Reusing and repurposing in your jewelry designs

I recently made a necklace using a little bit of something old and a little bit of something new. A customer had found some old charms (as in 40 years old!) that she assumes her mother had engraved with the intent of making a charm bracelet. Most likely, she intended to add a charm every year on the customer's birthday, but the charm bracelet was never made. However, I gave those old charms a new life by mixing them with new charms that reflect the customer's current interests, such as a camera, a cute VW bus, a dog, a hammer, etc. So, instead of a charm bracelet, the customer now has a charm necklace!

Here are the "old" charms:

And here is the new necklace:

I think it turned out great and the customer was very happy that she was finally able to wear the charms that her mother bought for her! If you would like me to create a similar piece of jewelry for you, just contact me.

Believe

Today I watched young 17 year-old Melanie Oudin's exhilarating win over Maria Sharapova in the U.S. Open. Stamped in Oudin's tennis shoes is the word "believe", obviously there to serve as a reminder to believe in herself. Her confidence shines through in her tenacious style of play and she is truly a joy to watch.

Believing in yourself is often half the battle when taking risks. As artists, we put ourselves out there everyday. We create because we love it, but when we decide to take the risk to try and sell our creations, we are opening ourselves up to praise or, in some cases, criticism. The mentally strong people who continue to believe in themselves, even when times are tough, will ultimately find success because when it comes right down to it, if we don't believe in ourselves, why should anyone else?

This is one of my favorite bracelets that I have made. The pewter charms read "live light", "integrity", "laugh", "inspire", "create" and..."believe".