Uniqlets

I live in New York City with my 17 year old dog Harry. Although I consider myself a New Yorker, I grew up in a village with a population smaller than that of the building in which I now live. A lot of who I am was shaped by my childhood, growing up in a hotel in a Jewish resort region in southwestern New York State.

Although I have always loved crafts, for most of my life, my appreciation has been as a consumer. I loved going to crafts fairs when I was in college and after I moved to New York. Crafts fairs and antiques shows and flea markets have always been difficult for me to resist. I love collecting beautiful things.

I started making jewelry when I was trying to figure out what to do with my grandmother’s buttons after she died. My grandmother always sewed. She did piece work at age 14 when she arrived in this country from Russia. She worked at the sewing machine with great speed and ease. I never mastered the machine and my speed at hand sewing will never approach hers. But I wanted to turn her buttons into keepsakes for members of my family. The solution came in the form of button bracelets. After that, I started collecting buttons and making other bracelets. The bracelets were put on the back burner as my career as a network news writer/producer allowed little time for hobbies.

A couple of years ago, I was caring for my elderly parents. With time on my hands, I needed a creative outlet and turned once again to making button bracelets. This time around, I incorporated jewelry parts, game pieces and other random elements into the bracelets. Uniqlets was born. Now I dabble in Steampunk jewelry and vintage assemblage pieces and am always looking for a new way to express myself.

Tags: bold jewelry, contributors, featured artists, Handmade, handmade jewelry, statement jewelry, steampunk jewrelry

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