Hammered Silver Stringers

My first attempt at hammering silver wire. I love the texture that it gives to the wire and the way the light reflects from the dents. The crystals help too!

Teacher Christmas Gifts

I saw this done on another blog...shame on me for not saving the link! I made up a "practice" one to see if I liked the final concept. I need several gifts for each of my third graders teachers and I thought these Christmas ornaments would be a good idea...now I've got to stamp them all out and find some different ribbon.

Christmas Tree

I'm obsessed with switching out my Christmas decorations each year! This year my tree is silver, mercury glass, blown glass and deep purple.

I LOVE it!

Crystal Garland

So I totally fell in love with this Pottery Barn Chandelier Garland. But with a couple of drawbacks; price, no longer available, and length. I was able to find it on ebay for around $30, but it was only 60" long. Definitely not long enough to drape over the doorway I had in mind.

So what's a girl to do? Make my own!! The best part I had two ways to go about it. I have glass chandelier drops that I picked up at a sale a while ago...but alas there were not going to be enough to do what I wanted to do. Option #2: Dig through my current stash of goodies and see what I could put together!! Best option of all since there was 0 new out of pocket cost! I had all of the acrylic beads left over from last summers projects, I had the pearl necklace and bugle beads in my stash, and of course the never fail fishing line! :)

I am pleased with how it turned out! And mine are 106" EACH in length!!

Awesome Weekend

It has been an awesome weekend for me so far...and there's still one more day to go!
David & I took the boys to see Blind Side last night-Great movie!
We got the rest of the yard and garden stuff put away (the weather was perfect), I found some great new blogs to follow and I've spent the evening working in the studio creating some new pieces! Sigh...life is good!

What have I been up to?

Life has been super busy in my household lately. Kids have been keeping us busy with school and their extracurricular activities, add work and college to that and that's enough to make any life busy! Our household has also been one of MANY (too many) to get hit with this terrible flu virus...we're just now getting back to "normal" after over a week of being down and out!

Oh yah, we've also become the adoptive parents to two abandoned kittens! We think they're about 3 weeks old, and they need to be bottle fed every few hours. Adorable, but in a household with three pets and crazy schedules...well, let's just say we'll be looking for good homes for them as soon as they're ready! Anyone interested?

FINALLY!

I was finally able to out to the studio tonight. Only for about an hour, but I did make a new jewelry set! Whoo hoo! Now just gotta find the time to take a pic and post it!

Resin Jewelry

I have been waiting for the chance to create some resin jewelry pieces. I love the idea of making pendants, bracelets, earrings from "scratch".

I mixed up my first batch of resin tonight...not sure it was really the best night for it, with the humidity being so high. All I can say so far is that it is

STINKY!!

I mixed it up in the studio in front of an open window and wore a mask. But the residual smell is making it impossible to stay in the studio. Alas, I'm going to open up the windows and call it a night.

Can't wait to see what I have in the morning!!

Trying out some new ideas

Hello!
I've been messing around with some new project ideas. I love love making jewelry especially beading, but I'm always itching to learn something new!
On my quest to make more earrings I decided to pull out my Wig-Jig and try forming some new earring wires. Not that there's anything wrong with the pre-made ones that I've been purchasing, I'm just looking to add some interest to my final creations. I love bending straight wire into interesting shapes!!
I also want to create some resin jewelry pieces. I'm surprised that I haven't been able to find more project ideas on the internet! But I have found a few cool blogs and a great supplier of materials on Ebay.
I'll let you know what I come up with!

Onyx Daisies

These onyx crystals are a real compliment to the textured silver findings. The drop style gives enough movement to sway and the crystals have a beautiful shine!

More Boat Trip Pics

Here are a few more pictures from our trip.

*Warning!! Scenic Pic*

Obviously I love to take pics! :) So beware this post is heavily littered with pics from our boat trip on 8/16. We took the boat from Coopersville up the Grand River to Lake Michigan. The day started out beautiful and sunny and then got a little drizzly for a bit. Even though the rain held out the sun didn't come back out...but that was ok...saved us from sunburns! We saw so many fun things on our trip; gorgeous homes, wildlife, Adirondack chairs (a strange fancy of mine), unusual boats and so much more!!!

Champagne Dessert

I love the simplicity of the clear focal bead rimmed in silver. The clear glass gives a beautiful sparkle while being versatile.

Leona set

This is an example of a remake of a previously unattractive necklace...wish I had taken a "before" photo! I love the look of rocks and minerals and when I can find realistic lightweight replicas I can hardly contain my excitement!

Cinnabar Chunks

Keeping with the same style as earlier today, but using brightly colored Cinnabar colored beads. These earrings are surprising lightweight! The color combination makes them great for summer brights or autumn hues.

Seafoam Dangles

These earrings are made with sea-foam green pearls and crystal clear chips. I'm really working to keep my promise to myself to create more earrings! One thing I've learned about making earrings is that I can try out new techniques in a small scale!

Citrus Slices set

Continuing to work with wood beads, I created this citrus inspired bracelet and earrings set. My youngest son thinks the earrings look like flying saucers ! :)

Plumb Drop

These simple earrings are made from deep purple wooden beads and silver findings. I am working on trying to make more earrings. For some reason I really struggle with earring design.

Newly Painted Studio

As promised here is a picture of my newly painted studio!! I love the fresh white paint and the burgundy door! I also had to add an old mailbox to the front...kinda gives it a homey look! I'm thinking about asking hubby to make some rustic looking shutters for the windows, what do you think?

I need to brag for a minute...my sister was browsing at our favorite "junk" store and came across these two beautiful outdoor lights. Those of you who know me well also know that I enjoy making stained glass windows (along with my many other crafting obsessions), so when she saw these she rushed over and told me. When I went into the store I instantly knew they'd be perfect replacements for the two ugly lights on the front of my studio...now to get hubby to install them ;) Oh! I almost forgot! I got the pair for $25! Now I just need to find one for beside the door.

Confetti Fun set

I posted pics of the Confetti Fun bracelet earlier. Here is the rest of the playful set. These dyed shells are so much fun to work with and the beautiful bright colors add a playful spirit to any outfit!!

Snowberry Clearwing

When I first spotted this species of moth last year I couldn't figure out if it was a hummingbird or a gigantic bumblebee! When it finally landed and I was able to take pics I could see that it was an unusual moth. The moth was identified as a Snowberry Clearwing.

*** Check out my slide show at the bottom of the page for more landscape pics ***

Mourning Cloak

I found this Mourning Cloak moth on my butterfly bush today. Isn't it pretty?

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm taking the weekend off from blogging. Have a great weekend!!

More Graphic Pendants

Here are some more examples of the graphic pendants that I created.

Graphic Shells

These are part of a new technique I tried out. The graphics on the shell pendants are really pretty!

Bead Medley

This bracelet was made from an assortment of yummy glass beads and bronze/copper wire. The cuff was made by twisting the wire by hand and adding the individual beads.

Midnight Coast

The colors in this photo just don't do justice to the shell beads, which are a deep midnight blue/purple, gold and black with plenty of natural shine.

Beach Comber

These pretty earrings and bracelet remind me of collecting at the beach. Tiny shells and beach glass pieces in pink, purple and light green.

Sunrise Bangle

This fun bangle has beads that move as you move your hand. The round silver beads are stationary while the rest of the beads slide around the bangle, including the suns which rotate.

Candy Cone Bracelet

I just love the glass focal bead on this bracelet. The pink with multi-colored dots is a fun contrast to the pale compliment beads and the silver bead caps.

Finally Finished!

I have FINALLY finished some of my painting that was on my "summer to do" list! I'll post pics later. A word of advice, don't paint Adirondack chairs with a brush! The last two times I've painted them I used spray paint and it was a breeze. But this time I thought I'd paint them the same color as the door on the studio...not realizing how many cracks, crevices, etc. are in those darn things. Of course this is coming from someone who really doesn't enjoy painting! LOL!

Where have I been?

Hello!!

I've gotten some emails asking where I've been. Sorry! This past weekend we had our annual sale-a combination garage and craft sale. I spent the better part of last week getting ready and organizing for the sale. You never realize how much work it is until you actually do it! Thank goodness Tammey (my sister) was there with me every step of the way!! Without her help organizing and running the sale I may have lost my mind!!!
The sale went well. We didn't advertise in the local paper this time, just Craigslist and signs around the neighborhood. At first I regretted not putting an ad in the local paper until a shopper stopped by late on the first day and shared her experience. Apparently, she was having a garage sale not too far up the road and she was lamenting that her first day had barely covered her advertising expense! We were shocked because we were having a great day!! Unfortunately, I think that says a lot about the world we live in today; actual newspapers are just not being read and utilized like they once were.
Anyhow, I've spent the last few days since the sale trying to recover. Donating the garage sale items that didn't sell to charity, updating my jewelry inventory list, and catching up on the household chores that were neglected!

Pink Party

This is one of the very first jewelry sets I ever made. I fell in love with the colorful glass focal beads.

Craft Robo

I'm really excited to finally blow the dust of my Craft Robo and try some new projects. I can't wait to make some vinyl cut outs for the walls in my studio!

Tiger Iron Stone

This bracelet was created using the right angle weave and Tiger Iron chips. Tiger Iron is a stunning and unique gem stone with alternating layers of black and brown hematite or magnetite, red jasper and chatoyant golden tiger eye. Also called tigereye matrix, tiger iron is a quartz-lignite aggregate of rich chocolate and dark brown tones highlighted with vibrant golden-yellow.

Golden MOP Discs

Mother-of-pearl epitomizes everything we love about being feminine. Its beauty is gentle and delicate. It calls up feelings of tenderness.
Mother-of-pearl may look delicate and gentle and even old-fashioned, but modern women, especially, need its spiritual values. Since it has a tremendous ability to calm and lessen the fears of those who wear it, it is especially helpful for anyone whose life is intense and stressful.