"Turquoise" Dangling Earrings

These earrings are made from a stone that is not actually turquoise but is similar in look and feel.  I got these stones from www.firemountaingems.com, of course.  I also used clear faceted glass beads in these earrings that I got last year at the Gem and Bead show that I attended in March.  I wish there was another bead show I could attend today!  But I'm sure another one will be in town soon.  Today I get to go see the Cleopatra Exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center!   Can't wait!

Wire Wrapped Wednesday, White!

Today's Wire Wrapped Wednesday is a pair of earrings, created out of white and gray feldspar.  Like I said in yesterday's post, I really created a lot of white jewelry this week, guess you could call it my first week of one color inspiration!  I like the speckled look of this stone, and I really enjoy the shape.  I have used it before as the focal pendant in This necklace.  I have a lot more of these beads too, so I'm sure you will end up seeing them again soon!  I used the wire on this necklace to appear as almost a wave  on the center of the feldspar bead...once again a beachy theme.  The wire wrapping on this one was a little challenging, because it kept slipping off of the curved edges!  I also really enjoy the blend of the silver wire with the gray flecks in the bead itself, and like the vintage, handmade look of these glass iridescent beads.

Belated Valentine's Day Necklace

Yes, I realize that I was supposed to update this necklace almost a week ago, but with being sick I really had no energy or motivation to work on it....stupid flu!  But after getting caught up with all my homework and everything I am prepared to debut this very sparkly, red glass bead necklace!  If you remember, I sketched about this necklace with the post from Saturday February 12.




 Here is the original sketch:

And here is the final outcome!  Enjoy!  The pictures do not do the red beads justice, they are so clear and firey in real life!

Saturday Sketches

Today's sketch is an idea for a Valentine's Day necklace that came to me recently.  Valentine's Day, as you know, is Monday, and normally my boyfriend and I don't do much for Valentine's Day really but I still like the idea of the holiday itself:  to show people that you love them.  My necklace idea came from red beads that I bought on clearance for $1.  There are so many of them that I had no idea what to do with them, that is, until Snow.  I really want to create an almost bib-like necklace out of the beads, held together in the middle by a heart.  I plan on making this necklace for V-day, so look forward to Monday's post and I plan on posting the finished result for you to see then.  Until then, have a great Saturday!

Sorry about the sideways view, I can't get the image to flip after being scanned for some reason....

Orange you glad I made a pendant?

Lame, I know....but I just couldn't resist!  Today's pendant was made from a vintage orange piece that my aunt gave to me, along with beads I purchased from Fire Mountain.  I used a flat round feldspar bead, as well as peach glass beads and brown goldstone  chips.  I love the glittery sparkle that goldstone has.  I can never get enough of it.  It's sad that those beads are so expensive, or I would buy them all the time!  Maybe that's a good thing, though.  This necklace is so bright and sunny for spring!....Anyway, here's the necklace, hope you enjoy!

Saturday Sketches

Today's sketch is brought to you by my art history professor....well, her necklace inspired the piece because I need to own her necklace!  It is made of gigantic transparent, faceted, lozenge-shaped beads that were navy in color.  Probably plastic.  But I'm serious, each bead was like 2 inches wide...they were so shiny!  I wanted to ask her where she got it and I never got a chance.  If she ever wears it again, I definitely will, because I need to own one like it!  If I ever find beads that big and shiny, I will make it myself.  But until then, all I have is this sketch to inspire me:

Wire Wrapped Wednesday, February 2, 2011

First of all, Happy Groundhog Day to everyone!  Hope you had a good one!  I had a pretty good day today, actually, first thing to start off the day on my way out the door to school I found on my doorstep my brand new beads and gemstones from Fire Mountain Gems that I ordered about a week ago!  What a great start to the day!  Then, after classes my sister and I went on a thrifting adventure to Salvation Army....we found so many rediculously awesome things!  And, to top it off, it was 50% off day!  I even got shoes for $1! 

For today's Wire Wrapped post, I am posting pictures of a pendant that I made awhile ago and did not know what to do with.  I ended up deciding to put it on a simple chain.  Because the main bead is clear lucite, I decided to use my green wire, and accentuate the green color further by dangling a faceted glass green bead from the pendant that I bought last spring at a bead show.  I love the intensity of the green colored wire, and enjoy the sparkle of the piece from the faceted glass bead and the crystal clear lucite.  Hope you enjoy!

Thrifting Tuesday, February 1, 2011

For today's post I have been planning to put up an embellished T-shirt for awhile.  The shirt was old, plain, and boring, but the color was great!  I could not get rid of the shirt because I loved the color, but I find myself never wearing it any more.  So the plan was to embellish it with beads to spruce it up a bit, but I learned along the way that that is not as easy as it seems!!!  I was unaware of the time it would take me to complete it and kept putting it off, and then today, when I started to work on it, it took me hours to complete the amount I did (well, I guess I was watching TV too, haha).  I still felt like posting my "progress" on the top even though I am not done, just so I didn't have no post at all for today, because there is no way I will finish it in time to post the completed shirt today as of right now.  Today's post is kind of lame, but I would rather post something than nothing.  So anyway, here is what I have done, you can kind of get an idea of where I was going with it from the inspiration: 

I was inspired by this dress in Instyle magazine:

 

so here is my "progress":

 here is the shirt before:

 

anddd....here is all I have gotten done....it's hard work sewing all those little seed beads on!  I will have to post an update when (or if) I ever finish it! haha! 

My Monday Challenge

Today, while making jewelry, I challenged myself to a little game, and the result was a pretty awesome longgggg necklace.   While going through my jewelry I decided to use some beads that I have had forever and have never found a use for.  I had a whole little bead box of them, in all different little shapes and bright colors.  The challenge lay in not only using beads I had never seemed to find a use for before, but I also made it interesting by cutting an extremely lengthy piece of clear plastic thread and telling myself I either had to bead until the string was full or until I ran out of beads, whichever came first.  I didn't think it would take as long as it did to complete this necklace, strictly because that little container held a whole heck of a lot more beads than I ever thought it could...and it actually ended up that I ran out of string before I ran out of beads!  I love the look of these beads because the soft opacity of the glass and the bright colors make them feel like they are made out of little tiny pieces of sea glass.  The colors and the "sea glass" appearance make these beads reminiscent of warmer weather, something definitely nice to think about as a giant ice and snow storm approaches....

 

bead box when I just started...

 

bead box when I ran out of string!

 

In progress necklace strand....

 

Finished!!!

Vintage Inspiration

I created this necklace from pieces of Vintage jewelry that my aunt purchased from estate sales.  I love the bird motif on the pendant piece, and the vintage faceted glass bead is beautiful as well as surprisingly heavy!  The purple beads are more beads that I purchased from Fire Mountain Gems during their dollar sale last fall.  This is a casual necklace that would look great with jeans and a tunic top, or would be a cute necklace to wear out with a casual dress and tights.  The colors in the necklace are more neutral, and would look good with many other colors, making this necklace very versatile.