Trinket #6 - Seashore Bracelet Challenge

Today's trinket was a tough one. I adore wire-wrapped jewelry, but it is such a struggle for me to make. How do you get better at anything? Practice and determination - two things this "Make Something Every Day" adventure is helping me to refine. I decided it was time to step outside of my comfort zone and go for a bigger challenge - and I am so pleased that I did!

The influence for this bracelet? My whole life has been spent near a body of water. In Richmond, I live atop a hill about a mile from the bank of the James River. I see the water every day and hear its rough current crashing through the city's famous rapids just about anytime I have to drive somewhere. As a child, my paternal grandparents had a beautiful little house on the bank of the York River in Gloucester, Virginia. I could walk down the cliffside stairs (all sixty-seven of them) and either stroll along the rough sandy beach, or go out to the end of the pier to watch the tugs heading to the mill town of West Point. I guess because water has always been in the background of my life, I feel most at ease when I'm near it.

I put together lots of riverside memories to craft this bracelet. Along with silver wire and the little swallow charm, I've included a pair of seashells, some freshwater pearls, coral, a bit of agate the color of the York River beaches, and glass and stone beads in soft shades of blue and green. I finished with bleeding fingers (thanks to repeatedly stabbing myself while wrapping the wire) but I am happy to have the practice!