My favorite part of being a jeweler is getting custom orders. There's something special that goes into a piece when I know exactly who it's for and what it means to the customer.
The process of creating this necklace was filled with so much joy, love and excitement...from original idea to the message thanking me when the gift was given. The story began when a friend was looking through the tangled mess of my jewelry after my holiday shows - in the trunk of my car (that sometimes happens around the holidays)
He wanted something special for his wife's birthday to celebrate their beautiful little boy, Sunny. The front has the actual impression of his wee little fingerprint, in the back I set his birthstone, a fair trade fire citrine. Attached are the parents birthstones. The best part was showing the finished piece, knowing his wife is going to cherish it like I do mine...of course I had to make one for myself and haven't taken it off since.
Another added bit of goodness was trading. Even better than buying local, handmade, organic, used etc. is trading for those things. It's so easy to buy something when we need it, it's how we were raised... in a throw away disposable era. It still surrounds us, there are plastic sippy cups call 'take & toss' what???
When we open up to the idea of simply doing without, or finding a better source we can become more ethically concious consumers. A good place to start is by asking yourself 'where did this come from?' then...'is there a better source?'
Alright...getting sidetracked, so I'm always on the lookout for ways I can barter and this worked out perfectly since I was looking for a wheatgrass juicer and he had one to get rid of. Sweet!
I'm excited to work on this as a little side element of my business and am grateful to have friends that are happy to be my testers as I work through new ideas.
I've been thinking a lot lately how I can give and do good with my jewelry, more than donating a portion of my proceeds to a great cause, but something more direct. Before owning my jewelry business I worked with brain injured and mentally challenged adults for ten years, though grossly underpaid and overworked I enjoyed parts of it immensely. Nothing can replace the feeling of giving or helping selflessly. There's that euphoric feeling when you know you've contributed to someone's well being, even just a minute of it. Those moments hint at something greater than the trivialities that we allow to engulf us.
I'd like that personal connection to be intrinsic to the nature of what I create. I feel so lucky that projects like these cross my path and inspire ways to bring that into my work....
I have some ideas cooking, so look for good things to come :)
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