Accomplishment

I am proud and relieved to report that I have completed my necklace design for my "Bead Soup."  My reveal date isn't until August 25th, so I can't show it yet.  I just wanted to say that I feel a real sense of accomplishment for having made a complicated (for me) necklace design that actually meets my own standards of craftsmanship!

Most of my friends know that I am not a jewelry maker.  I am a lampwork artist who is totally consumed with making glass beads from colorful molten glass.  I love and appreciate beads made by my friends and heroes, I love jewelry, and I especially love jewelry made with my own beads.  However, when it comes to creating a piece of jewelry myself, I get totally frustrated!  It's so tedious, having to put the little wires through  tiny holes, crimping, closing jumprings so that they don't let go, and messing up and starting over at least 20 times before I get it right.  I also hate it when I ruin a piece of silver, arrrrggghhh!  It's too expensive to waste!  Hence the reason that I rarely make jewelry. 

I went thru a lot of silver wire to create my Bead Soup Necklace, as well as a lot of crimps.  Thank goodness there's a jewelry company that buys back silver that's been wasted.  I think my craftsmanship has improved a bit too!  I'm just so glad that it turned out the way I wanted it. 

When I tell my friends about "Bead Soup" they always ask me, what happens to the jewelry after you do it?  Lori, the Bead Soup Hostess told me that you can keep it!  I guess some jewelry designers sell them, maybe even trade back with their partner, but I do plan to keep mine.  First of all I really like it, and second, there is no way anyone could pay the amount of money that I would have to charge given the amount of time I put into it!  So I guess I'm going to have to go out and find a shirt that would set it off just right!  I guess if someone offered me $200 I'd let it go,...it's worth that much to me anyway.