adventure in recycling

We went to see EcoEquitable today. They are a group that creates and sells bags made from fabric swatches, vinyl banners, rice bags, and umbrellas among other things. I went with my mom, who brought them some discontinued drapery swatch books from a friend of hers. I'd read about them in the newspaper a while back, and it was really interesting to see where they work. Their website is rather incomplete at the moment, but the boutique section gives a good survey of what they make. It's very inspiring.

While there, my mother revealed that I too was a crafter, and pointed out my homemade earrings. They were enthusiastic and urged me to sell jewelry; though they were probably being too kind, I was flattered. Haha. When I told them I'm not enough of a perfectionist to produce anything that other people might buy, they said imperfections are part of the charm of handmade goods. Which is fair enough, I guess.

While I have no immediate intention of setting up shop, I'm feeling pleased with my latest earrings, so I'll show them.



It's thundery and dark this evening, so I wasn't able to get a brilliant picture, but there it is. The whitish-yellow wire is guitar string, and the beads are run of the mill plastic seed beads. I was going for a Charles Rennie Mackintosh-esque look/feel. I love the shapes and motifs in his work, and I find myself particularly drawn to his roses over and over again. So here I tried to scribble with wire something that reminded me a little of the rose motifs.

Guitar string is tough to bend precisely. I've used it before as the base cord for necklaces, but here is my first attempt to bend it into small shapes. I'll readily admit these earrings are just asymmetrical enough to look like a mistake, and not asymmetrical enough to look intentional, but I don't mind too much. Next time I'll try to find a better solution to guitar wire logistics - I'm not too fond of the join at the top.