Pink and Gray

I'm currently loving this color combination. Purple and gray. Pink and gray. The seed beads there? I originally thought they were purple... but now they look pink. But both look great, I think.

Do you type "grey" or "gray?" I always spelled it with an "e." I think it was because I read it somewhere once and on a spelling test, I got it wrong... but to prove the teacher wrong, I brought a dictionary up to her and showed her I was right. But I think most people spell it with an "a." So. My Etsy listings have an "a." But it just looks wrong. Lol.

Both these beauties are up in the shop!

Happy Friday, all!

Dragonflies

 I love dragonflies. Sure, they're bugs and if one landed on me, I'd probably freak out (FLASHBACK ALERT!: Did something of the sort with a white butterfly when I was a kid) but they are rather beautiful.

Above is a bracelet I made for a friend's mother who recently commissioned me to do some work for her. She had recommended a wonderful book on stones and I really really do love a good book recommendation. She had said that she, too, loves dragonflies AND amethyst and thus, this bracelet was born. I used little silver lined lavender colored seed beads as spacers. I think they add some sparkle.

I found these lovely etched bone beads at Michaels and just knew I had to have them. Two fire-polished beads and a purple glass crystal bead hang at the bottom of each earring. LOVE these. Not sure what kind of bone it is, but I'm assuming cow bone. Dunno why.

Dragonflies can represent change. They can represent dreams and good luck. The new year is approaching and I know that I try to come up with resolutions each year and just fail. This year, I want to try really hard to keep them. They're all things that I've been meaning to do and January 1st will just be the day I decide to really get serious. I will start a new blog just for my resolutions because it seems to help me stay focused on my jewelry so why not my personal goals?

Do you do the resolution thing? I know lots of people do. Heck, at work, the health section is PACKED with books because even the industry knows that people are going to give the diet resolution another go. Share your thoughts. I'm very interested :)

Hope you all had a lovely holiday!

Oh Buttons, I Missed You

I had meant for today to be a day of Etsy posting. However, I didn't get home in time to catch the sun light. Shorter days... blast.

I did manage to finish up a pendant I'd started yesterday. Even made it a full-fledged necklace with a chain and everything. And do you see that? There's a BUTTON there! I missed my buttons. And I figured out how to work them into these pieces I've been doing. :)

Copper wire with seed beads and an amethyst chip. Smokey purple crystals and copper chain finish the necklace.

Did you have a good weekend?

Didi Pendant

I was at a loss for words when I opened this window to write. Then "Are You That Somebody" by Aaliyah (which was one of my favorite songs in high school) came on Pandora... got me dancin' in Corner Bakery and ready to write!

You may recognize the above pendant from this post. However, it is not that pendant. The pendant from that post currently hangs from a simple black leather cord around my neck. The one above is an almost identical pendant. It's slightly bigger and has a better wrap job... it is, after all, the second pendant I finished (started and abandoned probably three other ones). This one is going somewhere special and I don't want to jinx anything by mentioning where it's going. Sorry, folks. I'll let you know when I can :D

I didn't want to just string it on a piece of cord so I linked some minty green glass bead with copper and added some dark purple crystals. I hammered a hook clasp special for this necklace and finished it off with some brown leather. The finished necklace is a bit asymetrical because of the clasp, but I like it. I'm hoping who I send it to likes it too.

BTW: "Didi" is sister in Hindi :)

Hey, do you guys have any special tips for photographing necklaces? I was having a bear of a time trying to get the whole thing into the picture so I ended up just photographing the main part of the necklace. Do you hang them off a wall and photograph them like that? I should have done that I think...

First Ear Wires

This wire wrapping thing was easier with smaller seed beads! Who woulda thunk? It was such a bear wrapping the beads around the pendant I made in this post. But the wraps on these earrings are nice and tight.

I love seed beads; they're like little gems and I'm loving wrapping them around wire shapes. For the earrings, I used some glass crackle beads I have in my stash. I also made my own ear wires! A first for me!

They're rather thin but the holes in my ears aren't very big so not a big deal. They hold up nicely even for 24 gauge wire. I suppose I should hammer them to harden but haven't done that yet. I added a piece of purple crystal for extra sparkle.

Rather late with this blog post but am still making the blog-a-day challenge for November. Tish led me to the site NaBloPoMo which stands for "National Blog Post Month." I joined up. Haven't had a chance to explore it yet (I'm on vacation :D) but it looks like a really cool community for bloggers!

It's been super hot here in SoCal. Today, the high was 99 degrees! Sigh. Hoping it will cool down soon. How's the weather been for you?

A rose by any other name...

I'm terrible at naming pieces. These earrings (if I ever get off my butt and upload it to the shop) would probably be named "Earrings with long pink bead and gold caps and purple seed bead loop."

How do you go about naming things? My boyfriend says they remind him of fireflies. I suppose it could be "Pink Firefly Earrings." But they don't make ME think of fireflies. They kinda remind me of the Mid-East. It might be the gold filigree caps. I'm just not sure.

Meh. I'm sure it will come to me soon... I hope.

I never knew...

... buttons could be so much fun!!!

I started this bracelet on a gloomy day and it made me smile. Along with the purple and yellow flower buttons are green Chinese crystals and pink glass beads. The cotton clasp and links are made with brass wire. The dark brass chain gives it a little... umph, i think. :D

Classy earrings, no? Two simple black buttons and clear Chinese crystal for sparkle.

I feel so productive :P

Its a Keeper

It's been a while since I made jewelry specifically for me. I noticed that I don't wear a lot of what I've made because I want to try and sell those pieces (and someone told me that worn jewelry is harder to sell... plus I don't want anything to happen to the piece while I'm wearing it). But, for people to see what kind of stuff I make or to be able to say "Oh thanks! I made it, here's a business card," I have to actually be wearing something I made (and also have business cards, but hey, one problem at a time, ok?).

The earrings are made of copper wire, dark copper chain, Cryztazzi crystals, fire polished glass beads, and glass pearls. The bracelet has seed beads, Czech flower and fire polished beads, purple glass beads, and glass pearls. The copper toggle is a gift from my wonderful friend, Liz. Thanks, Liz! I looooove it! :D

Detail of the bracelet!