Bacchus - God of Wine Necklace

SOLD!
This newest necklace is made with Deep Blue Freshwater Pearls, Labradorite and Sterling Silver Seed Beads. The Grape Leaf pendant is also the clasp, and I love how it turned out!

Contest

A list I created for a contest over at Etsy. Items you might give to someone for a housewarming present :)

Fuschia And Rose

I'm a redhead so I don't wear pinks very often, but I found this amazing rhodonite focal stone and several beads that matched it exactly and went where the piece took me :)

Love of Ra

SOLD!
This is a delicate 18 karat gold and pearl necklace with swarovksi crystals. I made it a couple weeks ago, but didn't post it because I was waiting for a completely sunny day to get good pictures. It's been overcast here for a while, so I just decided to bit the bullet, do the best I can with the picture, and take better pictures later when the sun comes back.

In the Dipped Leaf Tradition...

SOLD!
I love these Dipped Leaves, they just look so delicate, but they're strong and gorgeous.

Queen Titania Necklace

This is a great necklace made up entirely of Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystals. It's always amazing how much of a difference the best materials make in the final product :)

Storage

Recently I've been looking for a good way to store my beads while keeping them accessible. My solution: a wheeled kitchen island that has a flip up top, much like a sewing table. All my jewelry books fit inside on shelves, as well as All of my beads, tools, and supplies :) Finally, some real order! And I can wheel it off to the side of the room when I'm not using it. It's great :) And since I got it from walmart, it was completely affordable. And I put it together myself, which is always nice :)

Oak Leaf of Strength Necklace

SOLD!

With the smallest of the dipped leaves, this one copper, I made a unisex necklace. I love these real leaves and thought guys should have a chance at them too ;)

Lady of the Lake Labradorite Necklace

This gorgeous necklace is made with Labradorite, a semi-precious gem that reflects green light, much like an opal. :)

A Lick of Frost

SOLD!
I did something a little different with this new necklace. I love the colors and the design. It works great with jeans (several shades of blue), but is elegant enough for an evening gown. That's the kind of jewelry I most like to make. Something that dresses up whatever you're wearing, and compliments a fancy dress. Why have jewelry you can only wear once?

I also went through all my jewelry and added metric measurements last night. That was quite the project. I knew it needed to be done, but a thread on the etsy forums convinced me to make it a priority. I'm definintely a lot better with metric now ;)

Gold Dipped Birch Leaf Necklace

SOLD!
Another gold dipped leaf necklace. These pendants are just so stunning, I couldn't help but use them as soon as I got them. And really, how can you beat a real leaf dipped in gold? It's just awesome :)

Real Aspen Leaf Dipped in Gold

SOLD!
I found these gorgeous leaves at a bead show I went to a few months ago. I bought two gold leaves, and two copper leaves, and now I wish I had bought more! They're absolutely stunning, real leaves that are dried and then dipped in 24k gold. And they're strong! You can see between the veins of the leaves, but you can't bend the leaf at all. They're so pretty...

Back in the Swing of Things

It's been a couple weeks since I made anything for Etsy, so here it is! It's made with Goldstone, a very pretty material that comes in red or dark blue, and is flecked with a million tiny silver specks. :)

A Drop of Burgundy

I posted something really different tonight, they're not colors I usually work with and I love how absolutely striking it came out!

My new favorite item

For Beaders and Jewelry makers - My new favorite item is Darice's Deluxe bead organizer carrying cases from Walmart. It's crazy, but walmart has the best bead organizer around! It's a mini brief case shaped tupperware-like container with 52 little bead tight containers inside! It's great! Especially since I was gearing up to spend $90 on something very similar, because it was the best deal around. I bought two today, we'll see if I completely fill them tonight and need to buy another tomorrow ;)

Oh Starry Night

This is a Swarovski and Silver chain necklace. I love working with Swarovski Crystals, they're like holding a handful of stars. I created something similar for myself using leftover blue crystals, and loved it so much that I went out and got dark and light swarovskis, as well as clear crystals, and put them together in an alternating pattern. This way the necklace matches a whole range of blues, so you can wear it with a wider variety of outfits, including Jeans! :)

A little bit Dark

I love working with this gorgeous gunmetal grey color, and Hematite is such a beautiful stone/mineral. The twisted bugle beads used in this necklace add a bit of unexpected sparkle. Happily, this necklace also matches my Hematite Earrings I created a few weeks ago :) If I was still going out dancing at night I'd definitely keep this one for myself. It's a choker, which means that it wouldn't flail around while I dance, and it would really stand out against the skin, even in fairly dark conditions (like a night club). :)

Ancient Spiral

SOLD!
These Spiral rounds immediately attracted me when I first saw them in the bead store. I knew I'd seen the symbol somewhere before, and remember today that it was in Ireland and England, on ancient Megaliths I saw while visiting. I've always loved prehistoric art, and these are great examples of bringing the Past back into the Present.

Gift of Poseidon

SOLD!
A Gorgeous Multi Colored Freshwater Pearl and Sterling Silver Necklace.

I knew this one would go quickly, I loved making it and it came out just as I imagined, and so beautiful!

Treasure from the Sea

SOLD! Email me if you're interested in commissioning something similar. :)

Purple Pearl Drops and Fire Polished Czech Glass make up this Elegant necklace.

Nine Love Charms

Wine Glass Charms for for your Wedding or Anniversary Parties! :)

I used memory wire and pewter scrapbook charms for these great little pieces. Something handmade and completely original for your Special Day :)

Unisex Necklaces

Lately I've had terrible artist's block, so I decided to do something different, and I made necklaces that work for men or women! Sometimes switching gears is all it takes to get your creative juices flowing again!




SOLD!
SOLD!

Swarovski

I made some gorgeous Swarovski necklaces for family this weekend, I took them to my favorite bead store, had them pick out whatever they liked, and put it together for them. It was really interesting to see what my boyfriend picked out for his mother, and what my mother picked out for her goddaughter. I think I'll be making more of the same. Swarovski is just so elegant, and necklaces made up Entirely of swarovski look amazing. When I first started beading & jewelry making I really didn't understand what the big deal was, but I can look at a bead and know if it's well made now, and Swarovski is just made better and clearly differently than other beads, even with the same cut. Off to make something new :)

Spring Creations

Spring Flower matching set








Spring Leaves matching Necklace and Earring Set

Something New

Necklace SOLD!

Today I finished this gorgeous metallic green necklace and earring set. The beads were just so unique I had to make something with them as soon as I brought them home.

Cobalt Blue Slave Bracelet

Another gorgeous Slave Bracelet. I'm so pleased with how they're coming out! :)

Bead Store Shipment

The hand and feet forms from the bead store arrived today. Unfortunately, both are childlike in size, so nothing fits them. I think I'll take pictures of the hand bracelets on the foot form, so that you can see the shape of it and clearly see the color and how it lays, but also take the first picture on my hand (for now), so that the first picture people see is on a hand. That way people won't look at the first picture and assume that they're bare foot sandals. I still like the forms, they're very artistic, and I think I'll put them around the house as decoration.

Blue and Silver Beaded Slave Bracelet, aka Handflower, aka Harem Bracelet

I figured it out! The first one is up for sale on etsy now!

Posting

Goodness, I haven't posted in over a week! It's because I'm perfecting the handflowers I'm making, and since every one takes about 5 hours, it takes quite some time to work the kinks out of a new design. On the bright side, I ordered 3 new beading books from amazon (their prices are So Good!), one of which I got used for $9.50, which is quite a bit better than $23 retail!

I also found out that the ceramics store nearby is also a bead store, so I'll be stopping by today :)

HandFlower/Slave Bracelet

I've been looking for inspiration, and finally found some this weekend. Today I created a Hand Flower/Slave Bracelet that I'm really happy with.

Hour Two











Hour Five
I'm trying to decide if I should sell this one or not. I want to keep it because it's my first one, but after spending 5 hours on it, I feel like I should try and get paid for all that time. Maybe I'll just call it my pattern ;) Now I just need to get more silver bugle beads. Oh, and note to self: 4 yards of beading line, Not 2. 5 if I want to make this into a necklace. Maybe make it a layer deeper too.

Gold and Pearl Chevron Necklace

This is a gorgeous piece I worked on for two days! I love how it turned out, it's really elegant and exactly what I envisioned. It has an almost Egyptian feel to it. :)

I also received a book called Jewelry: From Antiquity to the Present by Clare Phillips for my birthday, and it's exactly what I've been looking for! A real book (more than 100 pages finally) with color pictures and useful text. I can't wait to start reading it tonight!

Today's Work

Today I worked on a variegated gold chevron necklace. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, but unfortunately I didn't finish in time to take pictures outside while the sun was still up, so it'll go up tomorrow. What to create next.... :)

PayPal Money Market

I signed up for PayPal's money market account. Apparently nothing changes about your paypal experience except that they deposit interest on any money you keep in paypal at the end of each month. This month's interest is 5%. How can you go wrong? I haven't read anything negative about it, and the prospectus seems fine. I won't put my life savings in there, but there's no reason the money I make from beading shouldn't make me even more money ;)

Bead Store Trip

Today I made a trip to the local bead store. They did not have exactly what I was looking for, but I picked up some spare needles and a vial of very pretty shimmery moss green seed beads. Afterwards I went to a big box craft store and got some gold and silver jump rings, and separators for a necklace a friend gave me which tangles terribly. They had separators that will match exactly and fix that problem. I was looking for bugle beads really, but came away with something useful nonetheless.

I also started a varicolored gold chevron net necklace. I worked on it for a few hours after I got home, and hope to finish it tomorrow.

I am still looking for resources of ancient beading patterns, especially medieval and the like. It has been much harder than I expected. Even the local library system is coming up empty. There is a book on the history of beads, but I am really looking for the history of what people have Done with beads, including patterns for inspiration.

Elegant Purple Chevron Necklace

I am amazed at how great this one looks. I can't wait to get more bugle beads in more colors. This is such an elegant necklace, and it took Hours and Hours to create. I definitely need to get some beading needles to make things a little easier. Needles usually speed up the process by about 20%, which adds up when you're talking about the difference between 8 hours and six hours of non stop work. I'm already thinking about a gold version :)

Silver & Hematite Memory Choker

Today I posted & SOLD this gorgeous silver & hematite necklace. I got the pendant from a little town in Mexico, and I absolutely loved it. Once again the silver bead caps really finish the necklace perfectly.

Bright Mossy Green Butterfly Memory Choker

SOLD
I love the way this turned out! It's a Swarovski pendant on memory wire, with Swarovski accent beads, and silver filigree beads, and it's great! :)

As always, feel free to email me if you're interested in commissioning something similar to a Sold Item.

Green Leaf Necklace

This is a really pretty piece I created with a leaf similar to the peach leaf earlier. I used square gold filled beads and sea green seed beads. The colors are gorgeous, it's a delicate necklace inexpensive enough to wear casually, but made of quality. I love how the leaf fits perfect in the hollow of your neck, it's just perfect for spring and all the blooming trees outside definitely inspired me.

Peach Leaf Necklace

SOLD!
This is a memory necklace I made almost entirely out of supplies I got in my recent big buy. Copper seed beads, peach freshwater pearls, peach & brown fire polished Czech faceted beads, and I love the color of the leaf. It's delicate and definitely one of my favorite creations. It's almost easy to create something beautiful when you're using quality materials. It still takes me hours, but it's more pleasant when I don't have to fight the materials to bring something beautiful out of them.

Purple Maui Shell Necklace

Today I posted a necklace I made just after coming back from Maui. It's a shiny purple shell edged with gold, and the purple freshwater pearls match exactly. I also used bicone crackle beads that add shimmer and color.

Gorgeous Green Dragonfly Memory Necklace

SOLD
Last night I created the amazing green dragonfly necklace. It's made with memory wire, which I love for how comfortably and easy to use it is. It's wire in the shape of a circle that keeps it's circle shape no matter how much you use it, and you just place it around your neck, and it fits comfortably around your neck. No clasp, no worry, just a choker that fits any size. And the pendant is from Jones New York, something I picked up a few years ago. I finally found perfectly matching beads and a design that works. I Love This Piece.

Blue Teardrop Necklace

I just posted a gorgeous blue teardrop necklace I created recently. I used rice pearls I got in Maui (Maui is full of great jewelry and supplies), and the new silver bead caps look great! They really give a feeling of elegance and finish to the necklace.

Tangerine Shell Necklace from Maui

SOLD!

I posted my first listing to etsy today! It's a bright pale orange necklace I made with a shell pendant I got in Maui. I love it, and I'm sure someone else will too!

Etsy

A friend of mine uses Etsy.com to sell her handmade jewelry, and after looking the site over for the last few days, I'm really excited about it. It's an online marketplace made up entirely of artists selling their own handmade goods, and people selling their supplies to those artists. The percentage etsy takes from each sale is half what ebay.com takes, and the initial charge is extremely low. The sense of community is Very strong, and I just have a really good feeling about the site. I think I'm going to post a necklace to sell and see how it goes.

Elegant Spring Green Glass Necklace

SOLD!
Today I sold one of my creations! It's one of my favorites, and the woman who got it seemed very pleased :) Next time I think I'll take the pictures outside in the sun.

The Big Order Arrived!

It's in! And the neck forms (one white, one black) are perfect! Necklaces never look quite right when they're just laying flat. I've already taken pictures using them, and they're exactly what I needed! Out of 50 items, the only downside is that the ring sizer (it's just a stick that gradually gets bigger and shows the ring size on the side) won't arrive for a while. It's out of stock, but they'll send it as soon as it's available. I've already sorted everything in the appropriate containers, and I'm already seeing the possibilities! :)

Big Order

Today I placed a big order with my beading supplier. I'm Really Excited. I have 50 new ideas, inspirations, and options coming straight to my door in about a week. I'm especially excited about some of the pendants I bought. I usually work my way around a pendant, which is the obvious focal point of a necklace. Wee!

Holiday Loot

I got four different books on beading, a gift card to a beading store, and an advanced beading magazine for Christmas. I have So Much to do! :)