Category Archives: Jewelry Notes

Time for Custom Jewelry?

Officially it’s fall. Are you an Autumn person? Golden, green, and red changing leaves crunching underfoot, yellow mums in yards and sidewalk planters, fresh crisp air and all the apples you want.

Skeletons and mock cobwebs in doorways, pumpkins on porches followed by the cornucopia of Thanksgiving. I may be getting ahead of myself talking about Thanksgiving, as I saw people in shorts only yesterday, but it’s coming! If you are a planner, you might already be engaged in holiday information-gathering. Listening to loved ones, awaiting clues as to what they might like, what might make a nice present. You might even be engaged in some early holiday gift-buying.

Progress photo for a custom pendant set with ironstone by Nancy Lee

Many of my lovely clients have handmade in mind during the gift-giving season ahead. Or, they may have a special occasion and want a custom pair of earrings or pendant for themselves. The custom jewelry process can seem full of mystery. I like to make it easy and fun – it’s jewelry! The process starts with a conversation, and flows smoothly from there. My clients are updated with progress photos taken from my workbench, like the photo above. In the end, you have a one-of-a-kind piece that you can be proud to wear or give.

Custom Ironstone Pendant (c) Nancy Lee

My son never leaves the house without that pendant. It means more to him than any gift we’ve given him . – Curt Boehm, Danville, Illinois

My clients often tell me that the piece I made for them is a favorite, they always receive compliments when they wear it, and (best of all) it’s a family heirloom!
Start a conversation of your own. Click the “contact” tab at the left and I’ll get back in touch with you right away.

Teyna and Julia Make Wedding Rings

I was thrilled to be asked to help instruct Teyna and Julia in the making of their own wedding bands for their commitment ceremony. They chose to make hammered square rings of heavy sterling silver, the edges decorated with a pave finish.

Teyna and Julia Begin the Ring-Making Process

The couple also chose to design their own engagement rings with me, and I made those separately (they aren’t shown until the end) . The theme for the engagement rings was orange for Teyna and purple for Julia, and to incorporate a dragonfly and some heirloom family silver. We ended up with the same ring style for both, yet set with two different gemstones to reflect their tastes in color. The rings were embellished with one pair of textured dragonfly wings each, and, in Julia’s words, “together, we fly.”
These two are among the sweetest and kindest people I’ve ever worked with. They treat one another in scuh a warm, gentle and fun-loving way. Indeed, the couple learned how to make their own rings. But I learned a whole lot more! Please enjoy this photographic journey with me…

This last photo was taken after the commitment ceremony to which I was invited. A big honor!!!

Post ceremony, Teyna and Julia, fingers intertwined

Getting Back to (Art) Work

I’m excerpting from my recent newsletter, and updating my blog as to my whereabouts these past several weeks. But, unlike overprotective fathers, my blog doesn’t really care. It’s rather an inanimate object, yes? All kinds of bad keyword search Google-ish damanable metric-adverse things may have happened to my blog during my hiatus. I’ll never know for sure. However, just in case someone stumbles across these words, I’m compelled to apologize for not posting for awhile.
My plate has been overflowing with more activities than I can name. I took an this unusual break from my monthly newsletter for the past two months due to a temp job working the primary election – which turned into a job with major overtime! I’m glad I did it…but I won’t be doing it again. It gave me an appreciation for artists who work full time and try to fit in their art on the side. It validated that I’m not meant to split my time! So my focus will be on my custom clients, the creation of jewelry, and jewelry instruction. Feels good to know – again.
I’m back in the studio in fits and starts, and have completed a few projects for my lovely, patient clients, and more are underway. I’m currently making a wedding band for the engagement ring pictured below, and a wedding band for the groom based upon the bride’s ring. Soon, I’l be sharing photos of more “dreams made by hand.” Until then, thanks for sticking around.