Childhood Jewelry!

My Mom had a jewelry business when I was really little, to help put my Dad through school. She made, repaired, and sold jewelry as well as working full time. She has now been supervising the same blood bank in Brooklyn for forty years. Because of her side business, my mom always had semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystals, and jewelry tools around. I started weaving beads when I was around 9 or 10 years old. Though I mostly used seed beads for weaving, this is a bracelet of crystals I made at that age.

I think I was about 12 years old when I made this aluminum puzzle bracelet. No one else could figure out how to put it on without hurting themselves.

I've been this height since I was 12 and all of this jewelry still fits, even the choker below with the 12.5" circumference.

I made this choker of copper wire. The spikes came from golf cleats. They're so sharp that I had to be very careful when hugging people.

I made the necklace when I was 12, and the pendant grew 7" (to 9") when I was 16. These are old glass marbles in woven copper wire.

I was 14 or 15 when I used copper wires (some insulated) and a button pad from a telephone to make this choker.

This necklace is made of aluminum wire and a Skeletor eraser. Age 14?

I made this necklace of balsa wood beads when I was 15.

This necklace is of silk, pearls, and sterling silver. It always made me think of hair underwater, like mermaids with pearls tangled within their own silky strands. It also made me think of drops of water on fishing nets. I made this when I was 16.

I got these West African wedding beads from a street vendor in New York's Chinatown when I was 16 or 17. I made them into two necklaces and I wore these on the cover of Art New England.

I made this when I was 18, of steel wire and a composition doll hand. Shortly after I made this I started lampworking!

I wish I knew how to document my work when I was little. At least I still have some pieces to do it now.