Featured Artist - The FamiLee Jewels

This time, my featured artist is not only a talented jewelry artist, but also a good friend, Bonnie from The FamiLee Jewels!

Tropical Dreams

The FamiLee Jewels consists of 3 generations of jewelry artist, all working together in making a wonderful enchanting shop. Most of the jewelry is Steam Punk inspiered. I love steampunk because the idea of someones rejects, becoming someone elses treasures, appeals so much to me. The Family Jewels use many different techniques in their jewelry, wire wrapping, etching, cold connections and even chainmaille.

 

Textured Copper Cuff

I was lucky enough to get Bonnie to answer a few of my questions in a small interview.

What’s your favourite thing about making jewelry?

I love letting my imagination run free, collecting unusual bits and pieces from garage sales, salvage yards and friends junk drawers, and using them in unexpected ways.

Do you have any advice for someone just starting to make jewelry?

Practice, practice, practice. Repetition makes things easier and the easier it becomes the more you can put your own ideas into your creations.

What’s your favourite website and why?

If I can only choose one of the dozens listed as my favorites it would have to be Eni Okens. http://www.jewelrylessons.com/ is a generous website full of fabulous tutorials, beautiful photographs and talented teachers.

  Describe your jewelry in 3 words

Victorian      Industrial     Recycled

How much time do you spend on making jewelry pr month?

That took some calculating. Every chance I get but if you need a number 2-3 hours a day on the days I work and 4-8 hours a day on my days off equals about 150 hours a month. of course that includes marketing and selling but it's part of the package. 

This is one of my favorite pieces in your shop, so please tell me a little about it

Salvage Hardware Dragonfly Necklace

The actual piece only takes about 90 minutes to make. There is however a lot of time that goes into finding the various components.

What materials did you use, and why did you use them?

Antique cabinet hardware, in this case the pull from an old cabinet door. I love the intricate detail in these old pieces and the lasting quality of the work. I use brass components, wire, findings and antiqued brass chain that complement the hardware.

Did you plan out the design, make a sketch or did it just come to you?

Most of my designs come from playing with the bits and bieces of hardware that are in the studio. I lay them together with components in likely combinations until I like the way it looks, then start the attachment process.
 
What techniques where used to create the piece?

All of my pieces are assembled with cold connections. In this case I used wire wrapping to attach the dragonfly to the frame, and to make the multichain necklace that it hangs on.

To find out more about The FamiLee Jewels visit these links:

Blog
Etsy
Artfire
Facebook
Twitter
Flickr

Bonnie actually did a nice interview with me as well, check it out here!