Your jewelry questions answered

I have gotten a few questions related to jewelry lately, but instead of replying in the comments I thought I'd make a new post for them.

Catherine asked if some of my new pendants would make it to the Etsy shop. Yep! I can put any of them in there... just let me know what you're interested in. I need to price them and probably re-photograph them (which is why they're not there yet) but I can certainly do that.

Heidi asked how I design my jewelry. Each piece is different, really. I get inspiration from all sorts of things... art, nature, the materials themselves, jewelry I see people wear on tv. It's surprising sometimes what gets my wheels turning. :) I don't usually sketch something out before I do it, but some things I do. For some items, I've drawn out templates so I can easily remember the exact dimensions of the pieces for easier reproduction. I used to be bad about this, so when I would have to remake something, I'd go nuts trying to remember the exact dimensions! Not a good thing. :)

Sometimes I see a gemstone or other component and know exactly what I want to do with it, but other times it takes me months to find the right match. This stuff has a mind of its own too. I've sat down to make one thing and the wire and metal and stones or what have you decided they wanted to be something else instead. There are also some pieces I just can't let go yet! For example, I have a gorgeous strand of absolutely perfect chocolate brown freshwater pearls. I'm not usually big on pearls myself, but these, man, all I want to do is stare at them... no sharesies! *giggle*

Of course there are things that have been around for decades if not centuries. Chain maille weaves, basic metalsmithed items, certain types of wire wrapping... it really is true that there is nothing (or at least very little) new under the sun.

I hope that was interesting to read. I love talking about jewelry, so feel free to ask more questions. :)