A little Glitz and Glamour goes a long way....

One of my favorite things to do is work with brides on their wedding and attendant jewelry. Recently, I've had the pleasure of working with a lovely local bride who is getting married this Friday in St. Augustine, Florida. She was looking for a bracelet to match the pattern in the sash on her dress, and wanted to have as much sparkle as possible. She sent me photos of the sash, and we agreed to meet at the bridal store so I could take a look.

My husband is always saying "Brevity is the soul of wit," and with my tendency to be long-winded, that's not always a welcome contribution to our conversations, but in this instance, as in many, many others, he was totally right. The bride's dress was simple, with clean lines and beautiful sea shell ivory silk, and absolutely devastatingly beautiful on her! I made some notes, measured her wrist, we talked a little about the styles she liked, she showed me some pictures, and I left to work on her creation. I'll admit, at first I was a little overwhelmed with the task. After looking around, we settled on a design that mirrored the little rosettes in the sash, as well as on the bustle leading down the back of the dress from the bodice to the end of the train.

Here the the finished product. Crystal clusters are alternated with Swarovski crystal rhinestone balls, and accented by crystal spacers. Each is an individually wired segment, ending at a beautiful 4 strand sterling silver clasp. I'm not much of a photographer, but I'm hoping you can see for yourself how it turned out. The bride was thrilled, and that's good enough for me!

It's so nice to be noticed...

I just got back from the bank, Vystar Credit Union, where I had to get some forms notarized for the upcoming club volleyball season. My kids play with JJVA, Jacksonville Juniors Volleyball Assoc., and it's time to get the season tryouts up and going. I really like our bank. They have everything we need, and the people are very, very helpful. They must really screen their employees, because we've always had a great experience there. Anyway, I decided to show my latest necklace set, because I'd bought a new shirt this week that matched the blue foil-lined glass I used perfectly. It caused quite a stir! I was so pleased! The ladies there were so complimentary and so excited about it. I hope that's the feeling it creates wherever it is viewed. I'd like it to find a new home, and soon! The set is made with an adorable starfish, smaller than the one my daughter used in her necklace. It's accented with Topaz foil-lined glass and Ruby-colored beads with beautiful gold accents swirled all around. I paired them with Goldstone, it's become a trend in my shop recently, and faceted crystal globes with AB. Silver Spacers give it even more sparkle. I really like the way it's turned out! I figured I'd lost the pics of the set here, since I hadn't had the chance to list it yet. It's the weekend, prime time for listing, and I should be putting it up, but I'm going out to play "touchdowns" with my two year old instead. No regrets.

Here's another custom creation I just finished. It was an alchemy order (for those of you who have never bid on creating a custom order through Etsy, I highly recommend it) and I bid wayyyy to low for what I eventually made, but this idea just developed until the point that I'd spent wayyyy to much time on it. Oh Well, good blog fodder. At least I'll have a posting out of it. I hope the customer likes it as much as I do. This one is made with pressed glass lady bugs, scarlet-red coral, and black glass beads. The green leaves are also pressed glass, leaves and droplets, and "e" beads. The black bands are strung on elastic, so though the bracelet is a nice 7 1/2", it has no clasp and has a snug cuff-like fit. I have more beads like this, and could do another one, similar to it, if requested. The order did not include earrings, but I have some ideas on how to make a pair that would complement.

New Listing! Love Sponge!!

New Listing! Just finished today, this bracelet set is made of hand-wired links, alternating, of denim-blue sponge coral, and marbled white/grey howlite; and ebony lava rocks are tiny pendants that swing from each ad joining link, providing playful swing and movement. The 8" (20cm) bracelet set includes a 14" (35cm) extender with matching toggle clasp that can make the bracelet into necklace, or be worn as an additional bracelet. The earrings have 1 1/2" (4cm) dangles that match the bracelet perfectly. They're surprisingly light! Blue Sponge Coral and lava are both very porous, so their size does not give you any clue to their weight.


The findings are a gun metal grey finish, matching the howlite perfectly. These materials just belong together, and the result is a stunning set that you'll reach for every day!

On my table now: fossilized coral, leopardskin jasper, carnelian, and some custom work that needs finishing. I finished a cute sea horse set with topaz and ruby-colored foil-lined glass and goldstone that will be up very soon. Stay tuned!