Green No Rhyme or Reason

I really loved the black/silver No Rhyme or Reason necklace I made so I decided to make a second one using green as the main color.  I made it longer than the first so that the many different beads and findings are prominently displayed and not hidden behind my hair.  Hope you like it to!

No Rhyme or Reason - Necklace

I was inspired by Tammy, owner of Tada Artisan and Bead Shop, for this necklace.  It is made of quite a few different and interesting beads and findings.  As my name of the piece depicts, there is no rhyme or reason for the various mediums used and the placement of them.  I love it and can't wait to wear it!

Agate necklace and matching earrings

I was in a weird place over the weekend (happens quite frequently actually) and made a number of necklaces.  This necklace is made out of three differrent beads. There is the large agate that is a very unusual color.  It borders on green/gray. There is a raised surface in the middle of the bead. The round beads are also agate and about the same strange color.  In between I added greenish/grayish crystals.  I love the look.  While I did take the time to make matching earrings, I failed to take a picture of them!  That should give you an idea of where I my head was at the time!

Red, Black and Bold

I really like wearing bold jewelry!  I think it is because I dress so conservatively for the most part.  I had this necklace along time ago with a pendant but I really did not like it.  I took it apart and just added black crystal beads between the red.  It is strikingly beautiful!

Cobalt Blue Porcelain Necklace

For Christmas, as part of my pollyanna at work, I got the four diamond shaped cobalt blue porcelain beads found in this necklace.  I found the oval ones while at the bead show in Hampton last month.  They were a perfect match.  This necklace, and matching earrings, are made using the porcelain beads, solid blue round beads and silver spacers.  I know the exact sweater that I plan to wear these at for their initial wear.

Getting involved

and learning new things.  I have been interested for a while in different gems and how to identify them.  I am so excited that there is a society that can help me.  I am going to join The Gem and Mineral Society of the Virginia Peninsula.  http://www.gmsvp.com/.  They meet the first Thursday of every month.  I am really looking forward to it.

Also, there is The Bead Society of Southeastern Virginia.  They meet once a month also, the third Sunday of every month. They also have a website.  http://bssv.org/. 

Check them out!  You might just learn some interesting stuff! 

Fresh Water Pearls

This is a simple but pretty necklace made of fresh water pearls and double sterling silver plated spacers. 

Green Quartz Wire Wrapped pendant

I made my second wire wrapped necklace this weeked. The stone is faceted green quartz and it is really a beautiful stone.  The wire I used to wrap it is 21 gauge round soft silver. The binding is 21 guage half round soft silver.  The beads on the necklace are silver plated.  The pendant is easily removable from the necklace so the necklace can be worn by itself and the pendant can be worn with something else.  Two for one!

Fashion mistake - or not

I was recently informed that it is a fashion mistake to wear matching earrings, necklace and bracelet. Has anyone heard that before?  Supposedly it is OK to wear two matching pieces but not the third. 

Christmas is coming

and I am beginning to make jewelry for presents.  I always make things that I like.  It makes it easier that way. When I begin a project, and even sometimes after it is complete, I have no idea who I am making it for. That decision comes later.  Here is my first gift set. As you can see, it is a ribbon on a necklace. I used two different size beads and silver double spacers.  The beads have varying colors in them. They blend well to match the ribbon. I always love how I buy different things at different times and they end up working perfectly with something I bought earlier. The ribbon and both sets of stones were bought at different times and different places.

Blue Picasso beads, pendant, brass findings, spacers, and clasp.

This necklace is a remake of any earlier one I made that I did not like because it did not sit well. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the first necklace. I like this one so much better!  And, it sits well too!  The pendant is fun. It can actually be worn with the other side of the pendant facing up and it would have a different look. Forgot to take a picture of that part!  The blue beads are called blue picasso beads. In between the blue picasso beads are blue glass cathedral beads. There are three different spacer beads, 15 each. Flat, round and smaller rounds. The clasp is brass as well.  I DO like my brass colored findings!

Blue and gold Necklace

I have recently started liking some chunkiness in my jewelry. This piece is a two strand blue and gold necklace.  It is longer than I normally wear but I want to start being different with my jewelry.  Some of the beads I purchased from the bead show this weekend.  Others, I purchased specifically to go to together. While you can't really tell it, there are some small opals in strategic places through both strands.

The first picture is the main and longest strand. The second picture is the second strand. Finally, the third picture is the final necklace.  It is very interesting!

Bead Show!

I love bead shows.  I have not been to one in over a year because of my hateful foot.  I went to the Intergalatic Bead Show in Hampton yesterday and made up for lost time.  It was not a big show but I got awesome buys!

I bought 6 pendants, two which cost $2.00 each, three which cost $1.00 each and another one which is real gemstone and I won't tell you how much that cost.  I plan to wire wrap at least two of the stones.  I could barely sleep last night just thinking about how I was going to wrap them!

I bought quite a few strands of some really nice beads that were only $2.00 a strand.  I couldn’t resist!  I bought a number of various spacers of different sizes and colors; gold, silver, brass!  I really like brass spacers. I even ventured out and bought things that I would not have thought about buying before because I want to try different things!  I want to add more visual interest to some of my pieces and add bulky pieces to more demure pieces.  Such fun it is going to be!  I also bought several real silver toggle clasps that were very unique and I have never run across anything like them before.  I can’t wait to get started!

Pretty in Pink!

This necklace is really very simple. It is nice and chunky, which gives it a really nice bold look.  The beads are pink with brown marbled throughout.  The beads I used for spacers are topaz in color, which brings out the marbling in the pink beads.  The clasp is heart shape.  I like using pretty clasps (findings) because they add interest to the necklace, especially if you have shorter hair.

Crystal Diagonal Peyote Pick-Up Necklace

When I learn something new, I always like to make it a second time because after the second time I feel like I really know what I am doing.  Last week I posted this same necklace, only it was bronzy looking with multi-colored fresh water pearls. 

I made this necklace using crystal colored size 8 Delicas and black beads for the pick-up.  It really turned out nice, was a lot easier this time around, and is more perfect than the first one. I want to make matching earrings but I do not have enough beads left over to make them. Next weekend I will visit Tada and pick up at least one more vial (or maybe 2 and make a matching bracelet!).

 

Pearls and Delicas

This necklace is my first attempt at adding pearls (or any other bead) to the diaganol peyote stitch.  In fact, it is my first attempt at making a necklace using any of the peyote stitches.  The necklace is made out of size 8 metallic Delica beads and multi-colored fresh water pearls.  It is far from perfect but it is my first try and I love it!  I plan to make another one real soon as I have learned that if I repeat new techniques after the initial one, that the knowledge sinks in better.  I am wearing this necklace today! 

Pearls and Delicas

Wire wrapped Cameo Cabachon

I took a wire wrapping class yesterday at Tada.  I chose a cameo cabachon to wrap. Wrapping was done with two different size silver wires - 21 qauge soft square wire for everything but the binding. For the binding, I used 21 quage soft half round wire.  The necklace is made with black agate and small silver round beads.  I have always liked cameos.

Matching set

This necklace is made out of a sort of button.  I added medium brown wooden seed beads and the other square beads are a greenish/brown combination, just like the button.  I didn't buy them all together but they sure went well together once I got started.    I topped it off with a matching bracelet and earrings.  The colors are It is one of my earlier pieces and is just basic stringing.  Basic stringing is still my favorite thing to do.  I consider myself a stringer! 

Thinking of Grandma

My grandmother has long since passed away but when she was alive she would remove buttons from clothing before discarding them.  When she passed away, I inherited her buttons.  I wanted to do something special with the buttons. First I decorated plain wreaths with buttons of various colors and sizes.  Another thing I did was decorate plain picture frames with the buttons.  Both projects turned out delightful. But, my favorite is using one of the buttons as a focal piece on a necklace.  I bought a bale and some beautiful purple beads and made this necklace and matching earrings. As you will see, the button is just beautiful!  Whenever I wear this piece I have warm and wonderful memories of my grandmother!

 

Everyday Wear - Black Necklace and Earrings

A nice toggle clasp is a good way to finish off a necklace or earring.  Sometimes the clasps are so nice that I like to put them on so that they are on the side and can be another visual for the necklace. That is exactly what I did on this necklace.  I also made two very different sets of matching earrings.  It is nice sometimes to have a choice.

Silver and Gold earrings

I love these earrings and the silver and gold mixture.  I made them using size 11 Delica beads, 24 K plated gold and galvanized silver. The beads were somewhat expensive but worth every cent.  There are 192 beads in each earring, plus the larger bead on the end of each earring.  Needless to say, they took me quite a while to make but I think I now have the diaganol peyote stitch down pat!  I want to try to make a bracelet and perhaps necklace to match but I want to try using a bigger size bead.  I love the end results, and the best part is that I can wear them with either gold or silver!

My finger got in the way of taking this picture but the black lamp really made the colors stick out!

Turquoise Starfish

Necklace and earrings.  I made this necklace and matching earrings quite some time ago.  I am posting them because everytime I wear them I get compliments on them, especially the necklace.  The technique here is very simple, in fact it is basic stringing!  No matter how many other things I learn, my favorite is still basic stringing.  I love taking some beads and wire and putting together something that speaks to me.  It never fails to amaze me that a few odds and ends beads can make something so beautiful!

Woof Woof - It's LouLou!

One of the things that have brought me the most joy since the death of my husband is my beautiful, loving dog, LouLou!  She is even named after my husband.  I was at the bead store one Friday night lock-in when I found a cute little doggie pendant that looked like my LouLou so, of course, I had to have it!  I took the pendant and added some wooden seed beads and some ceramic beads that look like they came with the LouLou pendant and made this delightful and fun necklace and earrings.  It is my LouLou necklace!  My son said he thinks it is his favorite piece of jewelry that I have made to date!  Well that made me happy!  I am adding a picture of LouLou (the real LouLou) in so that you can see for yourself how much the pendant looks like her!

Red, Yellow and Turquoise

I made this necklace earlier this year that was nice and colorful. I call it my easter egg necklace because the beads actually look like those kind of eggs that people hide for egg hunts. After I learned out to make the diaganol peyote earrings, I decided to make a pair to go with this necklace.  I used three of the colors in the necklace for the earrings, one for each staging of the beads.  The results are awesome (or so I think)! 

Diagonal Peyote Earrings

I love these earrings.  This was my first try at using miniscule size 11 Japanese Delica beads.  You can see how small they are in the picture here with a dime.  It took me 6 hours to make this pair of earrings but I feel confident that the next pair will be alot easy and alot more colorful!  I already have them planned out!

Mother of Pearl

I wore this necklace yesterday and got a number of compliments so I decided to post pictures of it.  The heart shaped mother of pearl pendant has an etched flower design.  The round beads are also mother of pearl.  The spacers and the clasp are gun metal.  I really like the clasp that I chose for this necklace.

Multi-bead double strand necklace

I had this yellow pendant, which is made out of dichoric glass.  There are shades of blue and green in the pendant as well, depending on how you move it.  I decided to make a double strand necklace out of it using one I found in a book as inspiration.  Many thanks to Tammy for helping me in my selection of beads.  In addition to the pendant, I used 16 different colors and shapes of beads to complete the necklace.  It did not turn out quite like I hoped but it is still beautiful!