Let’s Co-create!
You may have noticed that many photographs on this site feature hand-made jewelry. And by hand-made, I mean made by my hands [cheeeesy grin here]. I inherited a passion for all things DIY from my dad, and started crafting when I was 8. By my late twenties I had made everything from stuffed animals to my wedding decor. Then I lost one of my favorite earrings. It was a white crocheted flower with a metal dangling leaf. But wait - I had taught myself to crochet flowers as wedding decorations - if only I could make them small enough. I got a thin cotton thread and a smaller hook, and you can guess the rest.
Every time someone learns that a I make my own jewelry, they ask why I don’t sell my pieces. I give my scripted response, “I’d have to charge a whole lot to justify the amount of time I put in”. Even the simplest earrings take anywhere from 2-10 hours. So I typically make jewelry as presents for friends and family. My mom is a frequent customer. She has a great eye for possibilities.
So she came to me with a pair of big silver hoops and asked, “what if you put a flower here?”. Next she saw a beautiful string of round earth tone beads. “What could you do with those?” Last month she was inspired by marble wallpaper at the salon and asked me to re-create the look.
Here are the marbled earrings I made for her. Complete with gold accents, as requested.
I love making pieces for people. Seeing their eyes sparkle when I nail their style, or hit a sentimental note, makes the effort worthwhile. But sometimes my gifts don’t land as well as I hoped. Since they’re gifts, and my loved ones are lovely, it can take years to learn that “those just aren’t my colors” or “that pair had too much going on”. On the other hand, the pieces my mom and I design together stay in her rotation year after year. And voila - the impetus for co-creation!
What follows is real step-by-step documentation from a recent jewelry co-creation. Full disclosure… my customer, we’ll call her “E”, is a dear friend. E was told to provide candid feedback at every turn so I could learn from the process.
We started with the survey so she could see my samples and I could gather information about her preferences. When asked, “Describe a piece of jewelry that exemplifies your unique style,” E wrote:
“An earthy but delicate piece in ocean and/or sunset colors; round or curving shapes; flowers, waves, feathers or other natural elements”
I immediately thought of the marbling technique I had learned for my mom. I pulled a couple earrings that E had liked in the survey, and included them with this sketch.
“I like the rock beads in the middle design but think I might like it with a slightly smaller shape and more flowers. I like the colors - could maybe go a little bit lighter on the ocean.”
Time to mix up the clay! Here are our next couple exchanges:
As I worked on the details, I noticed that the rock beads E had initially liked, didn’t quite work with the final color pallet.
Then I put it all together, and WOW, even I was surprised by the final product!
“Wow they are so gorgeous! What a fun creative and collaborative process!”
The reality of working with a dear friend is that we were able to have a lot of back-and-forth. Though I can’t guarantee we’ll have as many exchanges, I can promise:
A sketch with 3 options
An inspiration photo including the sketch and the materials for your piece
At least one progress photo for feedback
You won’t be asked for a financial contribution until after you choose a sketch. And if you aren’t pleased with the progress photo I’ll go back to the drawing board. Like so many things in life, this will only work if we do it together! So what do you say, want to co-create?
