Day 11.

Day 11. Necklace!!

Ingredients:

1 Awesome new Dress Form!!

12 Massive Lime Turquoise (it's dyed, but it's awesome!) nuggets.

36 Inches of sterling silver wire.

1 Very large sterling silver toggle clasp.

45 minutes.

I've had these beads for at least a year, I knew I wanted them to be a necklace but wasn't sure anyone would actually wear it because they're HEAVY! Now that the necklace is made I can safely say that YES, someone will wear this! It's awesome! As long as you warm it up before you put it on- because man, these are some cold stones!!

Day 10.

Day 10.

Ingredients:

32 inches of sterling silver wire. (much of it was sacrificed to the frustrating task of making sure these are the same length!)

2 Handmade lampwork discs.

6 Freshwater pearls in a delicious glowing orange.

2 Sterling silver earwires.

Assembly time- 35 minutes. (much of it was sacrificed to the frustraing task of making sure these are the same length!)

Length- 3 inches.

Day 9.

Day 9.

Ingredients:

6 Large platinum Swarovski glass pearls.

1 Handmade Lampwork enameled glass bead.

1 Round dotted lampwork glass bead.

1 Sterling silver seashell.

1 Sterling silver toggle clasp.

22 Inches of sterling silver wire.

2 Sterling silver headpins.

3 Swarovski crystals.

3 Sterling silver spacers.

Assembly time: 40 minutes.

I watched Teddy Kennedy's Funeral today, somehow this piece works with how I spent my morning. It's beautiful, and the glass focal bead is so artistic with its colors of the sea and its city on a hill.

Day 8.

Day 8, Bracelet.

Ingredients.

1 8 inch Sterling silver Italian chain, with small anchor style links.

20 8mm round hematite beads.

20 6mm Swarovski crystal bicones.

1 Clear with black stringer, handmade lampwork bead.

41 Sterling silver headpins.

79: Minutes it took to put this together.

I love this piece! It's simple and petite but the beads are dark metallic. It's shiny, sparkly and it gives no indication that I might have phoned it in a little...

Day 7.

Day 7.

Ingredients:

8 Lampwork beads, one large focal, three lentils and 4 discs.

6 Bronze Swarovski glass pearls.

16 inches of sterling silver wire.

21 Butter yellow freshwater pearls.

7 6mm Swarovski crystal bicones.

7 Sterling silver spacers.

7 Vintage glass chicklets.

Assembly time: 1 hour.

This piece FLEW together, I had it finished before 9:30 this morning! The large focal in the center creates a feeling that is a little reminiscent of an Identity Bracelet but it works really nicely!

Day 6.

Day 6- Bracelet.

Ingredients:

7 Handmade lampwork beads.

28 Small yellow freshwater pearls.

21 6mm Czech Crystal bicones in Cobalt Blue.

29 Sterling silver beads and spacers.

1 Sterling silver toggle clasp.

14 inches of sterling silver wire.

21 Sterling silver headpins.

1 Day spent procrastinating.

7 minutes left to spare today.

I actually made 2 pieces today, this and another. I was torn about which one to include as today's project piece- partially because this one is so awesome and I know I could sell it before the show. But no, because there are only:

359 days until the show.

and that's not too long to wait!

Day 5.

Bracelet- Day 5.

Ingredients:

13 inches of Sterling silver wire.

20 sea foam green freshwater pearls.

15 Swarovski crystals in Rosewater Opal.

5 Translucent glass sea foam beads.

5 Large hot pink jade beads.

15 Sterling silver headpins.

11 Tiny round sterling silver beads.

1 Sterling silver toggle clasp.

Holy Miami Vice, Crockett!

I knew I wanted to design a piece with these pink jade beads, but didn't know what to put between them until the day was almost over. (I started with plastic cherries... seriously!) I decided to keep the summer colors going and chose the deco green. The translucent glass beads are from Michael's of all places. I never buy beads from there, but had to have these, and I'm so glad! They look fantastic on this piece.

Forgive the photo- I'll retake it and repost soon!!

Day 4.

Day 4- Bracelet.

Ingredients:

1 8 inch heavy sterling silver Anchor Link chain.

8 Handmade lampwork beads.

4 Handmade polymer clay roses. (2 yellow, 2 blue)

53 Sterling silver beads, caps and spacers.

3 Vintage glass beads.

11 Swarovski crystals.

28 Sterling silver headpins.

1 Freshwater pearl.

1 6mm round aventurine bead.

1 Large Czech faceted orange glass bead.

Turquoise-- blue, green and yellow. (some dyed, some stabilized, some natural.)

4 hours. At least. I took some breaks. I enjoyed making this bracelet, it's the perfect piece for the last day of Summer vacation. Hot weather, tropical colors, lots of texture, big, bold beads.

It's a heavier piece but it's comfortable- the chain is large and the headpins are strong. I wouldn't wear it playing golf or typing all day, but dancing or a fashionable day on the lake? Sure!

Day 3.

Earrings, Day 3.

Ingredients:

2 Apple Red Sponge Coral Round beads inlaid with sparkly round Cubic Zirconia.

5 Inches of practically invisible sterling silver chain.

2 Sterling silver earwires.

2 Sterling silver headpins.

30 minutes. Most of it trying to count the teeny little chain links to make sure the earrings are the same length.

Day 2.

Bracelet- Day 2.

Ingredients:

1 8 inch petite anchor link bracelet chain.

42 Sterling silver headpins.

378 Raspberry Czech glass 4mm sized round beads.

3 failed design attempts prior to putting this piece together.

4 hours.

I did not love making this piece, it was repetitive and not terribly inspiring. Luckily the end result is a flirty little number that I'm totally going to wear tonight!!

Day 1.

This is Bracelet Day 1.

Ingredients:

1 large, heavy

Italian sterling silver chain.

21 charms in copper, pink and amber.

2 handmade wooden charms, one with a closeup of Botticelli's Primavera and the other with Michelangelo's Holy Family.

Lampwork beads, including a coral pink flat swirl, a dotted round and a flowering cactus!

Gold Coral, Swarovski Crystals, hammered copper, an old key, a carved red jasper buddha, Swarovski glass pearls, a vintage tassel, a vintage rose cameo, a vintage lucite flower, a Czech glass Owl, a giant flat faceted pink opal, a One Cent Coin starring Queen Victoria from Prince Edward Island 1871, a sterling silver cross and a fairy sitting atop a glass "cherry quartz" nugget.

This piece is huge. To give you a sense of size the dark antique coin is the size of a quarter. All in all it took a day to get the parts together and about 3 hours to assemble. It is a good representation of what I would make all the time if I didn't have to worry about selling anything- it is functional collage. Every detail is unique, it sounds wonderful while it's being worn and despite the fact that there's a lot going on in it it's a surprisingly neutral, versatile piece of jewelry that isn't at all uncomfortable to wear!

Jewelry.365

Other than simple world domination and fame my short term plan is a 365 day jewelry design project. Jewelry.365.

I will make one special piece each day- I'll photograph it, describe it, and list its ingredients here.

At the end of those 365 days I'll have a giant collection of hopefully very different pieces, at which point I'll have a big show! In the meantime the pieces featured on this blog will not be offered for sale until the show next August!

Stay with me and hopefully together we will see an interesting progress of design, technique and point of view!!