Studio Graffiti Jewelry Series 2024

Every year in my studio, I change out the protective plywood covering on my workbench where I have painted hundreds if not thousands of pieces of art and jewelry over the course of 12 months. The piece of painted 1/8" plywood is an accidental work art. It's every color I've used all year, layered, splattered, and pooled in random patterns. Once the surface is cut up into 4 smaller pieces (so it fits in the laser cutter), these authentic layers of paint from my work surface become little jewels of abstract art. Everything is one-of-a-kind.

The time-lapse video shows my process, and gives a glimpse of just how colorful and unexpected each piece will be once it’s cutout. No two pieces are exactly alike, but if you have a certain color you’d like to be included, just let me know when you order (choose one of the color swatches at checkout) and I’ll find a spot on the plywood that includes that particular color.

This New Year’s tradition is something I always look forward to. The change in my plywood to a fresh unmarked piece, and looking back at the previous year’s colorful mess. It’s a new series where the recipient gets a little surprise, not knowing exactly what the finished piece will look like. It’s abstract art, but it’s also mistakes and overpainting marks.

But really, the reason I love this series so much and continue to make these year after year is that it’s a fun way to repurpose and use something old, ONCE AGAIN, in a whole new way. And that, my friends, is why I started this business.

In Love with a Palette Knife

Have you ever felt like you need to loosen up? I’ve been chasing precision with my recent needle felted and mixed media landscapes, and felt like it was time to shake things out a bit. I switched gears for a few glorious weeks and had a love affair with my neglected palette knife. I don’t know that I’ve ever actually tried to move paint around this way before but man, it’s so satisfying!

New Palette Knife Landscape Paintings

First, I played around with some abstracted landscapes, mostly minis, just to see what I could come up with and how it felt to not have full control over what the paint was doing on my panels. Keeping the subject matter safe, I did some mountains, fields, and lake scenes and called it a day. It was fun, but it wasn’t quite scratching the itch.

Statement Necklace

Next I moved onto jewelry, revisiting my Studio Graffiti Collection which in the past has always been on clear acrylic, which I paint with random brush strokes from the backside. Changing things up, I used the palette knife and some heavy matte medium to thicken up my paint, and went to town scraping and sliding pigment all over my thin boards. Pleased with the first few test pieces, I got a little carried away and turn this experiment into a whole series, and I don’t regret a thing!

Painted Pendant

Enjoy the new mini paintings and on-of-a-kind jewelry just added to the website. All pieces are painted with my trust palette knife, with acrylic paint on wood, and are one-of-a-kinds.

Painted Earrings

Paint Rings

Shade of the Season: Lemonade

When the Pantone color of the year “Illuminating” was announced for 2021, I wasn’t wild about it. I’m not a big yellow person (with the exception of mustard tones), but the more I thought about this “Illuminating” color, the more it grew on me. I’m not about to paint my walls this color, or wear it head to toe, but I’m definitely planning on pops of this bright saturated yellow this season.

Introducing “Lemonade” my newest addition to the Studio Graffiti collection. A lemon yellow background with pops of coral, white, cobalt, and spring greens can’t help but put a smile on your face as you accessorize your warmer weather outfits. I really enjoyed playing around with brighter colors for a change!

Enjoy this new colorway at www.onceagainsam.com in the “Painted Acrylic Earrings” and “Painted Acrylic Pendants” sections. Here’s a peek at my process in the studio.

Hand painted acrylic, laser cut into jewelry. Watch the process from start to finish and see how the magic happens! This combination of handmade and high tec...

Spring 2018 Launches

During the winter months of 2018, I often found myself playing with paint in the studio. I made time to practice each week, invested in new brushes, and even took an intro to alcohol inks class at Greenville Center for Creative Arts in March. I’ve been inspired by the medium! The textural and graphic possibilities of paint have greatly influenced my new jewelry collections this spring. I’m excited to finally share these new additions to my Etsy shop with you. Each piece is an original one-of-a-kind, but thanks to the simple settings and delicate scale, they’re easy to incorporate into your everyday-style.

See the process in my new Maker's Eye View video on YouTube!

Alcohol Ink Collection: drips and splatters showcasing beautiful unpredictable patterns in colorful dyes, frozen in time on clear acrylic.

Mixed Media Collection: clear acrylic layered with crumbled gold leaf, pale pink paint with stark black accents, framed in a variety of simple metal bezels and laser etched wooden settings.

Treasure Chest: a peek inside a jewelry designer's jewelry box

I dig jewelry. Big surprise, right? I design it, I make it, and I wear a ton of it too. I wear my own work often, but I’m also a huge fan of other jewelry designers and my personal collection is always growing. My dresser is in a constant state of organized clutter. I keep my favorites out on display in little dishes, because I simply can’t wear them all at once, but darn it, I want to look at them on a daily basis at least.

Here’s a look at my favorite designers, in no particular order, and the pieces I fell in love with and wear all the time. It’s easy to brag on these folks. They’re all extremely talented!

1. Cuyler Hovey King: I’ve run into this designer several times at ICE Atlanta, and each time, I can’t help but splurge on something new. Her eye for shape and finish is exquisite, and I’ve found her pendants layer extremely well with other pieces. Wearing as much jewelry as I can at one time without looking ridiculous is my goal in life, and her work is simple and clean enough that it makes that possible.

2. Lily Pottery: Out of Greenville, SC, Lily Wikoff creates funky statement jewelry using stamped clay. Her whole line is gypsy-tastic, but somehow I always end up buying rings. Rings, rings, and more rings! That’s all I have, not much in the way of variety considering she makes just about everything, but hey, I’ll eventually run out of fingers and will have to branch out and get one of her “charmer” necklaces.

3. Bold B: From across the planet, Australian artist Britta Boeckmann’s work literally made my jaw drop the first time I saw photos online. I only have two of her pieces so far, but I absolutely adore them. The wood she uses is native to Australia (and therefore very exotic to me), and looks stunning mixed with the tinted or gold leaf-flecked resin. Whenever I wear these pendants, I find myself constantly inspecting them, utterly distracted while I try to figure out how in the world she makes them. They’re flawless!

4. Audrey Laine Collection: Out of Asheville, NC, Audrey’s line features intricate metal cutouts and castings inspired by nature and geometry. Although I have a lot of her work already, probably more than any other artist on this list, I’ve got several more specific pieces on my wishlist right now. I suppose I have an Audrey Laine addiction!

5. Spectrum: Julie Riffel is behind this fabulous brand, and her work ranges from geometric wooden beads, to glass bubbles, to simple brass shapes. What I love most is the variety. There’s always something new to lust after.

6. January Jewelry: From Columbia, SC, Melissa Giglio is the artist behind January Jewelry, and she crafts modern metal pieces that are perfect for everyday-wear. My husband discovered her work at Indie Craft Parade a few years ago and got me a pair of simple triangle stud earrings, and that’s how I first became a fan. He gets credit on this one!

7. Illyria Pottery: Formerly out of Greenville, SC, currently out of the UK, Katie Coston is a brilliant pottery artist who’s work I enjoy both by wearing (jewelry) and in my home (decorative pieces). The necklaces I have are definitely some of the largest pieces I own, but they’re surprisingly neutral and go with everything.

Below are some newly found favorites - designers I've only recently discovered, but will definitely be buying more from in the future.

8. Among the Ruins: I first found Kim Curtis on an Etsy Team, of all places, and just recently treated myself to a delicate little bracelet from her shop. The reason it took me so long to finally buy one? I literally couldn’t decide. I kept going back and forth. I had 6 in my shopping cart at one point, and finally just had to pick one because I realized couldn’t go wrong.

9. Pink Dogwoods: Nan Faulker is another local designer I occasionally run into at craft shows. A few weeks ago I caved in and took home this elegant but fun whistle necklace. I’m all about the leather tassel and long brass chain, but that whistle is just too clever. Plus, if anyone ever tries to steal my purse on the street, I have a secret (and oh-so-fashionable) defensive tactic!

10. Happy Arsenal: Made in Taylors, SC, by Chris Jones, these etched copper and brass pendants are graphic and versatile. Very lightweight, great for layering. Tons of options available from someone who knows a thing or two about graphic design (he’s responsible for my new logo!)

So what pieces from my own handmade jewelry collection do I personally wear? I have a few favorites, of course! Let’s call it a “job perk”. Believe it or not, it took me a long time to get comfortable wearing my own work in public. I used to dread someone saying “Love your necklace, where did you get it” because I’d always turn bright red in embarrassment, break a sweat, and say something stupid like “I got it on Etsy”. I had such a terrible time taking credit for the pieces I worked so hard to design and create! I’ve gotten over it by now. Sort of. Kind of. Almost. Anyway, these pieces are the ones I made and just couldn’t part with. You might think being in a house where my entire inventory is available would mean I’d wear something different every single day, but that’s just not the case. These are the few treasured items I kept for myself.