By me.
I actually was very flattered by the inquiries and as I reflected on their words, I was inspired to write this post. A post that divulges a bit of the background into my love of bead wiring.
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Back when I was young and single and had a disposable income...I lived a life of the fancy free....A time when I did not knit, or sew, or paint, or play with clay, or embroider, or even blog. All of my creativity was harnessed and released in one form of artistry.
I enjoyed making jewelry.
I used to ride my bike around the lake at the heart of our small town (another treat I enjoyed of being unfettered). One day while riding down the main street, I noticed a new store with an "opening soon" sign called "Just Bead It". We had nothing like it in town and a few days after it opened I went there with my sister to see what it was all about. There were tables scattered all around the store covered in large compartmented trays of beads, gems, silver and gold findings, etc. There was a beading bar with a bunch of stools and the owner of the store could sit behind the bar and help the customers sitting at the stools put their jewelry together.
All we did was sit at the bar and make one set of earrings...and we were hooked. There were many days that Laura and I would sit on the floor of her apartment or poached at the bar in the bead store sorting through beads and combining them to form the perfect pair of earrings. In our prime, we were beading fiends and even made 30 pairs of earrings to give to guests at Laura's wedding shower . We tucked them into Easter eggs and gave them as favors. (She was married in the Spring).
Last week I bought 20 small tupperwares are the dollar store and set about organizing my sewing room into bins of goodness according to uses. On the top shelf, at the back of the closet I found a plastic shopping bag filled with ziplock bags of beads, my needle nose pliers, wire, headpins, and earring hoops.
My jewelry making stash! I literally hadn't even thought of it since I put it on that shelf 6 years ago when we moved in. That evening, I went back to the bead store that I haven't been in since that same time. As soon as I set foot inside I was greeted by the owner like an old friend. She couldn't believe that I had a 6 year old now and was very kind in helping me to find just the supplies that I needed to get back into the swing of things. I had a ton of beads left over at home, but I was lacking in the pins, crimping beads and earring hoops. She helped me to find them all.
She even let Eben make a necklace with some beads and charms of his choosing...I tell you...it is so nice to live in a small town.
When I left, I went straight home and organized the beads into little wooden trays that I had. I separating all of the findings into types and got ready to get back to work. Given my rustiness- I searched around on Etsy for inspiration for a design of what I wanted to attempt.
I began by making a few sets of earrings. I then got involved in the nest making. I made 4 in total and gave all but one away. It's kind of like riding a bike. The twisting of the wire, the threading of the beads. It all came back to me in a flash.
I don't know what I will be doing with all of this jewelry that I am making, I mean I only JUST started wearing earrings again. Luckily I have a bunch of sterling silver ear wires to make some for myself. All that I do know is that I found a little piece of myself in that bag of supplies.
And my love of wire beading was renewed.
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If you are looking for something similar to the nests that I made follow this link to Etsy where there are many talented artisans who make them.
