Other things I do for the fun of it

Sometimes beading just isn't enough. Sometimes there are just times in life when you look in the mirror and say, "Self, I need to make a silly hat."

Or, rather, the hat was needed for a game for a good friend's bridal shower, but still. Who needs a reason to make a silly hat, anyhow?

I took a plain white bucket hat and glued and sewed and painted to my heart's content. The painted script reads "Let me eat cake!" There is also a glow-in-the-dark fabric paint halo on the top seam of the hat.

A very similar design will be making its way onto my hard hat in the near future.

Creativity on a schedule

One of my greatest challenges as a jewelry artisan is my schedule... I work full-time, have an apartment to help keep up, plus other hobbies that also like to suck up my time. This means that I have scant little time to make jewelry, let alone blog about my artistic escapades. This would be why I have a very loosey-goosey update schedule (read: there is no schedule, I write when I can for now).

I try to sneak in jewelry-making when I can, and of the several projects I have on the docket right now I have a chainmail necklace that I carry around in my purse. It's easy for me to add a couple new rings to it during things like my lunch break at work, and I don't have to lug around my heavy bead tote. I also carry a small Moleskine sketchbook with a full 12-pencil set of Prismacolor Turquoise drawing pencils in my purse as well, which is why I've recently had to upgrade to a much larger purse to carry at least some of my hobbies around with me!

Also on the agenda while I sort out this whole not-enough-hours-in-the-day thing: Sorting out and organizing my hobbies!

The way things come together...

One of the things I do to challenge myself as a jewelry artisan is take advantage of assortments and mixes to expose myself to materials I would not normally purchase. Some of the things sit in my sorting bins for years, only to wait for the right counterpart to come along and complete the design. Such was the case with this necklace/earring/bracelet set. I had the rough chips of this as-yet-unidentified stone that came in a chip assortment I purchased, and while the color and texture was appealing, the inspiration wasn't there.

Lo and behold, some years later my sister-in-law contacted me and said that she had a bundle of beads and materials that she had no idea what to do with, and would I be so kind as to give these wayward materials a home? Of course I would! So a happy bundle of beads showed up on my doorstep some weeks later, and included in the mix were these gorgeous red faceted stones in approximately the same shade as my lonely chips! Add in the focal bead from another assortment of mixed stones, with some silvertone filigree beads, and voila, a design!

What's so interesting about jewelry, anyway?

A) It's shiny! Pretty, pretty shinies to tempt the eye and strain the pocketbook.

B) Making my own jewelry is awesome because I know exactly what I like. Making jewelry for others is awesome because it gives the jewelry a deeper meaning in the form of a personal connection, especially when it's made for family and friends.

C) Showing people how I make my jewelry and the materials I work with probably sounds redundant. Try searching for jewelry-making how-to books. There's a lot of them out there. I know one of the reasons I started making my own jewelry is the thrill of developing my own personal style and my own unique pieces, but I had to start with basics and sources of inspiration. The how-to books are great for that, and this blog is no exception. I pull my inspiration from dozens of sources, whether it's from books or something that strikes my fancy. In return, posting my designs and methods helps fuel other new and interesting ideas. It's a giant melting pot of creativity!