The Blue Flamingo

In a walnutshell...

I am a legal US resident and Canadian citizen from Delta/Surrey, BC (Vancouver).  I moved to San Fransisco in 1986 when I was 19. I moved to Santa Cruz in 1991 to open a tattoo and piercing shop with my first husband. He was the best body piercer I've ever known and I learned at that time, from him, the trade myself, as well as apprenticing in tattoo art under the 5 artists we had working for us.  During this time I experimented with making surgical steel and titanium body jewelry by hand. These endeavors snowballed into the 3rd largest body jewelry company of that era.  I am an artist, however, and the stress and monotony of wholesaling mass produced product made me miserable. About a year before our divorce in 1998 and the dissolvment of the company I went to a highly acclaimed jewelry academy in San Fransisco, Ca. to learn the basics of fine jewelry. In 1999 I opened my own body jewelry and piercing studio, it was a large live/work studio 2 bocks from the beach in Santa Cruz; it was awesome and highly successful.

    In 2003 I made a GI-NORMOUS mistake...I married the man I'd been dating, and supporting, for five years.  After 6 months I caught him cheating with a chat-room slut.  We saw a therapist, I naively forgave the worm, and caught him again a month later.  (To this day he says it was my fault for giving up on him.  He's a 20 watt...real pretty to look at but not too bright.) I kicked him out.  I was also done with the stress of the high overhead and demanding hours.  I was tired of drowning in the ocean of debt and bad credit he sunk me into so I closed the shop and got a regular job 2 days and 2 nights a week.

  About the Blue Flamingo...this is an early work of navel art in 14k yellow gold with 24 cubic zirconias that circle the navel surrounded by fluffy turquoise feathers.  The bar is my special hidden kind that is behind the piece so all you see when worn is the gems and feathers.  dangling from the center of the circle of gems is a 7x5mm rainbow moonstone, this dangles in the navel, when the light hits the highlights it shines turquoise blue.  Retail price: 800.00, eBay (wholesale) price: 300.00.

The Sky Blue Spring

In a pecanshell...

In 1999 when I had taken out a small biz loan to open my Santa Cruz shop, Amazon Jewelry, I also 'accidentally' starting selling on eBay.  For some extra cash I posted a few pieces I'd made, not expecting any reaction really...lo and behold, they sold right away and people began asking me about more.  There was a niche there that needed filling- high end body jewelry in gold, platinum, diamonds, gemstones; custom made designs that truly fit a person's body well, the kind of fit only an experienced body piercer could manage.  EBay was the ideal marketplace.  It was fabulous for advertising though back then you 'weren't allowed' to do that.  I could see and hear what people wanted and excelled in making them happy.  The fact that I could have clients in other countries all over the world tickled me pink.

    Now, nearly 9 years later, I am still doing eBay, I shop there first before anywhere else, but am working to move on from the selling aspect.  There's simply now too much crap on the market for people to weed thru; I have high standards, I'm just not into making cheap body jewelry...not to mention the copycats, (those folks are making me crazy. I am so nervous now to post anything new because the next week it seems it's being copied.)  For the amount of time I and huge fees I spend every selling period as well as the amount of money I spend for top quality supplies, I have found it to be far less satisfying as it once was.  EBay remains decent advertising but there's very little profit for me here anymore.

    So......I am working on a catalogue of designs and also a website.  I will try the eBay website program first as it seems like a good thing for artists like me who don't have alot of time (or patience) for computers. I am only truly happy making art.  On my site I will be posting ALL sorts of mediums- original oil paintings, signed and numbered prints, collages, mirrors, stained glass, hand made beads, even poetry!  It will take some time, my regular job is a gruelling one that takes up 4 days of the week.  It pays well tho I have little time for these new projects.  That is my #1 NEW YEAR'S resolution- to make a living as an artist and quit the other!  My #2 resolution is patience.

  Thanks to my loyal supporters and friends in clients around the world!  I adore keeping you all adorned in fine nostril, navel, cartilage, (etc) jewelry!  Cheers to you all and here's wishing you a dynamic and wholly satisfying 2008!!!

with warmest wishes always, Tanya

About The Sky Blue Spring: this is an attached bead ring tho it is just as popular made in barbell form (with an end that unscrews).  It is solid 14k gold with 2 7x5mm top grade aquamarines, a 1.5mm SI2 quality diamond accent and a two-toned 14k butterfly with diamond cut detailing that flutters as a dangle on the tummy.  This piece can be made to have a removable dangle or an attached one.  Retail price:  650.00, eBay (wholesale) price: 200.00  The Springtime series features this original design with apple green peridot or pale pink tourmalines as alternatives for the aquamarines.