Why is hammered wire so beautiful?

First of all... multiple apologies for not having posted in so long! At first I was really busy being back in England, visiting people, planning my wedding and getting my visa sorted out. Then I came back to San Francisco and took some time to settle back in and then I just kept putting off that first post back.

Anyway, here it is and I promise I will follow it up with several more very quickly. (I have actually got lots of things stored up to blog about :))


Although I haven't been blogging, or even making much jewelry over the last 2 months I have been thinking. A week or so ago I came to the conclusion that, whilst my jewelry is very pretty and very wearable (well I like wearing it!) it isn't anything special. Doesn't take much imagination to create, isn't very different from all the other jewelry out there. I'll show you an example:

These chandelier earrings are listed on my Etsy shop. They're beautiful but when I wear them out and people ask if I made them, I feel like I'm cheating when I say "yes". I did make them but how much skill does it take when all you do is buy the silver frame and then attach the beads to it. I didn't even make the headpins!
The only imagination involved with this piece is in choosing the colours and since I like to stick to 1 or 2 colours even that is severely limited.
People who have the right equipment and make the frames themselves, fair enough. People who make the beads themselves and make them interesting and unique, fair enough. But for me, this is cheating, even though the result is beautiful earrings.

Fortunately I have also been experimenting with new ideas and techniques. I recently bought a hammer, with a selection of different end attachments, and a metal bench block.

This was really exciting as it opened up a whole new range of possibilities. I almost instantly developed an addiction to the appearance of the hammered wire pieces. They somehow manage to look rustic, yet elegant and sophisticated all at the same time and utterly beautiful. I think its one of very few styles of jewelry that can be worn casually everyday and also to a special occasion.

Very shortly after I ordered some thicker wire and restocked my coloured wire. Now I feel like I can really use my imagination and creativity to produce pieces that are unique as well as being beautiful.

These are a few of my favourite hammered pieces that I have produced recently:

All are currently available from my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Carnelion