Janissary Design

Preparing for a spring sale coming up soon.

I've definitely been a busy girl this year.

Super soft merino wool and alpaca baby blanket with gma and g'pa socks! Made special for my friend Lisa Hunter and her grand daughter!

Socks, socks, socks. Made with love!

I love crafts! This is my newest passion... Sock making 😁 I'm working on another project at the moment, crocheting, but can't wait to get back to my socks!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/j1MdPYAUSKLxJJi4A

History of janissarydesign 729 new photos · Album by Catherine Love

Just another fun skill. Crochet baby blankets for twin grandkids. Made with 100% cotton.

UPDATED 04-15-2022

In 2004 I was looking for a new hobby. Online I saw a ring made with gold wire. It fascinated me. After that, I trained myself to create art in metal.

My grandmother was an amazing artist. She'd never have called herself that, but anything and everything to her was reusable. She could create something out of nothing. Bottle caps, buttons, cloth anything could be created again. She was my inspiration. I could crochet and embroidery before I was 10. Then came Tri-chem, paint in tubes with ball points for hand painting on cloth. Using scraps of cloth and my baby sister as a model I would sew and dress her like a doll.

I always saw the simple and found different ways to use a technique to create something different.

Grandmother taught me to use my artistic mind.

Throughout my life my family has always been involved in some construction project or other. My dad saw no difference in teaching me or my brother, through him I learned how to use hand tools. In fact I wasn't allowed to get my drivers license until I could change a tire, and oil and do basic maintenance on my car.

Throughout my life, when I wasn't reading or writing I was dabbling in crafts. Like my grandmother I didn't see it as anything special.

What does this have to do with my craft now? All of this training and thinking outside the box gave me the skills to begin Egyptian wire sculpture and chainmaile. When I saw my first piece of wire sculpture on ebay I was astounded. It took a lot of research, the help of an eBay seller named Ricky Casteel and my first set of tools and I eventually trained myself to work and engineer precious metals and stones into works of art. Then chainmaile caught my eye and I could see a new and different way of creating unusual jewelry.

I love what I do. I love my grandmother and father for giving me the mental and physical tools to engineer and push my own boundaries. And I thank all of you who see my work and might call it wearable art.

I'd love to hear from anyone. Your comments are welcome and hopefully as I add more pieces you'll be happy to ask me to create something especially for you. Every piece, every stone I have, has a home out there. Thank you for taking an interest in Janissarydesign!