How long have you been making your jewelry creations?
This has three different dates... Why? Well... Mostly because I'm a little odd and have three different dates in my head. ^^
October 2010 is when I first made jewelry. My mom and I had seen a necklace at Fashion Bug and I'd wrongfully thought "I could make one I like for less money." I did make one I liked more, but in the end it cost me a lot more. Over the next few months I made perhaps 30 pieces in all, mostly when I needed to be creative.
April 2011... I'd lost my job in March, but was also faced with my mothers passing during that time... In April, with no job and no desire to actually find one, I decided to start making jewelry for a living. My pieces were raw and my prices were low.... So, I tended to make no money.
November 2011... Tired of not making any money, but also feeling a desire to try for something more, I spent the next two months refining myself and deciding who I wanted to be. Turns out, my desire was to be a jewelry designer, not a crafter. Since then, I've been a part of four runway shows, two of which I've been in charge of my part, as well as photo shoots and concepts.
What or who inspires your creations?
The past... and the future. Music, movies, comic books, other artists. Sometimes I'll be laying half awake and have a sort of dream about a piece. Other times, I stare at everything until it talks to me. I never know what I'll set out to make, but instead let the jewelry elements tell me their own destiny.
How do you begin your design process?
It varies. Sometimes I'll pull out a base element and stare at it until I know how to use it. Other times I'll start pulling out little bits of everything and just keep at it until it speaks to me.
What are your favorite components/materials to work with?
I love to take something already created and pull it apart. Mostly this is jewelry... and not just old jewelry. I've bought brand new jewelry and taken it apart to create something new and beautiful. Beyond that, I also like to use odds and ends that I find. Things you'd never think to put into jewelry.
What other things besides jewelry do you like to create?
Beyond jewelry, I'm a writer. Creating worlds and the people who live in them is a blast. It helps me... well, it helps me stay a little sane and get all the stories in my head out.
What other interests do you enjoy in your spare time?
Hmm... I write... I love fashion in general. I'd like to work at styling photo shots. Otherwise, the typical books, movies and music. I'm a huge geek, so geekiness is always a blast.
What is your favorite quotation?
Acks!! Just one? >.> Nope, you get more.
"I'd say that Kristy had lost it, but to lose something you must first have it."
"Dreams don't die, we kill them." -- Danny McGuire [Gene Kelly], XANADU
"Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!
It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!" -- Defying Gravity, Wicked
Where can we find your gorgeous jewelry?
www.facebook.com/vintagefusionjewels
www.vintagefusionjewels.com
Lovely blog post, As a fellow etsian and jewelry designer I find this post to be very helpful and inspiring. Thank you for posting. I live a similar path to hers, and when I see successful designers with rough starts, I don't feel so bad to be struggling. Never give up, the beginning is always the hardest.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
BTW I found you on the Goth n Gorgeous team post.