Silver wire wrapped rings Native American style with turquoise and red Swarovski crystals

Though I've traveled around the world, one of my favorite places to visit is the Southwestern United States. I've taken several road trips through that area over the years and just love the wide, open spaces and natural beauty. It's about as different from New York City as you can get! I also love the Native American jewelry with its bold shapes and bright red and turquoise stones. In honor of this jewelry, I've designed two modern rings which refect that traditional Native American design. I didn't model these geometric rings after any particular Native American symbol or designs or a certain tribe, but more on my impressions of visiting that area. For instance, the bold geometric shapes were inspired by the shapes used in sand paintings. The combination of silver, red and turquoise was inspired by the color combination which is used in much Native American jewelry. The ring itself is made of 18 gauge silver plated wire, which I wire wrapped with turquoise beads and garnet red Swarovski crystals. I love the way the colors look together, which is part of the reason why I was drawn to Native American jewelry in the first place.

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs. To read about my travel adventures, head to Naomi The Traveler.

Bold oversize anodized aluminum abstract star ring wire wrapped with silver band

By now you're probably sick of reading about anodized aluminum pieces, but here's one more for tonight: my deconstructed star ring. Usually stars have six points and this one has about eight, but that's the fun of creating abstract art; you can show common things from a slightly different perspective.

I think I like making colorful jewelry because it makes me feel happy. It reminds me of rainbows, party balloons, confetti... all which relate to celebrations. Yeah, that's probably a little cheesy, but it's true. And I figure that if my pieces make me feel good then they're hopefully making others happy, as well.

What's funny is that I'm not a loud dresser in my life. I'm actually pretty conservative and tend to wear subdued colors (blues and greens and pinks) and subtle prints and patterns. That goes for my jewelry, too, as I usually don't wear a lot of statement pieces.

But when it comes to making jewelry, I like to go a little crazy and experiment with patterns and shapes and colors. Maybe this is another side of me that's coming out? Maybe this is why I enjoy making jewelry so much; because I get to be creative and let that wilder part of me come loose.

Anyway, here are shot of my abstract star ring:

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs on Etsy.

Bold oversize geometric ring wire wrapped with silver band

My love affair with anodized aluminum continues! This time, I used this really cool material to make a funky, abstract ring. It's a little like a mini-sculpture, very pop art-y.

I used the same techniques that I employed to make my other anodized aluminum items: I sawed out the yellow, blue and magenta pink pieces, them drilled, filed and attached them using 28 gauge silver wire. But this time, I really had to think about what kind of shapes would be comfortable on one's finger. I didn't want any edges to be too wide and too jagged because the last thing a person would want is to wear an uncomfortable ring that pokes into her hand.

When I tried on the ring itself, I found it to be very lightweight and it didn't jab into me at all. Whew! It's a fun piece, definitely meant to be noticed. But that's WHY we wear jewelry, right? What's the point of owning a little piece of art if people won't see it? That's at least how I feel; that art of any form is meant to be shared.

Here are some views of the ring:

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs on Etsy.