WOWsers, now THAT's a STATEMENT necklace!

I had the opportunity recently to work with a lovely Etsy customer from California. I had at first bid on making a blue agate tangled chain necklace for her, which I completed in April. Check it out! Then she requested another tangled chain necklace, this time in bright, cheery, summery colors. I was thrilled! the hunt for the perfect beads turned up some sunshine yellow and apple green dyed magnesite, and when complementary beads were added, WOW!! Where the first

necklace was silver, gold, and gunmetal, this one has no antiqued finishes at all. There's a double pendant, for balance, and big bold chains everywhere. I really liked the finished product.

My lovely customer was invited to be a bridesmaid in her friend's wedding, so another statement necklace was in order. This time, we went over the top. 8 strands of glass pearls, rhinestones, and amethysts are woven into a 4-strand braid, with 18mm rhinestone balls entwined in the mix. A rhinestone and pearl brooch accents the side, and the sides are silver satin ribbon. Under the main swag of the necklace are two additional strands, one with faceted crystal beads, and one with silver glass pearls. On the bottom pearl strand are vintage chandelier crystals. Their brilliance and flash were fantastic!

These are the boldest statement necklaces I've made to date. Weighing in at 1 1/2 pounds, the pearl one is by far the largest! When I jumped back into jewelry three years ago, I never anticipated these babies! I think that's why custom orders are so fun. You get to know someone, their tastes, and you see things through their eyes. By learning about the statement or vision they are trying to create, you get to participate in their special event, and sometimes it's the most important day of their lives. It's a very gratifying experience!

Something old, Something new, Something borrowed... and Something blue!

This wedding necklace has been my Custom project for December. A custom order won through a bid in Etsy's alchemy section, the task was to recreate the necklace in the low-resolution photo, and turn it into something fabulous for my bride's Vegas-casino/midnight on New Years' Eve wedding. You can view the bid, and the finished photos, here in my shop.

To recreate the necklace, we used oval mother of pearl, glass coin pearl, blue opal, and alexandrite crystal rosebuds with a vitrail finish. The teardrop "leaves" are faceted emerald crystal teardrops. The flower focals were created in polymer clay with swarovski crystal centers by beetreebyme on Etsy. She took our custom requests and turned them into absolutely fabulous focal flowers! What a treat and a pleasure to work with her!

Custom orders are really high on my list of favorite things to do. Of course I LOVE the free-creating process; I think they're both very fulfilling. My pleasure in the custom creation process lies in taking the customer's need and turning it into

something that is much more than they expected. What fun!

Heartfelt congratulations

to Crystal on her upcoming wedding, this New Years' Eve. Blessings and Best wishes for a long and happy lifetime of love and family.

Tentative custom bridesmaid necklace

Well, the jury of one (my beautiful bridal customer) is out on this one, which is a mockup of a brdesmaids' set for her upcoming November wedding. I posted the materials previously, and here's the next step.

The glorious fall colors make a beautiful statement in white, yellow, peach and red aventurine with the Maple leaf; it's studded with carnelian, and highlighted with sparkly copper spacers and goldstone.

The earrings will be clusters of the aventurine, with tiny copper seed beads and copper maple leaf charms, woven onto perforated bead discs like the Scarlett earrings and the earrings that matched my tulle bridesmaids' sets.

Another custom work from my beading table...

A sweet customer commissioned a reproduction of this beautiful necklace from Gone with the Wind. I was able to locate vintage findings, and the perfect coral beads for the necklace. During the antebellum and civil war period, coral was used extensively for jewelry, so choosing it for this necklace, after studying the picture, was a natural thing. The chain is gold-plated. Vivien Leigh was a small lady, so the measurements had to be altered a little for fit, but on the whole it's a fairly faithful reproduction. I looked everywhere to try to find the designer and the possible location of the original necklace so that I could give credit to those who dreamed it up, but I haven't been able to find a clue. I can't even tell if Leigh kept the jewelry after the film, or if it was in her possession before the movie. I'd love it if someone had the information so that I could give credit where it is due.

I managed to get my hands on enough materials to make three more of these, and would love to talk to you if you're interested in acquiring one. I'll make the length to fit to your measurements.

Make a statement in turquoise...

Dyed Howlite and dyed magnesite are fantastic alternatives to expensive turquoise. The veining can be rich and varied, and the coloring almost exactly like it's rarer counterpart, turquoise. Sure, I'd like to own and design with the genuine stone, but when Howlite is as affordable as it is, why not own 3 or 4 pieces to one of genuine turquoise? More is, well, more. More or less. Less costs more, but is not more. Right?

This necklace was finished this evening, and is awaiting approval by my customer. She's looking for a turquoise and silver statement necklace that is elegant and not clunky, and that has a nice silver sparkle without having a chunky chain. I hope I've satisfied her criteria, because I have certainly enjoyed creating this necklace! I can see varying the metals and the gemstones (or their less expensive alternatives), can't you? Copper with Unakite, bronze with white turquoise (magnesite, actually), silver with red coral, lava rocks and any metal, the list goes on and one. Maybe even some labradorite? That would be interesting!

I really like the movement and texture in this piece. It was fun to create, and I'm hoping my customer enjoys wearing it. I love custom work. It's always such an adventure! Next up, a surprise in salmon coral and brass. (hint: it's a reproduction of a famous piece from a very old southern antebellum movie) Can't wait to get that one posted! I have a museum that wants to see it when it's done!

New creations for the day...

I've been so busy promoting my jewelry that I've not been creating much lately. I have a stack of custom orders on my desk, and I couldn't be happier. Beads are in the mail, on the way to my house. Every day the mailman brings new toys to play with. I'm happy as a clam! Creating is very therapeutic for me. Do I need therapy? Maybe -- ask my kids! But as I'm finishing new pretties for my customers, I'm going to post them and tell a little of their story. Otherwise I'll burst. That would not be pretty!

First up is a pair of earrings I created for my mother for her birthday --- which is TODAY! Happy Birthday, Mom! She gets them next week when she comes for a visit. Juicy little faceted Rhodonite rondelles are embraced by copper wire, and are accented by tiny Tierracast hummingbirds. They're my mom's favorite. Hat's off to you, Mom! Just what you needed, more jewelry, right?

Next up are two pendants created for very special people in very special situations. "neveah" is for the mommy of a very special little girl, and "angela" is for a newlywed soldier stationed in Afghanistan until November. Each are fashioned out of PMC silver clay, then fired. The pure silver that results is then polished and oxidized, then buffed for character. I'm hoping to send these out on Monday.

Next? I'm still working on that. I have about 7 custom orders on my desk, and I'll be working my way through it. First up, a bridal order! A multi-strand bridal necklace and bracelet set with glass pearls, crystal, and other sparkles, and bridesmaids' necklace sets with those beautiful copper-dipped Maple leaves in the last post. Also coming soon: Amazonite graduated rounds with hand-knapped red agate and gold heishi; more blue larimar, this time with lava rocks; Apache dendritic jasper with rhodolite garnets and citrine; faceted chunks of amazonite with rough-cut citrine nuggets; Blue Dyed crazy lace agate with silver and teal..something, not sure yet; white turquoise with carnelian and copper; I have a list a mile long and a heap-big-stash of beads. Time to roll up my sleeves and dig out my Round TUIT!!

Ta-Da!! Wedding jewelry with a garden theme!

I'm so excited to finish this beautiful Bridal set with a Thai Silver dragonfly, Lilac Stone, Amethyst, Czech glass, florite, and fine silver. It funny to think about how a set comes together on the worktable, and where all the materials come from. Almost like a symphony, every element works together to create a finished piece. They're a fusion of different materials, techniques, and color combinations. Plain, pale lilac stone takes on a new look when paired with amethyst and grape-colored czech glass .

In this set, the lilac stone pendant came from an etsy seller in North Carolina, and the 8mm lilac stone beads came from Glen Allen, California. The 10mm lilac stone beads came from Oakland, California, and the Dragonfly cam from Thailand via my favorite bead store here in Jacksonville! The czech glass flowers on the pendant are from a cute little bead store I found in Tallahassee, Florida, last summer when we went to my husband's family reunion. The fine silver wire came from an Etsy seller Texas, was torched by a great find at Lowe's, and hammered by an antique hammer passed down from my husband's grandfather, who is also my son's namesake, Emanuel. The Precious Metal Clay used for the leaf tag, inscribed with her wedding date and hanging on the pendant, is only made in Japan. My rawhide mallet, used in the hand-forged ear wires, belonged to my grandfather, who was a jeweler.

And the set goes to a lovely lady in Tennessee, getting married outside in a Japanese garden. She'll be wearing a hemp silk dress, and silver flip-flops. She's a beautiful lady who teaches music lessons, and was so great to work with I'd like to consider her as my friend. On July 5th, we'll toast her wedding day from Jacksonville, and pray for a long life of love and laughter for her and her husband.

Sometimes it's fun to stop for a minute and think about the design process from concept to design to finish. So much goes into the creation of a One-of-a-kind set that it's hard to take credit for any of it. I'm pleased to have had one page in the story.

My Magnum Opus...to date

It's finished! I finished my first wedding set and the mailman whisked it away over the weekend. I never would have put these materials together myself, but I must say they turned out very nice.

They're constructed on a base of lightest grey tulle, with a hint of a metallic sheen. The wedding colors are grey and canary, and the bride wanted rhinestones, and a vintage look. Each necklace has a set of vintage earrings as anchors to each side of the front swag, and on the fronts of each are strung rows of glass and freshwater pearls, mother of pearl beads, crystal, rhinestone, Swarovski wheel rondelles, silver spacers, and sparkly glass beads. The junior bridesmaid's necklace, the lowest on the right, has a central vintage brooch instead of the earring anchors. The people at my local antique mall (2 miles from my house!) were extremely accommodating to me as I combed all of the displays for materials that would work for my project. I get so many ideas when I look at vintage jewelry that I just have to write them down! You can also find wonderful materials to recycle, especially beads and pearls to re-string. I found a Mother of pearl necklace, hand knotted, with beads shaped like the Eclipse mints you get in the grocery store. They're barrel shaped rounded end cylinders, and they're not made any more. They wanted only $45 for about a 22" double strand necklace! I might have to go back and get that one!

The earrings were also a challenge, but I ran across the hardware online after I saw another pair like it in an antique mall, and it clicked. I'll have to do more of those. Even my 17 year old daughter likes them! They are constructed on perforated steel disks that snap into pads that are premade with posts. You can also get them with clips. Basically you wire your beads onto the disks, then attach the disks to the backs. A seamless, flawless finish makes these earrings a super finish for these necklaces, and complements the vintage look perfectly. I'm so happy I found them. The hardware is inexpensive, and though the earrings are time consuming to assemble, the look is well worth it.

Also worth it was the bride for whom I completed the project. She was incredibly easy to work with, and it was a joy bringing these necklace sets to life. Blessings and wishes for a happy wedding day, and a long life of love together!!

Busy Busy Busy!!

I must say, I've been pretty slack about posting on my blog. I've been haunting Etsy's Custom request forum for a while, bidding on and picking up custom work, and I've had little time for anything else! I did pick up some beautiful beads just for fun, recently, and here's the new creation I just listed. This is Red picture Jasper, bottom drilled briolettes drilled so that they overlap the adjacent stones. I found some lava rock lentils that have the same overlapping quality, and they're devastatingly beautiful. Take a look! I have another batch in a different color that came at the same time as these, so I'm working on putting something together with those.

On my beading table this week:

I found some AWESOME magnesite chips (well, they're bigger than chips, more like heishi-type nuggets, with soft edges; they look like toasted marshmellows all squished together on a skewer) at my favorite bead store, River City Beads here in Jacksonville, FL. I've been taking classes there to learn new skills and brush up on old ones, and while I'm there I get whiplash from looking at all of the lovely things hanging there for me to buy! This time was no exception. I also picked up a Hot Pot for firing PMC, solder pickle, thongs, and a bunch of pairs of beads to make some cute earrings. These magnesite yummies will be paired with copper, a large carnelian donut, maybe some fire agate, and I'm going to try some spiny oyster heishi...the colors are out of this WORLD! I might make one long one, about 24-30" and one shorter one, about 18". We'll see what happens.

I have some gorgeous blue faceted agate from Mintdestash.etsy.com and I'm going to pair it with some golden tumbled agate nuggets. Maybe I'll throw in some gold spacers, and maybe a large glass pearl, maybe not. I also bought some leopardskin jasper hexagon brios from her that will be absolutely gorgeous with black onyx and maybe some coral or carnelian.

I have abouty 4 pieces already gathered and waiting to be strung -- a fossilized coral pendant with attending carnelian, and smaller coral beads; Paintbrush Jasper with beauty the likes that I've NEVER seen, paired with Raspberry Rhodelite Garnet Faceted Rondelles; some chinese unakite donuts and red picture jasper that I'll pair with some other stones I haven't found yet, and I think I'll take some cute little millifiori and make a simple but sweet wire-segmented necklace, the kind my daughter loves.

But those are just my playdates with beads...I have four other custom orders on my table that have to be done before I can start to play. TWO Precious Metal Clay projects, and TWO wedding ensembles that have to be shipped out by the end of the week. The photo to the right is a dreamy pearl and crystal and vintage element trio, the first of six bridesmaids' sets for this week, and the other will be a lilac stone pendant combo with a Thai silver dragonfly as an accent/focal. Can't wait to post that one! I have another that is due in September. I absolutely LOVE to do custom work!!

So stay tuned. More to come! "I've been making custom or-ders, ALL the live-long day!...I've been making perty jewl-ry, just to pass the time a-way....Can't you hear the mailman comin', box 'em up and get 'em out the door! ....Can't you hear the people shoutin', please come make some more!! (to the tune of "I've been working on the railroad")

LOVE IT, Love it, LOVE IT!!

New listings today! Plus, I love custom work!! See my newest creations!!

Here's another 3-in-1 combo set hot off my beading table. Recently I'm giving more emphasis to everyday pieces that can be worn to the office, the grocery store, and the ballpark. I love love love to create statement pieces, and have a few custom orders for them right now, but creating items with beauty AND utility has been my main emphasis in my shop for a while. In this set, czech glass apples in peachy pink and green are accented by leafy green droplets and spacers, then hand wired together to create a delicate jumble of smooth pendants and eye-pleasing color. Antiqued brass chain doubles the bracelet and adds a rustic, vintage-like flourish that you'll wear over and over again. This set would be perfect for a lady who avoids ostentatious jewelry, but likes a feminine, flirty touch to wear every day. The front section detaches at twin toggle clasps to form a bracelet, and the 15.5" necklace extender can also double as an additional bracelet. The earrings closely match the design of the bracelet, and can also be worn alone. Czech glass apples anchor the earrings, and they're surrounded by droplets of green and crowned with cherry quartz and antiqued brass.

My other new listing is a cute little pair of earrings featuring carved onyx beads, and mother of pearl. These will please just about any girl who likes floral, feminine fashions, and likes a little dangle to swing when she turns her head. I'm that kind of girl, maybe that's why I make earrings like these!

I know I've said before that I love custom work, but did I mention that I LOVE custom work? Maybe I did. I really love doing custom work. I've had a few jobs lately that have been extremely fun, and stretching at the same time. Here are a few...


Here they are, from left to right: The first one is a sea-themed bracelet, with TierraCast charms, from Lytha Studios. They are not only a TierraCast distributor, but also designers of beautiful jewelry. Kits are available on their site, or you can ask people like me to assemble them for you ;) I also did these earrings for the same customer, but the pictures didn't come out very well. The second is a Fine Silver charm in a line I'm working on for my Etsy shop. The top one was oxidized, and the identical bottom charm is a photo taken before oxidation. Stay tuned for more information, coming soon! I'll offer customized bracelets and necklaces based on themes like Mother's Day, New Baby, Wedding, Graduation, Engagement, and other life's milestones. The last photo on the top is a pair of wire-wrapped "statement" earrings. They're as flashy and swinging as a miniskirt at a club in Miami's South Beach. Imagine the attention you'd get wearing those babies! The bottom charms are all Fine Silver charms, and the one on the right, f.r.o.g. stands for "fully rely on God," from a line of missions fund-raiser jewelry I'm working on at the moment.
I've been a busy girl. For a while the discouraging economy really got me down, but I've found that when I am able to create things that people like, I don't have time to worry about anything else.

Custom work is a challenge, but worth it!

When I saw this Karen Hill Tribe Silver butterfly it nearly took my breath away. My oldest daughter's personal mascot has been a butterfly for just about her whole life, as she's a social butterfly that flits here and there, lighting on whatever strikes her fancy. I also like the metamorphosis imagery as it pertains to children growing up. Because she is the same person she was when I held her in my arms for the first time, lips smacking in the silence of the night, but she's different. And she will be a different person as she matures into womanhood,but she'll still be the same.

On her 16th birthday I wanted to make her something special. The butterfly idea kept coming back to me, and I was sure of it when I saw this gorgeous pendant. I chose her favorite colors, lilac, fuchsia, sea foam green, and combined them with black to make a bold statement of style, growing up, my little girl, and my momma's heart. I'm so proud of the person she's becoming. I just had to post this, because I really liked the way the whole piece developed, and I decided to list pictures of it on Etsy, as a custom order. I will probably not be able to get these beads again anyway, so it will remain a One of a Kind, but I can most definitely come close to it, if someone would like a set for their own butterfly, or for themselves.

Custom work is a challenge, but worth it. I think the key is seeing the necklace exactly like the customer sees it. If you can effectively communicate your vision for the piece to the designer, then you'll be able to get pretty close in terms of the supplies available, the designer's vision, expertise, and skill level, and the ultimate conclusion -- your one of a kind treasure. For me, the communication process if fun. Getting to know someone and walking in their shoes for a while is sort of a detective game. Making the pieces, of course, fills me with anticipation. It's almost like Christmas! The nerve-wracking part is when it's presented to the customer for approval. That's when self-doubt sets in! I nervously wonder if I got it right, and if they'll decide it was worth the time. So far, so good. It's been a wonderful process. When the customer is satisfied and we've concluded the deal, then I get an amazing feeling of satisfaction, like the glow after Christmas morning, when all the wrapping has been put away, and you get to admire your loved ones loving their gifts. That's why I like handmade so much. When you give a piece of your heart, it's like your heart grows fuller, and larger, and ...stronger. Sound corny? Then maybe you should try it! You might change your mind.