Vada Jo Veter
Meet the Designer-Artist
Where do you live?
I currently live in Oregon City, Oregon. I moved back here January of this year from Juneau, Alaska.
What inspires you as a designer-artist?
It depends on what I am working on. I tend to personalize each piece according to who it is going to. I have my general design and then take in what my favorite colors are and other things I can use as flare.
What materials do you most enjoy working with?
Beads-size 11 mainly. Crystals-Bicone 4mm mostly.
What is the name of the piece you submitted with your success story?
What inspired this design?
Elijah's Rainbows is inspired by my son, Elijah. He loved that I made ornaments and then challenged me with wanting rainbows. I would come up with a way to do the ornament and then ask him if that is what he envisioned and he would give me direction of "No, not that color there, maybe more solid color there" and then over the years as I changed it, I finally came up with the colors that are on the piece now. He smiled with approval of the whole piece when I finished. "Yes, that is what I was thinking about."
Elijah is 17 years old and Autistic. He is verbal but only with those he is comfortable with. He is mostly non-verbal with people he doesn't know. The many challenges life has given him, he has overcome them and kept going.
How did it come together?
I typically have only worked with one ornament. For the contest, I wanted to push myself and utilize the stock of ornaments (plain glass ornaments) I had in my drawer. I have always wanted to do a multi-level ornament and decided it was time to get it done. I started with another order I had to finish, got it together and it was only two ornaments together. Then I started planning out this ornament. I planned it out and started working on it and then realized that it was going to be better than I envisioned in my mind. I LOVE this ornament!
Share Your Background
Why did you become enchanted with this style of jewelry-making?
I started making ornaments years ago, got the netting down good then started to change up.
If you used jewelry-making as a way to bring in income, how are you selling yourself and your jewelry?
I do sell the ornaments, usually through my Facebook. I have done some other designs as well, like a breast cancer awareness ornament, for a few friends who have survived breast cancer. I am hoping to make a 4 bulb ornament and donate it on eBay, one for autism and one for breast cancer.