well, why not?
If I go back to the first time I realized my joy for jewelry, it’ll be middle school. I was OBSESSED. So much to the point that I had to match my earrings, necklace, and rings (if any). I remember one day being super excited to buy the supplies to make jewelry. At the time I could only afford one round nose plier, and this little jewelry making kit. The funny part about this story is that I forgot about these events. In fact, people around me reminded me that I used to make jewelry when I was younger. As I’m writing this I’m getting flashbacks of one creation in particular-these ugly wooden earrings I made, convincing myself (and everyone around me) that they were cute, and I could make them a pair too. I’m not sure why and when it happened, but I put down my jewelry pliers and moved on to whatever crafty idea I had next. Fast forward to 2020 and everyone is home and bored. I started thinking of ways to be creative again, but I wanted to do something that I knew I would enjoy.
Well, since art class in high school I loved interacting with clay, and ahem, the smell of Play-Doh, I can’t be the only one? Maybe I can… I digress. I asked my art teacher so many questions about clay and the kiln, not sure if she was annoyed or intrigued. Once I found out how expensive it was, I pushed it very very far to the part of my mind where impossible things go. But this, this was 2020. And I had nothing but time. Time to think about all of the things in my “impossible” section. I started to see polymer clay on social media and immediately an interest sparked within. I saw some of the most beautiful jewelry I had ever seen, all made with clay. But, I still had questions. The first being “how”. How on earth were people creating these things? It didn’t look like the clay of my past. Could I afford this art? Was it durable? And did I need a kiln? (Soo expensive)
After careful research, for hours upon hours. I knew I needed to get my hands on and into polymer clay. But, I wasn’t sure where to start- I just knew to avoid Sculpey III like the plague. So I ordered whatever I could find online from a craft store. And boy do I regret doing that. My clay arrived hard as rocks. I now see why it was on sale. Luckily for me, I am no stranger to unnecessary challenges.
I managed to soften the clay using the Vaseline technique (I’ll write a post on that soon). I made my first collection of earrings!
I was so proud of myself and grateful that I could learn a new craft. However, this craft, like any, comes with its share of challenges. I have learned that practice, consistency, discipline, and creativity will make a world of a difference in learning any new craft. So, I am excited to share this journey with all of you, and I hope that we can learn and grow together.