sorella designs

Ath Fest 2010 and where we've been!

2010-06-28T10:55:00.002-04:00

So, yes this blog has been neglected and we're working on this problem of ours :) (is there a support group for this kind of problem...)

Even though we have not been updating you on what we've been doing, we have had our heads down and our pliers out furiously making new pieces to get ready for our most recent arts festival, Athfest 2010. Which was a success! Thanks to all of you that came out to support us and even took home a sorella and company design. We appreciate all the business and kind words....it is truly inspiring to hear someone else say that the pieces we hold dear to our hearts are "beautiful" and "very creative". Gives us the boost to keep up the good work. Also I want to thank Andy Payne for all your hard work...I know we asked a million and one questions and you were very gracious to accommodate us in every way.

The pieces that didn't sell are on their way to our ETSY shop, don't check it yet, give me a second...it was a million degrees this weekend and I stayed up late last night tending to my sunburn and obsessing over Trueblood (OMG!)

On a side note: Angie will have her silk-screened European shammed pillows for sale on ETSY too, I know there were a few folks interested in purchasing them, you can also email her directly at angiepalmisano2@gmail.com.

More posts to come....I promise.

Back in the grind

2009-09-28T22:32:00.000-04:00

I'll spare you the "sorry for not blogging/we've been super busy/we moved away from each other making working on this project together complicated....and that has taken away time for blogging" spiel, and go straight into what we've been up to. We got back Sunday Sept 20th from Arts in the Heart 2009, an art festival in Augusta GA. The festival is huge, there were 130 other artists all hocking their peices/treasures. I had the pleasure of being neighbors with Billy S, a very well known artist from Augusta, He was great. It rained...no, poured Friday night but, it was beautiful Saturday and it brought the crowds out. We actually placed third in the juried art selection. I KNOW!! I was so sad that Angie wasn't there to accept the award with me (yes, I got to go on stage, and get a check, and get a big ribbon....they could have given me that ribbon and I would have been just as happy). My wonderful boyfriend stepped in and helped set up and break down my little shop six times! (no wonder I'm so sore). All in all it was a complete success, I had a great time, met A LOT of cool people and, got some really good feedback on our stuff. Thanks to Brenda Durant and her staff and the volunteers for such a wonderfully organized event! We hope to make it back next year. I also hope that everyone who bought one of our pieces is enjoying it thoroughly.

The next steps we will be taking will obviously be to put everything we didn't sell up on ETSY. We've got some really, really cute rings and bracelets. Check the shop soon at designsbysorella.etsy.com. Which reminds me, we haven't updated that little shoppe in quite a while, so excuse it if it's a mess. We're still working out the style of our graphics and signs. You'll notice we changed the header to the blog and put the old image at the bottom. We'll see how this fits before changing it again. It's hard to identify your work with images and font, it's a lot harder than I had imagined in the beginning. We want to creat a sort of vintage/antique/classy/whimsical feel...so we'll see if we can accomplish that.

Here are some lovely pictures from Arts in the heart 2009:

Thankfully the rain came after we set up Friday night

Making the best of it

The necklace on the left is $58.00 and the one the right is $44.00. Both are made with brass gears. The tri-necklace on the right is sterling silver at the top and also has laser cut wooden gears.

Oh, I love sweater clips. The one on the top has clocks from wrist watches from the 50's and 60's. One is actually like a locket and opens. The strands between are made of brass balancing wheels from pokcet watches, gold plated chain, and turquouise plastic beads. The top is going for 48.00. The clasps are like little alligator teeth clips and will handle lots of wear. The clip on the bottom is made from pieces of the movement within a pocket watch and the chain is sterling silver. It reminds me of wings, so that's what I've named it :) ---costs $36.00

The earrings and bracelet sold but we still have the dainty balancing wheel necklace, cute with everything and great for layering.

I made a few brooches and they turned out so cute, they look great on peacoats.

This one's for you Ang ;)

summa time projects, what we've been up to

2009-08-11T12:18:00.000-04:00

Expect more regular posts now that I'm not living in cardboard boxes. :)

My boyfriend had this great picnic table that was starting to fall apart due to neglect...and lots of rain. We decided that it needed to be revamped because of the sentimental value behind it instead of being thrown out. Sooo, in one Saturday afternoon we sanded it down, repaired some of the planks that had come loose, and re-stained it the best gray blue we could find. Most picnic tables are red so I thought the nantucket blue was way cuter, plus I'm all about mixing traditional with non-traditional. It was an easy and very cheap project...and it completely made over the old picnic table. Here are some pictures of the process:

We forgot to take real "before" pictures, but this is during the sanding and repair

It really only took one coat of the stain because we liked how the red
was showing through.

The finished product!!! So cute.

an up close view of how I got carried away with the sander,
no splinters on this puppy. :)

On to Jewelry:

We have applied to be in the juried art show "Arts in the Heart 2009" in Augusta Georgia, filled out the application, sent in the checks, and have gotten no response as to whether we've been accepted yet. It's only a month away!!!! I checked to see if the checks were cashed and one of them has been, so I'm not sure what that means. Either way, we're headed into the studio to make as much as possible in the shortest of time. AHHHHH! With Angie in Little Five Points and me in Athens, there will be lots of our individual style shown in the new pieces and lots of phone calls and picture texting. I think we need to set up some sort of video calling too. :)

Side note: We're loving the bib necklaces and have LOTS of ideas for watch gear versions.

Keep checking in with us. It's been a slow blogging summer but now that the craziness has died down we should be able to document all the pretty things in our lives a little more frequently.

The Skinny...

2009-07-08T22:05:00.007-04:00

We have not been posting as regularly as we should. And I'm not making any excuses....except for the fact that we're both packing, planning a move, working at our "real" jobs and enjoying time with our pugs in the very little free time we have...those are not excuses :). I'm reformed now. Having decided that this will take priority in my week over NYC Prep. Either way, you'll hear from me more often...like it or not. Sorella Designs and Co. spent the fourth of July weekend in Athens and I think our fireworks show was bigger than the city's. Don't tell anyone that, I'm sure it wasn't legal. Although we took all safety measures possible.

This is Rosa, she was awesome.

I bought an awesome painted nightstand from Kristen Fountain Davis of KFD Designs, (I can not plug her enough, she is so talented and I love her taste) for my new house. It was built in 1918, before closets apparenltly but FULL of charm. Picture hanging molding, a claw foot tub, and a very nice rocking chair front porch. We've purchased some pieces we plan to refinish and I hope to post before and after pictures when we get time to actually do it. It's overwhelming to think about all that has to be accomplished in a little less than a month...AH we'll get it all done, I'm not worried a bit.

This is Kristen's masterpeice

We officially changed our name to Sorella Designs and Company. Now I have to change the banner and maybe the blog web address....maybe not. Building a website will be the next step. But we do have a Tax I.D. number!! and a small business bank account. Both were extremely satisfying to have accomplished after starting this whole venture. We're learning new techniques and getting stocked for Arts in the Heart of Augusta. A HUGE arts festival, if you can make it, you should!! It's September 18, 19, and 20, 2009.

It's late, my witty banter has faded and all inspiration has gone to thinking about how my sheets are still in the dryer. I promise I'll post something pretty that has been inspiring us. I have a few artists in mind that everyone should know about too. **sweet dreams

For A "Beary" Good Cause

2009-06-24T23:02:00.004-04:00

We kind of have this little mascot/logo that Angie designed in Japan and we have been hand silkscreening onto hand dyed tees, onsies, anything we can get our hands on. It's been a big hit and until this past weekend we didn't really have many of the tee shirts on hand because they sold so quickly. We decided to set up shop...might as well have been a sweat shop, in my parents garage and pumped out a bunch of these VERY cute tees in lots of different color combinations for guys and girls. The design is an Owl...how wise of us :) The tees are Hanes white v-necks and round necks in all sizes that have been dyed and won't fade. Once dyed and dried (jeez, with all these ryhmes maybe I should contact so so def... kidding and I have no idea why I'm so cheezy tonight) we screenprinted the owl design strategically in the upper/center of the chest and allowed to dry. Did I mention they won't fade, we used permanent screen printing dyes. A special thanks goes to Mom for working for free and thanks Dad for all of your advice in between watching the golf network, eh it was Father's Day, what do you expect. The even better news is that we have decided to donate a portion of the sales of these shirts to Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail, those of you in Athens, I'm sure you have heard of or even been to the small zoo that houses wildlife that can not be released back into nature. It's a great little place and I have gone there for walks and runs since I moved to Athens 9 years ago. Because they have several owls that they take care of there, we thought we'd like to help out with their expenses...and of course the other animals too. The shirts are $20.00 each and a fourth of each sale will be donated. We hope you are as excited as we are to help out such a great cause. At the moment we don't have many pictures of the tees we did this weekend, I am posting a picture of the owl printed on a onsie so that you can see the design. If you are interested in purchasing one of these tee shirts please contact Angie or I, you can leave a comment here or email us. I hope to have pictures of all the different colors up soon, but we literally have any and all color combos. The one I have is navy blue with a gold owl in the center. The metallic screenprinted owls look really cool. I just wanted to put a quick post up tonight about them because I was so excited about our idea to give back to a place that I have enjoyed so much. AGAIN, if you can dream up a color combo we either have it or can make it :) Let us know what you think and if you'd like to purchase one!!!! I'll upload a picture of mine tomorrow.

No, we didn't fall off the face of the earth :)

2009-06-12T10:52:00.001-04:00

We've just been a little busy. With work and a very eminent move, we've put blogging on the back burner. Sooo here we are to do a little update and let everyone know that Sorella Designs is alive and well. We have a very talented blacksmith and jeweler teaching us different techniques in his Athens based studio. We are SO excited about this. We're even learning how to forge our own tools and how to use machines built in the early 1900's for black smithing. We've got SO many ideas swirling in our little heads. From enameling the gears to cutting our own clock hands and gears from different kinds of metals. Seems like the possibilities are endless and we hope that you bear with us during the learning process. Great new pieces will be up soon for your viewing and buying pleasure :)

Yes, we are moving too. Which adds a nice sense of panic to our lives. Me and Angie have lived together for almost all of our lives and the idea of her not being down the hallway is a little overwhelming to me. She's my best friend and partner in crime, so we'll have a little adjusting to do if we end up in different zip codes....but don't worry, Sorella Designs has just begun...you'll be hearing a lot more from us whether we're in the same city or not.

That leads me to do a little business lesson update. We're still in the process of getting the articles for our LLC. We hit a slight snag though. Although the state of Georgia has the company name Sorella Designs, LLC available, if you google sorella designs you'll see that another online jewelry company will pop up. This is no good. We've come up with some alternate names that we really like but wanted to get some feedback from anyone that reads this. I think we're really leaning towards Sorella Designs and Company, LLC. Cute right? Plus, we do have a lot of folks helping us out and it's nice to acknowledge them. We could also do Designs by Sorella, our Etsy name. I like the first option better, what about you? I think changing the name is okay when it's still early in the game.

So there you have it, a short but sweet update on our comings and goings. I'm having a jewelry photo shoot this afternoon, weather permitting, so make sure you check out our etsy shop this weekend!!! Oh, and check out my adobe photo shop skills at the top of this blog, I'm teaching myself and it's been painstaking, there's still lots to fix but I think it came out pretty cute :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Decoration Day

2009-05-25T11:18:00.009-04:00

In remembrance and to honor all those soldiers who have lost their lives while serving our nation, we are dedicating this blog to all things red, white, and blue.

morningcoffee.wordpress.com

Kristin.A

quiltownusa.com

collectiblejewels.com

painting by Alyse Radenovic

Published in 1942 by General Cable Corp.

Happy Memorial Day!

A real update blog will follow soon. This week sorella designs hits the metal smithing studio!

ahhh...the sweet smell of success

2009-05-11T16:29:00.018-04:00

We spent this past weekend in Griffin, GA (our home town) showing off our works of art at the Hatch Market. First of all we would like to thank everyone that had anything to do with putting the weekend together, everyone at Scoop Magazine, especially Jessica W., who was able answer the thousand questions I had before the event. Everyone was so helpful, as this was our very first art festival and we didn't really know what to expect. We're so new to the jewelry hustle. Just think, it was only 2 months ago that we got the idea to make our watch/clock piece jewelry and now we're actually selling it to people. It's really humbling to hear someone say "oooo I really like this one, I have to have it, how much is it?". So, all in all, it was a success. We will have the pieces that didn't sell plus a few we came up with this week on etsy. We met so many nice people this weekend and hope we picked up a few readers in the process!! This week are filing out the paper work to get our tax I.D. number....and making our little business legit. Then on to the oh so exciting merchant bank account opening. We'll post all the juicy details, so in case you're thinking about starting up your own business, maybe our adventures will some how help you on yours.

I'm going to leave you with pictures of our sweet set-up from the weekend and some new pieces we've made. They are in the most ridiculous order because blogger is being crazy and almost caused me to throw my computer out the window. I had to give up, I've been wanting to post this since Monday :) Happy Hump Day!!!

A birdie and a gear, 16in chain

a very cool mix of materials. wood, brass, gold, jade, and sterling silver (34 in chain)

The mustache tea cup coupons we gave out for tea and cookies

Mr. Kole Hamilton made an apperance

Enameled flower, tassel, wooden gear, and brass vintage clock hand (34 in sterling silver chain)

The jewelry "trees"my dad made for displaying the jewelry, so cool.

Angie, hard at work ;)

This is us Saturday, the booth looked a little different Sunday.

Dad made these too, to hold Angie's hand designed and screen printed bags

Okay, I'm done with blogging today, now all my words are underlined and bold, how annoying!!! :) (making me laugh a little bit too, of course this happens after having all the trouble copying/pasting pictures...ARG!)

2009-05-05T11:44:00.001-04:00

Procrastination has got me thinking. Of course when I have soo much to do, so many things to finish before this weekend..I feel most inspired to sit down and put my feelings into words..not make jewelry or finish the one billion things I have on my list. Recently there have been a turn of events that have lead me to think about how thankful I am. So often you find yourself going day-to-day, same ole routine....ignoring the special moments and wishing for time to pass quickly for one reason or the other. I'm sure I don't let those most close to me know exactly how much they mean to me or how I'm sure I couldn't live with out them. My sister is my best friend and I don't tell her that enough. My parents are my greatest source of inspiration..through tough times and great times they have always been there for us....instilling in me a true sense of what family should be. I remember my first lesson in slowing down, I'll always be thankful for Mrs. Patterson, my high school freshman english teacher. She had us read "Our Town", a play by Thornton Wilder (which I recommend reading if you haven't already) and now every time I feel like life is getting too fast or I'm getting lost in the routine, I remember the theme of that play: To find joy in the monotony of every day life, to stop and smell the roses...be thankful for what you've been given. Seems like a very poignant lesson to be teaching 14 year olds, I'm surprised and glad that it really stuck with me.

So the point of this entry: The Hatch Market is fast approaching (THIS WEEKEND!!!), we're freaking out because this is our first juried art show....first trade show...first time we're going to get face-to-face feedback on our jewelry (from strangers :). We're running around like mad women trying to make sure we've covered all of our bases... So this is for you Ang!, calm down...enjoy the days before the madness. I love you and couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else. I'll try to take my own advice too!

Update on the life and times of the Palmisanos

2009-04-27T14:40:00.011-04:00

We had an amazing weekend filled with friends, family, and flea markets. The parents came to Athens to hang out, along with their 3 other "children". Needless to say our house was packed, but packed with looove :) (Imagine me saying that in my deepest Al Green voice) Anyways, we spent Saturday morning perusing the aisles at the J and J Flea Market and then in the afternoon we did yard work and planted flowers. I know it was exactly what my parents wanted to do on their mini "holiday"....but me and Angie have not been successful in the threats we've given our landlord to cut our grass. The backyard had literally turned into a jungle...giant grasshoppers and all. Sooo, Dad came to the rescue and now our yard is livable again. He's pretty much our super hero :)

We also went downtown Saturday night to watch some friends race in the Twilight Criterium...I'm still completely amazed at how they go almost 35 mph around those corners and stay on the bike. AND they go around the 1km loop 80 times.... how I have no idea. The longest bike ride I've ever been on was 18 miles and my bum never forgave me for it.

All in all, a good weekend. Although you'll notice I said nothing about designing jewelry or working in our little sweat shop. That's because we didn't. AH! and the Hatch Market is in 2 weeks. With that being said, you'll understand why there won't be many posts in between now and then. (MAY 9th and 10th in Griffin at Special Occasions on Tenth St. Music, Good Food, and Indie crafts. Be there or be square!) Time to get to work!

Here is what I accomplished, with my mom's help of course. (all pots courtesy Brad Robinson and Christopher Brewton, Pictures done by me :))

We got a huge jewelry supply shipment monday and are currently working hard to get prepared for next weekend. We'll blog and show off the new designs laterrr. HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!

Read Yer Manual

2009-04-16T10:42:00.004-04:00

So I finally figured out how to take clear shots of jewelry up close. You have to switch your camera to macro mode...which is usually represented by a flower. (yeah, I totally had the whole "Oh that's what that little symbol means! moment) So my advice when you don't know how to use your technology.. read the manual.

Here is a picture of the ring that I love, made by Kristen Fountain Davis Designs, that actually does it justice.

Lovely isn't it

Spring has sprung!!

2009-04-13T12:36:00.020-04:00

Right now we're preparing for the HATCH MARKET in Griffin Ga on May 9 and 10...a very good place to go for something unique and handmade for Mom's day!!! And we're in the process of putting more up on ETSY...which we're working on tonight as a matter of fact. We've got SO many cute ideas and just had a huge shipment of antique watch gears and parts come in, make sure you check out our etsy shop located to the left of our blog!!!

So, the main purpose of this blog is to provide me(erica) and Angie a creative outlet where we can write about all the people and things in our lives that inspire us and to also document the process of starting a small business. This week we will be getting our very own tax I.D. number, how exciting!! (note sarcasm) But we figure we should be able to write off all of these business expenses and make ourselves legit. We should also let you know that we are running our business in a very "green" way. Everything from our 100% recycled/biodigradable jewelry boxes to the recycled materials we use to make the jewelry to how we are going to recycle all of the other parts of the clocks we're not using (currently these parts are living in a box in the dining room, we'll let you know where/how we are able to recycle them). It's important that we leave only a very small carbon footprint and we're working hard to do so.

I also wanted to post some pictures of a ring I just got from Kristen Fountain Davis Designs (visit her etsy shop!!), the pictures do not do it justice...for some reason the automatic focus on my camera is not automatically focusing!! (HELP!) so either way, you should check her out, she makes the little birdie nest ring in whatever size you want and I've had nothing but compliments on it. Thanks again Kristen!!

ADORABLE!!!

(That Star Wars coffee mug was a birthday gift from Jason, a co-worker's son, Yoda is on the other side. He said he got it for me bc I'm short like Yoda...but I like to think it's bc I'm wise like Yoda. :)

Here are some pictures from this weekend!! For a second Friday night I thought we might get blown away by a tornado, but the weekend actually ended up being beautiful and the dogs had an extra special easter playing soccer in the back yard. Mom gave us the cutest easter presents (age does not matter in our household) and Dad made us all fresh blueberry pancakes Sunday morning. Thanks for being such amazing parents, we really lucked out. :)

Tucker has little man syndrome...

Me and my child

My Mom's green thumb still amazes me

My Mom and the biggest baby of them all, Sake

The girls

the end :)

Austin, Texas!!!!

2009-04-09T19:48:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone! So I just visited Austin Texas--- Home of the Longhorns! I had never been to Texas and I always heard of how fun it is in Austin. We went to visit my roommate --Robbi's dad, Toni, who was more than excited to show us a good time and life around Austin. We stayed at the Driskill Hotel (http://www.driskillhotel.com/) which is right on 6th street---where the craziest bars and live music can be found!! (we were there the week after SXSW). I especially loved the whole art scene, there was an open air market near the campus where most local artists can set up shop and sell their handmade treasures. We also visited a small art gallery called "art on 5th" (http://www.arton5th.com/) ---obviously located in 5th street. There was a really awesome jewelry show going on while we were there and since Erica and I have been into the jewelry making I wanted to see what other artists were doing. (Very Cool!!!)

The people were so nice and laid back, we met some cool kids who took us to this park called Barton Springs, the springs is well known bc it stays 68 degrees all year!! There were dogs running around, frisbee throwing and bud light!...good times had by all.

Toni also took us to a Longhorns baseball game...it was hard to cheer bc I am a Dawg! but we had a good time. We ate the most delicious foods, I can't really remember all the names of the restaurants, but everything was so good...especially the steaks!

The last night we went to this small restaurant where this local band "Carolyn Wonderland" was playing, Toni is a huge fan and was pumped to take us the see them. I loved the whole show! she played the guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, and trumpet!! amazing! ----check them out on youtube and http://www.carolynwonderland.com/ !!!

All that said I had an amazing time and will definitely be visiting again in the near future!

M is for Milk

2009-04-07T14:19:00.001-04:00

My dear friend Michelle Pieper gave me the inspiration for this blog. She told me about this very interesting underground movement where people are choosing to drink raw or unpasteurized milk instead of pasteurized milk. It's part of the whole raw food movement with the idea being that cooking food or pasteurizing it takes away from its nutritional value. The process of Pasteurizing was invented by Louis Pasteur, a French Chemist (freshman chemistry rears it's ugly head) and entails a process of heating the substance (in this case milk) to really high temperatures and then rapidly cooling it down. It's considered adequate for destroying almost all yeasts, mold, and common spoilage bacteria and also to ensure adequate destruction of common pathogenic heat-resistant organisms. BUT it also kills beneficial bacteria, which is why there is this whole underground movement to consume only unpasteurized milk. The raw milkist say that if the cows are healthy and organic, then the milk will be too. One of the reasons pasteurization was so important was because cows were prone to getting bovine tuberculosis which can be passed on to humans through their milk. Nowadays we don't worry about that threat. Honestly, when I think about unpasteurized milk, I get this horrible image of frothy, smelly, chunky milk that should not be ingested by anyone...especially me. After reading alot on the subject and becoming completely obsessed with raw milk, the image in my mind has changed. What I was picturing was non-homogenized milk....GROSS. I'm all for more nutritious milk but I'd still like it to be sterile white and consistently watery :) . You're probably wondering why an entire post is about milk...well, anyone who knows me (Erica), knows that I'm slightly addicted to milk. I drink it ALL the time, but got concerned when I started reading about how many antibiotics and hormones dairy cows are given. Those sort of things are passed directly on to their milk and are not taken out of the milk through the pasteurization process. It's not a huge concern if you're not a big milk drinker, but for me and little kids, it's bad news. I'm making the effort to change (which means I'm trying really hard, but those cardboard half gallon , smelly, organic milk cartons are EXPENSIVE). I'm truly intrigued with the whole Raw Milk idea and need to try it. It's only legal to buy the stuff in some states and South Carolina is one of them. So me and Michelle will be hittin the road soon to taste test this controversial drink. We'll let you know how it goes and if we'll be boarding this band wagon.

I'll end this post with a picture from my weekend. We celebrated Mooch's (Michelle's) 27th birthday in Augusta. The town was preparing for the Masters coming up this weekend and the azaleas were in full bloom. OH! and I found some really cool antique watch faces downtown at one of the many vintage shops they have. I'm excited to see what we'll make with them....stay tuned.

www.designsbysorella.etsy.com

2009-04-06T00:08:00.002-04:00

We have officially opened up shop online at: http://www.designsbysorella.etsy.com/

We hope you like what you see! Keep checking we will be posting new pieces asap!

xoxo, Erica & Angie

SNEAK PEEK!!

2009-03-27T15:49:00.013-04:00

So here they are, the jewelry we are putting on ETSY. Because we have also entered ourselves in the Hatch Market, we will only have a few available for sale before then. Let us know what you think by commenting here or sending us an email at empalm2@gmail.com.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, i.e. the heart earrings and the gear ring. We'll have better quality on etsy. Oh, and that won't be happening until Angie gets back from Austin on Sunday. She went to check out an awesome jewelry show and the city. Hopefully some of the people reading this are people she met out there. HI!

Also, this has been one miserable week down here in Athens, GA. It is currently STILL raining and has been doing so since Tuesday. On Monday I complained about how bad the pollen was, then on Tuesday the rain clouds rolled in and haven't let up yet. On a more exciting note, we have a new addition to our extended family. One of my very favorite (they're all my favorites) cousin, Jason and his wife Joana had a little girl. CONGRATS Y'ALL!!! We can not wait to meet her. :)

Details about the jewelry:

Picture 1 and 2, (starting from top) Sterling silver chain (34in) --thick braided chain with vintage clock hands and gears as the charms. $40.00

Picture 3, plastic hot pink hearts on a tiny brass gear, gold plated earring posts. $15.00

Pictures 4 and 5, Gold plated 20 in. chain (very dainty) with vintage brass clock gears, plastic, and enameled bead charms. $50.00

Pictures 6 and 9, sterling silver 16 in. chain with tiny gears and watch hand charms from a vintage pocket watch.
$20.00

Pictures 7 and 8, sterling silver 16 in. chain with gears and nuts from a vintage wind-up clock. $25.00

Handy Parents

2009-03-20T15:36:00.005-04:00

I thought I would post a few pictures to show how talented both my sister and parents are. Notice the new hardwood floors in our house. My dad spent hours of "back breaking" work (as he described it) putting them in. He had the whole house done in a month and they look great!! --so proud-- and they painted and added crown molding which has completely changed the look of the house. In the pictures you will also see Angie's Exit Show chairs, the culmination of her art degree from the University of Georgia..with a specialty in fabric design and textiles. I LOVE the chairs because of the mix between the funky pattern on the fabric and the traditional shape of the chair. They look great in my parents house but they are for sale!! Email Ang about details at angiepalmisano2@gmail.com if you're interested in them and don't forget she also does commissioned silk screening too!!

Just a little update on where we are in jewelry land; we have a lot of cool pieces done...necklaces, rings, and earrings, but have had the hardest time sitting down, taking pictures and uploading them to our ETSY page. Then, we decide we want to change some things on the ETSY page only to find out that it isn't as easy as we thought or hoped. I love technology but this process has made me want to throw my laptop out the window. Our number 1 goal now is to get the Etsy page done so everyone can take a look, give us some feedback and buy them!!!

This is a side note but, it's absolutely beautiful outside and it's almost 5 on Friday. Nice.

We have also been accepted as a vendor at the Hatch Market!!! Check out the website and make plans to attend!! :) The list of vendors has not been updated recently, so our name isn't on the list of acceptances...but I got the acceptance email Monday---hopefully they update the site soon.

--I feel like there have been several things I wanted to blog about this week and never sat down to do it.-- 1. We are still on the hunt for wind-up clocks/watches/pocket watches. If you find some in your attic or garage that you need to get rid of, let us take them off your hands. 2. I am so proud of my patience with our next door neighbor who is doing a complete renovation of their house. The company is well known around here and bought the house to "flip" it. It looks great but they have turned our already busy road into a one-lane busy road. No one wants to sit in traffic at 5, when they just got off work and you can see your front porch from your spot in the "line" wrapping around the corner and down the street. If I allowed it, my blood pressure would rise just describing it...but with my new outlook on life, I'm not going to let it affect my mood. They'll be done soon....and if they aren't I'm almost sure I can count on the neighbors on the other side to get in touch with whoever regulates jerks who park all over the road. :) 3. Sound Tribe Sector 9 is here in Athens playing at the Georgia Theater for 3 whole nights. I'm not the biggest fan but my boyfriend is slightly obsessed. My 2 favorite things about them are Kris Davidson, who does performance paintings and the fans. I love their style, it's hard to describe (kind of hip-hop hippie), but they are the most colorful, fashion-minded people ever. Their choice in footwear is awesome. (think neon and Nike's)

Alright, it's 5 til 5. I'm headed home....I'm sure to wait in traffic. Did I mention I live walking distance to work (like around the corner)..it's what I get for not walking.

I'll leave everyone with their horoscope for the weekend from nerve.com. Have a good one!

2009-03-18T20:57:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone! angie here, recently i have been practicing upholstery and this is my first commissioned piece. these two were done for a lady who saw my exit show and had a few chairs similar to the ones i used. we met and talked about what she would like to see in the design. from there i created a design and screen printed it using off white pigment on a white organic cotton blend fabric. I'm really sorry i don't have a before picture but they were dark wood with a burnt orange woven fabric. i sanded and painted the wood a semi gloss white. they matched the house and turned out to look great, she was very pleased. Sooo...if u have a couple chairs and wanted them reupholstered please email me at angiepalmisano2@gmail.com. Thanks for reading our blog!!!

It's About Time!!...

2009-03-18T20:32:00.004-04:00

So, it's taken us a little longer than expected to get all of our pieces uploaded to our ETSY.com page...forgive us, it's been too beautiful outside to be on the computer. It will happen soon!! In the mean time, we have officially opened shop at It's About Time, a fine watch repair shop in the Georgia Square Mall (in Athens). Come check us out!!!

(there are more pieces than the 4 pictured. )

RUFFLES!!!

2009-03-10T15:34:00.000-04:00

RUFFLES!! - by SorellaDesigns on Polyvore.com

I love them on everything, I even wore a ruffly (word?) shirt today--which is where the inspiration for this post came from. I can't afford half of the ruffles above, but I can dream right? (and who doesn't love a ruffly baby butt??!!)

(side note: If "ruffly" isn't a word, it is now :)

I think something deserves to be posted if it makes you laugh so hard that you cry...

2009-03-10T13:08:00.002-04:00

I received this in my email from my assistant today, I had to share it.

***I had this idea that I was going to rope a deer, put
> it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks,
> then kill it and eat it.
>
> The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I
> figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and
> do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a
> bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags
> of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet
> away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it
> and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie
> it and transport it home.
>
> I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end
> with my rope.
>
> The cattle, having seen the roping thing before,
> stayed well back. They were not having any of it.
>
> After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up -- 3 of
> them. I picked out.. ..a likely looking one, stepped out
> from the end of the feeder, and threw.. my rope. The deer
> just stood there and stared at me.
>
> I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end
> so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and
> stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned
> about the whole rope situation.
>
> I took a step towards it...it took a step away. I put
> a little tension on the rope and then received an education.
>
> The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer
> may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it,
> they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that
> rope.
>
> That deer EXPLODED.
>
> The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a
> deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt
> in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with
> some dignity.
>
> A deer-- no chance.
>
> That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled.
> There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close
> to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me
> across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a
> rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally
> imagined.
>
> The only up side is that they do not have as much
> stamina as many other animals.
>
>
> A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly
> as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed
> to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I
> was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash
> in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed
> venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the
> end of that rope.
>
> I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging
> around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully
> somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me
> and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I
> would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual.
>
> Despite the gash in my head and the several large
> knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum
> by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged
> me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to
> recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some
> tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in,
> so I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow
> death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my
> truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before
> hand...kind of like a squeeze chute.
>
> I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I
> could get my rope back.
>
> Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a
> million years would have thought that a deer would bite
> somebody, so I was very surprised when I reached up there to
> grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist.
>
> Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit
> by a horse where they just bite you and then let go. A deer
> bites you and shakes its head --almost like a pit bull. They
> bite HARD and it hurts.
>
> The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is
> probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming
> and shaking instead. My method was ineffective. It seems
> like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes,
> but it was likely only several seconds.
>
> I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be
> questioning that claim by now), tricked it.
>
> While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my
> right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that
> rope loose. That was when I got my final lesson in deer
> behavior for the day.
>
> Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They
> rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head
> and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp.
> I learned a long time ago that, when an animal -- like a
> horse --strikes at you with their hooves and you can't
> get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud
> noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal.
> This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you
> can escape.
>
> This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously,
> such trickery would not work. In the course of a
> millisecond, I devised a different strategy. I screamed like
> a woman and tried to turn and run..
>
> The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn
> and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a
> good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head.
> Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides
> being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the
> second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the
> head and knocked me down.
>
> Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it
> does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize
> that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your
> back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there
> crying like a little girl and covering your head.
>
> I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the
> deer went away.
>
> So now I know why when people go deer hunting they
> bring a rifle with a scope to sort of even the odds.

Very Zenful

2009-03-10T11:02:00.000-04:00

These are adorable, you can find them at Yanko Designs--the link is at the bottom of this post. I like salt and pepper shakers that are disguised as something else...shakes things up a bit (HA no pun intended) I think we have decided that Ang and I will take turns posting on the blog...every time we feel inspired or have something new to show you. We're both still learning so excuse the lack of uniformity (it's driving me crazy). Thanks to everyone for taking a look at what we're doing and giving us feedback. We really appreciate it!! We are also on the hunt for more old clocks/watches/pocket watches..etc. If you spring clean and find yourself throwing any of these away please keep us in mind!! --Happy Tuesday!! -e

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/03/09/not-all-who-condiment-are-lost/

The Wonderland Collection

2009-03-08T22:55:00.001-04:00

Here it is!! Our first collection, Wonderland. Rings, earrings, and necklaces made from the gears, nuts, and bolts of vintage clocks and pocket watches. Soon we'll have everything on our etsy shop site for sale...one thing at a time.

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? " -Alice, from "Alice in Wonderland"

2009-03-08T22:51:00.000-04:00

This is one of the cutest pictures of Tucker EVER. He resembles an ewok here, for sure.

And I'm just going to go ahead and apologize for how these first few blogs look, we're learning.

2009-03-08T21:16:00.000-04:00

Here's Annie (black) and Tucker, the pugs.

Welcome to our blog!! We are Erica and Angela Palmisano, the creative minds behind Sorella Designs and sisters. Raised in the south by very creative parents, growing up we were never very far from a sketch pad, water colors, or craft surplies. We have recently decided to go into business with each other and start Sorella Designs. Sorella means sister in Italian, giving props to our Sicilian heritage. Our first collection has been dubbed the "Wonderland" Collection. The necklaces are all sterling silver and the charms have been made from vintage clock parts. Inspired by Angie's 6 year love(job) of watches and clocks. We have plans to design everything from furniture to jewelry to hand silk screened fabrics.

It is very important to us that we be proactive in the movement to conserve and recycle. We like to take things apart and find new uses for them. We also recycle anything we end up not using and only use organic cottons.

A little more about us: We currently live and work in Athens, GA. Angie is an apprentice at a fine watch repair shop and Erica manages property for a large property owner in town. We each

have a pug, Tucker and Annie. They are quite possibly the funniest dogs ever and are a constant source of laughter.

We've started this blog to document the whole process of starting a business and designing with a sister. We know it won't always be ponies and pigtails, I'm sure we won't agree on everything. What we hope to do is inspire everyone with our ideas and creations...hopefully leaving piece of who we are in each creation. So there you have it, a short (but sweet) little write up about who we are and where we come from. The plan is to take turns writing each day and updating everyone on what we are working on or loving. Enjoy!