About a year and a half ago I got a really unusual request for a custom piece of jewelry:
Make a bracelet from a chunk of driftwood.
This was so different and cool...I jumped at the chance, as I live for a ridiculously difficult challenge.
There was one problem...it was literally just a chunk of wood. An ugly, awkwardly shaped hunk of dirty driftwood. What in the world was I going to do with it???
Like I said, I love a challenge so I jumped into the project headfirst. Step one: find a wood carver. I think in the course of nine months I had at least a dozen unreturned phone calls and as many as twenty unanswered emails. First of all, how rude are people? I mean seriously! Secondly, this was proving to be more than hard. I traveled all over this country for an entire year with a chunk of driftwood wrapped in tissue paper in my suitcase...you know....just in case I met a wood carver somewhere along the way. Yes. That is incredibly weird. But I was determined, and fortunately, this client was willing to wait.
And then one day, feeling defeated and really annoyed with Woody--after traveling together for a year, he had been given a name. He had become my own version of Wilson from Castaway--I was whining to my sister about this project and how nobody wanted to carve wooden "stones" for me. And she says to me, "I know someone that might do it. I go to church with this guy that is a wood carver, and he is really talented and creative. I could ask him if you want."
Huh? What!? She has known this guy all along and it had never come up in a whole year?!?!? I was about to lose it...
Well, turns out he is really creative and beyond talented and very nice. After a quick conversation and a couple of emails, he had carved the perfect "stones" for my wood meets gemstone bracelet vision. It was that easy. I wanted to seriously hurt somebody. But I didn't! I just made a pretty bracelet instead.
The final product...
Driftwood "stones" were waxed and polished and then draped in a mix of chains, labradorite, citrine and quartz. A tiny little magnetic clasp makes for easy on and off. The bonus of working with wood? It was super lightweight in spite of the number of chains and stones I mixed into the piece.
Lesson learned? Never give up...
and your sisters are always there to help.
{Love ya, Jones!}
xo...
ki
A special thanks to John Diehl at Keowee Karvings for entertaining an incredibly unorthadox request! Your unmatched skill level, time and patience is more than appreciated!!!