Some History on Nose Piercings and My Personal Journey

Besides earlobe piercing, nose piercing is the most popular style of piercing. It is an ancient style of piercing, dating back to approximately four thousand years ago, and it has continued to grow in popularity over the last few years in mainstream society.

Most piercings I saw as a Canadian child were on women from India. I often admired the lovely sparkle I saw in the side of the nose, but never dreamed I would someday have one of my own. Indian women usually have their piercings on the left, which is associated with lessening of pain from childbirth and menstruation. When I chose my left nostril piercing, I didn't know this little fact and wish I'd had my piercing done before the birth of my first child! I chose a natural childbirth because I was just twenty two years old and I thought that was the best way to go about it, so I had not so much as an aspirin to ease my pain during the 29 hour journey. Perhaps a piercing would have helped. The second time around, my first question at the hospital was, "what do you have for pain options?".

The main types of jewellery worn in the nose are studs and hoops. There are some interesting pieces that go from the nose to the ear and I'm toying with the idea of creating some of these unique pieces to sell in my "Rock Your Nose" Etsy shop. My most popular form of stud is the screw shaped end - it is definitely the biggest seller. My piercer pierced my nose with a long needle and then inserted an 18 gauge screw end stud with a tiny zirconian stone. Actually, what happened was he inserted the stud and then said, "oh no!" Okay, I don't know about you, but when you've just had a needle shoved in your nose and have been breathing through the pain, the last thing you want to hear is "oh no!" The stud he had just inserted into my throbbing nostril was defective - it had no stone. I was somewhat disappointed, but not enough to want it taken out and have one with a stone inserted instead. Little did I know what would happen next.

Well, I guess that little stoneless thing just didn't want to be on display in my new piercing, so as I slept two nights later, my left hand with a ring on my finger reached up in sleepiness to SCRATCH my nose! The ring caught on the little stud and pulled it right out, so there I was, at 2am with a 6am commute ahead of me, sitting in my bathroom sink (because I wear glasses and can't see without them), trying to stuff this screw ended thing into my now bleeding nostril. I believe I started to cry from frustration and pain because I could not put it back in no matter what I did.

Some women might have given up at this point, but not me - no not me. I went back to bed and called my piercer first thing the next morning when I got to work. He booked me in for an appointment and when I got there he said a few more words that I didn't want to hear. He said, "okay, get up on the table - we're going to perform a miracle here". Eek! And then my highly skilled piercer, whose name is Nick (from Duncan, BC Canada) proceeded to poke that needle right back exactly through the original hole. It hurt like hell the second time around, but I proudly left the shop with my left, throbbing nostril sporting a little stud with a gem in it this time. I slept with those tiny, round Band-Aids on my nose for many months to come - just in case.

Little did I know that 5 years later I would start making jewellery. And I had no inkling of the fact that one of the first things I would do when I learned to make my first little sterling silver coil would be to put an L shape on the end and put it in my piercing. I had no way to know that those baby steps would lead to me offering them to other people for sale and coming up with ideas for new designs in my sleep. I had no clue that I would open an Etsy shop for my jewellery and that my designs for nose piercings would become so popular that I would open a little shop dedicated just to them. It's been a long journey and I'm so proud of my Rock Your Nose (http:RockYourNose.Etsy.com) shop.

Because my designs are motivated from my own experience, I always make the highest quality pieces that I can. I use glue very occasionally to hold Swarovski crystals to the sterling stem, but only as a matter of necessity - there is no other way to get them to stay in place. For my other pieces, I use traditional fabrication methods of silver soldering and melting with my torch. Each pin in my pieces is handmade by me. I know, I know, I could purchase headpins and use them instead but I take a lot of pride in what I do and in what I provide to the customers who support me in my work. I will be updating my listings to offer screw studs that are customized for a left or a right piercing because there is nothing more uncomfortable than trying to fit a screw end made for the wrong side. My work as an artist has grown, as has my imagination. I'm always coming up with new ideas and am currently waiting for some beads that will add some fun and spark to some of my dangle studs and my hoops. Every day is a new adventure :)

A Project in Motion

When is my site ever idle or stagnant? Never it seems. I became dissatisfied with the look of Rock Your Wire (http://rockyourwire.etsy.com/) and felt the need to remove the rock and leaf, and all things distracting in the background, which led me to the local dollar store in search of backgrounds. This time I chose some colored foam and started taking photos and I was (am) SO pleased with the result!


I adore the deep, rich colors and the way the pieces are showcased against the clear, bright backdrop.

I've heard that your photos are a continual work in progress when you sell online, and I can honestly say that this has been my greatest challenge - creating photos that
work well for my work and for my customers shopping experience. I hope I've gotten there - finally!

There is So Much to be Grateful For

I'm looking out my studio window while the sun illuminates the leaves on the trees across the road and I'm thinking that I'm grateful for my view, for being able to see, and for so many things in my life.

If any of you read one of my earlier posts about the health challenges I've been facing, this will be an update for you. I finally received my diagnosis - I have MS. I knew it in all the fibers of my being, and in a way, it was a relief to be able to put a name to this previously nameless thing. Am I scared? You bet. But I am alive. And I'm grateful for all that I have - because today I have relative health, and family, and things to look forward to. I have a little business that's growing daily, a list of customers who admire what I do, and a head full of creations that are waiting to be made. I've made connections with people through my business and am grateful that they're willing to tell others about me, like Gabby at http://inspiteofmycrazyself.blogspot.com/, whose writings I love to read.

Behind me is my bench, my torch, my sterling and rocks and all the things that make me feel alive. And I am deeply grateful.

How Exciting!!

When I launched my Etsy shop "RockYourNose"
(http://rockyournose.etsy.com/) I just knew I wanted to have some real gold pieces available, so with great trepidation (gold is expensive!), I bought some gold and got started.


I created this lovely flower out of 14 karat gold and listed it for sale in the shop. It was viewed just over one hundred times and I wondered if I had made a mistake in thinking there was a marketplace for quality, handmade gold nose jewellery.


Yesterday my fears were proved unfounded when it sold. Now the exciting thing is not only that it sold but where it went. I shipped a package today to Israel! It's incredible for me to think that something made by my own hands will be worn by a woman who lives halfway around the world from me. It is inspiring and humbling all at the same time.

What to Do When You Have a Block?

Blockages occur in all kinds of things: drainpipes, arteries, rivers and streams, writing, painting, and just about any other creative process. I've been thinking about writing in my blog for a long time now, but have been experiencing writer's block. I figured, "what the heck"? - let's write about that!

I suppose it's a thing that's not new to most folks who are creative. That moment we experience when we just can't do that thing we always do so well. Perhaps that's what makes it the most frustrating; the knowledge that we can do this because we've done it so many times before but this time...this time... something is stuck.

The night before last I heard something on a TV documentary I was watching about the life of Johnny Cash. There was a colleague of his who is a songwriter (and I wish I could remember his name but sometimes I don't catch those little details). Anyway, this man is a great songwriter and he said something that helped me to get a little less stuck. He was speaking about his writing process and he said, "don't think about it. Just do it."

Powerful stuff, I thought: Just DO it. Today, thanks to him, I am just doing it.

Taking a Break!

Oh man, have I been busy the last two days! My last post mentioned thinking about moving my nose jewellery to it's own shop and I decided it had to be done so the last two days have been work driven getting it done. It's not totally completed but I created the shop, took photos, and listed 28 items - no easy feat. I am SO pleased with the cohesive look of the shop and can't wait to continue stocking it with neat items.

I have gold waiting for me at the post office so be on the lookout for new pieces made from 14 karat gold wire. Check out the new shop if you get a chance: http://rockyournose.etsy.com/. I figured it makes sense to stick with the "Rock Your" name - branding of sorts. Let me know what you think.

What's the Diff - Argentium or Sterling?

There's a (relatively) new kid on the block when it comes to silver, and its called "Argentium". It's use is spreading due to it's tarnish resistant nature. I've heard people go so far as to call it superior to traditional sterling silver, but in my mind, it is not superior - only different.

Traditional sterling silver is an alloy of 925 parts silver to 75 parts (usually) copper. This helps to provide some strength to the metal, as pure silver is quite soft. The copper though, also helps to tarnish the metal. Personally, I love sterling silver that gets some black in the grooves of the piece because it really helps enhance the details but many people like their metal bright and shiny.

Argentium is also an alloy, but one made of silver and germanium. It is resistant to tarnish and cleans up quite nicely, often just in a warm soapy bath. I find if I leave it out and exposed to air it goes a kind of goldish, brassy colour. What is important to me in the difference between these two metals is their applications - what I do with them and how come I choose that particular one for the job.

When using the torch to ball up the little end of the metal for use as headpins, nose jewellery, the little bud earrings I make, or the ball end earwires I often use, I choose which one based on what I want the outcome to be. Argentium makes very smooth, fluid little balls, whereas traditional sterling makes little balls that are slightly pitted, or cratered. In the photos below, the first photo shows earrings made with Argentium, and the second shows traditional sterling - see the difference?

If I'm going for a smooth sleek look, I'll choose the Argentium, but if I want something a little more earthy and organic looking, it's traditional sterling silver hands down every time.

Customer Rewards Program

Today I'm launching my customer rewards program. As a small business owner, I believe it is important to reward customers who shop with me and refer their friends to shop with me. I know the world has changed, and we're living in an electronic age, but the basics of business have not changed. Business is about relationships and communication - key elements to the success of any venture.

The rewards program is very simple. You refer a friend. When the friend purchases from me, they tell me the Etsy username of the person who referred them, and you get a gift certificate sent to you for 15% off. I hope to issue lots of them!

Oh, and I created a new design of sterling silver hand forged nose studs that launched yesterday: