Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The price of silver


Once upon a time, a young woman who never cared much for jewelry fell in love with the process of jewelry making. It was a complete accident-- because the ceramics class she wanted to take was closed. The only thing left was metalsmithing and she was hooked. Tthe price of silver was around $4/oz. That's a lot to a young woman with not much money in her bank account so she scrimped and saved and savored every scrap of sterling she could get her hands on.

Today the not-quite-so-young woman has started a jewelry business. It's a small one, but a business nonetheless. Silver is now $20/oz and will be even more by the end of this month. As fate would have it this woman has started her business when the cost of goods has become more expensive than anyone has seen in 15 years. 5 times as expensive. I've got the most uncanny timing, huh?

Here are my latest prized creations. The crinkle hoops-- brightly textured and handmade by yours truly, the not-so-young-woman with the increasingly more expensive business habits.