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BrideStyle #1: What is inspiration and where do you find it when making wedding jewelry?by Stacy Werkheiser For Christmas, a friend gave me a wedding binder filled with worksheets, timelines, and fill-in-the-blanks intended to help me organize and record every detail of my wedding. There's an entire section devoted to "inspiration" - pages and pages of blank grids staring up at me with thousands of 2 mm square eyes. "Hurry up and sketch something!" they scream. "Don't you have any inspiration?"
Good question. But I can't know if I have it until I know what it is. |
So just what is inspiration?
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary calls inspiration "the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions." Here's what I call it: Stuff I like.
That's an extremely watered-down definition, but if you're new to isolating inspiration, it really does work. Start paying attention to stuff you like. And by "like" I don't necessarily mean stuff that makes you feel happy, but rather things that strike you, that create a valuable impression you want to hang onto.
For example, you might like an article in the newspaper about global warming because it makes you think about your carbon footprint. You might like Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" because you listened to it over and over again as a moody teenager. Of course, stuff you like often does make you feel happy, and that's great too. You don't even have to understand why you like something, just acknowledge that you do. Here's a list of common sources of inspiration:
• Colors
• Flora and fauna
• Words, phrases, and quotes
• Landscapes
• Your favorite ___________
• Books and poems
• Fashion
• Photos
• Works of art
• Beads, gemstones, and metals
• Historical eras
• Music
• A famous person
• Holidays
• Places you've traveled to or would like to travel to
• Movies
• Another jewelry designer's work
• The seasons
• World cultures
• Childhood memories
• Social and political causes
• Family and pets
Have you found something you like, something that "moves your intellect or emotions"? Congratulations, you've just found inspiration! |
Corralling inspiration
But inspiration is slippery. You may have noticed a dozen inspiring things today, but do you remember them all? I thought not. There's too much inspiration in the world to remember everything that strikes your fancy, so whenever you find something you really, really like, don't assume you'll remember. Instead, create a physical reminder - take a picture, make a sketch, clip the article, bookmark the Web site. That's what those blank grids in my wedding binder are for: creating a collage of stuff I like!
OK, but I like the McDonald's billboard down the street - the 20-foot fries make my mouth water. How's that going to inspire my wedding jewelry? Non-jewelry subjects can certainly inspire jewelry, but since I'm new to harnessing inspiration (and perhaps you are too), it's easiest to make jewelry inspired by other jewelry.
So here's my challenge for this week, and I encourage you to participate: I'm going on a hunt for jewelry I like, jewelry that could serve as inspiration for my own bridal necklace and earrings. Where to look? There are quite a few choices:
• Magazines - Try wedding and fashion magazines, and don't forget to page through back issues of BeadStyle and the Projects tab at BeadStyleMag.com.
• Jewelry-making catalogs - If you've ever ordered from certain online vendors, you've probably received a few of these. Rather than browsing for components, focus on the jewelry made with them.
• Department-store catalogs - I'm forever inspired by the designs at Cold Water Creek. What are your favorite department store designs?
• Web sites - I love looking at the Web sites of haute couture designers. I can't afford their stuff, but it always gives me a lot of ideas.
Keep in mind that the inspiration you find doesn't have to be "bridal" in nature. Any piece of jewelry you like can be adapted to wedding jewelry. I'll prove that theory next Monday when I share my inspiration finds and answer the question that inevitably must follow.
Coming next week…
BrideStyle #2: I've got jewelry inspiration - now what do I do with it?
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