Indroduction

Hi, my name is Christine and I make jewelry.

As long as I can remember, I was a designer and a crafter.  My first crafting memory is watching my mother doing cross stitch.  I wanted to try it as well.  She gave me a book of patterns, and my eye was drawn to a little sailboat that had four different colors in its sail.  She said, "Don't you want to make something a little more simple, like the lady bug?"  No, I wanted to make the sailboat, and so she let me.  From there, I began my love of cross stitch.  I would take other people's patterns and substitute my own colors.  Then I found tracking paper and made my own designs from coloring books.  Eventually, I bought computer software and designed a whole host of my own patterns.

However, as my eyes deteriorated, I lost the ability to do some of the more delicate needlework that I had enjoyed.  I could find ways around my disability if I wanted to, but I haven't picked up needlework in a long time.

Similarly, I worked with the tiny size 11 seed beads, using them with the needlework and in other projects.  I can no longer use those beads as well.  I spilled a bottle of those beads and it looked like ant poop on the carpet to me.  I picked up as many as I could, and left the rest to the vacuum cleaner.

Years ago, at a gaming convention, I saw a woman in a chain mail bikini.  Chain mail stayed in my head for a long time.  A few years ago, I bought rings with the intention of making my own bikini.  I never did make any clothing, but I did make jewelry.  I learned every weave that I could.  I made bracelets, necklaces, and even some earrings.  My pride and joy is chain mail European 4-in-1 sterling silver cuff.

I found that chain mail is a lot of work, it is hard on my hands and wrists, and I am not strong enough to use some of the metals.  I learned as much about the craft as possible, tried every weave.  I found that I love working with copper, but unless copper is sealed, it tarnishes like crazy.  As jewelry, it is not the best medium, because the tarnish will rub off on skin.

I lost interest.  And moved onto crochet.

Recently, I picked up my jewelry making tools again.  I found beads and rings in my crafting stash and decided to make a few things.  My intention was to use the supplies I had and not buy more.  I found that I had a lot of old Czech pressed glass.  I sorted them and realized I would end up making a lot of one-of-a-kind items.  I also picked up a chain mail weave that I had not had much success with before -- shaggy loops.

I decided to put size 6 seed beads on 20 gauge rings.  I can't go much smaller, because they are hard to see, even with my super-duper binocular glasses.  I have bought a mixture of Czech and Japanese seed beads.  There so many different colors and finishes that the possibilities are almost endless.

At the small size of rings and beads I am using, there is a lot of work that goes into each bracelet.  My aim was to make a showcase for the beauty of the beads and put as many of them together as possible.  They are fun to wear because the metal gives them a substantial feel and the beads are gorgeous.

I think there are three senses that jewelry should fulfill: tactile, visual, and auditory.  It should look good, feel good, and sound good.  So far, I have not experimented much with the auditory, but I can almost guarantee that's coming.  I have made one test bracelet so far that when I wear it, people can surely hear me coming!