Temporarily Closed - About Night Sky Jewelry

**THIS SHOP IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED**
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I've been DBA Night Sky Jewelry since 2009. Over the years my jewelry has been shown and sold at art festivals all over the Western US, and at George Eliot Salon and Alpine Art in Salt Lake City, UT. Most of my sales have come from my online endeavors, which is what I concentrate on the most.

Night Sky Jewelry
PO BOX 917
Paonia CO 81428
Email: nightskyjewelry@gmail.com

I'm Sharon Burgess, and I'm addicted to beads!

I've been designing and crafting jewelry for over 30 years. For several years I co-owned a small handcrafted jewelry business with my then hubby. We specialized in lost wax casting, doing all of the work ourselves, often without the proper tools! We worked very hard, and learned from other jewelry artists, and eventually we even bought a flex-shaft, which is pretty useful when you're making jewelry by hand. ;-) We started out in Utah, and eventually moved to Loveland, CO, where we had a small store with our shop in the back. My favorite part of the process was carving the waxes that would eventually be burned out, and then cast into beautiful sterling silver rings or pendants.


I no longer do wax work because in 2008, I found myself being drawn to the world of gemstone beads and wire wrapping. I bought a few strands of beads and a few ounces of sterling silver wire, and started teaching myself how to make wire wrapped jewelry. After ruining quite a lot of wire (really, I should have starte with copper, not sterling!) I bought a couple of books, and started watching videos on YouTube, and before too much longer, I was on my way. I really love to make earrings, which is why you'll see more earrings than anything else in my little cyberworld. You'll notice that the earrings in every pair are mirror images of each other. It really bugs me when both earrings are the same, so one looks backwards when you wear them. My own little pet peeve, I'm sure, but it forces me to mirror mine, so to speak.

I'm inspired by rare & unusual stones as well as popular favorites, and over the past couple of years I've grown to love and respect different varieties of glass beads, including sea glass, ancient glass, and rare vintage glass. I have a lot of freshwater pearls in different shapes, colors, and styles, but I seem to hold on to them for some reason. Every now and again, you'll find something tucked away in my shop that features pearls, but not too often. If you have something in mind, feel free to ask me about custom order possibilities.

Most of my designs are one of a kind or limited edition, and feature wire wrapping and other types of wire work. Note that by "limited edition" I mean that I might make two or three pairs of earrings or pendants that are alike, but it's not very common. I can only think of a handful of pieces that I've made more than once, and then it was upon request. When I make something, it's usually because the stones, pearls, or glass "speak" to me, and somehow helped me turn them into the beautiful art piece they wanted to be. To make the same thing over and over would spoil that unique experience. My customers seem to enjoy being different from everyone else, so they like knowing that the earrings they just bought from me aren't going to be dangling from the earlobes of anyone else they'll ever meet!

I'm a one-woman shop and do everything myself, including design, creating, sourcing, listing, and shipping. I specialize in cold connection. Occasionally I ask a friend to solder something for me, and when this is the case, I give him full credit.

My wire wrapped jewelry is earth friendly! I generally use tools that are powered by my hands, not electricity! Pliers, hammers, small dowels, and an Xacto knife handle are my most valuable tools. I also prefer to avoid the use of chemicals in my work, even when putting a darkened, or antiqued, finish on metal. I often use a method that involves squished hard boiled eggs that have been laid by free range chickens!

If you've read this whole thing, you know more about me than most people do! Thank you for your time and interest in me and my baubles.