Saturday, April 12, 2008

Twisted Wire Hoop Earrings


New favorite earrings!
Nothing new or original about them - they're based on a similar design I've done before (and will do again, thank you very much!).

Friday, April 11, 2008

Cross


Iza Malczyk is a genius with wire. Fortunately for all of us, she decided to share her knowledge. Her tutorials are here, and all are superbly written with very specific photos. Nothing, IMO, is left to question. It becomes about the user, and the amount of time (and measurements specifically) they want to put into it. My problem is that I think I know it all, skim, and then assume things and ending up wasting wire AND time! This experience was no different. In several areas. Still, I LOVE IT!!! And I'm not even done with it! I want to do more of a rosary style necklace for the top part of it. However, since just this part took forever, I needed some closure, and a sense of accomplishment before I continued. Here's a close up of the center.
To be continued.........

Saturday, April 5, 2008

How it began...

I get asked often enough how I got started in jewelry to finally write it out. So now I'm going to post it!
One Christmas (about 6 years ago - 2001) we decided to make inexpensive gifts for friends and family rather than shopping for other stuff. It went really well, and I tapped into a creative streak I didn't know was there. I took some of the left over stuff back to the store, and exchanged it for beading stuff. The addiction begins. I can honestly say I have most of the entire store of "Michaels" in the basement. (At least from a couple years ago - I haven't shopped there in some time).
The following Christmas (2002), we decided to do the same thing, and it got a bit more involved. While trying to figure out how to NOT get hot glue all over my wreathes and trees, I discovered floral wire. The addiction exploded.
The same fall of that year, my husband began school full time, along with working full time, so in the evenings I had nothing to do and no one to entertain me. That's when I REALLY dug into the jewelry making and added wire to the mix. Things have never been the same. A couple of friends hosted jewelry parties for me and then I started doing some crap (oops, I mean CRAFT) shows (and some other unconventional shows like at bars when my friends band was playing). Some were great, some were terrible, but I did meet some great people along the way, so they were definitely worth it.
I taught myself how to make a website so I could show and post pictures of my work (and sell of course)...joined a couple of forums and challenges, met more great people.
Time flys by, my skills improve and now we're at August 11th, 2007. I had donated a set of jewelry to the manager of my favorite bar here for their Golf Tourney/Breast Cancer Fundraiser, and the manager asked if I'd like to set up at the bar for after the tourney - you betcha!!!
While I was setting up, I was approached by a burly looking biker guy with a LOT of very specific questions. Turns out he is a Master Jeweler at Borsheim's. He paid me many nice compliments, and before the end of the day, we were discussing my possible employment at Borsheim's. Due to a "conflict of interest", to accept a position there, I had to give up the commercial side of my jewelry (remove the "Buy It Now" buttons, stop doing shows and selling my stuff at shops). It was a tough decision, and I'd be going to work full time, when I had been working part time for the last 8 years...but how could I pass up the opportunity to work for one of the best and most respected jewelry company's? I took the job, and it has been wonderful! Like everything was leading up to it, essentially.