Just a Touch of Red

I make a lot of bracelets. And thought I would make the heart clasp (from this post) into a necklace... but... well... I just couldn't help myself. Lol.

Doesn't it make a lovely bracelet?

And I especially love the red flower. I love how it just pops out against the blue-green.

Listed here! And don't forget. Use coupon code "LOVE2012" for 20% off. :)

Happy Saturday!

BTW: 1/25 Heart Clasp

[I'm really sorry about the crappy pictures. It's just that taking pictures with my phone is so much easier when I'm working. I just grab and click. Next time, I'll try and take better pictures :-/]

A few days ago, I made this bangle. You see, it's hard for me to shop for bangles as I have pudgy hands. I rather like my hands... but not when I want to buy bangles so I got it in my head to make my own. 

After making this bangle, I thought that the heart I made would make a lovely clasp! It's only a few bends away from a hook clasp, after all.

Today, I sketched out some ideas.

Sometimes, the pen gets away from me. That's what happened with the top sketch. Looks like a guitar pick, huh? But I liked the other ones.

After some wire bending and happy hammering, this is what I came up with.

I sooo wish I could have made more but I'm out of heavy gauge copper wire and don't have it in my budget to buy more until next week. Oh the joys of unemployment. Lol.

After making these, I wanted to alter the clasp somehow. I remember reading an article from Handcrafted Jewelry, 2010 about different ways to alter metal... but I couldn't find the blasted magazine so I had to go off of what I remembered.

White acrylic paint and alcohol inks. That's really all I could remember. Sooo...

I painted the heart with some white acrylic. Rather rough...

And then rubbed some alcohol ink onto it. The effect is rather nice, I think. I sealed it with some Krylon sealer... because that's all I have. Lol. I'm interested to see if it holds up. Anyone have any other suggestions on how to seal the ink??? It seems to be ok. I rubbed it and threw it around a bit and it seems to be holding up ok but... eh... I just don't know.

And of course, I wire wrapped the other hook. Because I went outside my comfort zone enough today, thank you very much :P

I'm glad I decided to make these hooks today. The hammering was really therapeutic. I have an interview tomorrow for an assistant manager position at Aaron Brothers. I'm so nervous. I need this job badly... it's the second interview but you never know. *fingers crossed*

Anyhoo, the hammering really helped to calm me down a lot.

What's on YOUR bead table today?

Check out the BTW Flickr group!

Valentine's Day Earrings

I don't usually make holiday-specific jewelry. I own some, but I'm afraid what I make would be garish and draw laughter instead of smiles. BUT, I saw these glass hearts and thought I should try making some earrings out of them.



I chose gunmetal as the metal finish of the findings to contrast against the white hearts. Also, Czech glass beads add just a little sparkle and the filigree beads give it a bit more elegance. I wanted to add two bows to the earrings and thought of leather, but didn't think the knot would hold so I went with a cord. But the fibers frayed. Hmm... maybe I should try and re-work them...

Re-Design W/ My Christmas Beads

Here is the original necklace I made using the beads my boyfriend bought me for Christmas. I wore it. Didn't like it. So. I changed it today.


This is the new design which I think works well with the upcoming lovey-dovey holiday. It was made using a two-needle weaving technique I read about in a magazine. They used four beads per section... I used a few more (they're seed beads and four didn't seem like enough).

The sections aren't quite hearts but I think they'll do.

I think it might be a tad too long but I can always change that. One of the joys of making my own jewelry is being able to make things that fit ME. :)