Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Ohh! Something shiny!

I went to a gem and jewelry show this weekend and of course spent too much money. I realized that haven't put a single piece of jewelry on my blog. Crazy! All the people at work think I'm nuts for being in science and not selling jewelry on the internet. I really enjoy making stuff in my free time to relieve stress, but I hardly ever wear any of it. I make a lot for my co-worker in the guise of "test driving" my pieces; she makes sure the links are strong and the whole thing doesn't fall apart, etc. If I do ever wear what I make, I like wearing bracelets most because I can actually see it and appreciate it myself.

So for your viewing pleasure, here is some jewelry that I've made in the recent past. Let me know if you want something (and if you want it made with gold filled or sterling silver wire or earring hooks, as opposed to cheap craft/base metal wire, I'll need some $$$. Labor's free, though!).

This is my Asian-y watch-style bracelet. The flower was made with gold seed beads and round red and green faceted beads all strung together with clear nylon fishing line. The clover thingies were made with gold filled wire and the rest of the bracelet is made of red satin cording, a.k.a rat tail. eewww.

Here's the matching necklace. I've been recently inspired by the book Beading Fantasies by Takako Samejima. I love the intricate and gorgeous stuff made with tiny little seed beads.

I love these earrings. They're ginko leaf/fan/art nouveau/deco inspired. They're made of gold filled wire and glass beads (clear seeds and gold bugles). I also got the instructions from the Beading Fantasies book, but I used bugle beads instead of seed beads. I also saw a pair shaped like these at a little store called Francesca's. A lot of costume jewelry is actually super simple to make by hand and I only buy something in a store if I can't make it myself. But it's true, I "borrow" ideas from stores.

These were made for a friend of mine. They're made of sterling silver 22gauge wire and round faceted green/blue fire polished glass beads.

This is a really fun bracelet on stretchy cord. It's fun to look at when you're bored at a seminar or waiting for someone. I got more of these flat square glass millefiori beads at the show and probably have enough to make 4 more.

I got the idea to make these from a necklace I saw in a hippy store in the mall. Except I like mine better because I used clear nylon string instead of black to join the shell pieces together. I wear this one a lot because of the neutral colors.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

oooooohhhh so pretty! :)

D said...

Nice. I haven't even looked at my beads since I've been in Philly.

D said...

I may have to use your talent to find things to wear for the wedding.