I wasn’t planning on making any new jewelry designs in June, but…then I got a request for a custom order, and started making some options of earrings with gold colored freshwater pearls. I really love how these turned out:

Gold Pearl Earrings

Buy a pair for $20 + shipping:






My customer likes them, but the look she’s going for has more of a straight line (I must confess, I knew that when she asked me, but I love curves so much my first version had to be at least a little curvy! I’m working up a straighter version though, and I have to say, I love that version too.) So, an unexpected bonus of taking on a custom order: I got inspired to make some new earrings, much sooner than I expected, considering that 11 days ago I was planning a 30-day respite from designing jewelry. This is a fairly simple design, combining elements from two other designs I’ve done in the past, but it’s still something new because I’ve never combined this pearl with that earwire before. I love when clean, simple look really works, and I think this is a great example of that.

What can I say, I guess I’m an addict. If designing jewelry turned out to be an unhealthy addiction, I’d probably need a 12-step program.

Also: inspiration sometimes comes from unexpected sources. If you want to be a more creative person, sometimes all you have to do to get inspired is be open to inspiration that comes your way. Yes, it does take practice, and most of us need little breaks – for me, working on my photography & photo editing skills, along with learning all I can about other forms of art and craft, is a perfect break from jewelry design when I’m experiencing burn-out. It helps me still feel inspired, even if my inspiration isn’t for making new jewelry designs.

So here’s my tip, if you are trying to get inspired again, after a period of creative burn-out. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me: go try something new. If you’re a crafter, try a new craft. If your work is more fine art, maybe try a new medium, or try mixing two or more media. Or take your camera and shoot a bunch of pictures. If you are so burned out that all of this seems like too much, read about a new art/craft online or in a book, or begin doing morning pages, as described in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron – basically, 15 minutes or so of freewriting. Any of these creative acts can help spark an idea, so I think it’s a good idea to do something every single day if you can, until your muse comes back.

It has worked well for me so far in June, and I plan to continue actively seeking inspiration this way (doing non-jewelry creative tasks every day) the rest of the month, and possibly longer. I’m enjoying learning the basics of photo editing with GIMP, as well as taking photos of artsy looking things, and the ideas for new jewelry are starting to come in as a result. One thing I’d love to work on soon is combining my photography and my jewelry making – so if I figure out a good way to do that, I’ll have an exciting new line of work. I want mine to be a little different from the other photo jewelry I see everywhere, so I have to think about how to accomplish that.