We drink wine, period
you can only have so many wine stoppers, bottle openers and... lets face it, bad wine. Then I started thinking, other wine affectionados must have the same problem! Gals, what do we really want? We want J.E.W.E.L.R.Y.!!
How about combining the love of jewelry with the love of wine! After all we attend a substantial amount of tasting events and what better accessory than jewelry made from wine cork. Off to research the market! .
Next came the sliced cork ideas. Keeping with my love of all things that glitter, I add focal elements inspired by vintage art nauveau. Often I layer the focal elements with paper, an amethyst glitter I make from jewelers gem chips, and hand-made metal flowers, pieces of antique jewelry and industrial hardware.
Thanks!
This is what my research revealed: there was no one hand-painting on the corks - everyone was using inked stamps or stickers to add artwork. No one was slicing the cork to be long - I found floods of round sliced corks, but none cut rectangle. There was my window, now I was ready to hit the drawing board and design my unique collection.
I have a background in painting murals - flowers, wildlife and specializing in hummingbirds - and glass etching - that includes inlay of shell and gems, along with gold gilding - I decided to include those techniques into altering my corks into one-of-a-kind costume jewelry. The image above itemizes the elements that go into creating my Wine Lover Jewelry. I hand select every element that becomes part of my jewelry, often purchasing elements that are one-of-a-kind, always the highest quality, vintage when possible and many embellishments are color altered to make them uniquely exclusively my design.
I have a background in painting murals - flowers, wildlife and specializing in hummingbirds - and glass etching - that includes inlay of shell and gems, along with gold gilding - I decided to include those techniques into altering my corks into one-of-a-kind costume jewelry. The image above itemizes the elements that go into creating my Wine Lover Jewelry. I hand select every element that becomes part of my jewelry, often purchasing elements that are one-of-a-kind, always the highest quality, vintage when possible and many embellishments are color altered to make them uniquely exclusively my design.
Next came the sliced cork ideas. Keeping with my love of all things that glitter, I add focal elements inspired by vintage art nauveau. Often I layer the focal elements with paper, an amethyst glitter I make from jewelers gem chips, and hand-made metal flowers, pieces of antique jewelry and industrial hardware.
Next time you are shopping for the wine snob on your list, remember she already has a collection of wine toppers, wine openers - of ALL types, and unfortunately she also has bottles of bad wine! Give her a gift she can wear anywhere! Etsy is home to many jewelry makers that, like me, turn ordinary objects into beautiful works of art, check out my shop: Sherman Street Design.
Thanks!
