How I Came To Be A Handmade Jewellery Designer
Making home made jewellery was never my first ambitions, but now it's my dream and drive in life.
I first got into it when I was taken unwell at work, doing a job that had been my career for 31 years. It had become a technique of life and bought in the money to live comfortably. Having a medical problem that would not let me return to that career, I was racking my brains for a pursuit to keep me occupied after my early retirement. Around this time, a neighbour and best friend took me to a massive craft fair on the Sandringham Royal estate, here's where I found my inspiration. I was introduced to several stall holders all making their own designs of jewellery, I have lengthy conversations with a lot of them, they jointly gave me the confidence to try it myself.
After that I was introduced to a lady who taught me the simplest way to make jewelry with seed beads, using needles and thread. She was incredibly patient and taught me so much about techniques and also gave me details of the easiest way to source the beads. It was then that I realized that I too may be good at this craft and I could make something more of this glorious pastime.
These days I get great joy from buying semi-precious stones, and freshwater pearls, coral pieces and more. The greatest pleasure of all is in the designing process. I try to think what my customers would like, and how they'd like their jewellery to be finished professionally, so that it will give them great pleasure and a life time of service. Taking the basic elements and shaping them into a statement piece of jewellery that not only I, but others too would adore, gives me great pride and a real sense of achievement.
Lately I've been in a position to share this fantastic entertainment with some neighbors, by teaching. I was asked by a local economy woman to hold workshops in the art gallery attached to her working windmill. The women are also dependent and they all look forward to meeting me once a month to fill their minds with the abilities of this amazing hobby.
One of those ladies is blind, and arrives at the workshop together with her reliable guide dog “Olivia”. This blind lady has felt her way through each workshop, using beads larger than the other ladies. She was my latest inspiration to make jewellery for those that couldn't see, or were partially sighted in a way that they could manage somehow to put it on independently. All of this has been achieved with the usage of toggle clasps that can be simply felt.
Another adjustment to some designs that I have recently made for lesser-abled women is for the ones that suffer with metastatic inflammation and need to use magnetic clasps, the strength of these is determined by the weight of the beads threaded on the jewelry.
Innovating jewellery designs for the lesser-abled ladies in my life and seeing how happy it makes them has driven me to carry on with this enthusiasm, giving it a new lease. I hope to be making many utilitarian and creative designs for several years to come for girls of all ages, styles and backgrounds.
Lorraine Cannell is a handmade jewellery designer and entrepreneur. She is also the owner of thebeadqueen.co.uk
February 4, 2012
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Posted by Jam Man
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