Creations made with pliers and her own hands
By:Vanessa S. Holt
ROEBLING Dottie Arnao creates jewelry with curls and whorls of thin gold and silver wire, framing colorful stones with delicate metal scrollwork.
She works on her jewelry at home, and in her spare time throughout the day, builds a small business with an Internet storefront.
No soldering torch or other heavy equipment is required to make "wire-wrapped" jewelry, so the crafter can travel light, with beads, wires, and a pair of pliers.
She will demonstrate the delicate art of wire-wrapping at the A New You makeover studio and boutique on South Broad Street, Trenton, on March 1.
Some of Ms. Arnao’s jewelry is for sale at the boutique, which is owned by Roebling neighbor Donna Tolafero.
Ms. Arnao said wire-wrapped jewelry was appealing to her because it can be done entirely by hand.
Wire-wrapped jewelry is different from silversmithed jewelry because the artist does not use a soldering iron.
Armed with only pliers and her own hands, Ms. Arnao creates elaborate swirls of metal around semi-precious gemstones to create pendants, rings, bracelets and other wearable works of art.
"This has become fun and relaxing," she said.
Her interest in jewelry making began with the simple desire to make jewelry that she would like to wear.
A special education teacher, Ms. Arnao has always worked on crafts in her free time and began to take classes from a Yardville silversmith a few years ago.
Since then, she has taken additional classes in Louisiana and studied books, magazines and videos on the art of wire-wrapped jewelry.
She named her business Tuttles’ Trinkets after her late mother, Betty Arnao, who was nicknamed "Tuttles."
Ms. Arnao said her mother, who enjoyed sewing, crocheting and knitting, inspired her to find her own creative outlet.
"She taught me that if I kept my hands and mind busy, I would never fear idle time," said Ms. Arnao.
Some of her most popular pieces include heart-shaped stones made into pendants and earrings and wire-sculpted angels, butterflies and dragonflies.
The story behind one piece, "Sadie’s Butterfly," is particularly amusing. She was looking for a spot in her house with enough indoor light to photograph a butterfly pin and followed her cat, Sadie, who always naps in sunny spots.
Sure enough, the feline found a bright corner and was only briefly evicted from her napping spot for the photo shoot.
Because every piece is handmade, no two are exactly alike.
"You just see what happens," she said. "The wire doesn’t always go the same way every time."
In addition to creating her own designs which she sells at craft fairs and on the Internet, she creates settings for loose stones that customers bring to her.
She also has recently begun to make watchbands, bracelets and wine glass charms and would like to do more with faceted stones in the future.
Because she mainly uses semi-precious stones such as black onyx, rose quartz, agate, aventurine and jade, she has done a great deal of research into the history and lore of the various gemstones.
The Tuttles’ Trinkets Web site explains some of the reputed properties of the stones and describes where each is from.
For example, purple amethyst can be found in Brazil, Russia, Japan and several other countries and is reputed by folklorists to promote peace, stability and healing, while moonstones bring good fortune and dreams.
Whether they actually have those properties or not, however, Ms. Arnao said, the stones do bring many of her customers quite a few compliments.
The demonstration she will hold at A New You, located at 449 S. Broad St. in Trenton, will be the first in a series of First Friday Open Studio events, featuring local artists and crafters.
The demonstration will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. March 1. For directions to A New You, call (609) 392-2202.
For more information about Tuttles’ Trinkets, contact Ms. Arnao at (609) 499-1867 or visit the Web page at www.tuttlestrinkets.com.