Silver wire wrapped necklace with black briolette, black and clear crystals and spirals

Happy New Year! I wish all of you a healthy, happy and peaceful 2017. We rang ours in in the perfect way: we simply spent the night at my in-laws', where we ate Chinese food and watched the Twilight Zone marathon. It was quiet, relaxing -- and just what we needed.

When I was younger, I felt as if my NYE had been a "failure" if I hadn't rung it in in some spectacular way. One time, we went to Atlantic City for the night. Another time, we went down to Washington, D.C. to visit my sister-in-law. Most years, some friend would host a party. However, I no longer feel the need to go crazy on the night of December 31. Truth is, I didn't like those parties all that much. I'm letting them go.

Speaking of letting things go, I've decided to take a break from my enameling class at the Y. I've LOVED that class. I've learned so much, made some beautiful pieces and met wonderful friends... but I'm just not as excited about it as I once was. I've had a lot going on with my glass and music and those have been taking up more of my time. Plus, the enameling class is expensive... and my enamel pieces just don't sell as well as my glass or wire.

The other thing -- and this is hard for me to admit -- is that the class environment has gotten very negative. We've had some memorable discussions about our families, popular culture and world events... but with the way things have gone in 2016, a lot of the talk has been depressing. When it comes to world news, I don't keep my head buried in the sand. I know it's important to be aware. But I really like to keep my art separate from that sort of thing. It's a refuge. I turn to jewelry and music when I need a break from that stuff and enameling was making me feel more anxious than energized.

As of now, I'm simply taking off this semester. I plan to spend my time, well, making jewelry of course, but also networking and seeing if I can get my pieces into some more shops in the area. My goal is to sell my work to two more salons. I also have a similar goal for my music. On Friday, I played a two-hour set at a nearby coffeehouse and really enjoyed the experience. I'd like to book performances at at least two other local restaurants or coffeehouses. So I have a lot of things I'd like to do HERE and figure I should give myself the time to accomplish these goals. I'll see how I feel when the summer semester comes around and can always sign up again, if I want.

Anyway. I haven't made too many pieces in the last couple of weeks because I was preparing for three gigs, but I did finish a few. I made a return to wire wrapping -- yes, I still do that! -- and designed this silver wire wrapped spiral necklace. The black briolettes were a gift from a customer and are large enough to wrap with clear crystals. I then embellished the chain with some additional black and clear crystals. My original plan was to add more crystals to the chain, but I think this is a good balance and doesn't take the design over the top. I also did a version with pink crystals. Really, I can use any color because black is such a versatile base.

It's raining here today, but my husband and I plan to walk downtown. There are several boutiques in the area, so I'm going to mark down the names and then call them this week. See that? I'm already working on my New Year's jewelry resolution!

Start off your 2017 by checking out my handmade jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

New handmade wire wrapped necklaces and earrings -- and an exciting update!

I have several new items to share, but first some very exciting news: my jewelry is now being sold in Threading-N-More salon!

I've been getting my eyebrows done here for years and have always admired the colorful jewelry on display. Finally, I got up the nerve to ask the owner if she'd consider buying some of my pieces. She agreed to take a look -- and ended up purchasing 36. Woot!

Now I just have to hope that my jewelry actually sells for her. If all goes well, this will be an ongoing gig. She has three salons so my work would be featured at all. If customers don't like my work, well, she gave me a chance, which is so, so appreciated. I've been trying to get my stuff into stores for a long time and haven't had success. I'm thrilled to have this opportunity.

One person who DOES like my work is the owner's young daughter. As I took out my necklaces, the little girl promptly put each on, so she was wearing all of them at once. She then stacked all of my bracelets onto her arm. Later, a few of the necklaces got tangled, so she helped me pull them apart. As she did so, she said, "I feel like I'm fishing." Then each time she successfully untangled a necklace, she'd announce, "I caught another fish!" It was very cute.

The owner purchased several of my fused glass pieces, as well as a couple of my enamel necklaces. But she and her daughter really liked the wire wrapped jewelry I made with briolettes. I designed these pieces specifically for our meeting:

These briolettes were a gift from a frequent customer of mine who's also requested a bulk order. I've been working with this woman for months and she's become a friend. When she heard I might be getting this salon gig, she sent me several bags of briolettes as a "Good luck" gift -- and they worked! So my work on one large order led to another. This customer prefers I don't mention her by name, but I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to her. Every artist hopes they'll meet someone who believes in them and gives them their "big break." She's that person for me.

OK, enough mushiness! Let's talk jewelry. I wanted to make pieces that highlight the briolettes so I chose colors and accents that matched. I've always liked the combination of pink, silver and black so when I saw the large black briolette, I went right for the silver wire and fuchsia crystals. Meanwhile, I wanted to do something to show off the colors of those rainbow briolettes, so chandelier earrings seemed like the best bet. This was the most convenient way to feature all of them.

I have large red briolettes and originally designed earrings where they hung from a big spiral. However, these earrings are too heavy for the average person, so I made a modified version using smaller stones and a thinner gauge wire. These are perfect! I also made a version with silver wire and purple briolettes, which I forgot to photograph. The salon owner loved these, so if they sell, I can make them in a variety of colors and wires.

In other news, I was again accepted into the local art fair, which is September 25. I'm especially excited about this year's event because I plan to exhibit my fused glass pieces. I sold them at the little fair I did at the home a few months ago, but this will be my official "debut." I'm already working on some new jewelry sets and will continue to make new pieces up until the day of the fair. I'm also excited because my friend Lani will be visiting that weekend and will help me work the booth. Lani is an absolutely fantastic saleswoman, with a background in retail and telemarketing, so I'm putting her to work! I'm hoping my glass will set itself, but if anyone can close a deal, it's her.

Sorry for the lack of posts, but as you can see, I've been busy! I'll have more pieces to share and will keep you updated on my latest goings-on. You can check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped, glass and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs, MayaGirl Creations and Glass By Naomi.