Everyday earrings

These little 6mm round beads make such a cute everyday drop earring!  A 6mm bead is about 1/4", and in this design it's surrounded by an outline of twisted wire.  Available in gold or silver wire and about 40 different bead colors, find them on my Earrings page here.  First column, down toward the bottom of the page.  Only $11.00 per pair!


 
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Woven Silver Chain

This is "spool-knit".  One continuous strand of very thin sterling silver wire woven over nails stuck in a spool and threaded through the hole and out the bottom.  You did that with a spool and yarn when you were a kid, right?  Haha!  This necklace was woven with 7 nails, so it's thick and substantial, it closes with an easy spring ring, and it measures about 22" long.  If you have pendants with really big bails you could wear them on this, but it's fantastic as a stand-alone accessory, too!   I make a similar chain woven with 4 nails--it's thinner and more delicate, but equally eye-catching!

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Beautiful Jewelry from Scrap Materials, Part 3

These gorgeous rainbow beads are 4mm Swarovski crystal cubes.  I inherited them in a batch of stuff I acquired about 4 years ago.  Periodically I would take the little baggie out and note how pretty all the colors are together, but then put them away again because there aren't more than 7 or 8 of each color and I wasn't sure what to make with those few beads that would do them justice!  For some reason when I ran across them again about two weeks ago, the "rainbow" idea struck me.  I decided on silver wire partly because a lot of people are going for silver these days, and partly because I liked the way the colors really stood out against the metal.  Gold wire would have "warmed" the colors, which is fine, but silver really makes them "pop", don't you think?

This was heading for a listing in my Etsy shop.  I had taken pictures of it a week or so ago, and just finished editing the pictures on Monday.  And guess what...it sold in my store!  I have some more beads, but not enough in the true "rainbow" colors to make another bracelet just like this.  I think what I'll do is just a "multi-color" bracelet in a similar style.  Don't want those beautiful cube crystals to be homeless any longer!

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Beautiful Jewelry From Scrap Materials, Part 2

First I need to remind you that scrap materials means not only little leftover bits and pieces, but also things I've had lying around for so long that they probably gave up hope of every adorning someone's body!  This one is a 5mm (millimeter) heart-shaped iolite that I got in a batch of other sizes and shapes of iolites about 12 years ago.  Hearts are hard to set, because they're fat and round at one end and skinny and pointy at the other.  They will often want to pop out the fat end, or shift sideways so the heart seems to be lying partway on its side.  A 5mm stone is a bit of an odd size, too.  It's very small to be set in wire without being in a pre-made pop-in setting first, with a wire design around it.  I didn't have any heart-shaped settings, so I modified a round setting.  Then I just added a small bit of leftover scrap sterling silver wire to secure the setting and make a bail.  Now it's a cute, dainty little pendant, perfect for a young girl or a woman who likes her jewelry understated!  I'll be listing it on Etsy soon!

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Statement Pieces

Because I spend most of my "creating" time making what I call regular inventory (the same style of earrings in 10 different colors, or the same ring in mulitple sizes), I don't often have the time to create special one-of-a-kind "statement" pieces. I have lots of little pieces of paper with designs scrawled on them that I've come up with over the years, but I have to carve out special time to work on them. Usually a statement piece will take quite a bit more time to make than regular inventory does, so I can't help thinking about how many rings I could be making in the same amount of time!

But recently I just had to let the true creative beast come out and make something special and spectacular. This is it. A sterling silver neckwire with an asymmetrical curve and two very large white marquis cubic zirconias dropping from each end. Can you imagine the comments and looks of admiration you would get wearing this to a holiday party? One-of-a-kind. Spectacular. Truly a statement! (It's available for sale in my Ruby Lane shop.)

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Where Did The Time Go?

Wow. Two weeks since my last post? I could have sworn it was only a week or so, and I was feeling guilty about that! But I'm looking at a calendar and there it is in black and white. Two weeks. Where did it go?

It's not like I've been sitting around doing nothing. And I haven't even been sitting around playing games on the computer (although sometimes I envy those who have the time to do that!) or web surfing, or even researching. I've been creating. The Muse is still with me, and I've got to go with it while it lasts! Not that I've ever had long stretches without it--I've been lucky because I love making my jewelry so much that it's hardly ever an effort. And even if a few days go by where I'm not in the mood to make something, I've always got plenty of other work to get done, so I'm never bored.

This past week I've made 14 wire bracelets (one is pictured above, and is available in my Etsy shop!), 16 strung bead bracelets, and 17 pairs of earrings. Plus two special orders. And I've got some gorgeous faceted stones sitting on my desk to make into pendants. That's next!
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My First Artfire Sale

I set up a Studio on Artfire about 5 months ago. I have to admit that I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to it, only adding new items once or twice a month. I have many online venues to pay attention to, and Artfire is just another "basket" in which to put more of my "eggs". But I was delighted to see an email this morning announcing my first sale from my Artfire Studio! A little 5-Bead Ring like this one, in sterling silver. Size 3-1/2...can you believe it? Who has fingers that small?! Hey, if it's you, drop by and check out my stuff. I make almost all my rings in sizes 3 through 15!
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What I Made Yesterday -- 2/25/09

This is a special order for a customer. The amethyst and citrine part was a section of a broken bracelet and she wanted it made into a pendant. She also likes hearts.

This one took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do. She wanted the "bracelet section" intact, and I needed to encase at least part of it to make a stable base. I actually went to sleep a couple of nights dreaming about how I could set this! I'm happy with the results. The customer hasn't seen it yet, but I'm betting she will be, too!

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What I Made Yesterday, 11-15-08

For awhile I was trying to do a "What I Made Today" post every few days, but I discovered that it was more difficult than I anticipated. It's not that I don't make things nearly every day, it's more that by the time I get something made, photographed, edited, and uploaded, it's too late to write a coherent post before I have to run out the door. So I just wouldn't post. Then it became too many days between posts! So now I've decided a "What I Made Yesterday" post would be more productive.

Yesterday it was a few sterling bracelets. I find I sell a lot of bracelets around the holidays--they make great gifts. I have more than 100 styles to choose from, and I customize the size and color. You can see all available styles on my website. You'll also want to check out the far-right column on the page, where you'll find a list of gemstone beads. Just roll your cursor over the gemstone name and you'll see a pop-up of the bead color. And for further gemstone research, you can check my Stone Samples page.

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Custom Rings? You Betcha!

My husband's Aunt Ginny is a jewelry hound. She just loves jewelry. She's got diamonds and fancy colored stones and custom settings, and she likes to wear it all (not all at once, of course!). And I'm so pleased that she likes my stuff, too! I've got cool, unique designs, and she especially likes to "put together" her own custom pieces using elements from different styles. Recently she was in my store looking at rings, and was admiring some of the chunkier styles I've been making. After quite a bit of time looking at all my loose stones, and taking a bit of design from this ring, and changing a little of that ring, we had our "final answer". I finished them just a couple of days ago, and since she hasn't picked them up yet, I thought I'd share them with you! You can see all my ring designs here, and I'm happy to customize any one of them just the way YOU'D like it!

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Manly Shark's Tooth

This mammoth shark's tooth is the second I've set for this particular customer. The first one was drilled front-to-back at the dip in the center, and all I had to do was make a heavy-duty bail. This one was not drilled, so I had to make the setting more ornate, yet sturdy enough for a man. Not bad, huh?

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What I Made Today, 9/18/08

As usual for this time of year, I'm filling in inventory in my store. Today I made a dozen pairs of this style of earring in sterling silver...all different colors of beads. I'm working on some chandelier earrings, too. Maybe I'll post them later.

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What I Made Today, 9/8/08

One of my frequent "boasts" is that I make new things practically every day. To prove it, I'm going to try to post each day's new creation. This is a 1-Bead Spread Bracelet in sterling silver, featuring a black onyx bead. It is currently available at my Etsy shop at http://wiregems.etsy.com/ or always available on my website at http://wiregems.com/

I do have to admit that since I have spent the entire day getting this blog started, I didn't actually make this bracelet today. I made it 3 days ago. I hope you'll forgive me this one little "fudge"!

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