Jet of the Day: cooljewelrydesign

I know somewhere in my profile I state that my style is random chaos, but let me explain better.

When you come right down to it, there is nothing random about my design process because it is very painstakingly thought out. My objective is to create something that will never ever be created again—yes, one of a kind. I have a slightly offbeat, bohemian edge to many of my pieces because, OK, it reflects my personality and more…I truly want the customer to feel special and different knowing that Pam’s Holy Grail of design has been employed :)


Take this piece…La Mer

I hoarded most of these pieces at least two years ago—stashed them in a ‘project’ bag until the circle was complete. Starting out with the shell pieces (flower focal Mother of pearl, and the other shell ) , I added the gorgeous faceted black onyx. Why not ALL the same color? Because that would be boring (for me, and for you). The Murano glass beads have that silvery blue appeal and completed my ingredients; along with some Hill Tribe silver and Swarovski Caribbean blue crystal. The box clasp was a real find among my findings—a store within a home. It is by design that I often use mixed metals—here we have shiny sterling silver and gunmetal . It belongs. Or that is how “this” person sees it.

My current mission is to s-l-o-w-l-y transition jewelry from cooljewelryJR over to my main shop—we all want to be one huge eccentric family. This is a great time to address materials choices—whether they be gemstones of high quality, pearls, shell, polymer clay, vintage Lucite, sterling silver, copper, lovely glass from the Czech Republic, etc. Anyone who makes and designs jewelry has an initial love for it, and safe to say we can respect the design process no matter what the “ingredients.” We all have different budgets—sometimes we veer off a bit or have a need to pull back—we’re human. Hands down, I want to appeal to everyone with a love for color and texture.

This bracelet, Alex, is a great example of how style and design need not be compromised by using less costly ingredients—copper, polymer clay, Greek Mykonos beads.

These earrings, Claudette, are so grandly colorful incorporating lampwork beads among sterling silver, crystal, and cubic zirconia—they remind me of Monet’s garden:

You will often see me use lampwork in my designs. I am so in love with it and have such a healthy respect for glass artists who work with thin reed-like strips of colored glass, use a torch to slowly form the beads into amazing little works of art. And then I hunt them down like dogs… :) and purchase them for inclusion as AN ingredient in *many * of my pieces. So the buyer is really getting the benefit of two designers in one purchase. Those beads, whether they are focal or not, are costly because they are ALSO typically one of a kind, or you may be able to beg an artist to make another set for you.

So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I know I don’t appeal to the masses, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My shop is a work in progress!!

Thank you for reading,
Pam