Milestones

A few days ago I sat in a meeting with a boss at my job, and I noticed how this person sometimes looked at my necklace, which happened to be my honeycomb necklace. I sort of drifted off with my mind then (I hope I didn't miss anything vital), and thought about my sales on Etsy, and how many people spread over the whole world have bought my things, and could be wearing them right at that moment. Maybe other people would also glance at them, and wonder where they had bought their jewelry.

And just today, I hit 1,000 sales in my Etsy shop, which is amazing in so many ways. One amazing thing is that I have actually made over 1,000 items. And then I have made some more that have ended up on the scrap pile, but we're not talking about those. ;) The other amazing thing is that people have found my things nice enough to buy, and for that I want to thank everyone who has bought from me so far!

Customers have also helped me in others ways. For instance my needle ring is the product of a custom order request, and I loved it so much that I continued to make it.

So, thank you everyone! :)

My ring on Etsy's Front Page

The day I thought of my honeycomb design has turned out to be a happy day for me. I had no idea it would give my shop so many views and favourites!

The honeycomb ring can be found here on Etsy

Yesterday a beautiful treasury including my honeycomb ring made it to the front page of Etsy - yay!

Here it is:

What got me into metalsmithing?

This is the topic of the team blog roll from the Etsy Aspiring Metalsmiths Team. The thing that came to mind first is that I can't leave things alone that I don't understand.

For instance, I remember when I was a Biology student, first year at University, and I was at my first lecture on molecular genetics. I know it sounds nerdy, but I could hardly wait to hear what the professor had to say. I wanted to understand so badly how it all worked that I sat on the tip of my chair, willing him to speak faster and say more.

Then the veil is opened and all of the sudden you have stepped into that world. Sometimes I tire quickly of the thing I was so curious about, but with molecular genetics I didn't, and not with metalsmithing either.

Metalsmithing is not like some other crafts. Most you have tried out in kindergarten, and you've moved on, or not. Metalsmithing is mysterious, and may lure you in through an excessive love of jewelry that one day makes you think: what if I could make this myself... I had never really felt motivated enough to paint or draw but it turned out metalsmithing was different.

I started out with a metal clay class. Metal clay seemed to be relatively easy to get started with, and it quickly gives nice results. This is one of my first pieces:

One of the pieces from my first metal clay class

After a while metal clay wasn't enough and I wanted to hammer, forge, solder and set stones. So I started taking a class in silversmithing. Here is my first metalsmithed ring. It took me quite long to make it...

First piece I made in metalsmithing class

And that was that. I was hooked! So I bought tools, and books, and stones, and set up an ever expanding area at home where I now make my things.


Check out what other team members have to say about this subject:

SerpentsDance www.dancetothedoor.blogspot.com/
Marcus Berkner Jewelry berknerdesigns.blogspot.com/
Valerie @ LilyEmme Jewelry blog.lilyemmejewelry.com
All Wired Up Jewelry Designs www.allwiredupjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com
Kalicat Jewelry Designs kalicatdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/
Kim Bell www.kimberlybelldesigns.blogspot.com
Beatriz Fortes www.beatrizfortes.blogspot.com