Imperfectly Perfect

 I readily admit....I am far from perfect! But when making my jewelry I try to make it as perfect as I can. I often have to remind myself though that I am a person and not a machine....I don't do perfect!

 I have been handstamping jewelry for around 3 1/2 years. I bought an inexpensive set of stamps from Fire Mountain Gems (www.firemountaingems.com) just to see if I liked it....or if I would be any good at it! My first attempts were decent but I learned pretty quickly that handstamping can be a frustrating process. (Thank goodness my photo quality has greatly improved as well!!!)

 You can see that I did ok....but certain materials are easier to stamp than others. Some surfaces are more slick and when your stamp slips it can really mess up your piece. My hand stamped pieces quickly became popular, undoubtably due to their customizability but this was definitely a difficult technique to master with my tiny stamps.

 One day I unknowingly entered a contest on Facebook for ImpressArt and won a $70 set of stamps! Woo-hoo! They have been amazing and definitely kicked my stamping up a notch! Bigger stamps are definitely easier to work with and I no longer need to use tape for a guide when using those stamps.

 Above all I have learned to roll with the punches (hmmmm....was that a metal working joke???) and embrace mistakes. Sometimes a stamp slips...usually it still looks fine and won't make or break the visual design of the piece. Here are a few of my most recent stamping as well as one of my all time favorites which was unfortunately stolen from a local business where it was on display....

Above is my most recent work. Below is my most popular necklace of 2013.....

And lastly....one of my favorite bracelets. The one that was stolen. I hope whoever swiped it has been enjoying it and treating it well. Maybe someday I will make myself a similar piece. Sigh.....

Sometimes I impress myself and unintentionally make something darn near perfect without even trying (like the placement of the words on my Mind, Body, Soul Necklace pictures above) while other times....things just have to be imperectly perfect. It's the nature of handmade jewelry. ;) Just remember to keep this thought in mind while shopping for anything handmade....Seek beauty...not perfection. Until next time.