I want. I can just print it out from my computer. People get excited when they look at something like that. They say, “I would have had no idea if you hadn’t told me that”.

Are you surprised by the reaction you’re getting?
ML: I guess I am sort of surprised. I have different themes in the jewelry… I have a Russian theme. I’ve been doing a lot of animals this spring. I’ve also done more of a military-inspired line. I’m not necessarily pulling from trends. They are things that I’ve always liked. It’s just cool to find people that are obsessed with the same imagery and themes that I am.

Where do you see Melissa Loschy Designs going?
ML: I had a really long conversation with one of my friends about this last night. For the future, I see teaming up with someone that could represent me, in a business sense. I love to design just to design, but I also like a challenge. So let’s say a fashion designer was going to do a runway show and they were like “I need you to design 20 necklaces and here are the looks they are going to go with.” That’s what I love to do. I like being presented with something challenging that I have to figure out how to complete….. just using my hands and the materials that I have.

If you decide you’d like Melissa’s designs to make you a little foxier, check out her Etsy site or blog to stay in tune with this crafty artist.

1 year anniversary at the 9-5

I don't think I've discussed my full-time career with many people in the blogsphere/craft & etsy world and I kind of feel ashamed! Not only am I fortunate to have a "real" job right now....but I'm lucky to have one that is actually really cool! I get to be creative all day long. I work in an office with amazing people. I'm a minority (2 are from Scotland, 2 from England). I work in the SALON AND BEAUTY industry, so there are perks up the yin yang!

The company I'm at offers business training programs for Cosmetology Schools and Salons. Being the In-House Graphic Designer at such a small company, I'm not only in charge of producing all the print material we produce (brochures, pamphlets, marketing materials, trade show booths, even BOOKS), but I get to travel and be a part of the support team at conferences! I really hit the jack-pot with this gig. And today is my 1 year anniversary! I love my working family and I am so excited for the next year!


Me and the Ladies I work with
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American Association of Cosmetology Schools Annual Convention in Pheonix, AZ
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Book and DVDs designed by, moi
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My first crack at tradeshow booth design!
(With the helpof my co-workers, obviously)
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Thanks to everyone I work with for brightening my day, EVERY DAY!!!

Monday, March 22, 2010

In with the NEW

Along with spring, a massive surge of creativity has entered
my crafty little world and I've created countless piece after piece!
I think I have to thank Starbucks, too because with warm weather
comes my craving for venti iced coffees. I had one last week at 5pm
and stayed in my studio plugging away until 2am! Thanks S-bucks!
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See the new statements necklaces and belts below. Not all will be listed in the shop as I have several shows coming up.
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1. Beaded Cameo neckplate with vintage xmas ornaments
2. Embroidered Elephant necklace with marble pearls
3. Detailed Peach Steer skull piece with suede chain details
4. Suede tie-back belt with giant fox patch and bronze chain
5. Royal Blue fringe bib with medieval charm bracelet
6. Bold Black velvet Fox belt
7. Feathered Cameo necklace, bronze chains
8. Royal Russian Blue bow necklace
9. Long 20s-esque fox pendant with gigantc white tassel
10. Triple gold Chain with new "Ulvyana" russian doll patches



New Knuckle Rings
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My latest knucks are all across the board. I've used my typical pyramid studs
for some, but added some with really interesting upcycled costume jewelry.


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These will all be listed one-by-one on the etsy site, unless
they sell at one of the following 3 events in march and April!!!



Hope you can come to 1 or all of these!!

Friday, February 26, 2010

It takes me a while...

To muster up the drive to update the blog. I guess I really only post once in a while to show a few pictures about what I've been designing. I don't know why it takes me so long to post new stuff. Well, I'm here to break the silence and bring up 2 things....

#1
I'm totally obsessed with and inspired by wild animals for my latest line of jewelry. (Especially foxes. A friend once told me that out of all the animals in the world, I most resembled a fox..hmmm). Look out for these lovelies as they will be turned into bracelets, pendants, and statement necklaces soon!



#2
Handmade Brigade is BACK! Our first show in 2010 is Speakeasy II. The first Speakeasy was so much fun (and not to mention a huge success) so we've been asked by Detroit bar to host another one this spring (and possibly Speakeasy III in the late summer). Here's the info:

Sunday April 11th
SPEAKEASY II
Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa
5 pm - 10 pm
20 Vendors, Music, Photo Booth, Booze

Want to vend? Check out the full post about this event here.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

2010, welcome



I want this to be a year of great accomplishments