 |
| The girl behind the blog; ironically NOT wearing any jewellery! |
As a child, I loved doing arts and crafts and I was always picking up scraps here and there to make "art" out of. It never really worked out, and I ended up throwing most of it away! You can probably guess I was quite imaginative and my favourite game was always "Let's Pretend". In one instance of this game, I was a famous designer. I made my own catalogues and magazines to show off my creations, which were dutifully passed around to family members to "ooh" and "ah" over. I didn't think that anything would ever come from it.
At age 11 I was struck down by agoraphobia, depression and anxiety, which means my teen years were even more lonely and miserable than most teenagers. During this time, my childish game of Let's Pretend was one of the few rays of happiness I had.
At age 23 I was referred to a group course that helped women back into work. I was intrigued by the jewellery making and was surprised at how quickly I picked it up.
Now I create eclectic pieces, often using old and/or broken jewellery and mix them with new beads to make quirky and elegant jewellery inspired by many different styles including Gothic, Art Deco and High Fashion.
I love taking old unwanted jewellery apart, cleaning it up and making it into something fresh and new, by mixing it with beads that I've bought or incorporating into beadwork.
~~~
I am now slowly integrating myself back into society. It's not always easy and I've had and will continue to have hiccups and great big earthquakes along the way to set me back. I started X99 as a way of gaining some confidence in myself and my abilities, and to inspire myself and others...
I also want to give back to the people who gave me this distraction from what can be a very lonely place, which is why 10% of every sale I make will be donated to the mental health charity MIND.
