Photo Gallery: My Top 40 Wire Wrapped And Enamel Jewelry Pieces, Part I

This Monday, February 3, is my birthday -- and I will be turning the Big 4-0. Yikes. Honestly, I'm not too upset with getting (a little ) older. I'm happy with where I am in my life and am planning to ring in this new age decade with friends and fun! One of the best things to happen to me throughout my 30s was discovering my love for jewelry making. So in honor of my 40th birthday, here is a photo gallery of my personal Top 40 handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewelry pieces! All are available at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

I'm posting these 10 at a time so it will be easier to scroll through the photos. Let me tell you, it was tough to choose only 40 pieces because I've made hundreds at this point -- and they all have value to me. But these stood out for a variety of reasons: The enamel square is one of my favorites because I love the simplicity of it and the bright colors. I was still fairly new to enamel making when I designed this and I was thrilled that I'd managed to get the cloisonne wire to stay put on the first try. The other enamel piece with the multicolored design was a happy accident; I was playing around with colors toward the end of a class and ended up making that funky pattern. Be sure to check out Part II!

The silver wire wrapped infinity birthstone rings are important to me for another reason; truthfully, I like 'em because they've made me money. The infinity rings remain my most popular item -- and I've received some nice notes from customers who've given them to loved ones as gifts.

The gold spiral necklace is cool because I love that particular shape. It looks very organic and natural; again, I like the simplicity. As for the gold earrings, I've worn them and have gotten compliments. The orange bracelet stands out to me because I love the colors. The orange reminds me of fall, my favorite season. It was hard to choose which lava stone necklaces to include, but these designs jumped out at me.

So here are the first 10 of my series. Enjoy -- and thank you for celebrating my birthday with me!

Silver wire wrapped mothers birthstone infinity ring

Lately, I've been making many "arty" and experimental jewelry pieces, but I also have to keep my businesses in mind. Since my wire wrapped infinity rings are my bestsellers at both Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations, I've come up with a new version: my silver wire wrapped mothers/grandmothers birthstone infinity ring.

The idea behind the mother's birthstone ring is that a mom (or grandmother or aunt, etc.) wears a ring that features the birthstones of her children or grandchildren (or nieces and nephews, etc.). That said, each ring is custom made to the buyer's specifications. It's a great idea for a personalized Mother's Day gift.

For my ring, I'm offering up to seven birthstones, made of Swarovski crystals. Seven is a good limit because after that, the ring looks too crowded and just isn't as pretty. I personally think that at least four stones are needed for the ring to look its best.

My birthstone infinity rings have been very popular and I hope that my mother's birthstone infinity rings are also well received. I always like to design new types of jewelry pieces, but sometimes it feels good to rework a classic!

Silver wire wrapped infinity symbol birthstone bracelet

One of my New Year's resolutions was to build up my MayaGirl Creations shop. I'm pleased to say that so far, it's working out! This morning I received an interesting order from a customer; she said that she liked my line of infinity rings and asked if I could design an infinity symbol bracelet for a four-year-old.

We e-mailed back and forth and I suggested that I make a delicate wire wrapped bracelet with a large silver infinity charm as the centerpiece, pink crystals and an adjustable chain. This way, the little girl can grow into this bracelet from her mom and wear it for a few years. I used pink Swarovski bicones because they're tiny and will work well on a small wrist. I curved the end of the clasp so that there would be no edges that could dig into her arm. This is what I came up with:

Since my infinity birthstone rings have sold so well, I'm planning to offer this bracelet with birthstones, too. I can also do it in rainbow colors or with alternating colors, like green and pink or blue and purple. In other words, there are about a million variations I can make with this simple design.

So thank you to this customer for putting this idea in my head. It was a good one!

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations. To purchase my novel, check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Patterns With Handmade Wire Jewelry Patterns

It's interesting how certain items of mine seem to be popular at different times. By no means do I consider myself to be a trendsetter -- not yet, anyway -- but still, various items are becoming best sellers for me at different points.

Last spring, I was selling a lot of my chandelier heart earrings. Every other purchase made was for those earrings and I even had a couple of co-workers buy pairs.

This summer was all about the infinity ring. I sold dozens of infinity rings, both online and at fairs. People just couldn't get enough of this item!

Lately, I've been selling many gold and silver abstract pendants. I've sold several of these in the past, but the sales are now coming in waves. I'm also selling more chandelier earrings, too. Meanwhile, September was a successful business month overall, but I didn't sell one infinity ring!

I like to study my sales patterns because it's important for me to know what my customers like and what's attracting buyers. But to be honest, I can't really figure anything out! Both the chandelier earrings and infinity rings get a lot of views on Etsy. So you figure that more views equals more potential buyers. I'm wondering if perhaps I sold so many infinity rings over the summer is because they're an item that's popular with teens ... and it's over the summer that teens would buy them. Many teens have summer jobs, so there's some extra money or they're looking for back to school items ... and a sale is made.

However, the sales of my abstract necklaces baffle me a bit because those don't get many views. I sold two necklaces this week, a silver and a gold, which had 12 and 7 views, respectively. That's it. My silver infinity ring has thousands of views.

The most logical theory that I can come up with is that the people who buy my abstract necklaces are lookintg for something very specific. Perhaps it's attracting buyers who aren't coming online to browse; they're there to buy a certain type of necklace and when they see mine, they just buy it. The infinity ring, though, is catching people's eyes when they browse. They'll stop and say, "Oh, cute!" but won't necessarily purchase it.

I don't know if I'll ever really figure out these sales patterns. As long as business is good, I'll accept whatever comes my way!

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewellery, head to MayaGirl Creations.

Wire wrapped infinity rings photo gallery

Wow, I really have made a lot of infinity rings, haven't I? It's cool how one design has inspired so many spinoffs; the original is kind of like the Happy Days of rings. I thought it would be fun to see them all together in a photo collection:

Original silver wire wrapped infinity ring:

Infinity ring in blue:

Infinity symbol ring in purple:

Infinity ring in pink:

Wire wrapped infinity ring in black:

Silver wire wrapped rainbow infinity ring:

Copper infinity symbol ring:

Brass infinity ring:

September birthstone sapphire Swarovski crystal infinity ring:

April birthstone diamond Swarovski crystal infinity ring:

Wire wrapped infinity ring with topaz Swarovski crystal November birthstone:

October birthstone ring

March birthstone infinity ring with aquamarine:

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewellery, head to MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped infinity birthstone rings

Much as I enjoy being creative and experimenting with different types of jewelry, I also have to think about my businesses. Right now, one of my most popular items -- at both of my stores -- is my silver wire wrapped infinity ring, and so I'm always looking to do variations on it. This way, I can still be creative, but sell what people want. I've found that my "artsy" items, like the hand carved copper or handpainted enamel necklaces sell well at craft fairs, but when it comes to online jewellery shopping, people have more definite ideas of what they're looking for.

My latest variation on the infinity ring is one that has birthstones on it. I personally love birthstone jewelry because it's a great way to make a gift somewhat personal, especially if it's for a birthday. I was born in February so my stone is an amethyst and I have plenty of amethyst items. My favorite earrings are a pair that my husband gave me for my birthday a few years ago; they're little amethyst and diamond hearts. I wear them almost all of the time. Here they are, in order of month:

JANUARY: garnet Swarovski crystals:

FEBRUARY: amethyst Swarovski crystals:

MARCH: aquamarine crystals:

APRIL: diamond crystals

MAY: emerald green crystals:

JUNE: lavender alexandrite:

JULY: ruby:

AUGUST: light green peridot Swarovski crystal:

SEPTEMBER: sapphire:

OCTOBER: light pink tourmaline:

NOVEMBER: topaz:

DECEMBER: blue tanzanite:

Here's all 12 wire wrapped infinity birthstone rings:

When making my own birthstone rings, I did not use real gemstones. I looked into it, but, boy, real gemstones are EXPENSIVE! Whenever I sell something, it's basically a crapshoot as to whether it will get bought, so I'd rather not spend money on costly materials. I can't guarantee that anyone will actually pay the price I'd have to charge to make a profit. Plus, I like keeping my jewelry affordable. I don't pretend that my pieces are high end jewels; it's costume jewelry. Granted, I put a lot of work into my jewellery so that I can make it beautiful and unique, but I don't use real diamonds!

For these birthstone rings, I have subsituted Swarovski crystal bicones. This way, I'm still using a quality material, just not the most expensive out there. I think these look really nice, especially since the size goes well with the size of the infinity ring. I made the ring and then wire wrapped the Swarovski crystals using very thin 28 gauge silver wire. I went with four crystals for each because I feel it enhances the ring and doesn't obscure the silver wire wrapped design.

So far, I've only made rings for three months: April, September and November, but I am working my way through all twelve. I had to get a little creative when substituting Swarovski crystals for gemstones. So for April, where the stone is a diamond, I used a clear crystal; for November, which is topaz, a yellow crystal; for September, which is sapphire, a deep blue crystal; for March, aquamarine; for October, a pink crystal instead of tourmaline.

As I continue with my classes, I'm looking forward to making interesting new things, but designing traditional pieces can also be fun.

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped infinity ring with rainbow Swarovski crystals

Part of running a good business, I'm learning, is to provide the customers with what they want. My customers seem to love infinity rings. I've sold dozens and they're really popular with teen girls.

That said, I'm trying to expand my repertoire and do some variations on them. This way, I can satisfy the customers, run a business that actually makes money and satisfy my own desires to be creative and keep making new items. Everybody wins!

This afternoon, I designed a colorful version of my classic silver infinity ring. This is a silver infinity symbol ring that's been wire wrapped with rainbow Swarovski crystals.

I'd initially tried wire wrapping the ring with larger crystals, but felt that it compromised the integrity of the infinity symbol design. But these crystals are so small that they don't get in the way. They add to the design rather than obscure it. It's also still comfortable to wear, which I believe is really important when it comes to jewelry.

We'll see how this infinity ring does on the market. Meantime, I had fun creating a new twist on a classic piece.

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

Smells Like Teen Spirit: More Wire Wrapped Ring Designs

Though the Great Neck Street Fair wasn't as profitable as I'd hoped, one thing I did learn is that my wire wrapped coil rings are a bg draw with teens. I had so many young girls coming up to my booth to try on my rings. Unfortunately, they either felt my price was too high or my rings were too big. The good news is, I've had a really good sales week on Etsy so the universe worked itself out a bit. A young woman purchased five infinity rings from me for herself and her friends for their high school graduation. Meanwhile, last month, a woman had purchased one of my infinity rings for her daughter's sweet 16 while a collage age girl bought one of my other wire wrapped coil designs. So I'm definitely getting that younger market. Lesson learned -- make more of these rings and make sure that I have them in teeny tiny teen sizes when I sell at fairs. My next fair is next Saturday. I'll be selling my jewelry at the Lexington Craft Fair in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY. This event benefits the Lexington School For The Deaf so there will definitely be a lot of teens around. The traffic probably won't be as high as it was at the other fair, but at last year's Lexington event, I had my best sale of the year. I think it was because people come there wanting to buy so that they can support the school and because there are fewer vendors. Hopefully, next Saturday will be another beautiful spring day and I'll sell yet more stuff. That said, I'm gearing up for the fair by making yet more coil rings. I'm going to make more infinity rings in sizes five and six, but am also trying to make more interesting designs. Lately, I've been adding some gems to my rings:

I think the one with the Swarovski crystal heart will appeal to teen girls so I'm going to make a bunch of those in smallish sizes. I don't mind the work, though, because these wire wrapped coil rings are fun to make! To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs. To read about my travel adventurs, head to Naomi The Traveler.