The view from here...

Sometimes it's weird to have a jewelry style that's quite a bit different from what other folks are making. I mean - who puts leaves in a pendant? - and then doesn't compeltely encase it in resin to make it nearly indestructable?


In the little bubble world that is my studio, I look at my work and marvel at it and think that, surely, everyone would want to wear something like this - it's just that cool. But, test-driving my jewelry doesn't always back up this lofty belief.

I think that anyone who makes anything that's not entirely in line with the status quo has moments when they look at what they're making and look at what's already out on the market and do a bit of a double-take and think, 'Am I crazy?'

Maybe I'm not crazy, but... as I start thinking more and more about putting together my catalog and figuring out just how to market myself and my work, I keep running into these same thoughts about producing a product that's a bit odd and not exactly the latest fashion.

Sometimes it calls for a little bit of fearlessness and being okay with being different. Like riding my bike everywhere instead of driving.

Sometimes it calls for taking cues from other jewelry makers and artists doing something different - like this group that I saw spotlighted today on Etsy.


And sometimes, all it takes is reminding myself that I do what I do because I love it - plain and simple.

Now, I just have to figure out how to look cool, not weird, in my catalog.