Red is believed to be the first colour the baby child recognises. It certainly is the first our earliest ancestors use to draw images on the walls of their dwells. Since a very ancient time, red was connected to blood and thus to life. It symbolized birth, hunt, fight, and so as an extension, also life, action and passion. Is it any wonder that red became the colour symbolizing love and lovers?
Steampunk Jewellery
I’m a reader as well as a maker and I love any form of speculative fiction. Imagine my delight when I discovered that steampunk not only produces some fantastic stories, but also an entire world of gadgets and items. When I saw steampunk jewellery the first time, I thought, Oh my goodness, this is what I want to do!
“Sometimes glass glitters more than diamonds, because it has more to prove.” – Terry Pratchett
This pendant is made primarily with copper and artistic wire. I love the colour of the glass bead. I think its blue complement the natural colour of copper in a way that make both of them shine. The gears I use all come from real vintage clocks and believe me, working them into the jevellery is a hell of a job. I don’t use glue, I only wire wrap. It is a time consuming job, but very rewarding. I really like how this pendant turned out.
Treasury game – Murder mystery: the suspect
I’ve just joined a team on Etsy that organises a mystery. That’s right and that’s the reason why I joined them. They have a very unique way to create treasuries, giving them such a form that will actually tell some kind of story. They call themselves The Museum of Made and Found and generally act as if every treasury were a find to showcase in the museum. Kind of a RPG if you will.
When I discovered them a couple of weeks ago they had just started a mystery. There will be five parts to the game and the goal is to create treasuries that will speak about the different elements of the mystery. The first part was the introduction of your suspect.
Well, you see I couldn’t resist. And of course you’ll see my suspect has a distinctive dieselpunk falvour to her.
So, here she is, Miss Ombretta Vivaldi.
Ombretta Vivaldi was born deep on the Dolomites.
She’s an archeologist, specialized in human remains and ritual artefacts. She’s always thought there is a lot more inside what we hold in our hands after digging it out of the earth than we actually see.
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A mystery is always fun. Here are a few things you might want to do with this one
- Head over to the Etsy thread of the mystery and see what the other members are up to
- Have a look to the other treasuries in the ‘suspect’ stream
- And if you’d like to leave a comment in the comment box below, don’t hold back… I won’t suspect you of anything
Why I love crafting ear cuffs
My ear cuffs are all OOAK. Sometimes I try to make the same ear cuff I did before, because I liked the result, for example, or because people appreciate it. It never happens. I never measure anything, I can’t say I plan in advance. Yes, I have an idea in my mind, especially when I’m trying to copy one of my previous ear cuffs, but then the wire just tells me what it wants me to do. I bent and twist it and I let it suggest me what’s best this time.
It’s always a new journey and this is one of the reasons I enjoy making ear cuffs.
My Treasuuuurrrr
Over on Etsy, you don’t only own a shop and upload your own items. You can also create collections of items from other shops (in fact, the Etsy policy is to not include your own items in these collections).
The collections are called ‘treasuries’ and they are usually themed. Items are matched in accord to season or upcoming festivities. This because treasuries are meant to help buyers to find what they are looking for more easily. There are treasuries devoted to wedding items, treasuries devoted to holidays on the beach, treasuries for Saint Valentine’s Day.
But these are not only gathering of items. Very often, they become expression of art in themselves. People creates treasury with a colour theme. Or an atmosphere. Sometimes treasuries tell a story. Some of these collection aren’t just handy tools for buyers, they are a joy for the eye.
Visit my Etsy Shop
Visit my Treasuries page
Opening an online shop
Who imagined opening an online shop would be this demanding?
This is how it happens. One day, you start crafting jewellery because, you don’t even knew how, you discover you like it. It’s something that makes you happy, and then your friends seem to like what you’re doing. Hell, a few of them even buy your stuff for themselves or for making gifts. So you think, maybe other people would like to buy them, maybe I could try to sell them. Yes, but where? You already have a day job, there’s no way you can use your weekends going around little markets. What about all those stupid things you need to do on weekends, say, washing your clothes, clean up you house, buy the grocery, maybe cook something which is actually eatable?
But hey, you’re lucky! You live in the Internet days. Just open an online shop, so you can keep doing your things happily at home, and be seen by so many people… and maybe even sell something.
So you find the right place (Etsy is fantastic for this), you have a look around, get and hang on it. You open an account, recycle a few pics you already have, write a couple of lines presentation of your things. Done.
Yes. Sure.
Fine, there is your shop. Stiff dead. Nobody cares about it. You start thinking, there must be something I can do about it.
You have a further look around and so discover you should join a team, which is spectacular because there you meet a lot of nice people with a lot of experience and willing to share. So you discover your pics suck, so much so that they’re probably scaring customers off rather than attract them. You should take more professional photos, you should photoshop them to make them more glamorous. You should use light and colours and special effects, but with taste. Here is where you panic, because of course you can do nothing of all this. So you have to learn.
Fine, but after you’re done this, you’re all set, right?
Mhm…
What about your profile? Blank and boring. You should write a few lines about yourself, but there is a right way to go about it and a wrong way to go about it. Of course, you have to learn how to do it.
On the team, you’re told your prices are laughable, so you discover there is a way to set prices. Shipments? You have to learn prices, methods, when and how you can or should use a method that allows you to track your shipment. You have to learn how to deal with customers, how to meet their requirements, how far you can go with your niceness so to be polite and not seem unprofessional. All things you didn’t know you should know.
And wait, what about those unremarkable descriptions you uploaded? Trash them and rewrite them in a more attractive way. Of course, you have to learn how to do it. You have to learn how to present your shop and your activity so to appeal to customers. You have to get a banner. You have to learn how to recognize your ideal customer. You have to learn how to give a name to your items and how to tag them. More things you didn’t know you have to know.
But at least, when you’re done with this, you’re nice and set, right?
Right?
Ah, right. Once you’re done with this, you’re done with the easier part.
Spirals
Spirals are very ancient mystic symbols. Some scholars even believe spirals were the very first symbol mankind used to represent spirituality. They are considered powerful symbols in many cultures. Most of the time, spirals represent the connection, the mingling of what is outside us with what is inside us. The outer world with the inner soul.
For ancient Mycenean people, the spiral represented growth, knowledge and awareness. It represented growth in the body and the mind. Movement through space, but also a journey toward the discovery of one’s true self.
For Celts, spirals symbolized growth, but also enlargement of self awareness as well as the knowledge and awareness of the powers hidden in the world we dwell.
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- Pendant with curl
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- Pendant with two spirals
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- spiral
The spiral is a very powerful symbol of connection between the very small and the very large, between what outside with what’s is inside. It symbolizes movement towards infinity and the unknown.
I didn’t knew all these thing, I discovered it only recently, still I’ve always liked spirals. I like them aesthetically, their elegant movement gives me a sensation of fulfillment, balance and completeness. Maybe that’s because of the shape of the spiral, so similar to the circle. I can’t really say. But the spiral appears very often in my jewellery. I love to use metal wires to make it. It almost feels as if the wire – which is a solid material but let itself be shaped so easily – let itself be turned in spirals in a very easy, I’d even say ‘natural’ way. It’s like a call.
If you like my jewelly, you may want to drop by my Etsy shop
About me
I’m Sarah. I’m from Verona (Italy). I work in a bookshop and I love this job, both because I like books a lot and because I love working in contact with people. Customers who meet me in other bookshops always ask me, “Aren’t you tired of always having books around?”
Uhm… actually, no 🙂
I like working with books, I like reading books and I like writing books. I’ve been working to a trilogy project for the past three years. It’s a ghost story set in Chicago in the Twenties and I’m very fond of it. I love all the characters (yes, also the bad guys) and I like the setting, although it’s requiring me an incredible amount of research. But I like that part of the project too.
Making things with my hands is one of my favourite things to do. I like cooking (especially cakes), once upon a time I drew (but one day I’ll go back to it) and recently I’ve discovered the art of crafting jewellery. Learning the techniques, choosing the different materials, designing earrings and bracelets and pendants is so rewarding. I’m always looking for the right idea, and I’ve realised lately that I started watching what other people wear, even customers at the bookshop, and try to guess how their jewells are made so that I can reproduce them, if I can. Only thing, studying what people wear without them realising it isn’t always that easy 😉
And so, this is my blog. I’ll be posting news over here, mostly, but I do have a shop over at Etsy. I also have a Pinterest board which is a bit more updated. Do come by if you feel like it. Have a look around and maybe contact me if you see something you like. If you would like something similar to what I have, but a bit different so to match your personality, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll do my best to meet your request, as best as my ability allows me.
Hope you’ll find something you like 🙂
JazzFeathers' Jewellery 