Introduction

Welcome! This blog is my jewelry journal, where i plan to post my random thoughts about jewelry, jewelry design, marketing and whatever else occurs to me that i would like to talk about. i plan to have fun & enjoy the ride - come along if you want.

European Weave - also called European 4-in-1, because for all the rings that are fully in the pattern, 4 rings go through one ring

i started making jewelry about seven years ago....beading, of course, like everyone else in the country & maybe the world. i made tons of those little stretch bracelets that everyone was wearing then. I could not get enough of making those - i just loved the beads & the bracelets that happened when i put the beads together. each one seemed cooler than the last, to me. i was totally and completely hooked. well, there are only so many stretchy bracelets that a person can wear and even giving them to friends (which i didn't like to do because they were all SO COOL), there is just a limit, you know?

I call this bracelet liquid silver because that's what it feels like on the skin - very slinky & delicious.

so, i started looking at different options that would give me the same creative "high" and that would be affordable to create. at first, the effort was just for me; i just wanted to make jewelry, it's as simple as that. i checked out mountains of books on jewelry making at the local library and started to absorb everything i could read both in print & on the web regarding making jewelry. again, i couldn't get enough information - everything i read was fascinating to me.

eventually, after much reading & experimentation with lots of different materials, i more or less settled on working with wire. of course, i would continue my love affair with beads of all types, eventually learning the technique of lampworking (making beads using a torch and glass rods).

so ---- what i love is heavy wire jewelry - not so much intricate as weighty with fairly simple designs.

This is an early bracelet i made from copper wire - i was copying an African Elephant hair bracelet - i liked it!

some of my lampwork glass beads on adjustable leather necklaces - i love these. i have made them from the beginning & still love to make them. each little glass bead is, to me, a miniature work of art. they are all unique. because of the way lampworking is done, it's almost impossible to tell how the work is going to look at the end - everything is glowing orange when the bead is being created in the flame. once it cools, the true colors show. always a surprise! so much fun.

this is an early copper bangle - heavily influenced by the work of connie fox and eni oken and i thank them for their generosity in providing so much help in the beginning. i love these simple bangles but don't make them routinely anymore; i now work more in sterling silver and have moved to other designs, but this design was certainly one of my early favorites.