Meet the Designer: Becky Nunn of Nunn Design
Nunn Design offers beautifully detailed jewelry-making components that instantly add an artisan feel to any design. They work wonderfully together and can be used in a wide variety of jewelry-making and craft techniques. Becky Nunn is the face behind the Nunn Design name. Becky has visited us many times on the Artbeads Cafe, where she’s made beautiful jewelry designs like the Maple Seeds earrings and Andromeda jewelry set above. She’s even created amazing video tutorials for innovative techniques like creating colored resin, creating sculptured relief within bezels, wire wrapping around rings, and more. Every Nunn Design collection becomes a beautiful addition to their line of high-quality components:
We love getting to know the designers we work with, so Becky Nunn answered some of our questions to give you more insight into Nunn Design and to inspire you on your jewelry-making journey.
How did you get started making jewelry and components to make jewelry?
I was born and raised in Southeast Alaska where I spent the summer months gathering organics to create with. My first collection of jewelry was created at the age 10 of wood from the bark of trees from the forest behind our home. I gathered, dried and drew colorful designs with paints onto tree bark. I then sealed the pieces with a clear Deco Podge and glued pins onto the backs to create brooches. At the time, I had no idea that people actually did what I was doing for a living (well, maybe not with tree bark, but wood is currently a hot trend!) It took me another 25 years of studying graphic design, marketing, business and manufacturing to return to what I was naturally inclined to create from a young age.
Becky Nunn still loves adding organics to her jewelry designs. She encased small flowers in resin on various Nunn Design components.
As an entrepreneur, I am continually looking for niches in the market place that are not being met. I started my first business over 25 years ago in the stationery industry. The company that I co-founded was one of the first companies to create high-end recycled stationery products produced from post-consumer waste. After selling my company, I had a 2 year non-compete agreement within the stationery industry. Since I knew I couldn’t manufacture what I was familiar with, I looked for other products that I could create using the channels of manufacturing that I knew and had established. I founded Nunn Design 19 years ago, a company dedicated to selling components to artisans to create finished jewelry with.
What inspires your creations? What keeps your creativity flowing?
The mission of Nunn Design is: Through collaborative relationships, Nunn Design inspires and nurtures creativity. Being true to this mission is a passion for me. When I’m developing new products, I am not just thinking about making beautiful findings. I think a great deal about how I am going to inspire others to create and how my customers are going to use the jewelry components. I find the aspect of designing components that a variety of jewelry artists are able to create with to be very creatively challenging.
Nunn Design items certainly inspire us here at Artbeads. Our designers love using them in their designs, like the Astoria Necklace, Blue Ridge Mountains Earrings, and the Moira Necklace.
What are your essential jewelry-making tools?
Since I’m mostly working with mixed-media mediums, such as resin and clay, my essential tools are wet-wipes. I really am addicted to them! One of the things that I like about the Nunn Design Jewelry Findings is that they require very simple jewelry making tools, such as a pliers and flush cutters. Those too are essential.
What are some of your other hobbies?
I love to travel, go junking (flea market and antique shows), watch movies, walk and eat really good food. I also enjoy reading business books about marketing and leadership.
Favorite color?
Black. Sorry, but I struggle deciding, so I just go with black.
Black is a timeless yet bold color for any design. We love how it looks in Becky’s custom glitter teardrop pendants.
What’s your favorite type of jewelry to make?
I’m currently in love with Nunn Design 2-Part Resin over Crystal Clay.
Where is your favorite place to create?
I find that I have to totally unplug from running a business in order to fully immerse myself into my creative exploration. I typically block out a week of time at a stretch and work from home on my kitchen table. Although I could build a beautiful studio at work, I think it is really important to create in the same way that many of our customers are going to be creating; in make shift spaces. My husband built me a bookshelf on wheels that I can wheel out of my bedroom, pull all my baskets from under my bed and set-up my studio for the week. I typically work 12 hour days during my creative week and once the creative juices have passed, I pack up the make shift studio and return to my office. My family is very supportive of picnics in the living room during this week of total creative chaos. They know that creating jewelry makes me really happy.
One piece of advice for beginners?
If you are new to jewelry making, you are in good company. The techniques that we inspire and teach are very forgiving and are designed with a beginning jewelry artist in mind, yet sophisticated enough to attract a more advanced maker. Own that you are a beginner and let go of that inner critic. When we all learned to walk, talk, and eat I’m sure we all looked a wee bit silly. Let yourself be new at something. It takes time to learn something new. Even simple things such as holding a tool in a certain way is foreign and needs practice. Allow yourself time and be patient.
We loved getting to know more about Becky Nunn’s creative inspiration and we can’t wait to work with her latest collections!
