"What do you wear?" Questions from the EtsyMetal Blog Carnival

EtsyMetal is an international collective of artisans who create jewelry and works of art in metal, which I belong to. Each month a question is asked of the members and those who choose to participate write about it in a Blog Carnival. This month the focus is on "What do you wear?"

What is your favorite piece (or pieces) from your private collection? My favorite necklace is one that I made from a large piece of turquoise. I had the stone for years and was not sure what to do with it until one day it spoke to me. Although it is not an everyday necklace because of its size ( its a good 3" in diameter) it does look really great with a t shirt and jeans! It is one of my favorites because it is big, bold and chunky.

But since I feel naked if I leave the house without at least earrings and rings, the 3 pieces of jewelry I always seem to grab before walking out the door are my XL version of my rose ring, my bulls eye onyx ring and my large hoop earrings (all made by me of course!). I can put them on and I know they will go with whatever I might be wearing that day!

How many finished pieces do you keep for yourself and why? My work constists of production pieces and one of a kind pieces. I usually don't keep many pieces for myself. Years ago when I first started selling my jewelry it was hard to decide what to keep and what to sell. I ended up keeping way more than I should have. Now when I go into my studio to "work" (which is almost every day) everything is made to be sold. I do keep a few pieces from my production line that I do wear regularly and also have sold right off my body. It's a hard job but someone has to advertise/model them and since I work alone I really don't have many other options! On the rare occasion I go into the studio to "play" I might experiment a little with new techniques, tools, materials, etc and if I do come up with something totally amazing and one of a kind I might end up keeping it like I did with one of RAW rings. My "Sunburst Ring" was one of those items. I was experimenting with mixed metals and hollow forms, something I haven't done in a while, and I was really happy with my end result.

What is your favorite piece of jewelry that you didn't make? I'm going to say my favorite piece that I didn't make is probably a pair of earrings made by another jewelry artist Dawn Bergmaier. We do a lot of the same shows together and I have acquired 4 pairs of her earrings (all through trades for some of my rings, which by the way I LOVE to do! I wouldn't have some of the things I have today if it wasn't for trading with other artists!) The reason this pair of earrings is one of my favorite pieces that I didn't make is because I seem to wear these earrings ALL the time. They have a funky, industrial feel to them and I can dress them up or down because they seem to go with everything. And they look great with the jewelry I make. They are so me!

earrings by Dawn Bergmaier

To read about what other EtsyMetal members wear, check out the following blogs:

Rebecca Bogan
Nodeform
Inbar Bareket
Twigs and Heather
2Roses
Quercus Silver
Beth Cyr
Thomasin Durgin