Hello and welcome to Tinkertoy Tomorrow. This shop has been in the works for literally years now. It all started in Chicago, Illinois when I began working for the chainmaille company Blue Buddha Boutique. Well I guess it didn't all start there, but I did learn about, and how to weave chainmaille jewelry there. I continued to work there and then at Weave Got Maille for about 10 years total (since 2008!!). I'm no longer with those companies, but what I learned with them has been invaluable! I've been making jewelry since I was a little kid. This has always been more of a hobby and way to keep my mind/hands occupied than a way to make money. When I was around 12 years old I wore 3 inches of bracelets up my wrist, most of which I made with those teenie tiny seed beads you can use for weaving and such. I've developed my style just a little bit since then and I know it will continue to develop. I absolutely love jewelry with a cowboy/western influence and that's why I often use conchos in my jewelry. It never made much sense that I would wear bolo ties walking the streets of Chicago, but now that I've been in Austin for 3 years it'd be a sin to not own one in like every color and metal. I've collected TONS of metal concho belts over the years. Some I'll never take apart and continue to wear around my waist and some were painful to disassemble, but the jewelry I've made came out super cool, so no regrets. There's a lot left in my collection to be made. My ultimate goal is to start being able to solder/stamp my own centerpieces rather than rely on up-cycling potentially mass produced concho belts. Though I still think they're pretty cool B^) I'm not sure how often I'll blog or how much I have to say here, but I think its important to get to know where your product is coming form these days. Everyone and their mother has a side jewelry/craft/beauty gig these days and I'm happy to support small business, like I hope you will be too! Definitely not quitting my day job!!! (YET!!) Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts this far.
Emily