My First Collection

I've been a little neglectful lately, but I had a good reason for it: I had to put aside jewelry making for a while, my fingers needed a break after a few Nautilus pieces made one after the other.

I didn't actually set out to make this many "Caramel Swirls", although I like this design very much... It was simply another case of insufficient planning on my part, resulting in a failed bracelet that needed rescuing: the original piece was re-purposed into two separate pieces, and in the process new ideas popped up, all based on the initial design.

This is how my very first real collection is being born. It's still in the making, but it already has a pendant/earring set and a collar necklace (blogged about them recently), plus two bracelets, a shawl pin and an upper arm bracelet (also a first for me).

And it all started, or maybe continued (as the pendant set and the necklace were already made) with an idea I had for a bracelet: two double spirals linked together like a clam. Unfortunately, I made the spirals two big, and despite a nagging feeling that something was wrong, I kept on wrapping them. And I ended up with two extra large double spirals (Nautiluses) that looked really out of balance when linked together into a single bracelet... So I had to come up with some other use for the finished pieces, otherwise all that work would have been wasted (though one could say it was still useful as a learning experience).

One of the pieces ended up as a new, different kind of bracelet:

The other as a shawl pin:

While wrapping the bracelet, I realized maybe I should have used a single Nautilus as a centerpiece for the bracelet, for a more balanced design... So I made one just to see if that was the case:

And it didn't end here... Why not make an adjustable bracelet, I thought. No, I've made plenty of bracelets for now, let's try an upper arm band instead:

Another piece, an open front collar necklace is to follow... when I find the time and my fingers are well rested.