Though I don't have any WIP photos of these pieces, I figured I would share them and explain a little of what I used to make them.
I'm rather proud of these pieces...:D
I have two Collections that I am working on, the Casual Collection and the Crystal Collection. The Casual Collection consists of pieces made from less expensive materials, though no less beautiful to look at. Buttons, acrylic beads, tiger tail, nylon, silver and gold plated metals and findings, fabrics, the materials are endless! The Crystal Collection features higher end findings and beads made of semi-precious and precious stones, lampwork beads, precious metal findings, other artists' pendents and the like. There are so many things to choose from that I doubt my creativity will ever run dry!
So, this is the second necklace I ever made, the first was given to one of my best-friends as a gift...:D It was made using a hard choker style necklace, large and small acrylic amber beads, wood beads and seed beads. This necklace was practice for me and the initial design was from a beading book. I modified it a little by adding beads, adding some wiring to keep the falls spaced and changing the metal from gold to silver. The earrings that go with it were the first pieces of jewelry I designed by myself...:)
The next necklace was designed around the lovely glass pendent that I found at my local Art Supply and Crafting store. I had seen that you could use ribbon in jewelry creation in the beading magazine and I wanted to try my hand at one of the simple designs in that same magazine. Well, the necklace ended up taking a life of it's own! What's fun about this necklace is that the beads are not glued in place, you can move the large green stones up and down to where-ever you feel is best...:D This necklace was my very first jewelry sale!
As I was going along and joined the Etsy community, I kept coming across shops that used beautiful stones in their work. I started looking for stones myself and found many wonderful suppliers on Etsy. I was thrilled with that! It gave me an opportunity to support the site that's supporting me...:D
Redded Bliss was designed in honor of my friend Sandra's wedding. I wanted something that would be totally appropriate for a wedding and I had a whole string of gorgeous red coral bamboo. I used 26g silver wire and first formed the petals...then I used delicate silver chain, more wire and a profusion of silver beads. The flower took a really long time to make. It was tricky getting each petal twisted together without bending the wire in weird angles...*lol* I DID figure it out and I am very, very pleased with the results. I wanted to test the strength of the chains and so I wore it to Sandra's wedding...:) The chain may LOOK delicate, but it was able to withstand everything I did that night!
My latest piece is one of the prettiest pieces I've done so far. Mind you, I'm biased having been raised with a mom who's birthstone is the Turquoise and who has waxed eloquence on how great the stone is...;) I couldn't sleep one night and I got frustrated so I got up to get some water. On the table, I had left open the turquoise container, though I don't remember why...so I sat down and started puttering with it. Turquoise Treasure and it's matching earrings is the result! I had to wire-wrap the gorgeous slab and initially, I was going to leave the slab by itself, but it kept telling me it wanted to be even more flamboyant than it already was, so I made the two falls to accompany it...:) Yes! The beads 'talk' to me...;) Hidden with all the Turquoise and lemon jade is silver beads and it's all made with sterling silver wire. There isn't a jump ring in sight and it's all really solidly put together...:) I'm really proud of everything I've done so far!
Aside from these lovelies, I have two full sets waiting to be photographed. One set is a necklace, bracelet & earring combination. I just got new tools, so I'll be able to finish the earrings now without mutilated the gorgeous earrings wires. Once that's done, I'll be able to shoot the trio and post them...:D The second set is a lariat style necklace with matching earrings. I'm changing all the jump rings on them seeing as I had a gauge that wasn't thick enough and they were opening with very little effort. Lesson learned! I purchased lock rings of a thicker gauge and so the necklace will be perfect after I replace what's there. Basically, I have to reconstruct the necklace...;) It'll be worth it though. It's beautiful!
I also have two necklaces in various stages of completion and I have about four Crystal Collection and three Casual Collection pieces that are floating around in my head...:D
So stay tuned for more goodies!
