Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Summer is upon us! A snapshot of the Spoonier Team

Hello again to our fellow spoon aficionados!

 Summer is just around the corner and we are excited to get new projects up to speed, get outdoors, and enjoy time with friends and family. As we take a look at the year, we notice how busy we have been in our Etsy shop and elsewhere, and are reminded of the importance of taking breaks from the grind.

 That breath of fresh air is just enough to feel a taste of sweet liberation, while gathering inspiration to bring to all of our current projects. I thought I would take a moment in this month's blog to feature snippets of what everyone is up to at team Spoonier. Working from home has been a life changing journey: a lesson in hard work and reaping the wonderful rewards.

 Since the inception of Spoonier circa 2010, the meager beginnings of spoon ring production has blossomed to support the interests of a team of 3 people, with additional handmade production help as needed during busy seasons. Tami and Mike are located in Denver, CO and have many projects going from their home base including Spoonier, Celtic Eternity, and A Brass Lens. I can hardly believe they do all these things at once! Spoonier continues to manufacture the best collection of vintage sterling silver spoon rings on the planet! (If you find a better selection, please show us, we enjoy a good competition.)

 Tami Miller oversees production, quality control, and is the voice behind the conversations happening in our Spoonier and Celtic Ring Store. Thousands of satisfied customers and going! Tami has 2 beautiful children and spends time helping them have the best childhood possible. When she isn't on the bench or working from home, you can find her on a dance floor busting moves in goth clubs. I've seen it people, she's amazing!

Mike and Tami on a FL beach!

 JUNE's birth flower is the ROSE, check out our selection of rose spoon rings here. We still have an amazing selection of incredibly detailed floral rings, check out a few stellar rose patterns here:

Bridal Rose Pattern by Alvin Co, Sterling Silver Spoon Ring circa 1903

 The rose is an iconic flower in the West and traditionally symbolizes love, beauty, purity, and gratitude.

Celtic Wedding Ring Design, Trinity Knot in 10k Gold

 Mike Tobias is a man of many interests, and has by all means poured his heart and soul into creating a business model that we can all work for and live the independent lives we are after. His main project for some time has been buying and selling camera gear on A Brass Lens. Check out his store, it is very popular among camera enthusiasts!  In his off time Mike can be found working on his off grid home, enjoying amazing food, finding things NO ONE else can, and spending time with his girlfriend Tami.

 An example of  Mike's camera gear for sale can be found here:

Vintage Goerz 120mm Lens for Large Format Camera 

 The last member of the core crew is Josh Wendler, who co-founded Spoonier and many Celtic designs with Mike 5 years ago starting in Fort Collins CO then Chicago IL, then came back to Denver CO to train Tami before planting roots in the Bay Area in California. He recently made a new home in Oakland, California with a wonderful metalsmith roommate! They have a rad studio together where Josh helps with spoon rings and bracelet production. He also helps stone setting projects as we expand our skill sets for our unique ring selection.

Ruby Flush set into a vintage Silver Spoon Ring

Josh in the CA redwoods

 We are all so incredibly fortunate to be able to work from home and pursue what we love. Growing onward and upward is a tough process, and a lot of work- but I personally am very grateful to be able to work, live, and play handmade. Thank you for reading this, if you have ideas on anything spoon ring related, something you want to share, or just share a cool story, feel free to reach out to me personally: metal (dot) wendler (at) gmail (dot) com.

 Have an awesome day, more news soon! 

Spoonier Team