The artists and owners of 180 Degree Design are:

Dalene Smith	Linda Bedinger	Charlie Our Mascot

Dalene and Linda are refugees of the corporate world.  For both of us, a love of jewelry, the need to be creative, intense curiosity, and a desire to share our excitement about what we do drives 180 Degree Design.  And Charlie, the proud owner of some pretty snazzy dog jewelry, is never far away. 

We are often asked how it is we have such a variety of styles and where our ideas come from.  It’s simple...we are both pretty easily amused.  So many styles and kinds of jewelry, so little time!  The need to be creative and to provide something that puts a smile on someone’s face are strong driving instincts for us. 

We both have a strong sense of values and want to share our world with others, so we have finally acquiesced and created a website.  We\'ve moved from a few pieces of jewelry to overflowing jewelry boxes, and to filled jewelry studios so the website was the next logical step.  We hope you will enjoy what you see.  Please share your comments and ideas with us and be sure to  visit often.  There will be new material and styles monthly! 

We are located in beautiful Colorado.  Dalene is a transplant from Iowa and Linda is a third generation Coloradoan.  Dalene has custody of Charlie and her extended family lives back in Nebraska.  Linda has an incredibly supportive husband and two grown boys also living in Colorado.

Wire Wrap

You will also see some pieces that are the result of a technique called wire wrap.  These pieces are all hand made with the wire being hand manipulated to achieve the result.  Wire comes in round ,square, and half round shapes and different degrees of hardness.  Wire pieces are combined and bound together to create a bezel and bale to hold a stone, piece of glass, shell or whatever you can imagine.  Virtually if you can hold an object in your hand it can be wire wrapped.  This process makes a wire wrapped jewelry piece a one of a kind treasure.  Sometimes a design, like the collars under Women’s Jewelry – Necklaces – Extras, are all wire designs. 

Materials

We use only Gold Filled or Sterling Silver Findings (earring wires and clasps).  Gold filled is the affordable alternative to Fine Gold.  We rarely use gold or silver plate and if we do we will mark the description clearly.  The gold in gold filled pieces, unlike plate doesn’t wear off.  Many antique pieces, still available, made over 100 years ago still maintain their beautiful luster today. 

We work mostly in natural stones and semi precious material.  We use lots of handmade glass beads, and other natural materials (we’ve been known to use coconut shell, seeds and pods in some designs) all materials are clearly marked.  When we work in crystals we will generally let you know if the crystals used are Czech or Swarovski.

Questions or Special Requests
                                   
Have questions or special requests?  We would love to hear from you.  The beauty of custom work is that often you can have anything you want put together any way you would like.  Do you need something in special colors, need an unusual color combination to match something you already own?  If you have a request we will do our level best to accommodate.  If we can not meet your request we will let you know as soon as possible by e-mail.