And now, steampunk jewelry

I'm not always aware of the trends in beaded jewelry; while I do read several trade publications, and I attend a few shows, sometimes I miss smaller trends entirely.

Not so with steampunk! One of my good friends, Melanie from Earthenwood Studio, has been creating amazing steampunk components and jewelry for some time now. Strangely enough, I'd heard of the steampunk concept years ago, through a Neil Gaiman-inspired graphic novel about a steam-powered robot. I never read it, but I was intrigued by the concept, and when Melanie began exploring steampunk, I remembered it.

My own style has always been beads, wire, flexible beading wire, and sterling silver or goldfill components, so when I started to notice steampunk jewelry appearing in Etsy shops and blogs, I didn't see how I could adapt it to my own style. The use of found objects and copper and brass was a bit daunting.

After some thought about it, and some encouragement from a couple of designer friends, I decided to take a trip down the steampunk path. I picked up an assortment of jump rings, headpins, French hooks, and gear stampings in brass and copper while I was in WI for the Bead & Button Show. I've been so busy that I didn't have time to experiment...until yesterday.



At first, I assembled the basic components for several different earrings. French hooks, a gear or two, and jump rings. Fortunately, I've done chain maille before, so working with jump rings was familiar.



After I had the basic components put together, I began to embellish them. This was the fun part; I could match different stones to the look of the metal and bring together different, larger jump rings. I changed things around as I was making them, adding elements and subtracting elements, exchanging colors of jump rings, until I had a fun set of earrings.



It was a very fun experiment, and I look forward to creating more steampunk jewelry!

I wish there were more hours in the day

I sent my sterling silver and goldfill scrap into Rio Grande recently, and used the credit to order a passel o' chain. And it's arrived!



This is just the tip of the iceberg!

This photo doesn't do the chain justice--it's all so delicious and teeming with possibilities. My mind is awhirl with things to create. Tiny key necklaces with a few beads for a splash of color. Tree of Life necklaces with rhyolite and faceted pearls. Decadent chain-dripping bejeweled earrings.

I also picked up more ball headpins, new earwires, and a teensy pinch of hook clasps.

Now if I could only order some free time!

Stretching my design muscles

When I first began making beaded jewelry, the Y necklace was the most popular design. I was "hired" by a local bead/jewelry store to make links for these necklaces. Sadly for them, my first loops were like any other beginner's; a bit on the misshapen side. After a couple thousand, though, I was much better, and, more importantly, I was completely addicted to making jewelry.

My first designs were variations on jewelry I had made in classes. Eventually I started making my own pieces, which were mostly seed beads on Soft-Flex wire. Most of them were ugly. My sister delights in wearing a few of my first pieces, and I cringe every time she does, though she claims that it's "vintage Laurel Moon" and I should be proud of it. I always tell her to say someone else made it.

Anyway, up until this point I had been using base metal, and after a while I realized that "base metal" was considered synonymous with "cheap" by a good portion of the jewelry design community, and I started to buy silver instead. Headpins, earring hooks, beads...I replaced my whole inventory of base metal, except for the charms. I invested in lots of Bali silver and obsessed about the price per ounce.

When I started selling at shows, I understood even better why some designers used only sterling silver and goldfill metals. Customers came up constantly and asked, "Is this silver?" To be able to answer "Yes" is a very good thing, let me tell you. Sadly, I am a Full Disclosure person and I would often get bogged down in the telling of it by listing all of the parts that were sterling silver, which does tend to make some eyes glaze over. But I digress. Sterling silver became the big Selling Point for a lot of jewelry, and it was definitely what was selling.

Fast forward to a few years ago. At this point, I had started designing less. I went into a local bead store, and there was a tray of these very old-fashioned looking components on the counter. I asked what they were, and the owner said, "They're from a company called Vintaj." To my sterling silver eyes, they looked...well, I hate to say this, honestly, but they looked a little cheap, and I couldn't imagine that they'd sell in such a sterling-silver-obsessed market.

But they did sell. And I noticed design after design pouring into the magazines with darkened brass, copper, and bronze. The market was turning. Sterling silver had become so expensive that people were looking for alternatives. I went online and noticed Etsy shops like Lorelei Eurto's amazing jewelry shop, and I realized that it was here to stay, and worse, I had no idea what to do with these new trends.

So I decided to experiment. I bought a small assortment of Vintaj pieces, along with some beads and chain in copper from a different source, and I started playing. Here's one of my first pieces:



I made this for a friend for the holidays. The tourmaline was really yummy and I only had a little handful, so this was perfect. And she likes a minimalist look, so I did a less-is-more design.

I'm still trying to understand things about brass and copper; I don't know if I'm ready to sell it at a show yet, for example. But I'm enjoying breaking out of the sterling silver mold.

Real life intrudes, as always

It's been a really crazy couple weeks--I'm still trying to get caught up with my eBay listings and Etsy. I plan on restocking both shops very soon--hopefully within then next few days.

I'm beginning to really get excited about my copper blank experimentation. I've decided to transform my sun porch into a workroom. Lots of light, lots of ventilation, and a great view of our backyard. I think it'll work out well. I'll post pictures soon.

Prelude to experimentation

I've been doing a lot of thinking, and thinking, and thinking. About business, and art, and where I want to be, and what I want to do.

That's a rough set of thoughts for anyone, and it's been a little tough to point the eye inward.

I started making beaded jewelry in 1996. I still enjoy it, but not in the same way that I once did. The market is so much different today that it's difficult for someone like me--laidback in presentation and personality--to catch the eye of potential buyers, especially when so many sellers are out there, putting together fantastic displays and engaging every prospective buyer with charm.

Once the competition to get into art fairs began to mount, it seemed like a natural fit for me to sell beads instead. I'm much more enthusiastic about the work of others, and I love beads, and it's been a great part-time occupation for a long time. I've worked as a sales rep for a company or two, and nowadays I sell my own inventory of closeout beads.

I really thought that closeout beads would be perfect in this market. People are scaling back their bead purchases and trying to make the most of their money, and I figured that selling discounted beads would be a cinch. I thought that it was perfect; I wouldn't have to have a really knockout display, because I wanted to have an image of low prices and bargains. It did seem to draw people at first, especially the bags of beads priced for a dollar each, but it seems to have slowed a little. I don't know if it's the economy, or competition.

Through all of this time, though, I've wished that I had a product or a line that would be more wholly mine. Something that I could use to indulge in my favorite things, images, words, anything. I don't consider myself an artist, but I do feel like there are images and ideas I can bring to something that would be interesting and unusual.

About a year ago, as I was going through the Bead & Button class catalog, I noticed classes being taught in metals. I don't remember if they were etching classes or just hammering/texturing/stamping classes; I do remember feeling extremely intrigued. Excited. My brain sparked, and for a moment I thought of all the interesting designs I could put on a pendant. I was on a cloud for an hour.

Of course, I am my own harshest critic, as many of us are, and by the end of the hour I had reminded myself about the reality of a project like this. Dealing with chemicals, working with metals (which can be a time-consuming process), having to contend with graphics programs like Photoshop to create and clean up images; well, I am not a girl with a lot of patience, and these things are daunting.

But the desire grew and grew. Designs kept popping in my head. Even thoughts of marketing, which is usually an alien subject for me.

I've finally given up trying to resist. The process isn't a terribly expensive one, it seems, though I'm still trying to work through electroetching (salt vs. copper sulfate?) vs. acid etching, and I haven't quite located every last cog. But the desire is still there, almost bubbling over. I just hope I can sustain it, even when nothing turns out as I expected, or my patience short-circuits.



Today I reached into my mailbox and found one of the last things I need; copper blanks that I had ordered from Rings & Things. I feel like a page has turned. Will I be able to turn this into something more? Could this be a new line and a new vocation? Or will I be closing out the results of this experiment in my dollar bags?

Only time will tell.

Experimentation

Lately I've felt the urge to make something. Something other than jewelry. I like making jewelry, of course, and I like selling beads, but I also feel like I want to do something else. For years I've seen lovely designs and wished I could replicate them somehow, and I think etching on copper might be an interesting way to showcase lovely pieces of art.

So I've ordered a small selection of copper blanks from Rings N Things, and I'm looking forward to receiving them next week. I'm still trying to decide between acid-etching and electro-etching; I'm not certain just yet which way I want to go. I don't have a laser printer, so that might be a hindrance.

I'll definitely keep you all updated!

The next phase

I've been very intrigued by electroetching brass, and I've made the first, tentative steps toward doing so. Today I visited a hardware store and picked up polyurethane varnish, and a brush. I'll pick up a car charger at a Murray's, and they might have copper sulfate as well. I'm going to compare prices for blanks and order some this week.

For years I've thought it would be intriguing to have the ability to pick and choose artwork somehow, and attach it to some kind of merchandise. I always though that T-shirts would be fun to design, for example. I find myself intrigued by the etching process, and I'm already wondering which kinds of designs would work best. I'll definitely be photographing the process and sharing it with you all.

And the experimentation continues.

So I found these awesome beads made from vintage glass, and I made totally awesome plans for them. They reminded me of seafoam, and I thought they would be perfect to pair with the sea charms I've just bought.

So I made a charm bracelet, which I posted before:



I wasn't happy with that one, though. The awesome beads just don't do very well in this sort of design; they stick up here and there. Plus, I didn't like the look of the charm chain.

So here is attempt #2, which was a little better but not quite right:



This chain is better, but still not quite right, though it does give it more freedom of movement. The long links aren't great--I wanted to add more little "sand" (picture jasper) rounds, but they look funny. I think I'll remove the two that are on this bracelet and sell it.

Attempt #3:



This makes me the happiest, though it still isn't perfect. But it's good enough that I will make a few more just like it for Etsy. I think the charms look a little long and lonely while it's being worn, which bothers me. But nothing I picked to help offset this really worked. If I add too many dangles to the oval links, they'll hang the wrong way because of the weight. I'd have to add something that was just the right length, because otherwise they dangle right next to the bead in the link, and that doesn't look right either. The other thing I don't like is the strict design--it's hard to make bracelets of differing lengths because of the oval pieces. I'll have to add small links of sand rounds to make it work.

Sometimes it takes a while for a piece to look "right" to me. That's part of the reason why I don't make a lot of new designs; this finicky design process really makes me obsessive. And I also keep thinking in the back of my head, "I could have made twenty pairs of earrings by now!"