Fun and Easy Holiday Jewelry

Every year around this time I am busy preparing for our Annual Christmas Open House and Sale. Our sale is always the first Saturday in December so that we can help customers save some money on supplies for making gifts. Along with the sale I always try to have lots of fun samples in the store of jewelry that can be made for the holidays or adapted for year round wear. These are some pieces that I made yesterday to put on display.

This first pair of earrings are made using a very simple cross weave technique. It is very similar to the base on the Pearl Montee Bracelet that we have on our youtube channel. I used 11/0 Galvanized Gold Seed Beads as well as 4 & 6mm Metallic Red and Green Beads.

This pair is made just like the first pair but I used Galvanized Silver Seed Beads and changed up where the colors were at.

This third pair is a sample that I found on Firemountaingems.com and I worked my magic and made them the way I liked them. These are made using lots of tiny chain, 3mm red and green glass rounds, and silver plated basket bead caps.

This pair was a sample that I found on fusionbeads.com. I thought that they were so cute. I used 24ga wire and added 4mm round beads. Then used 4mm Siam Swarovski's to dangle in the center.

These are my version of Christmas Bulb Earrings.....which I love because they sparkle and dangle so pretty!

This necklace is a version of a necklace that is in the current issue of Stringing Magazine.

I started making these bracelets last year and they flew off the shelves! This is a snowman bracelet. Each snowman is seperated by one 4mm Bicone. This bracelet is great because it can be worn all of december and January.

And finally this bracelet is made using some new Acrylic Beads we got in last week. I put one 6mm round on a head pin and made a loop. I made enough of these that 6 would go inbetween each bead. I liked how it turned out and I loved the red color.

I hope this gives you some ideas of fun jewelry that you can wear this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the day in America where we stuff ourselves with Turkey and take the time to be thankful for all the things God has given us. Today I am most thankful for my Family, Friends, my wonderful husband, and above all Jesus Christ. Please take a moment today and let the people you love KNOW that you are thankful for them.

Do you have someone in your life who is your biggest fan? Well that person in my life is my moms sister....my aunt Carolyn. She has always been proud of me and she is super supportive of my beading talent. Every time I see her I try and have her something special made. I will see her today and since I have been making Trillium flowers I figured that I would make her one in red and green. It turned out really cute but I wish I would have had some silver lined emerald here at the house for the back of the flower. Anyways heres how it turned out....






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Step by Step Beads

Wanna know what magazine I really miss...Step by Step Beads. That was the best magazine and they had some of the neatest projects. To my suprise I got a magazine shipment in this week and when I opened the box it was Volume 2 of Step by Step Beads. Let me tell you....it does not disappoint. I love Step by Step Beads because it has some pretty quick stitching projects and it is easy for beginner beaders to understand. If you get a chance be sure and pick up a copy of this issue because it is fantastic! I made the pictured earrings in no time.

Busy Busy Busy

No progress on the Trillium necklace this week so far. This time of year brings lots of custom orders for my shop. Here are two pieces that go with a large order that a customer is coming to pick up tomorrow. The first picture is of a Rose Rivoli Ring. I love to make these because they are super quick to make and no one ring ever looks the same. The color choices change the look of the ring dramatically.

The second picture is a pair of my new favorite earrings. The rings are actually supposed to be a necklace that was on the cover of Super Bead work earlier in the year. I made myself a pair in cream and gold and wear them with everything. One of my volunteers loved them so much that I ended up making her a pair. When my customer came in and said that they needed a really unique pair of earrings as a gift these came to mind. I used black delicas and 15/0 seed beads as well as 3mm white pearls. They turned out really pretty so I think that after the holidays I might have to make myself a pair.

Hopefully I can get back to the trillium flowers tomorrow. I have got my voice back and am finally starting to feel better.





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Day 5 Trillium Necklace - Another one bites the dust~

Another one bites the dust!

Day 3 & 4

Well after a fun day on Monday someone decided to give me a cold on Tuesday. Not sure who that person was but I sure wish that didn't like sharing! Anyways, I started the next flowering Tuesday night and finished it up tonight. I decided to make the center biggest flower so that I could get it out of the way. The flower turned out really pretty! It is made using Matte Turquoise and Lime Green delicas. Now I just have to decide what colors to do the background. I'm thinking that pink will defently make an appearance. Below the first picture is a picture so you can see the size difference of the medium and large flower.





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Mummies

So today Sammy and I had to spend the day in Charlotte. Sammy had to go to Court for a hearing early and I thought that since we were in Charlotte we might as well make a day of it....and boy what a day! I read last week in the Charlotte Observer that the Discovery Place Museum was getting a new exhibit....Mummies of the World. So, after the hearing we headed on over to the exhibit and let me tell you...it was amazing! There are 150 mummies and artifacts on display and it is simply a sight to behold. I think the thing that amazed me the most was that they had Jewelry on display that Egyptians had made to put on Children that had died. They said these were talismans to help the children in the afterlife. What blew my mind was the detail in these pieces and how thousands of years ago they could make such beautiful pieces. They even had a necklace on display that was made of glass beads. They had a beautiful look of gold stone and there were other yellow and brown colors of beads.

The whole exhibit was something that I will never forget. And, after all these years, I finally know why the Egyptians used Scarabs! They used to put a scarab over a persons heart between the layers of wrap to protect the heart and make sure no one stole the heart. Pretty crazy huh?

If you live anywhere remotely near Charlotte then you need to plan a trip to see the exhibit before it leaves in April. Kids and adults will love it!

Its back to the grind tomorrow!

Day 2 Trillium Necklace Progress

Well at the end of day 2 I got the back of the first flower finished and got it attached to the flower. Only 4 flowers left to go!

Day 1 Trillium Flower Necklace

I have a slight problem....I am a procrastinator when it comes to making something that I know will take me FOREVER to make! I have a customer from TX that has been ordering jewelry from me this year and her latest request is one that I have been procrastinating on. Diane Fitzgerald wrote a great book last year called Shaped Bead Work and it has a pattern in it called the Trillium Flower. Stephanie requested a necklace made out of the Trillium Flowers. The necklace is going to be FABULOUS and when I finish it I will feel like I have accomplished something great but construction is another story.

I sat down Thursday night and decided that I needed to discipline myself and each work day I was going to start sitting down and working on the pieces for 1 hour. I started yesterday and I got 1 flower constructed. I still have to make the back triangle for the flower and then this component will be finished and then there will only be 4 more to make.  Here is what I got done:

Episode 2 of Project Accessory

Ok so I finally got to watch Episode 2 of Project Accessory and I am just facinated with that show. To say that I love watching it is an understatement. This week contestants got to go to the Swarovski Store in NYC and pick out a piece of jewelry that inspired them. How hard would it be to pick only 1 piece?

The contestants were sorting through bins of Swarovski and it was just the greatest thing to watch. Once they left the Swarovski store they then had to go back to the work room and create a shoe and another accessory to go with the jewelry piece they picked out. This was my favorite piece for the show:

This Swarovski Cuff was amazing! I can't say that I would wear one that big but boy does it sparkle! As they say...it's not the size...it's the sparkle. I wonder what this weeks episode will hold tonight?