Crazy for Pendants

I find myself making more and more pendants these days. And what's more, I want to make lots more of all different types. It was never a type of jewelry I thought I would get into. Until recently, I wouldn't wear necklaces, and pendants were certainly out of the question. Now, I'm sporting different pendants almost every day -- I just rotate through my collection according to my mood.

One difficulty with being a chainmaille artist and making pendants is that chainmaille lends itself to long chains rather than discrete units. I'm struggling to find different motifs that are small and discrete and pendant-like. Every time I stumble upon a good idea, I quick-quick make up a proto-type, and I find myself constantly searching the internet for more ideas. I just hope that pendants are just as popular with my customers and they are with me.

Creating Newness

I have a hard time coming up with new and orignal ideas. In chainmaille, most of what is done is pretty formulaic, just recreating or rehashing (for lack of a better term) what has already been done. There are some tremendously creative chainmaille artists out there, but overall, the art of chainmaille lends itself to recreation and re-expression rather than originallity.

That is why I am always very pleased when I come up with something new for me. I love these earrings, which are my latest "Love Knot" design, which is as creative as I have been lately -- even though this is just a variation on a theme.

Maybe this is the challenge I need to set for myself, to come up with some truly original designs and then execute them.

Wish me luck!