Stringing Together New Skills

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     One of my favorite things to do with my free time is make jewelry, especially earrings. I have been making jewelry since I was in middle school and as I reflected on all the jewelry I had made I saw common threads between all the styles and methods I was using to make them. I decided it was time for me to change that and to start trying new methods. Through this experience I was able to reflect and realize that the reason I was always using the same methods was because once I find something that works I don't want to bother changing or trying something different with the fear that the new earring would not turn out how I wanted it to and would waste my time and materials. When starting an earring I have an idea in my head of how I want them to look and when they don't turn out that way the relaxing, joyous pastime of mine becomes a frustrating nuisance. I never wanted my earrings to turn out "wrong". It was time for me to change that way of thinking.

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     After figuring out the different type of new styles of earrings I wanted to make, I began experimenting. Many earrings came out not like I wanted, but each time I sat down to make earrings I made sure that I was trying something new with them and not just making the same things. Some of the new things I tried were:

                                               

   

                                                                           Making charms out of clay

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                                               Resin Charms

 

 

 

 

                                                 Using things that are not charms as charms

 

 

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                                                                  Wire 

 

 

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     Through this I learned to allow myself to be "wrong" with what I was making and to just embrace the process of learning and trying new things. I don't need every creative thing I make to be perfect, because that is the beauty of creativity and art. I can be hard on myself and little things like making my jewelry just how I imagined them to look was one way I could control the outcomes of my art, but my earring designs were becoming stagnant and now I feel that I am opening up to more design ideas and that I am excited for all the "wrong" earrings I will make in the future. 

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