Some cool recent projects.

Actually they are more like past projects that I haven't posted and recent projects. But anyway, here they are. The Rings and bracelet are from a book and the earrings I've posted about before. But I made a black pair that I forgot to photograph and the orange ones. I love them!

Made with sterling silver. That's a lot of wire!

You can tell in this one that I didn't get the chevron at the top and bottom of the bracelet quite lined up. But I think it's pretty anyway, and A LOT of work!

Also made with sterling silver, and so are the black ones like these. I plan to do some in bronze wire with sterling silver earwires, and possibly oxidize a pair to add a nice effect.

I used some silver plated copper wire for this one. And if I made a mistake, that was it, it would break. So it was kinda hard to work with, but super shiny and pretty. It also felt a little more like working with half-hard sterling silver than the bronze wire did.

I made this one with bronze wire and clear crystal beads!

I've been playing around with this design from the book. I made a ring without the beads or wraps on top and didn't really like how it looked. I also made this one as per my husband's request. Don't ask me why he wanted it. But I like it with the wraps instead of without. Maybe I'll post the picture of the other one sometime. I also made my brother a pinky ring, using a different design.

So, what do you think?

P.S. I forgot, if you want to buy those earrings...they are for sale for $30.

Wonky awesome beads!

Are you finally ready for a new post?

I waited waited and kept this in. I didn't want to spoil the surprise, but today I spent six awesome hours (having no kids hanging on me was a bonus) at a beginners lampworking class. What is that, you may ask? Let me show you.

Me playing fire glass and fire. What could be better?

My workstation.

My first set of cooled beads still on the mandrels.

All of the beads I made on a cord. They are totally wonky (an actual lampworking term-meaning disproportionate/asymmetrical), but I think they are totally awesome.

I had a fantastic time. The teacher, Paige was great as well.

P.S. Paige, I didn't write that you are great just because I gave you my web address!

Friday's Find

I meant to post this in the morning, but it still counts because it's still Friday. I love to get on Etsy on a regular basis and find beads, findings, and jewelry I like. I am able to compare prices, quality, etc. I look at other things on Etsy as well, not just in the jewelry section.

Since I visit Etsy pretty much all the time, I decided to let you see what I look at. So every Friday, I will put something up that I saw that day and really liked. Then I will tell you a little bit about why I like it and what it is.

Apparently Pandora beads are all the rage right now. I found these Pandora lampwork glass beads on Etsy. And aren't they just stunning? Well guess what? These beauties are handmade. That's right. You can make them, not just buy them from big companies. When you look down at the bottom of the listing on Etsy, there are Tags. When you list an item that is not handmade, like beading supplies such as tools, you must put a tag that says commercial. This means you did not make it. But if it's not there, it was handmade. A lot of people like to have a tag that actually says 'handmade' so there is no confusion. This seller on Etsy actually does have that on some other beads.

Organization Part 2

In this part, I will show you how I organize findings such as chain, clasps, etc.

I keep an expandable file folder to store all my findings in. I saw this on a video somewhere, but I can't remember where.

Inside, I label the tabs in alphabetical order what I have in each slot.

In each slot I have a gallon ziploc bag that hold everything in that category and I also label the bag. This makes it easy to find every time. You might be wondering why I use such big bags, because I can hold everything in a smaller bag. I use gallon size ziploc bags because it's just easier to grab.

And that's about it. Keeping everything this way makes it much easier to find things. I know it's probably not the best way to do things, but I use the resources I have on hand.

So, here's the tip for today: Label EVERYTHING. Right now I don't have everything labeled because when I first started beading I didn't label anything. I didn't keep receipts because it was just a hobby. Now I keep all my receipts and I label everything. If you are unsure how much information to put on your bag, then just put everything on. I'm not kidding. More information is better than not enough.

Mom's Earrings

I meant to post this a while ago, but we all know how awesome I am at blogging. But, anyway I made these darling earrings for my mother. She picked the color, and I knew just what style of jewelry to make for her.

These earrings are made with 60 4mm light pink crystal beads.

Perfect little Cameron hands.

Now, she just needs to reopen the holes in her ears. Doh!

Fiesta Earrings-Take 2

Uhhh...

Well, I promised I would put these earrings up again once I remade them. I am, but since this has become a blog mostly where I talk about my experiences making jewelry, I'm sure you won't mind a short commentary.

So, instead of using more metal to make some more earrings that I still wasn't sure would come out right, and because the other ones didn't look all that great, I decided to just clean the other ones up and reuse them.

This is what I did.

1. First I used a trusty pro polish pad to take off all the colored pencil.

2. Then I used some Liver of Sulfur to antique the earrings, which was very exciting because it was the first time I've used it. Well except the part when my sister-in-law came in the house and was kinda freaked out because the she thought my son got into something when she smelled sulfur!

3. Then I used my pro polish pad again to clean off the high spots.

So, what did I do right, and what did I do wrong? Well, if I had done another pair from scratch, I would have textured the metal and then used the Liver of Sulfur to give it a better look. Now it just looks kinda tarnished and that's all. To be honest, I really miss the pretty colors. I am bound and determined to figure out a way to get those cute colors in there, but still have a high quality pair of earrings.

Oh well. Better luck next time. Now to get the sulfur smell out!

P.S. Remember the beads from yesterday? Come back soon to see what project I've got in store for those beauties!

Bead Porn

My sister Alissa is really into knitting, and she has made some gorgeous stuff. When she was in town visiting a couple weeks ago we went to a yarn store. I'm not all that into yarn, but just seeing all the yarn on the shelves was amazing, and so pretty. It was addicting looking at all that yarn. That's when my sister told me it was yarn porn.

Yesterday I took a trip to the bead store and picked up some handmade lampwork beads. They were all absolutely stunning. My budget called for the cheapest handmade lampwork beads I could find. So at $3.25 a strand, I purchased two. Most of the strands of beads there were $25+. Crazy! So, after seeing my 'bead porn' I'm sure you can only imagine what the more expensive beads looked like!