Creative HomeFires: BW Silver Jewelry

Creative HomeFires is a series which highlights the value that creativity offers to family members of a deployed spouse/significant other.  We offer stories of the creative life and the beautiful benefits experienced during some of the most difficult seasons.

Let me Introduce

Brittany Wende

of 

BW Silver Jewelry 

Here's her story:

Brittany working on her jewelry 

     Deployments are a hard adjustment to conquer especially if you are in an unfamiliar duty station or haven’t quite made a circle of friends yet.  As a Marine wife, I know the feeling. Upon my husband’s first deployment to Iraq, I was alone, on a base I’ve never seen, in a town I didn’t know and living in a state I had never been in before.  It was tough at first, but with a little encouragement, I found the way to take my mind off of his absence and turn it into a passion.
During one of the phone calls with my husband he was very saddened by my solitude.  He worried about my being depressed and encouraged me to start getting creative and work on some projects to keep me busy.

my husband and I after his return from deployment. 

      In college I took numerous metalsmithing classes for my minor and absolutely loved it.  My husband wanted me to buy myself the supplies I needed to get started creating my own jewelry.  It was a surprise that he would be so supportive of me, I always thought it would be a fun thing to do, but I never thought that I would actually do it.  So, I went for it and ordered the supplies, silver, and tools I needed.  I felt refreshed and instantly began drawing designs, going to bead stores, shopping online for more inspiring design books that helped my creativity flourish.   Once my creative outlets were flowing I finally had something to look forward to each day and worked for hours on new things.  After starting to make different rings, earrings and bracelets I thought about selling them online, which is when I discovered Etsy.  It was the gateway I needed to get my jewelry out there.   

 Sterling Custom Message Cuff

     I started selling and I haven’t looked back, each day brings new ideas, challenges and customers.  I’m so glad I did it and I survived every deployment since then by keeping myself enthralled in my work.  It’s really amazing how the time can pass when you are elbow deep in a creative state.  Finding that little thing that makes you happy and gives you a new priority to think about each day is such an important thing to have.

SHOP
BLOG WITH ME
TWEET TWEET
“LIKE” ME 

Thank you Brittany for sharing your story! If you are interested in contributing to this series, please contact us (Use CONTACT tab at the top of the blog)