Inspiration from Traveling

Where do you find jewelry inspiration? Sometimes we find our best inspiration by traveling to new places. We can get inspiration from looking at historical monuments, or homes from the 1800's, watching the leaves on Oak Trees that have been around for hundreds of years, or going on tours and sight seeing. Recently, we took a trip to Mackinac Island, which is an island from the 1600's involving Native Americans, the French and the U.S. for a scramble for territorial rights was heavily prized for its fur trapping trade.

30 minute ferry rides leave Mackinac City, Michigan and head to the island. Watching the boat hit the waves as the sun slowly departs in the sky over the water is a sight worth watching. As we arrived onto the island, we headed up the hill for a quarter mile walk to Mission Point Hotel. Comprised of several buildings, this hotel used to be a college that held the women's dormitory. Presence of ghosts are supposedly said to haunt the golf course and main lodge.

Walking downtown in the crisp autumn air with the beautiful blue water from Lake Michigan is so inspiring for craft making. Even sitting outside at the downtown cafe on the island and watching horse drawn carriages go by is remembrance of older days when life was simple. You can feel the slight breeze brushing across your face while smelling the beauty of lilacs. An ideal scene like this allows you to pull out your jewelry supplies, pencil and paper and sketch a new design for earrings. 

DIY Jewelry Making: Wire Wrapping Rings

One of the most difficult things to do with jewelry is learning how to wrap wire. Before you begin, you want to ask yourself, 'what do I want to make?' Are you interested in wrapping wire to make rings, pendants, charms, earrings, or bracelets? This will help narrow it down. Once you decide, then you can begin to gather supplies and tools. If you decide to make rings, it's easier if you wrap the wire around small objects that you can find in your home. This includes liter bottle caps, wine corks, toilet paper rolls, or any type of small round objects.

What Do I Need? Basic Jewelry Supplies and Tools for Wire Wrapping:

1. Round wire (sizes 16, 18 or 20-gauge)
2. Beads (optional) sized between 6-10mm
3. Round or Chain Nose Pliers
4. Wire Cutters
5. Round small objects or 'ring mandrel' - any object that you can wrap the wire around to make it into a ring.

 

Tutorials on Wire Wrapping Rings:

• Wire Wrap Beaded Rings
• Stone Rings
• Knitted Bow Ring
• 13 DIY Jewelry Crafts
• Instructables: Wire Wrapping Tutorial
• Buying Tools and Supplies for Wire Wrapping

Alien Jewelry: Earrings, Pendants, Charms

Jewelry, Aliens, and UFO's. Never thought those words could be connected? Well we found a niche online made up of a small group of jewelry artisans who seem to love designing these beings. These artisans handcraft alien eyes, bodies, and UFO spaceships out of wire or polymer clay. There seems to be a market for it, especially on Etsy.com

Often when we think of 'alien' we picture green 'dudes,' however these artists present their jewelry as gray beings, or gold and brown. Do we really know the true skin color of alien beings? Or is there more than one? If humans have multiple skin colors, what do aliens have? 

Here's a list of Handmade Alien Earrings, Necklaces, Charms, Pendants:

1. Necklace: UFO Silver Pendant

2. Pendant: Alien Face Pendant for Necklace

3. Charms: Alien Body in Sterling Silver

4. Earrings: Blue and Silver UFO

 

6. Earrings: Black and Gold Alien Body Earrings 

5. Pendant and Charm: Silver Alien Head and Black Eyes 

 

 

 Do you know any Alien Artisan Designers? 

Craft and Gossip. Host Jewelry Parties?

How about Hosting a Jewelry Party with Friends?

Get a group of girlfriends together and share ideas on jewelry making. Host a party at your house, provide cheese and wine, and everyone can sit around the table with supplies, dangling wire, and an assortment of beads. Handcraft gold hoop earrings, minimalist wire jewelry, necklaces, silver rings, or stainless steel bracelets. Add colorful charms or painted beads to ultra thin wire. Learn to use minimalist wire to create ultra thin jewelry.   

What about show and tell? 

Share your latest projects with each other, demonstrate how to mold polymer clay, paint beads, or bend wire. Try it as a game, go around the room one by one and show off your handmade crafts. The best part is everyone has a turn to show off stylish knitted sweaters, socks, baby blankets, hats, scarves and more. Who doesn't like to brag about their crafting ability or special handmade jewelry?

Think of jewelry parties as knitting clubs where women gather together to knit, talk gossip, and eat. Who doesn't love spilling the beans about their coworkers, in-laws, or husbands? 

Add a potluck to make it more fun. Everyone can bring a dish to pass, dig in and don't forget the cheesecake! If everything goes well, host another party and make it a monthly get together.

DIY Crafts

Do you enjoy DIY projects? I was browsing online and found a great website which has many articles on handmade crafts that you can do yourself. It's called Makezine and features new creative projects every day.

I was really impressed with the Jam Jar Lantern project. There is a locally owned restaurant in town that uses jam jars as lanterns which strings together along the bar area. This seems like a creative and less expensive way to go rather than using bright lights. They use battery operated votive lights which are placed inside the jars. Here's the link to the project:

DIY: Jam Jar Lantern Project