A New Necklace for a New Year

The first new item in my etsy shop for 2012 is a stunner, if I do say so myself.  I started with a circle I fused from fine silver wire.  After hammering it for texture, I started to add dangles of white keshi pearls and pink tourmaline.  It sat like that for a week or more before I decided how to complete the necklace.  Once I found that gorgeous ruby briolette, the necklace came together pretty quickly.

To see the necklace from some other angles, click on the photo.  It will take you directly to the listing in my etsy shop.

New Amazonite Necklace

This necklace features a style I've done several times over the past two years.  I start with a good sized briolette.  I secure the top with sterling silver wire and begin stacking gems and pearls on top.  It's a fun design to execute.

This particular piece starts with an amazonite briolette.  I topped it with white keshi pearls,turquoise rounds, apatite rounds and Peruvian opal rondelles.  I like this style best when hanging from sterling snake chain.

Click on the photo to go directly to the listing in my etsy shop.

New Year :: New Designs

This is the time of year when I try to come up with new jewelry designs. I feel like "time is on my side" and I can just try out some new ideas without worrying about upcoming shows or building tons of inventory.

These new earrings feature pearls that have been in my possession for quite some time. It's amazing to me that I've been looking at these keshi pearls for at least 4 years and never thought to use them like this before. Lesson learned -- look at your supplies with a fresh perspective. You never know what may come of it!

Click on the photo to go directly to the listing in my etsy shop. You may want to consider signing up for my newsletter (form is to the right). I'm having a huge sale right now!

Classy and Classic

These brand new earrings in my etsy shop are petite, but quite special. I started with little plump briolettes of smoky quartz. Above them, I added a loose cluster of white keshi pearls. The color combination of cocoa brown and creamy white is so elegant.

I always hang these type of super-special earrings from leverback earwires for maximum security. Plus, I think they add a bit of formality to the look.

These earrings are great for a party and equally perfect for every day wear. They are for sale in my etsy shop. Click on the photo to go directly to the listing.

Remember, free shipping continues through year end!

Silvery Gray Pearls

These earrings are so simple, yet so striking. I started with silvery gray keshi stick shaped pearls. I put them on handmade oxidized sterling silver head pins. Then I attached them to matching earwires and voila, a perfect pair of earrings for everyday wear.

These types of pearls are purchased in temporarily strung strands, like most other pearls. (The really expensive ones are sold individually.) When I cut the strands to start working with them, it's always interesting to see if there are any 2 that are similar enough to make a pair! When looking at round or roundish pearls on temporary strands, it's easier to see if the pearls are uniform in size and shape. These stick pearls are much more difficult to judge.

These are the last 2 pearls of this color that make an acceptable pair. Sigh.

Chalcedony Necklace

The name Chalcedony refers to wide variety of stones including jasper, agate, onyx and carnelian. It comes in many colors. This pendant features a faceted nugget in a light blue. It's a little bit freeform and is drilled across the top.

I've topped the nugget with a cluster of freshwater pearls, fluorite, keshi pearls and iolite. Many more little iolite rondelles flow down the sides, in waterfall fashion. This necklace is most definitely one-of-a-kind, as I obtained this nugget as part of a bead trade with a very good friend and and talented bead artist, Linda Smith of "Mistress of Chaos".

Inspiration and a Bouquet of One

Whatever your art supplies may be -- beads, paints, paper, fabric, all of the above -- on some days they just look boring. You've seen them all before. You love them like the dear friends they are, but they aren't providing the necessary inspiration. What to do?

Go for a walk. With your dog. We walk everyday, on one of two routes: to the inlet or around the Birchwood ariport. While this can seem quite boring to me, Xena never tires of it. Each day she finds something new to sniff, a new rock to climb on, a new leaf to paw and new dirt to scratch at.

Inspired by Xena's view of the world, I looked at my beads with new vision. I've had these petal pearls for years, and the amethyst, well, I've had a bunch of these since 2000! I never looked at them together before. Then the length of wire was in my hands and the wrapping began.

I searched through the little ziploc of completed, but unused fine silver elements and these 2 irregular pieces surfaced. This flower was meant to be created that day.

Look at your art supplies with a new perspective. Maybe another flower will be born, or maybe you will create something even more fabulous than you can imagine.

The Bracelet is Complete!

I have finished the custom bracelet I was working on. I think it turned out lovely and very bridal. Oh, I recently learned that my customer will wear this bracelet and the earrings on her wedding day. They are having a beach wedding at a secluded resort in Vietnam. The love story that envelops this couple is truly amazing and I'm honored to be part of their special day.

I think this bracelet will look fabulous with the earrings!

Progress on the Bracelet

Now that I've completed the base of the bracelet (see yesterday's post), it's time to consider the surface embellishment.

I start with some headpins to help me figure out what the "short stacks" (aka surface embellishment) should look like. Keeping the earrings close by for reference, I experiment with different combinations of beads, including the keshi pearls and the textured silver beads found in the earring clusters. I work from a small flat bowl to keep those pesky seed beads contained!

I finally decided to use some silver lined crystal rainbow and beige lined crystal seed beads, both size 11. The combination of these most closely matches the creamy ivory color of the large pearls in the earrings. This close up photo shows the final results of the embellishment decision. I will use size 15 white seed beads as the topper for the 3 different stacks. Also included are some 2 mm sterling silver round beads, which look just like the ball ends of the head pins used in the earrings. I'm happy with the continuity.I hook the loop end of the clasp to the gizmo Rick made for me many years ago. It makes working on the bracelet so much easier than working on a flat surface.This last photo shows the resulting texture on the surface of the bracelet from adding the "short stacks".

Creative Muse

My creative muse was here for an extended visit last week and I shamelessly took advantage of her presence. I made a series of earrings that I'm exceptionally pleased with. The more difficult part was the photo shoot, but that went surprisingly well also.

If you read my previous post, you can see that the view from my work area this time of year is composed of much white -- ice and snow. This pair of earrings exemplifies what I was feeling as I gazed out that window.

You all know that I have a serious problem with collecting pearls. These are probably the most luxurious ones I've ever purchased. They measure a generous 11 mm across. The luster is spectacular and there is a hint of pink when the light hits them from a certain angle.

Sigh.

Iolite and Keshi Pearl Necklace

I just listed this brand new necklace in my etsy shop. I love the simplicity of it. The blue colors -- think jeans -- make this a necklace you can wear everyday.

Faceted rondelles and faceted rectangles of pale blue iolite are joined by peacock keshi pearls to form the cluster. This is suspended from a circle that I fused from fine silver wire. The chain is sterling silver. I oxidized all of the silver and then tumbled it for that shiny steel gay finish.

Click on the photo to go directly to the listing and see more photos of this necklace. Or, click here to go to my etsy shop.

Two New Pairs of Earrings

Faceted briolettes and keshi pearls ... there's something about the combination that works well for me. This first pair features longish amethyst briolettes that I have topped with a cluster of peacock colored keshi pearls. I like to put these types of earrings on leverback earwires for the security offered by such findings.

The second pair of earrings has a more delicate look. I started with shorter and plumper gray quartz briolettes, which are actually a very blue gray. Topping these is a loose cluster of very small white keshi pearls.

Recently, I changed the background color for some of my photographs. I had been using handmade papers, then for a short time switched to a very white background. Those photos seemed boring to me. Now, I'm trying out this charcoal gray colored paper. I quite like the look.

Don't forget to sign up for my etsy shop newsletter to be informed about specials and sales. The sign up form is to the right.

Marcasite & Keshi Pearls

Recently listed in my etsy shop is this lovely necklace featuring olive green keshi pearls and perfectly round marcasite beads.

The keshi pearls are in a cup-like shape and the headpins that hold them in place have a ball at the end that makes the combination look a little like a flower. The grayish green color of the marcasite beads is a perfect complement to the pearls. This cluster hangs from a circle of fine silver wire that I shaped and fused from wire.

I purchased the marcasite beads from my friend Deb at Crysallis Creations. I had never seen marcasite in bead form before -- only as little sparkling elements.

Rolo style chain is my latest favorite. The links are round and substantial. I oxidized all of the silver and tumbled it for a sleek, polished gray finish.

Labradorite Flash Earrings

I purchased two strands of these fabulous labradorite briolettes from my friend Deb of Crysallis Creations. After I made a pair of earrings for myself, I decided I could *maybe* part with a few of these beads. But it's torture. They are so gorgeous ... words and pictures are insufficient to convey how beautiful they really are.

Labradorite is a gray, mostly translucent stone that can have lots of inclusions. That's what makes them so visually interesting. There is also an element of "flash" that is visible when viewed at a certain angle. These briolettes are full of blue-ish flash.

For these earrings, I topped them with three petal shaped keshi pearls in a creamy off-white color. They hang loosely and move freely. All of the silver is sterling and has been oxidized to a dark gray, then hand sanded, revealing some of the silvery color of the metal. These earrings are for sale in my etsy shop.