Humble Beginnings

Last week I sorted through and organized all my jewelry stockpiled in the craft room. In that process, I stumbled upon some of the first jewelry I made when I started this journey.
Memory wire necklaces (top), twisted wire necklace (bottom left), and strung bead necklace (right).
One of the first skills I learned was to string beads. And, looking at the necklace below I'm reminded of the limited bead choices I had way back when. It was Michaels or nothing. I guess I was fortunate I had that at least!

Speaking of limited, Bead & Button and Beadwork were the only magazines I could find about jewelry making. I studied those magazine religiously and learned to make the twisted wired necklace (first photo) from those pages.

In addition, I went a little crazy making simple netted necklaces like the ones below. That style was also taught in one of those magazines. I made whole sets (bracelets, earrings, and even matching beaded bobby pins) based off whatever color scheme I had for each of those necklaces.

While there's nothing really wrong with the jewelry I made way back when, when I look at the items in my Etsy shop now; I can see how much my style, preference, vision, and skill have evolved.
Music Necklace
Gator Earrings
White Flowers Necklace
Though I re-organized some of my jewelry by donating it, those early pieces are items I just can't bear to part with yet. They're great reminders of where I started.

Do you still have some of your first jewelry hanging around too?

9 comments:

  1. Those first pieces show your great skill that was yet to come! My first attempt at stringing beads left big gaps of thread. I should have stuck with stringing macaroni noodles in kindergarten! Congratulations on arriving to the big time!

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  2. I wonder if I still have any of my first attempts. I might have...hmmmm. Going to have to see if I can find them. And I can say that you have come a long way baby!

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  3. You have come a long way. My start to jewelry making was much the same way and I still have the first necklace I made and a pair of earring. Beads were from Michaels as well. I am so appreciative of the many new venues to buy a variety of beads now, and also the assortment of magazines that are out there. And I wonder where the next few years will bring us in the jewelry world.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  4. I have just a few of my really, really early pieces. As I developed my skills, the ones I made for myself quickly got recycled or thrown out because my early beads were too "cheap", but there are few that I'm keeping for sentimental reasons and I don't think I'll ever part with them. :-) The ladies of my family, on the other hand, have a bunch—most of the time I made jewelry as gifts and so they're out there… I keep thinking I should offer to take them back and remake them all! lol It brings back a lot of happy memories and some "what was I thinking!" moments, but that's all part of being creative.

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  5. I have a lot of my early pieces. Some I don't feel bad taking apart to use the good beads. But some are still really nice pieces that I wear, and I think "where did those come from?" Really, most of the pieces I still like include art beads before I even knew what that meant!

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    1. I didn't really have any access to good beads when I started (or the money to buy them) so it's not a big deal if I don't I them apart. I like to have that reference of where I started. Of course, I do have the problem of identifying some of the beads I did get when I started purchasing more expensive ones. I had no idea I would need to remember that kind of information! ha.

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  6. Creativity is an amazing journey, and you rarely end up where you think you are going! When I started blogging I never dreamed that I would be making burlap crafts etc...I love that you have saved early pieces and looked back and seen your progress~Enjoy the journey and keep exploring!
    Jenna

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    1. Jenna- 'Saved' the early pieces is a generous term. I can be a bit of a hoarder with some things. It's kinda amazing I don't have more of that early jewelry, but I think I gifted a lot of it. . .some of it I still wear too. Thanks so much for your kind words.

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  7. This is an awesome post Hope!! Love seeing these early pieces. I remember my first day in a bead store in Washington, D.C.: it was my 25th birthday (so that was 20 years ago), and I had the day off. I had walked by this store "Beadazzled" a million times, and decided to go in because I coudln't understand how there could be a whole store for beads!! Well...an hour later I rushed home with a kit I got there, made a few neckalces from it, and went back twice that day! The rest, as we say, is history! I have a few old pieces kicking around that I would never get rid of simply because I feel so nostalgic when I look at them!!!

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