I was able to finish up another necklace last night.  I’ve had a bad back all week (from all things, coughing), so I haven’t done much at home except lay down.  Sitting has been bad.  Very bad.  But I’m starting to feel better now.  I started this last week when I received my order from Rings and Things.  I received some beautiful carnelian beads, wavy ovals and rounds, and I thought the orange-red color would look great with copper.  I did a herringbone weave on the oval beads, and all the wire components were handmade by me.   It’s difficult to keep the weave even on a wavy bead, which didn’t occur to me until halfway through wire-wrapping.  I’m still pleased with how it came out. 

 I take all my necklaces on a test drive before I sell them.  I want to see if they’re comfortable to wear, and also if they will stand up to monkey-boy.  I’m glad to say that he grabbed right onto it this morning and it passed the test.  Look for it in my Etsy shop  soon.  I’m also thinking that I could do the same necklace with some coin and round pearls that I have……hmm, bridal jewelry?  

The nugget on this necklace is unakite.  This particular piece has some really attractive coral-pink coloring.  I also used freshwater pearls and cherry quartz on this piece.  I opted for copper on the clasp, as the autumn jasper and unakite had a lot of warm tones.

I’m trying to make at least one piece a day, if for nothing else than to save my sanity.  We’re entering the home stretch for tax season, so I’ll only have to schedule my jewelry time around Rug-raticus (aka Isaac).  

I was recently accepted into the etsyBead group (thanks everyone!), and I look forward to playing with the weekly themes.  Stay tuned….

Here are some earrings I made last week.  I made the posts out of gold filled wire, and the beads are black onyx and african jade.  I’m trying to make my photos more “artsy” rather than formal.  I’ve had it ingrained into me that photo backgrounds should be plain for jurying, but the products that catch my eye on etsy are “artsy.”  We’ll see.

 cultured pearls, sterling silver handmade earwires.

I’ve been able to finish a few more pieces.  This week the whole family has been sick with colds, so I haven’t had much energy to play, let alone do the stuff that needs doing.  But, I’m tired, so I’m blowing off work for the next 10 minutes to post some of my new pieces.  Most of them have cooperated with me while I’m making them.  The first set is one I made for myself from vintage beads.  I’m not sure if they’re aquamarine or blue topaz, but they came from a stash of stuff my grandfather had (he was sort of a travelling pawn shop, but that’s a story for another time. 

 The pendant is a piece I received back in high school for my birthday. The rest I made myself.  I also made a bracelet out of the same beads.  I wore it for one day, then promptly lost it.  I looked all over the place, in the snow bankings, in the mud, then finally figured that if I saw it again it wouldn’t be till spring (which at this rate won’t hit us till July).  I was feeling pretty bad about it.  I went looking through the diaper bag for something else, and there it was, in a “non-pocket” on the outside.  Yay!  Anyway, here it is. 

I’ve found some great jewelry tutorials on etsy, specifically dealing with wire work. Check out these etsy sellers:

WireBliss

decors

solivio

TutorialShop