Boho Inspired Bracelet

I confess. I love bracelets. They are my favorite piece of jewelry to make - small, compact, and not necessarily faster to make than anything else. I think I love making them so much because, especially in the summer, nothing else really gets the exposure while being worn - the exposure, the movement, the attention.  I love an arm stacked with colorful beads and various textures, or one that jangles with the sound of stacks of silver bangles.

The bracelet phrase this summer seems to be "Boho Inspired".  Do an image search and you will find anything from silk and wire wrapped bangles to beaded leather wraps.  Along with those images, there are also multi strand beaded bracelets.  I confess, in spite of my rampant OCD (CDO, please!) I was compelled to mix and match some of my beads to make some bracelets.

This is the first of those bracelets.

I started with the lovely mint green Czech glass beads - added a strand of freshwater pearls and a strand of garnet rounds with some bali silver beads.

Sterling silver focal bead and a fine silver handcrafted clasp (since buffed with the dremel!).

It is surprisingly comfortable to wear.

Doing the Happy Dance!!!!

For a long while now I have been a fan of Evolving Creations Lampwork (www.etsy.com/shop/evolvingcreations or on Facebook @Evolving Creations Lampwork). The beads are some of the most intricate and beautiful beads I have seen.  Just recently, they had a sale (I know, the time to write this would have been when the sale was going on, sorry!) and since I have always wanted to own some beads made by them, I visited their Etsy store and started browsing.  Pages and pages of gorgeous color. I had pages saved, new tabs opened, calculator keys flying and all the while a towel in my hand to wipe the drool off the keyboard.  I was determined to narrow it down to an affordable order - and I did.

These beads are so much more beautiful than I had imagined - just to capture some of their beauty in a photograph was difficult.  I LOVE them and am so glad I bought them.  I have no idea what I will make with them (I am SO hoping they don't end up being one of those hoarded beads I keep because I don't think I can do it justice in a piece of jewelry) but I know whatever I make it will be made even more fabulous by these beads. 

I highly recommend you take a stroll through Evolving Creations Etsy shop.........the beads are FABULOUS!!!!

NOTE: I have no affiliation with Evolving Creations Lampwork - just a very satisfied customer fan!

Echo Creative Club Reveal

Welcome to my reveal for the Echo Creative Club July Blog Hop.  I was so excited when I opened the package from Jeannie Dukic (Jewelry by Jeannie) and saw this beautiful polymer clay sand dollar.

I recently moved to Maryland from Maine - when I lived in Maine I lived near the ocean - mostly just minutes away - and to say I miss it is an understatement.  I enjoyed walks along the beach scouting for sea glass, unique shells and of course sand dollars.  When I opened the package and saw this sand dollar I knew I wanted to create a piece of jewelry that spoke of all that - and was summery and light.  I played with beads and fibers, leather and wire and just about everything I had in my stash - and remembered some pretty aqua sea glass beads I had purchased last time I was in Maine.

I domed some small copper washers to use as bead caps and wrapped (using the "messy wrap which was a serious challenge for my OCD!) each of them in copper wire. I also had some pretty little faceted aquamarine rondelles which I paired with some crystal spacers (to mimic the shape of the sea glass beads), which I also wrapped in copper wire.

 I used some copper washers (which I etched with random shapes) in between each set of aquamarines.

 I wanted the sand dollar to shine as the star of the piece, but wanted to highlight it somehow, so I created a copper hanger for it.

A handcrafted copper clasp to finish it off.

A big thank you to Jeannie Dukic for the beautiful sand dollar and the chance to be part of the Echo Creative Club July Blog Hop. 

 Please check out the other blogs that are taking part in this blog hop:

Alicia Marinache  http://www.allprettythings.ca/

Charlie Jacka  http://clay-space.com/

Jeannie K Dukic  http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog

Kristen Stevens  http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com/

Patti Vanderbloemen  http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com/

Echo Creative Club - July

This is my month of participation in the Echo Creative Club.  The piece that I make will be revealed on July 25th - but until then I wanted to show you the gorgeous creation by Jeannie Dukic (Jewelry by Jeannie) that I will be using in my piece.

First I have to say I was blown away by the packaging she used.........her tagline is "Be brave enough to live your life creatively" and judging by what I received in the mail, she does!

And now on to the charm - it's a lovely sand dollar - polymer clay and oh-so-perfect for a summer piece of jewelry.  I have to admit that it has been sitting front and center on my bench - every time I get an idea I lay the beads and wire/fiber/cord next to it..................in my mind it has been made twenty times over.  

I am not going to spoil it....................(although I ALWAYS read the last page of a book and ask for the ending of movies just 'cuz......)and I am not going to even hint at what I will be using for beads/wire/etc.......but I will ask you - what would you do with this?

Come back and visit me on the 25th for the reveal - and until then check out Jeannie's work on her website - it's fantastic!

Macrame with Wire

I have been experimenting with macrame (the popularity of the Shambala bracelet helped my obsession).......and while playing with some copper wire the other day, I decided to try to macrame with the wire.  My first bracelet was a very rough prototype - I used the beads I had with me at the time (some size 6 seed beads) and while I loved the result of the knotting I hated the beads I used.  So, of course that meant I had to try it again, this time with some larger beads and some 14 gauge wire for the center wire and 22 gauge wire for the knots.  I LOVED how it looked (and unfortunately my sister claimed it the second she saw it - I will try to wrangle it from her and get a picture) and had to make another one.

I used some 12mm sodalite faceted rounds, the 14 gauge copper wire for the center wire and the 22 gauge copper wire for the knots. 

The sodalite beads catch the light and sparkle like crazy - so for a bracelet with only 5 beads, it makes one heck of a bling statement!

Knotting copper wire, even wire as thin as the 22 gauge wire, is very hard on the hands, but it's all worth it - the result is a lacy, highly texturized bracelet.

Keeping your tension even is key as well as remembering where you are on your sequence of knots.  This is the square knot which, if you've ever done macrame, you know is a two step process.  I found myself a number of times forgetting which knot I had just completed.  Paying attention is a must!

After I completed the knots and added the beads, I crafted a spiral clasp out of the 14 gauge wire - and this time I did not hammer it flat.  I smoothed out and flattened the ends but left it in it's natural state.