Spring Jewelry Pick-Me-Ups

Full Disclosure: Many of the beads you see below are from Artbeads.com.  Some of the items I had on hand but all the pretty stuff is from them. To be clear; they gave me the beads so I would create and then write. Nothing really very sinister but I need to tell you this all upfront so none of us gets into trouble.

Lately I’ve had some serious winter blues. I have desperately missed sunny blue skies and most of all; my flower gardens.  So during the last snow storm I lashed out at the weather and created some happy sun-loving pieces.

The first used a simple stringing technique.  I had an amazing sterling silver pendant from Artbeads.com that I wanted to focus on—the Hill Tribes Silver Large Woven Petal Flower Pendant.  The necklace portion is very simple. I used multicolored glass rondelles that I had on hand and strung them on Fireline.  The pendant is centered and the necklace measures 20” long. This pendant is really something else—it’s better silver than sterling.  Definitely check it out.

The second item I made was a bracelet using TOHO™ Bead Cube 4mm Matte Raku Blue/Teal Iris and complementing the matte color with super sparkly2-holed Swarovski XILION Silver-Plated Aquamarine Setting as an eye-catcher.  The bracelet was made using a modified ladder stitch.  After three rows I crossed the threads into an x and centered the silver elements. Finally, I used a gorgeous Swarovski crystal clasp for added bling.

 

The most recent issue of Bead & Button had a gorgeous design that I had to try. It’s beadweaving (which is my favorite to create).  I find the detail to be therapeutic.  The necklace uses triangle stitching and then embellishing with fire polished beads to make it really pop. Unfortunately I did not have enough Fire Polished Beads 4mm Bermuda Blue 1/2 Metallic Coated to finish it AND the worst part is that they’re out of stock! But, the beads are so gorgeous that I’ll wait until I can order more.  I have purple fire polished in the center and the metallic coated bermuda blue for the rest.

Much thanks to my friends at Artbeads.com for the gorgeous beads!

An Inexpensive Solution for Taking Your Jewelry Projects Everywhere You Go

I was in Michaels yesterday and saw these little containers in the scrapbook section.  They are small cases for storing photos.  They can hold up to 100 4x6 photos—OR your jewelry project. They were only $1.00 so I thought I could afford to take a couple home and experiment.  

I cut a piece of Vellux to fit one side of the container leaving a bit of a lip all the way around.  This makes for a very nice workspace for your lap the next time you’re on the train or sitting in the lobby of your daughter’s ballet class or kids’ swim class! (I don’t like sitting much—I have to keep busy or I get antsy.  Which explains my hyper kids—but I digress.)

What’s nice about this container is that it’s small enough to throw in my bag and take it when my daughter has ballet class but it’s also just the right size to store my beads, thread, scissors, and thread burner. True story.

Spring Jewelry Pick-Me-Ups

Full Disclosure: Many of the beads you see below are from Artbeads.com.  Some of the items I had on hand but all the pretty stuff is from them. To be clear; they gave me the beads so I would create and then write. Nothing really very sinister but I need to tell you this all upfront so none of us gets into trouble.

Lately I’ve had some serious winter blues. I have desperately missed sunny blue skies and most of all; my flower gardens.  So during the last snow storm I lashed out at the weather and created some happy sun-loving pieces.

The first used a simple stringing technique.  I had an amazing sterling silver pendant from Artbeads.com that I wanted to focus on—the Hill Tribes Silver Large Woven Petal Flower Pendant.  The necklace portion is very simple. I used multicolored glass rondelles that I had on hand and strung them on Fireline.  The pendant is centered and the necklace measures 20” long. This pendant is really something else—it’s better silver than sterling.  Definitely check it out.

The second item I made was a bracelet using TOHO™ Bead Cube 4mm Matte Raku Blue/Teal Iris and complementing the matte color with super sparkly2-holed Swarovski XILION Silver-Plated Aquamarine Setting as an eye-catcher.  The bracelet was made using a modified ladder stitch.  After three rows I crossed the threads into an x and centered the silver elements. Finally, I used a gorgeous Swarovski crystal clasp for added bling.

 

The most recent issue of Bead & Button had a gorgeous design that I had to try. It’s beadweaving (which is my favorite to create).  I find the detail to be therapeutic.  The necklace uses triangle stitching and then embellishing with fire polished beads to make it really pop. Unfortunately I did not have enough Fire Polished Beads 4mm Bermuda Blue 1/2 Metallic Coated to finish it AND the worst part is that they’re out of stock! But, the beads are so gorgeous that I’ll wait until I can order more.  I have purple fire polished in the center and the metallic coated bermuda blue for the rest.

Much thanks to my friends at Artbeads.com for the gorgeous beads!