Jewelry Artists

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Joy Adams

Egyptian Coil Peach Lemon Wire Cuff Bracelet
 Meet the Designer-Artist


Where do you live?
Wilton, Iowa

Describe your artistic style.
Free to be me, one piece at a time, I follow the gemstones and glass' lead to my final pieces.

What inspires you as a designer-artist?
Mother Nature's natural beauty in gemstones always gives me a jump start to design.

What materials do you most enjoy working with?
Gemstones, wire, crystals and Czech glass.

What is the name of the piece you submitted with your success story?
Egyptian Coil Peach Lemon Wire cuff bracelet

What inspired this design?
Learning ancient techniques and patterns, I have mastered Viking knit weaves and Egyptian coil pattern and chain mail, taken it a bit further with a more modern twist, using lots of color, gemstones and glass.

How did it come together?
I had a strong desire to find my niche in jewelry making, combining my love of gemstones and developing my own designs and style.

Share Your Background


When and how did you begin making jewelry/beading?
Always loved jewelry making, as a young child I was making bug pins with my Creepy Crawler set and trying to sell them to my classmates at school. A big push was being able to have affordable jewelry for every day office wear and special occasions that I had made myself.

Who introduced you to beading?
Gradually fell into it, first as a hobby with Macramé, then to beading and now gemstones and wire.

How did you discover Fire Mountain Gems and Beads®?
Bead shopping at a local shop and saw one of your yearly catalogs, this opened up a whole world of design possibilities.

What other hobbies do you have?
Cross stitch, crochet, enjoy plastic canvas designs as well.

Do you belong to any beading societies or beading groups?
I am currently a member and seller on Artfire.com in the Jewelry Design/Makers guild and chain mail guild.

Beading Success


What role does jewelry-making play in your life?
Currently I am trying to make it a full-time career, jewelry-making and design are my therapies, I can begin a piece and get lost in the beauty of the stones and glass. Working at home and selling online, I am able to devote a good portion of my day to designing and making jewelry. I call myself a BA/RFH, beadaholic and rock/fossil hound. You just cannot beat Mother Nature for beauty. Being able to develop my love of gemstones has helped me greatly through many of life's difficulties.

If you use jewelry-making as a way to bring in income, how are you selling yourself and your jewelry?
Currently selling on line on handmade venues Artfire, Etsy and Zibbet, Artfire is my main shop. (www.catinalife.artfire.com) I have done consignment sales as well, possibly venturing to craft fairs this next year.

Do you participate in any charity fundraisers?
Through the jewelry-makers guild I belong to, we have raised funds for breast cancer and domestic violence, we have special fundraisers in October.

Any advice for aspiring jewelry-artists?
Make what you love, let the muse take hold and go with your instinct and ideas, jewelry is like art, always open to interpretation.