Latest Cameo Earrings

Fancy Victorian Cameo Teardrop Earrings My latest cameo earring design is now listed in my Studio. There’s still a little time before Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day is coming up. These earrings are lovely for weddings, or just everyday. I would totally wear these with jeans and a sweater, because that’s the kind of woman I am. 🙂

The Heartbreak of Losing a Cameo

Before I get into the story, I would like to say I’m sorry for not blogging in the last six weeks.  Losing my Dad has knocked me off balance, and I considered quitting the blog.

But I’m not done talking yet.  So…

I’ve been selling my handmade jewelry online for seven years now, and I cannot count how many times customers have told me they had lost a cherished cameo.  Oh, that pit-of-the-stomach sense of loss.

Something similar happened to me: it wasn’t a cameo, it was a ring.  I didn’t lose it, my grandmother did.

I had been seeing a guy named Steve for a few years when he gave me an antique ring. It had been his grandmother’s engagement ring, but he meant it as a token of love. (He wasn’t the marrying kind.)  The setting was (probably) 12k gold filled, with two opals and five seed pearls. Very pretty and very old.

I’d been wearing it for perhaps 18 months when I noticed that the prongs were a bit loose, so I took it to the antique shop where my grandmother worked. The shop specialized in jewelry, and had a regular repair person. After the prongs had been tightened, Grandma slipped the ring into her pants pocket to bring it back to me. Well…somewhere between the shop and her car, the ring fell out of her pocket.

Gone.

I was heartsick, embarrassed, and a little exasperated with Grandma.  Now I had to tell Steve, and his mother, that the treasured opal ring was lost.

When customers tell me how happy they are to have found me and my handmade cameo jewelry, it often comes with the story of a lost cameo ring or bracelet. I feel their loss right along with them, every time.

I have cameo jewelry, handmade by me, in my Studio now, and I will be adding more in the next couple months as I gear up for Mother’s Day.  Unique handmade jewelry makes a lovely gift for Mom!

I love key jewelry, how about you?

Making jewelry is excellent therapy for me.  It’s one of the only things I do that makes me lose track of time.  After my dad died, I couldn’t face much of anything.  I just didn’t have the brainpower left over for designing jewelry, it was all taken up grieving and dealing with estate stuff.  To be sure, I’m still grieving.  As for estate stuff, I thought it wouldn’t be that complicated since I’m an only child and sole heir. Ha. I was wrong.

In the last ten days, I’ve been getting back to work making jewelry.  It’s good to concentrate on design for awhile.

So, what propelled me back to my workbench?

TV ads. Yep, I saw some ads for local jewelry stores near me, and they’re showing key-shaped jewelry.  And I said, “How cool!”  I’ve been making lots of key jewelry lately – here’s some photos:

Key Shaped Earrings with Purple Crystal Beads

All of these are available in my Wiresculptress ArtFire Studio now.

I miss you, Dad

My Dad passed away the morning of November 17, 2009.  My husband and I were holding his hands as he passed on to his new destiny.  Even two weeks later, it’s hard to write about this.

Dad taught me how to throw a ball, swing a bat, play guitar, stand up for myself.  He took me in when I left my first husband, in fear for my life and with nowhere to go.  He was so cool, so intelligent.

Dad wasn’t my birth father. So what?  He was my Dad, ever since I was four years old.  He didn’t have to be my dad, but he chose to be my Dad.

For that, Dad, I am eternally grateful.

I’ve been busy

The day after I was fired, I got a phone call from a client who wanted the nearly exact same custom cameo set I made for her cousin last summer. Yay! This time I had time to really buckle down and get it finished.  Here’s the photo:

Custom Cameo SetYou know, I found out that I was fired so that the owner could give my job to his friend.  Possibly hastening my demise was the fact that I had stood up to the company bully the week before.

I know this for sure: I don’t EVER want to be subject to someone’s whims ever again.  I will be in charge of my income.  I will be in charge of my medical insurance.  My husband has glaucoma, and, without his eyedrops, he will go blind.  I’ll be damned if I’ll let that happen.

I’ve been working diligently on preparations to begin wholesaling to shops and boutiques.  I live in a touristy part of Wisconsin, so there’s a lot of boutiques within 20 miles of my house.  Regular readers of my blog (do I have any?) will recall that I’ve written a few posts about being scared to approach shop owners.  Well, like I said in my last post, it’s time to put on my big-girl pants now.  No Excuses.

Fired, just like that

I was fired from my day job yesterday.  Over the phone.  So, it’s over, just like that.  I’m out of that pit of vipers.

I’m scared.  The steady (but meager) income and the medical insurance are gone.

I’m also more motivated than I’ve ever been to make this jewelry business work.  There’s lots more time in my day.  I’m going to fight my fears with action.  Luckily, I have recently been on a big push to make lots of jewelry, gearing up for the Holidays.

I’ll be brutally honest here: I haven’t made a sale in five months.  That’s going to have to change, and fast.

Time to put on my big-girl pants and get going.