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Tuesday, November 1, 2016

how do things end. . .

. . . up the way they do?

Hello! Happy November, and thank you so much for taking time out of your day to give us a look.

I don't know how others design jewelry. I've never sat with anyone else while they were designing, nor had discussions about it. But for me, very often, I don't know what I am going to end up with. Sometimes it's great; other times not so much. But either way, it's a joyful adventure and a learning experience for me. And yes, I'll admit, sometimes a little bit, or more, of frustration. 

I hear people talk about sketching their designs, and that sounds so wonderful. They can visualize the beginning and the end. I do have some visual but it often ends up different. If I'm making wire or sheet metal pieces, those I do lay out on paper. Anything else generally starts with a lot of handcrafted components out on the table, and I take the ones that yell the loudest. "Me, me, pick me! "Nah, not me, I don't feel like working today." :)

From there, I ponder a bit where I want to go; I go through colors, textures, beads in my mind until something clicks, and then I might pull out many possible complementary things, glass, bone, metal, chain, linen, etc. I often do basic try this, try that. A lot of trying. And if after whatever amount of time I find reasonable, if nothing is working for me, I go back and start again with the other things I had out that are in their containers on my table, out of the way but close enough to pull them right back. Or something else entirely might pop into my head. That is basically how it goes. Not at all scientific. There are many times that I want to work with a specific something. Sometimes I can; sometimes I cannot. I think the bottom line is that it ends up being all about how I feel. My head doesn't get too involved. There are even the rare occasions when I'm not sure how it all got put together and all of a sudden it's done! Love when that happens. :) I would very much like to know if others work in this relatively haphazard fashion, or how do you generally work? 

Over the weekend I selected these sweet, little, pale blue handcrafted ceramic drops by Lorna of Balela Ceramics. She has a distinctive soft and muted style in much of her work, yet will also throw out the most gorgeous bright and shiny blue beads here and there.
You can find these earrings here

These drops were sweet and a bit whimsical. I wanted to "rustic them up" a bit so I selected stone-like ceramic beads, also by Balela Ceramics, and a simple handmade copper bead. That was all I had at that point. So I cut a long piece of copper wire and wrapped it around once, finished up the top, and then went back down to the other end of the wire and decided to wrap a whole bunch of it in a deliberately wide and messy fashion. I would have stopped there except that there was an ugly vacant space left below the wire, which showed only the bare loop at the top of the dangle and it all looked not so nice. But I didn't want to wire all the way down; I wanted the dangle to be able to move. So I added back in a bit of whimsy and created a series of "swags" with tiny 2 and 3mm beads along the bottom, sides and back of the wire. No more empty space, and I liked the result. 
You can find these earrings here

And that is how they ended up the way they did!

Thanks so much for visiting us. I hope you enjoyed my musings today, and I'll be back in two weeks' time. :)

Norbel Marolla
She Flies Again

10 comments:

  1. These are really beautiful! I love the wrapping. It came out gorgeous and perfect and you'd never know you didn't have it all planned out. The beads all look made for each other. Great colors. Again, I love the wire wrapping. Makes me want to go wrap some too.

    I am that way too when it comes to making. I generally just start throwing components together and start to get a vision for it. With everything laid out on the table or tables... my work space is always a holy wreck. Haa

    Thanks for sharing. Great post!

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    1. Thanks so much, Cindy! I'm glad you like the earrings. And your saying they look, basically, as they should really makes me happy. Sometimes it's difficult for me to view it objectively, ya know? After spending so many hours with them, and changing them, doing this, doing that, even though I'm happy with the result, sometimes I am just not sure. Thanks again, Cindy!

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  2. It sounds like I work in a way very similar to you. I'll often have possible beads for several projects on my bead mat at the same time... while I work on one thing the ideas for the others seem to percolate! I'll string and restring, try different things on each side, etc. until I get things where I'm happy with them or get frustrated and abandon a project for the time being and move onto something else. Thanks for sharing your process (and your cute earrings!) with us today!

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    1. Hi Sarajo. Thank you so much for taking the time to share with me what you have. I am glad to know you work in a similar way. AND it's so true what you say about the other things being out while you're working on something else. I find myself glancing at the other components while I'm working on something else, and I find ideas running through my mind. That is when I sometimes stop and start on something else. I know it is undisciplined, lol, but I enjoy this too much to put too many restrictions on myself. If I have something I must finish, I will, but if not, all options are open, right? :) Thanks again. I really do appreciate your chatting with me today! Do you sell your jewelry?

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  3. I love these! And I feel the same way, about how the jewelry often ends up differently than planned, and how many times I have to start over. Such a process. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Hi Mari! Thank you so much for commenting today. First, I'm glad you like the earrings, I appreciate that. And I love that you shared with me that this kind of thing happens with you, too. I always tell people that I'm a slow worker, but I don't think they realize what I mean. Like you, I can spend so many hours starting over, until I either give up or nail it. :) I really do appreciate your time and your story.

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  4. Norbel, thank you so much for your post. I love the earrings, they have that special Norbel feel about it. I cannot explain what it is, but I recognize your jewelry in an instant. They all have that beautiful bohemian, tribal and rustic mix which is uniquely you. The wire wrapping is lovely and whimsical and it is the perfect element to "cement" the other beads together so they flow.
    Yes, I too work in a very similar way. It is lucky I have to store my beads at the end of the day, as it always looks like a bomb has exploded in our truck LOL.

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  5. gorgeous Norbel, I love all the different textures you've got going on with them. makes for a perfect design. ♥

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