Ariel's treasure lost but now found...

This necklace was a custom creation commissioned by a pretty lady in Texas for a beach-themed formal event. The trick was to make flowers, but keep it beachy. So, why not use beachy to make the flowers? I was up for it.

The natural beauty and colors of these shells and coral are what makes the necklace. They're showcased in all their glory, and highlighted by gold, czech glass and recycled "sea glass" beads. These beads are not sea glass, but recycled glass designed to LOOK like real sea glass. They're also available in cobalt, which is a very rare sea glass color, and very beautiful.

The conch-like shell at the bottom is wrapped around the top with glass and pearls to tie it in with the focal "flower" and gold heishi plays hide-and-seek with different loose beads for extra sparkle. Closeup photos of this necklace set can be viewed in my "sold items" portfolio in my Etsy shop, here.

I really should take the time to learn the names of these beautiful shells, and go to the local shell conventions that showcase and sell these treasures from the deep. I'd like to use them in future creations. The textures and colors are striking, and will be sure to start conversation wherever they are worn, don't you think so?

If you are interested in a creation all your own, please contact me through my Etsy shop, click "Request Custom Item" or this link.

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!

Oooh La Larimar bracelets!

One aspect of making jewelry is the artistry involved in finding the right look. An artist has to pick just the right pigment, paint, subject and medium for a project, and also has to feel the "vibe" of the project. The use, intent and feel of the item has to match with the materials, colors, and textures used. Likewise with a jewelry designer; both painting and jewelry piece are a form of artistic expression.

This is the first prototype of a Larimar multiple bracelet commission by a lovely bride on Etsy. It features a Thai silver starfish by Aardvark Silver on Etsy, and Larimar from Szarka at Magpie Gemstones. The bracelet is a 3-strand treasure trove of ocean bounty, with recycled glass, mother-of-pearl, shell and a mix of gorgeous ocean colored seed beads. For sparkle, I added some 4mm sterling silver beads. The result? well, it speaks for itself. I think Hans Christian Anderson's "Little Mermaid" is missing something from her jewelry box, don't you think?

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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.

Errr...Missed again!

If you Etsy, you know that the prime time to list is on the weekend. Well, this weekend, I have a great new set to list, but didn't. My mother-in-law had surgery Thursday, on her back. She's doing very well now, thankfully! Many prayers went up on her behalf! We have her settled now in a rehab center, and should be busy visiting this week. I noticed the staff at the center wears lanyards...

I have a show next Saturday, at St. Joseph's Catholic School in Mandarin. It's 9 - 4pm, and it should be a good one! I'm excited to be back out showing my stuff again. Maybe I'll get to making stuff this week. I have a bunch of stuff on my table.

If you Etsy, you probably know about alchemy. If you don't, you should. While everyone is talking in the forums about how quiet Etsy's been and how their business is sooo slow, you can be in the alchemy section picking up sales. I managed to snatch two this week! I love custom orders! They grease the business wheel during slow times! and since it's slow, you can really specialize on the details, and develop long-term clients. Custom work rocks!