Literature Jewellery: Behind The Creative Process

Hopefully by the time you read this post I will be recovering nicely from my foot surgery.  While I take my little break from my usually hectic life, I thought I would give my readers a little peek into the creative process behind my (surprisingly) popular literature jewellery range.

I was a little surprised when I realised that I started creating this range of jewellery almost three years ago.  It all started when I stumbled across this battered copy of Pride and Prejudice at a local fete.  Not being a huge fan of Jane Austen's books myself (with the exception of Persuasion), I bought the old book on a whim.  And as it turned out, this whim got my creative juices flowing in a direction I had never imagined.

So what goes into making one of my literature jewellery pieces?  Firstly, there is the painstaking task of searching for a suitable snippet of text to use.  I like to try and take my text from particularly poignant or amusing passages of a book, if possible.  I also record which passage each jewellery piece is made from as many customers like the extra touch of knowing from which section of their favourite novel their brooch, bracelet or necklace is taken.

Once a snippet of text is chosen, it is carefully inset into my nascent jewellery creation.  Now I know this seems like a simple stage of the process, but it is actually the most time-consuming as there is a lot of time spent waiting for everything to dry and cure properly before I can move onto the next step.

Once the text is beautifully set into its designated cameo setting, then it's time for the fun part - putting together the final piece of jewellery!  I have a lot of fun trawling through my bead boxes to find the "perfect" bead or beads to embellish each piece, although I do have a stash of "go to" beads that I know are always popular with customers.

 

The last part of my creative process is to photograph and edit my photos for my online stores and for my literature "look book" (which comes in handy when customers request a bespoke creation).  And then each piece waits for its new owner to find them!