On The Cheap

I love making jewelry and, in fact, I make ALOT of jewelry.  I tend to like expensive beads and pendants and the like. But, I also like inexpensive beads and such.  My butterfly necklace and earrings cost me less than $5.00 to make, excluding the wire and toggle (my preference in clasps).  Wire is cheap and so are toggles (for the most part).  The beads and the butterfly were purchased from Walmart.  I didn't buy them to go together but once I started playing with my beads, I really liked the look of the two together.  I also added in a few silver spacers.  Together, they make a nice beautiful, somewhat dressy, necklace and earring set.  Enjoy!

Everyday Wear - Lapis Lazuli Necklace

I have a number of blue necklaces but I wanted something that I could wear on an everyday basis with jeans and the like.  Nothing too fancy.  I went through my stash of  blue beads and found several shapes and sizes of Lapis Lazuli beads.  I also found a small heart!  I love it when I can put together a piece of jewelry using different beads that I already have on hand and that fortunately work well together.  I first chose some chips, followed by some very small seed beads, probably a size 11, and another roundish/rectangle shaped beads (I am sure they have a name but I don't know what it is).  I played around with the beads for a while to get a pattern that I really like. It was so easy to make!   

Diagonal Peyote Stitch Bracelet

I love the Peyote stitch, especially the even count which is the only one I knew how to do until about two weeks ago.  The diagonal Peyote stitch is very similar to the even count stitch in that you start it the same way. Ultimately though, where the even count is just that, even, the diagonal requires you to add beads and then drop beads. 

This bracelet is beautiful and was so easy to make!  It took me less than two hours to make it from beginning to end.  I plan to make more in different colors. One of the really cool things about it is that you can use different size and shape beads, ranging from round seed beads to square beads, which ultimately gives you a completely different looking bracelet.  

I wish that I could have gotten a better picture of the clasp because it is beautiful. It is gold, has the shape of an X on it with diamond like teeny stones!

Turquoise necklace and earrings!

I love turquoise jewelry.  I recently made this necklace and earrings.  There are three different size turquoise beads as well as the pendant and brass spacer beads.  I bought all of them separately without knowing what I was going to do with them.  I decided to put them all together.  The beads graduate in size and are divided by the spacers.  The second strand is different than the first.  The finished product is far better than I had hoped.  Hope you like it too!

Buttons Make Beautiful Focal Pieces

I love making jewelry with buttons as the focal piece.  Some buttons have so much character!  I made this necklace Memorial Day weekend using a button as the focal piece, brownish/gold beads, brass spacer beads and a small roundish bead that incorporates the colors of the larger beads and the buttons.  It turned out beautiful!  I can't wait to wear it!

Cuff bracelet

I love this cuff bracelet.  Obviously, I did not make the cuff itself, but I did embellish it.  I have made a total of 4 of them.  One for myself, one for a friend, one for my daughter and the other for another friend's birthday. Shhhhhhh!  Don't tell anyone, it is a surprise!