April's Shop Update

Amid the school projects and commissions I've gotten recently, I've managed to come across pockets of time in which I can make jewelry. It usually happens when I just need a break from everything else. Making jewelry is still a creative outlet, but it's a different kind of process than one of my watercolors. Sometimes I might be feeling creatively blocked, so the wire wrapping is good for loosening myself back up. It's almost been a year since I started wire wrapping now! To celebrate, I have some prints that I will be giving away with the next 25 orders in my shop. They are 4 x 6 inches, and look like this:

One of the reasons why I wanted to do this print giveaway was to just get my art out there. I've put off making prints of my art for a long time, and I finally decided to try ordering some prints off the the website Shutterfly. The archival prints came out very nice, and eventually I would like to print my art myself at home and sell them in my shop.

I've listed quite a few things since the beginning of April, and wanted to highlight some of those.

Find it here in my shop.

This piece is another collaboration between my classmate Dougal and I. In addition to wire wrapping, he makes these awesome glass encased synthetic opal cabochons. He tossed a few to me, each one a little bit different from the other. I started wrapping this piece back in January, but had to set it aside and come back to it periodically throughout the past couple of months due to school and work. Initially, it was going to be completely symmetrical, but I ended up not having enough wire like I thought I would, so I had to change my plans mid-wrap and I really ended up liking the end result. Symmetry as a design is really hard for me to break out of because it's very satisfying and feels complete, but asymmetry can be really interesting to work with, too.

Find it here in my shop.

Eyeball pendants are my favorite to make, and I plan on making a lot more of them! Ever since I can remember, I've been drawing eyes and using them as a symbol in my art. Being able to use the eye symbol with jewelry is really satisfying. I usually buy my glass eyeballs from the website, Denver Doll Emporium.

The next couple of pieces are all simple wraps. I wanted to be able to offer jewelry that was more affordable than some of the more complex wraps. However, there are some crystals that really look nice when they aren't adorned with elaborate wire wrapping. For example, this phantom quartz wrap looks great as is because of its interesting shape and color variation.

Find it here in my shop.

Also, this piece of quartz with green tourmaline inclusions looks great as a more simple wrap.

Find it here in my shop.

The color variations in the piece of citrine below are very beautiful and look good as is.

Find it here in my shop.

I really appreciate the support that I've gotten for my Etsy shop. It still astounds me sometimes that people from all over the country (and some in other countries, too!) are wearing some jewelry that I have made. Isn't the internet awesome?!