Creating Jewelry Out of Meaningful Objects, or How I Learned to Shoot a Gun and Like It

By: Andrea Morici

Senior Designer at Beadaholique.com

I am a peaceful person, for the most part.  I love tranquility. Being in nature, curling up with a good book and a hot cup of tea, spending time with friends and family, visiting museums, making beautiful jewelry, and listening to music are just some of the things that make me feel truly blissful.  I despise violence and I am terrified of guns.

So, how did I find myself having the time of my life blasting giant holes though a simulated "bad guy" target with a Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun? Allow me to explain:

Let me first just reiterate: I really am a peaceful person, honest to goodness!   I also happen to be a faithful student of Krav Maga, a brutal form of hand-to-hand combat.  It literally translates as "Contact Combat." I began studying Krav Maga because I believe it is important for women to be able to defend themselves.  Krav taught me how to finely tune my reflexes to my advantage.  It showed me that even someone as little as myself can put up a fight if need be.

Part of my training includes learning how to defend against attacks by various weapons, such as knives, sticks, guns, and even hand grenades!  We practice with fake weapons, of course, but we always treat them as though they were the real deal in order to make the attack as true to life as possible.  Even though I had had many hours of practicing gun defense with the fake guns, the fact remained that I was still terrified of the real thing.  I finally decided to face my fear.

A few of the other Krav Maga ladies and myself approached one of our instructors one night after class.  Would he please take us to the shooting range where he practiced and teach us how to properly handle, load, and shoot a variety of real firearms?  He very kindly obliged.  We picked an evening, met up at the training center, piled into our instructor's car, and off we went.

The shooting range reminded me, strangely, of a bowling alley.  There were numbered lanes, and a kind of stale smell in the air.  The big difference was that you rented deadly weapons instead of shoes. We bought our ammo and targets, grabbed a pair of safety glasses and some ear protection, rented a Glock in addition to the 9mm and shotgun that my instructor had brought, and made our way from the lobby into the shooting gallery.

After a brief tutorial on the basics, the instructor looked around.  "Who wants to go first?" he asked.  Nobody said anything or made a move at all.  Finally, (I don't know what possessed me!) I stepped forward.  "I'll go!"

I was shaking fiercely as a grasped the weapon.  I heard the words, "Nice and easy..." spoken from somewhere nearby.  I took aim directly for the middle of the target's paper chest.  I slowed my breathing...gently and steadily squeezed the trigger... "BOOM!!"  It was so incredibly loud.  

I surveyed the damage.  My aim was true.  The bullet had torn a hole in the target, dead center.  I heard my friends clap and congratulate me.  "Wow!  Great shot!!"  Still shaking, I carefully set the gun down and stepped away.  After that, everybody else had a turn shooting the handguns, and then we tried a few rounds on the shotgun.  I couldn't believe it...  I was enjoying myself!

Dead Center Shot

One thing you immediately notice at the shooting range is the massive amount of empty bullet shells littering the floor.  The drifts of brass shells kicked my jewelry designer's brain into high gear.  I discretely picked up a few of them and put them into my purse.  I made sure my Krav buddies didn't notice, because I was pretty sure they wouldn't understand why I would want to collect little pieces of gunpowder covered garbage.

We all left the gun range happy and excited to have done what we just did.  The next day at work, I fished the shells out of my purse.  I picked out a smaller casing (a .22) and made sure it was relatively clean of residue and had no dents.  I chose two lovely spikey green Kyanite beads, and using E6000 glue, I glued them securely in the shell.  I used 22 gauge (appropriately enough) gold colored Artistic wire to wire-wrap a bail onto the top of the bullet.  For the chain, I scavenged all of the bits and pieces of bulk chain left over from other projects and joined them together, creating one 30 inch long chain. Some pieces were gold plated, others brass.  They were all different lengths.

I love the overall effect.  I love that people will compliment me on my necklace without even realizing what the pendant is made of.  I'm still afraid of guns, but I love that when I look at my necklace, I am reminded of the time I faced my fear... and had fun doing it.

Now it's your turn, dear beader-reader.  Tell me about jewelry that you have made to commemorate special moments in your life using found objects or treasured artifacts.

-Andrea

Vive la Vintaj Revolution!

Designed by Kathy Mannix

By: Andrea Morici, Senior Designer

It is hard to remember life as a jewelry designer before Vintaj Natural Brass Co. came along.  Let's cast our minds back--what materials did we, as beaders, have available to us?  Well, we had our beads.  Beads are ancient, and although many new types have been designed over the centuries, not many can claim to have revolutionized the industry.  After all, it is rather difficult to reinvent the wheel.  What about metals, findings?  We had silver.  We had gold.  We did the best we could with what we had.

As someone who has had very little experience with soldering, I often found that I was searching for ways to create pieces that appeared more "metal-smithed", as opposed to just simply "beaded".  My options were limited as far as how to display a focal bead and make it look like it was placed in a real jeweler's setting.  This notion was especially difficult for me since I desired to evoke a vintage feel with my work.  I'm sure some (if not most) of you can relate.

Enter Vintaj Natural Brass Co.

Vintaj was started by sisters Wendy Mullane and Jeanne Holland along with their good pal, Jess Italia-Lincoln.  It all began when the two sisters were teaching a jewelry design class to a women's group at their church.  One day, a fortuitous thing happened:  Jeanne decided to pry open a filigree bead and wrap it around a glass bead, creating a technique that the folks at Vintaj have since dubbed "creative settings".  When they asked Jess Italia-Lincoln to climb on board, her marketing acumen and keen eye for unique design further propelled the sisters' vision.  Thus, Vintaj was born, and the world of jewelry-making has been (in this humble beader's opinion) forever changed.

In the past decade, the price of silver has nearly quintupled.  The price of gold has climbed into the stratosphere.  So it is no surprise that, for a while now, beaders have been experimenting with new, more affordable metal options.   Simultaneously, trends have been leaning toward vintage and earthy looks.  This is the perfect storm that helped make Vintaj as popular as it is.  The old-fashioned brass stampings, with the signature Vintaj natural, earthy patina are so versatile in color and in function.  Finally, I can display my most precious beads by wrapping them like little treasures in warm, antique-ish stampings.

We, as beaders, are very lucky to be practicing our craft during a time of great innovation in the industry.  The plated items that have come along in the past several years are of a much higher quality than those that used to be available.  Also, we have seen some very interesting metals (and metal finishes) take center stage.  Not only brass, but also copper, pewter, gunmetal, bronze and Shibuichi (among others), are becoming popular alternatives to standard silver and gold in the world of jewelry design.  And almost every metal or plated metal is available in antiqued finishes.  Of course, you cannot have all of these beads, pendants, and stampings coming in cool metals and finishes without the accompanying findings and chain, which are now widely available.  We are fortunate to have these options at our fingertips.  I personally think that Vintaj may have had a hand in opening the door to this brave new beading world.  For that, I thank them.