fuzzishü ♥s elements ltd.

Elements Ltd. is a modern and unique art jewelry boutique located in the Roosevelt shopping center in Des Moines Iowa. Founded in 1995 by Mel Parks, Marta Jones-Couch, and Sheena Thomas Elements displays some of the best known studio jewelers in the US. - such as Sarah Graham, Todd Reed, Chris Ploof, and Michael Daniels.


fuzzishü is very proud to be joining this line up (plus, how fantastic do the pieces look in their shop?!) Please stop by and say hi to the wonderful people at Elements and see what's on display.

Elements Ltd.
837 42nd Street
Des Moines, Iowa

515.277.7421

Sweet September Sweeps

I know you've been waiting. You can't take it any longer!!!

Who. Is. September's. Jewelry. Giveaway. Winner????

But I digress. As many of you know, when you sign up for the fuzzishü mailing list you are automatically registered to win fuzzishü jewelry 4 times a year (spring, summer, winter, fall) Pretty exciting, no? Granted there will be other contests on here from time to time, but do you really want to miss out on this?

So, back to the Sweeps. This past month we were giving away a pair of 'winter' earrings. The lucky winner was a visitor to my booth at the Uptown Minneapolis show - Robyn J.

... Bob, show her what she's won....

Robyn will have her choice of colors: blush (rosy pink), dew (yellowy-green), mist (lilac) , breeze (cornflower blue), frost (clear), bliss (seafoam green), or whisper (pale aqua).

For those of you who didn't win, don't worry you are still entered for the next drawing. If you still can't live without a pair feel free to email me. I have more available for purchase. And for those of you not on the list...What are you waiting for?!

Join now by emailing fuzzishu [at] gmail [dot] com with 'MAILING LIST' as the subject. Remember kids, it's as they say. You can't win if you don't play ;)

What's black + white + read all over?

*Update 10.11.08 - After viewing the actual paper I found the article was on the front page. Woo hoo!*

The Daily NonPareil wrote a very nice article about the Corning Center for the Fine Arts, including some quotes from yours truly...

CORNING - Many starving artists move to the big city only to find themselves working full time in order to cover rent while the art that they came to pursue slowly fades into the shadows.

"Most people say if you want to be an artist, you have to go to New York," said Rachel Sims, resident artist at the Corning Center for Fine Arts. "Most artists can't afford to live in New York, and you do everything but art."

Sims began her residency in Corning in July 2007 after living in Switzerland for 2½ years.

"I was coming back to Iowa to start up my business full time and was looking for a place to do that," Sims said. "When I was Googling studio space in Iowa, this residency in Corning came up and it sounded perfect. I'd never had a chance to live in a small town, and the housing was an added bonus; a place to live and work."

For the full article go here.

Introducing....

Apologies good readers. I meant to post this a long while back. Some of the material (regarding fair, for example) is dated. At long last I give you the post that should have been....

As promised, here are some images of the new line a-go-go (for the moment this blog is the go-to place to see my work. My website is not up and operational yet. Webdesigners interested in working a trade please let me know!). Each piece features hammer textured silver discs with a vibrant glass disc adorning it. For this series I am working with a palette of 9 colors of transparent lampworked glass.

Quick history : At the tender age of 16 I learned how to make glass beads by trial and error. In front of audiences. 12 hrs a day. All 11 days of the Iowa State Fair. For 10 years I continued to demonstrate at the fair alongside my mentor (another story for another time) until I decided that taking my 2 weeks of vacation to return to the US (I was living in Switzerland by that point) to work 12 hour days was getting to be a little much. My brother took over my job and I have had to find other ways to become a part of 'fair' again (watch for future posts!) *ed. - obviously referring to the RiNGS workshops

Sandwiching these summers of beadmaking I also took every metalsmithing class available at my high school and some beyond that. I worked for local jewelers doing a variety of oddjobs. I attended and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design after having focused on jewelry and metalsmithing. In all of this time I have searched for a good way to bring my two passions together. This new line is the culmination of that search. It's a starting point that I will be springboarding off of to discover new ideas. I look forward to sharing my journey with you.

State Fair in Review

How awesome was state fair? Incredibly awesome. We had fantastic weather, wonderful students, helpful and friendly assistants and, of course, my groovy state fair 'family'. Thank you to everyone who came out and took the workshop. We had almost 200 students during the 11 days (9am-9pm every day!). That's a LOT of rings. Iptv came out and filmed a segment on the RiNGS class. You can see it below. I am crossing my fingers we are invited back next year. Thanks again to everyone for helping make it a great fair in '08!

Introducing...R i N G S

Hi All- a special welcome to all new readers and email list recipients -
We have soooo much to catch up on. There's the story of the broken EZ-up, last weekend's Uptown show in Minneapolis, and some unrelated events that are kind of fun that I'd like to share. But first...I wanted to let you know about a very special upcoming event at the Iowa State Fair.

(Quick background - for almost 10 years I assisted a local glass beadmaker by demonstrating at the ISF 12 hrs a day for 11 days. After moving to Geneva I continued to return to Iowa, using my vacation time to 'work' the fair, it is just that good. If you've never been to it I highly recommend planning next year's family vacation now! My brother has since taken over my beadmaking responsibilities and I'm very excited to be returning to my 'state fair family' to offer this new event.)

I will teaching silver ring making workshops daily (Aug. 7 - 17) at 10 am, noon, 2 pm, 4 pm, 6 pm and 8pm in the Cultural Building. Each participant will receive a silver ring blank and the side by side instruction to saw, stamp and solder it to create their own unique piece of jewelry.

The R i N G S workshop is for anyone who has ever wanted to try their hand at jewelry making, from total beginners on up. Workshops are a little over an hour long and $40* ($35 if you bring in the coupon from the July 31st edition of Cityview). Please contact me to reserve a space.

Here's your chance to win a free workshop! Just leave a comment about why you are interested in taking this class and I will be choosing one submission by midnight Friday August 8th.

*cost of workshop does not include admission to the Iowa State Fair.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

After a full weekend of art show and then two solid days of errand running in the 'big city' (towns with populations under 2,000 aren't known for their large selection of amenities) I am finally back and ready to hit the studio again. Next show is in a little over two weeks in Wisconsin and I need to replenish my stock.

I met some interesting folks at ArtFest Midwest, some fellow Orchid members, saw some old friends and new people interested in my work. Granted, I didn't get out of my booth very often. I was demonstrating metalsmithing - 'like watching paint dry' as another jeweler commented. It's true, filing, sawing, sanding...not so interesting to watch, but I wasn't prepared to haul my anvil to do any forging - as well as selling my work. Set up for a 10' x 20' booth was a bear! We took 2 fully loaded vehicles out there and then made two more trips. After the show (of course, after!) I found this beauty....


How awesome is this? A portable bench! This would have been sooooo much easier to travel with and only 50lbs. Something to think about for the future. What can I say? I guess I am a gadgety sort of gal. I am still holding out for a laser welder (drool!), rolling mill, and drawbench. Sigh. :) Hope you all had a great weekend!

EXTRA! EXTRA! - interweb silence shattered by new fuzzishü post!

Riiiight. So obviously this 'regular posting' thing needs some work. I'll get on that.

As to the Las Vegas show - Mom and I drove out from Iowa through Nebraska (flat and boring), Colorado, Montana (blizzard), and Utah (great Indian food in Provo); then returned via New Mexico, Arizona, Texas (got me a tumbleweed), Kansas (also flat and boring, except for hwy 50), and Missouri. Yes folks, you read right. We saw 10 states in less than a week. Whoooosh.


The show was a bit, hmmm, quieter than I had expected and my booth was waaaay overcomplicated for what it needed to be.


Need to revise it for the next indoor show. I did manage to pick up my first wholesale order (yay!) and got to enjoy the company of my booth neighbor Rhonda, of Figs & Ginger (as well as one being one my former studio mates at RISD), and her husband Elijah. We did not, however, get a chance to really go explore the town and don't even ask about the first night we spent at the Hooters hotel. Yeah. :I

So, what now? Why no post til June? Well, good question. The new line I debuted at ACRE is a mixed bag. Beautiful but oh so tricky to make. Here's a preview...


...the next post will be devoted to the new line. All of my time pre-Vegas was devoted to getting ready for the show. All of the time post-Vegas? Well, I can't tell a lie, it was also spent in studio ... and a short stint (read 12 hr days!) as a line chef at a new Mexican restaurant at town but that's another tale for another blog!


I had planned my first summer show to be ArtFest Midwest in Des Moines (June 26, 27) and have feverishly been preparing for it. Then I got a call a week before the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina, Kansas asking if I was still interested in participating. I had been high on the wait list and they had a last minute opening. So, off to Kansas we went. A little completely unprepared. But it was a good show except for the wind. My EZ Up has aspirations of being a kite.


We managed to lash 'er down with the help of some of my neighbor artists and weathered the weekend. Heard some great bands (Black Violin grew on me especially), met some fantastic artists, and generally enjoyed ourselves.


Which brings us to this weekend...fuzzishü will be at ArtFest Midwest out at the state fair grounds in Des Moines (not flooded, yay!). I will be up front demonstrating metalsmithing techniques and showing my work as well. I hope to see you all out there. Come for the art, stay for the demonstrations. :D

Viva fuzzi-vegas

Holy cats, where has the time gone? Over a month since the last post. Sorry bloggeroos. I've been busy in the studio preparing for a huuuuuuge event coming up next month. Big, very big. Big like Godzilla big.

Get this....fuzzishü is going to Sin City. We are participating in our first wholesale show and crossing our fingers and shoelaces that we aren't in over our heads. And like Godzilla we are going to take a big bite out of this city! The new line of work is almost ready to unveil (stay tuned), the business cards are being printed, and the booth assembled. Things are hectic here at the fuzzi studio but bear with us. Bless this mess, pardon our dust, and all that jazz.

What's nu? fuzzishü!

Hey blogosphere. I'm back. Foodblogging temporarily on hold, it's time to introduce my long lost passion. Jewelry. I am a jeweler by nature. A looker. A tinkerer. A small thing maker. I've missed the smell of metal on my hands and the volcano like glow of molten glass. I look forward to sharing them with you. fuzzishü is the culmination of these loves. You might even call it the love-child of metal and glass jewelry.

For 6+ months now I've been residing in smalltown USA evolving this new incarnation of my jewelry. I've done some small shows, I've taught some classes, I've helped cater events. All the while I was experimenting, buying new tools, trying new designs and it's time. It's time to see this puppy go live. The website is still in the works but please, come, sit, stay awhile and sip on some iced tea while you peruse some fuzzi-photos and I spin tales of delight to enchant you. We're glad you're here!