Today I straightened up my jewelry studio/spare bedroom and pulled out all of my goldsmithing tools, which I haven’t done in such a long time.  I make jewelry all the time, of course, but really the only time I use my metalsmithing skills is once a week in my teacher’s studio.

Like I’ve posted before, I’m going in a slightly different direction with my jewelry.  For the first time, I’ve got a clear vision of where I want to go with it, and one of the main elements will be handmade findings such as clasps, earwires, etc.   I’ve done that before, but not to this extent because my previous attitude has always been "why re-invent the wheel?"  I realize now that was a bit of a mistake because it’s such an obvious place to set my work apart.

Garnet and Pearl Necklace

I’ve long been a fan of garnets and pearls mixed together in jewelry, so it’s no surprise that my prototype necklace incorporates this combination:

Unlike this necklace, I don’t want the "message" in the jewelry to get in the way of its main purpose, which is decoration.  Some of my pieces will continue to incorporate it front and center, but for this part of the line I want it to be delicate and pretty. 

Additional pieces will incorporate much more color and will be more "multi-media."