Who Am I ?

I've signed up for the Bead Peeps Swap 'N' Hop and am looking forward to the whole event. It involves swapping beads and goodies with another jewelry artist and making jewelry with what you receive.The resulting jewelry will all be revealed on everyone's blogs on May 2nd  so stay tuned for updates and the final reveal.

To help out the ladies who are attempting to pair everyone up, I will let you know a little  bit about me. My name is Nan and I've been making jewelry for 4 years and blogging for 2 years. I love sharing the fun  with other jewelry makers and have discovered a phenomenal  group of like minded souls online. I have many new friends all over the world and it's lovely to know that there is always someone out there willing to share all the ups and downs of jewelry making. They not only give advice and encouragement freely but they "GET IT!" It's a wonderful resource for all of us ,newbies or not.
I have participated in many blog hops over the last 2 years and even hosted one myself. As a proud Canadian every july I host a blog hop for artists to create something  (jewelry mostly) inspired by their home country. It's great fun being involved in a lot of communities online but it is hard to find a balance between surfing the net and using my time productively to create and sell jewelry. I am a retired nurse so I have lots of time to dedicate to my passion  but it's amazing how much time I can spend on the computer.

Where I do most of my work.

My style in jewelry making is a little bit of several styles. I guess you could call it an eclectic mix of Bohemian, Rustic, Urban, Contemporary, Casual, Abstract and Avant Garde . Like I said I'm interested in a little bit of everything. Styles that do not match my jewelry or my personality are blingy, feminine, delicate, girly, preppy, lacy. I think you can tell from these words what kind of jewelry I like and make. It's taken me a while to define my style so some of my jewelry may confuse you.

Latest earrings in my Etsy shop "nanmade jewelery"

Techniques I use regularly are wire wrapping, wire work, stringing, using waxed linen thread and sari silk , some metal work and  I absolutely LOVE using art beads. I have recently become addicted to working with polymer clay and I am in danger of it taking over from jewelry making as my all consuming passion. I now make beads and components for myself and other jewelry makers.

A polymer clay pendant I made

As far as colours go I really like them all except maybe some pastels but even some of them are okay. My favorite colour changes frequently. Currently I'm using a lot of blues and purples in my work  but I also really like earth colours so pretty much anything goes.

Earrings from my shop 

If you were to ask me what Materials I dislike I'd have to say I'm not a big fan of seed beads, crystals and pearls but I have been known to use all of them at times.
I hope the above information helps the admin folks when they are trying to pair me with a partner and also may help my partner when the time comes to decide what to send me. For now I am gathering together lots of goodies to send to my partner.