This Just In: Disappointment Leads to Treasure

I skipped into my studio this morning full of enthusiasm and creativity for the ideas I had been mulling over and marinating during the night (while I was attempting to sleep)....when I arrived at my bench- a bit tired, but excited, I sat down, and turned excitedly to pull out  the gemstones that I decided to work with....and in a flash all of my enthusiasm and my creativity was immediately thwarted!  Gone. Engulfed. Overwhelmed. Defeated. Deflated.

The gems I needed were encased in an organizer bin, that was under a box, as well as behind a basket of components I was going to use for my last project....which was now abandoned. It doesn't sound nearly as bad as it actually was to look at...but it was such a mess,

Now I am no neat freak...as most creatives are aware....we prefer a bit of an "organized mess"  (a term my mother could never come to terms with) especially when it comes to the general state of affairs in the studio.  But on this day, with this project, this small inconvenience completely set me back in a blink of an eye, my creativity was snuffed.  I just wanted to just get up, walk out, and go sit in front of the TV for the rest of the day..

After the initial moment of disappointment, I sat for a a few minutes, attempting to coax the creativity back into my heart and my head, so it could be pumped back out through my hands....nothing. I thought if I started small, I might be able to prime the pump...so I went to pull out some ear wires, (easy enough to reach) to begin the process from the other side..I was a bit worried I wouldn't have any made, and I would have to create new ones, but I also knew that didn't have the right size wire to make more if need be.

So  when I get to the container that holds the ear wires that have already been created...it's a mess! Different types and shapes all in the same bags, french wires mixed with posts, some without the ear nuts.... *sigh* ... I was beginning to wonder if perhaps this was not meant to be a "creative day" and immediately began thinking about any computer work or paper work that needed to be done instead...quite deflated.

But I was tired of working on the computer! I've been doing that for the last three weeks, and I was desperate to CREATE something!! I needed to MAKE something pretty to rejuvenate my creative soul, and I needed it bad!

So I began the tedious work of separating the earwires into their proper places, starting small but hoping that if I finish this, then I'll have more energy tomorrow.  What I found was that separating the earwires lead me to find fun components I didn't even remember having. That was a nice surprise!! I was a little rejuvenated! Which lead me to continue my organizing...which lead me to more new discoveries!  Which lead to more happy surprises! And my creativity began to build from a spark to a flame!!

I realized it had been so long since I truly looked through my components and supplies that I didn't truly have a grasp on what I had in stock...so I pushed on, it felt like a treasure hunt! Making fun discoveries all the along the way, and loving every minute of my "Cleaning/Organizing" day.  I organized all the sterling silver, then all the other metals, which lead to the gemstones, and wire, and eventually cleaning off my bench top and even my anvil table and my power tools!!!

I now had a much better grasp on all of my supplies, and components, metal, colored, wood, gemstones. I had a plan for what needed to be created and what needed to be purchased.  I was organize, cleaned up and ready to go!!

Because I didn't give up on myself in that first blush of disappointment, the day became a purposeful, empowering and productive day! I'm now I am excited again to REALLY get into creative work tomorrow....ALL DANG DAY LONG!!   Whoo Hoo!!

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Paper Jewelry

I've started the journey of reclaimed and upcycled jewelry pieces several years ago, and have had a great time working in that capacity...creating beauty from what others thought was simply to be discarded.  A process I actually began when my jewelry career began, at the age of 10.

My grandmother had passed away, and being the only girl in my family, I inherited a large box of costume jewelry..."Grandma Jewelry" if you will, as to a ten year old, because as beautiful and sparkly as it all was, there wasn't a single piece in the box I could wear without feeling like a grandma.

After some thought, and much discussion (in my own head and a little out loud to myself) over whether or not my grandmother would be angry with me for what I was planning; I began to disassemble the pieces in the box. I took every single solitary piece apart, and before me lay piles of shimmering treasure I could not have even imagined was encompassed in that box of costume grandma jewelry!

At this point I began 'designing' different pieces that I found pretty and more appropriate to accessorize my t-shirts and blouses that I wore with my jeans. I wore my first piece to school the next day, all together proud and embarrassed at the same time. It was no secret that our large family had little money, and I wore hand me downs not just from family but from friends, and I thought that I might very well be teased for my now hand me down jewelry, as I often was for my clothes....I strode in that day with my head held high, come what may!

The reaction at my elementary school was quite the opposite of what I feared! To my surprise I was fawned over, and asked a million questions about where I had found this fabulous jewelry adornment....and thus my next struggle emerged: Should I tell them they were my grandmother's before they were mine? Should I lie and make up a place I knew no one could ever find?  My emotionally teetering landed on "I made them!" at which point most everyone said (as 10 year old do) "ooooooo, will you make me something?!"

I thus sold my "inheritance" from my grandmother to the girls at school for dollars and change until it was all gone. I  even sold the pieces I was wearing on that first day. I knew my grandmother would have been proud, because I felt proud - and had made a tidy sum to purchase new "materials" from garage sales and resale stores.  I saved a single ring that belonged to my grandmother, and I keep it in my studio to remind me from whence my ability blossomed.

Now...so many years later...(we won't say exactly how many) I am at it again! Disassembling and reassembling the past and the present. Reworking, recreating and doing the best I can not to discard anything!!

My newest adventure is paper jewelry!  There are so many beautiful papers out there, and scraps of paper we think to be past it's usefulness, when in fact it can be remade into something beautiful!  I've tested the waters with some hair accessories:

http://store.shimmerlings.com/accessories.html

But I am very much looking forward to expanding my horizons!! I'm starting small with earrings like these that I found online, I have yet to experiment with anything other than a few types of flower shapes, but these look fascinating:

paper added to a wire frame

made from rolled up paper strips

made from comic books!

discarded paper punches!

And many other designs like them....I'm off to my studio now, for the first time in a long time, filled with inspiration and joy! I have so many ideas in my head I can't wait to start creating!!! Stay tuned!

Come Journey With Me

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