From the last post you've probably, correctly, assumed I missed the "how to be a girly girl" chapter of my adolescents -- and had a lot of making up to do in my 20's. I did grow up with an older sister who thankfully did my makeup for Prom and bought me my first piece of nice jewelry. We are over 4 years apart in age, so there wasn't much sister/sister bonding beyond that.
My lack of real jewelry appreciation led me to buy several sale jewelry from Express and The Limited in college. All those pieces were incredibly boring, cheap, and lasted only a few years before decaying or breaking. Then I hit a "omg crafts and local artists" period of my life when I grew up and moved out on my own. I appreciate their love of their craft and one of a kind feel each piece has.
If you're in Seattle, I highly recommend visiting the summer and winter
Urban Craft Uprising Fairs. Tons of amazing artists with a large variety of crafts and homemade items. Nationally, the
Renegade craft fair is supposed to be spectacular, and I hope to attend one in the near future.
And my love affair with
Etsy is strong and well known (I will never forget when my treasury list went to the front page - famous!!). I want to showcase some great, mostly northwest, jewelry crafters tonight:
I might have a thing for triangles, arrows, and pyrite.
