Facebook Competition winner Tracy lets us into her life of jewellery making

Our Facebook competition winner Tracy impressed us with her answer when asked what her favourite piece of jewellery was that she had made herself:

“My favourite piece so far is red/green crackle glass beads that look like ripe apples, which I threaded onto strong elastic. I made a gorgeous bracelet with leaves and berry charms that looked like baby apples. It was inspired from one of our walks through an apple orchard in Scotland, which is where I lived up until last week. I love nature to inspire my jewellery but this one has proved very popular.”

Tracy started making jewellery four years ago and after a two year break started to make jewellery again. She gets her inspiration from nature, especially from the colours of the different seasons and trees are her favourite for ideas.

She is a confessed beading magazine addict and is keen to keep an eye out for unusual items that she can use for her jewellery. Tracy is a big believer in rescuing something that looks tired and often finds gems in vintage shops. She could spend hours in vintage shops and she jokes that her partner is often waiting outside for at least half an hour whilst she rummages for vintage treats. Recently she designed a moon and star jewellery set that was a mixture of three different jewellery items, and created a beautiful set that is popular with her customers.

Her customers come from her Facebook page Crafty Witch, where she sells her jewellery designs. Tracy told us she had so much jewellery she decided to sell some because she couldn’t possibly wear it all. It seemed a shame to waste her creations so she decided to set up Crafty Witch on Facebook in August this year and it has been a huge hit.

Her favourite jewellery items are charm bracelets and recently she has started to use crochet when making her jewellery creations. One interesting point she made was that she has no plan when making an item, she just roles with it and experiments. Often a mistake will lead to a great piece of jewellery.

Her enthusiasm for jewellery is infectious and it is interesting to see how she gets inspiration for her creations. Have a look at her Facebook page Crafty Witch, there are some beautiful jewellery items to admire.