The Birth of a Blog

I started making jewelry--again--in November (2011) after putting it aside for quite sometime.  I'd taken a class at a small craft store in Milwaukee, was very excited, bought all the little tools; however, like many of my hobbies, I soon set jewelry-making aside.

Two years ago I purchased a beautiful necklace in a market in Abidjan.  My now-husband-then-fiance had taken me to Cote d'Ivoire.  In the market, we met this vendor who took a liking to us when he discovered we were attracted to and interested in particular pieces in his collections.  Suddenly, he pulled the "better" items out for us--real art not tourist stuff--and was open to negotiating prices. The necklace was actually made in Kenya and it consists of several lovely and colorful African beads.  Just recently I noticed the clasp had worn and was malfunctioning.  It's one of my favorite necklaces, so I feared losing this gorgeous piece in having it fall from my neck somewhere on the street. I dug into the grab-bag of hobbies I've dabbled in over the years, recovered jewelry tools from the back of my closet and sat down one evening to re-string the necklace--bead by bead.  In taking it apart, I discovered there were more beads then I realized.  However, instead of frustrating me, I found the task a soothing challenge that got me to slow down and focus on something other then the hectic day swirling around in my head.  I found great satisfaction in re-stringing this necklace and attaching a new, solid clasp to this treasured item.  The end result was a necklace that looked exactly like the one I started out with--a very zen-like experience.  Restringing the necklace took almost 2 hours.  Only I know this.  People who have seen me wear the necklace before will notice nothing different.  But in those 2 hours, I found a bit of inner-peace.

I have always been a creative person, but I never share anything--not my paintings, not my poetry, not my photographs.  So I plan to use this blog as a means of sharing.  Along the way, I hope to share some thoughts, some stories and some ideas with you.  

Today is January 1, 2012, and I don't know if I am committing to a new year's resolution, but I know it feels good to sit and create.  It has had a calming effect on me, and I have been pretty proud of some of my early attempts.   I have given my creations a name--Neck.e'djewelry.   (btw--I made the necklace in the photo above.  It is a two-strand necklace with a choker.  All three strands contain some of my hand-made paper beads.  I will post photos of the necklace and choker soon!)

Below are some photos of my other pieces. So please enjoy and return and visit often! 

A necklace I made for my grandmother.  I made all of the white beads by hand--paper beads.  She loved it!!!

Simple wire earrings made with beads--wooden and my paper beads.  Extremely lightweight.

 Earrings made of plywood and photo-image transfer, decorated with tiny wooden beads.