No, I don't have too many earrings, why do you ask?

So, confession time! For the past 13 years, I’ve had variations of the following conversation on an embarrassingly regular basis:

Person I’ve just met, peering expectantly at me: “Oh, you’re a jewelry artist? What do you make? Are you wearing any of your work?”
Me, looking very sheepish: “Ah, no, I’m actually not... but I probably have a business card in my wallet, hang on a second...”

*facepalm* Real great marketing, Kyth! Excellent job of networking!

For a long time, my chronic pain and sensory issues made it impossible for me to wear jewelry.  I eventually got the pain under enough control to start wearing a pendant that I made about 5 years ago, during the worst of my battle with PTSD, but while I still wear it nearly 24/7, it's on a long chain and usually tucked inside my shirt, and I rarely show it to people because a) it's not typical of my work at ALL and b) I don't like answering the inevitable questions about its significance from total strangers in the grocery store. Later I added a Star of David, which is much more visible, but I didn't make it - and my ring splints don't count because again, not typical of my work! 

Bracelets were always Right Out, for a whole bunch of reasons (I now grudgingly tolerate a smartwatch because it's an accessibility device) and as for earrings? AHAHAHAHAH no. I have long, ridiculously thick curly hair that likes to yank earrings right out if they don't have the little plastic thingies on the earwires, and my hand tremor often makes it difficult or impossible for me to manipulate the little plastic thingies without dropping half a dozen on the floor, never to be seen again until I step on them in the middle of the night.

(The hand tremor is also why I don't wear eyeliner; best case scenario it looks like a 3-year-old did my makeup and if I'm very careful I only poke myself in the eyeball once or twice. Per eye. But I digress.) 

So, yeah. I've been the jewelry artist who never wears her own work. For years.

A few months ago, though, a friend who is very prone to losing earrings asked if I could redo her entire earring collection with leverback hooks, and a lightbulb went off: I COULD DO THAT TOO! (Also my hair has gotten to the stage of long that involves keeping it pinned up or braided back most of the time, so it has fewer chances to eat earrings. It still tries, though.) So I retrofitted my (very small) earring collection with leverback hooks... and now I possibly have a slight earring problem. And by "small" I mean "I had to order a second earring organizer and I'm probably going to have to get a third pretty soon."

(Fortunately for me, I'm a jewelry artist.)

And now when people ask to see what I make, I can show them! Which naturally has resulted in absolutely NOBODY ASKING ME THAT QUESTION. Go figure.

For anyone else who is prone to losing earrings and/or has hair that likes to eat earrings - yes, I will soon begin offering leverback hooks as an option on any of my earrings, and yes, I will be able to retrofit your existing WS earring collection if you want to send it to me! They are significantly more expensive than french hooks, though - even silver-plated cost more than my standard sterling silver earwires, and I'm experimenting with a few different suppliers and styles to see which ones are sturdy enough to meet my "must be reasonably klutz-proof" requirement, so it'll be a few more weeks before they're available on the website.

(Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to offer them in titanium or niobium; I've never seen leverback hooks in either of those metals. Gold-filled will be an option, at a slightly higher cost than sterling, and if you really want solid 14k gold I can do that too, although the prices from my usual wholesale suppliers are making me wince.)

And now the obligatory marketing moment: if you join the Earring Club, you too could need more earring organizers!

Back to blog