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:
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:
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| paper added to a wire frame |
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| made from rolled up paper strips |
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| made from comic books! |
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| 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!
