Our Hopeful Home: pearls

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Trying to Create Outside the Box...But Not Really Succeeding

September 2, 2010

It feels as if I've been out of touch with actually "creating" things these past days, what with school starting for the kids and a new schedule all around and blah blah blah. (And WAY too much time on the computer doing things totally unrelated to making jewelry!) Now that they're all off to school full time I can (somewhat) breathe a sigh of relief and get back into the swing of things ..... Despite the chaos I DID, however, manage to pull together a new charm bracelet ~ it only took me, like, two weeks to make it! lol

Ok, so it's not vastly different from my usual take on the eclectic mix of "charms" (and I use that term loosely!) however, I did infuse it with vintage blue crystal faceted beads ~ and I'm not a blue person by nature. That was quite a leap made by me there. (So sad to admit, I know.) But I kind of liked the outcome.

Charm-wise, I added a miraculous medal, a vintage rhinestone ball I picked up at a flea market, a chunky silver heart which also came from a flea market (just ripped that thing right off of an old key chain!) and one of my new favorites ~ a penny smashed by the railroad tracks near our house! If nothing else, it's quite the conversation piece. Nickels work well, too! And of course, gotta have lots of pearls and lockets. Not any great variation from my usual, but I really am trying to start creating things outside of my comfort zone. Who knows what's next?

Hope you're all having a great week!

PsssSt....I'm linking this up with:

Frou Frou Decor

Sundance-inspired Bird Charm and Pearl Necklace

July 16, 2010

I know, I'm certifiable when it comes to the Sundance jewelry catalog. (OK, I love the clothes and shoes, too....) Anyway, here's my latest love followed by my own version of it based on what I already had in my jewelry stash.

Jes MaHarry's Dove of Peace Necklace

Gotta LoVe it!

And here is my version

I used black rosary-like beads instead of red ones, and pearls instead of turquoise, but I like the way it came out. Sorry so many photos but I couldn't make up my mind which ones to use!

I'm linking this up to Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap-up Party. Can't wait to see all the other crafty bloggers who link up there!

Join us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party!

Fabric Flower Necklace Tutorial {Part I}

June 12, 2010

We’ve all been inundated lately with how-to’s for making fabric flowers ~ all the rage in the jewelry world and in other crafty worlds as well. It seems I’ve come across TONS of tutorials for fabric flowers EVERYWHERE. I’m easily confused, so………I’ve taken it upon myself to create a mash-up of some other blogger tutorials on the subject and here’s what I came up with:

Part I of II : Organza Flower Necklace Tutorial.

Materials:
Organza fabric (Jo-Ann’s)
Needle and thread
Small pearls or other beads for decoration
Butane lighter
Pearl necklace (either handmade or store-bought)
Jump rings (Michaels)
Assorted round items to use for petal templates (explained below)

You’ll want to start out with some sort of templates (I’m not good at winging it as suggested by some craft divas) so I used a cardboard paper towel roll, a jelly jar and the (inverted) lid of a small Yankee Candle jar. If you want an even smaller (4th) petal, a Children’s Tylenol bottle cap will do (I KNOW they’ve been recalled!) The more circles, the “fluffier” the flower. And they do NOT have to be perfect! Here they are after cutting them out.

Time to get serious with some fire. (Sorry about the really old cookie tray ~ not so pretty, eh?)

Once you have your circles cut out you need to burn (yes, I said BURN) the edges of the flowers so they won’t fray (and so they look more like real flowers). I WAS REALLY AFRAID TO DO THIS. After attempting it, I can say without hesitation: “Do not be afraid!” In other words, if I can do it, anybody can :) Just go SLOWLY, and hold the lighter near the edge of the flower (I said NEAR the edge, NOT TOUCHING IT). You’ll start to see the edge curl up as you go around it. Tip: If you’re making more than one flower at a time you can fold the organza material in half (or as many times as you need) and cut out duplicate circles for each size all at one time. Mine looked like this.

Now you can play around with your embellishments, i.e., small pearls or other beads, and see how you want the final product to look. I chose pearls.

Place your “burned” petals one inside the other. Then add pearls or other embellishments as you desire. Sew, starting from underneath the bottom petal and go up through them all, including the pearls. I found it easier to do it all at once. NOTE TO SELF: BEFORE SEWING, MAKE SURE THE NEEDLE IS SMALL ENOUGH TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE PEARL!

I chose to make my own pearl necklace (a tutorial on that is in the works) but you can just as easily attach the flowers to a store-bought necklace or a necklace you already have that might need a little sprucing up! Finally, I attached the flowers onto the necklace by sewing a closed jump ring onto the back of each flower, then attaching that to the necklace with yet another (open this time) jump ring.

I was pretty happy with what I came up with!

I’ll ~~bore~~ regale you with Part II of this post (same idea but I’ll make a cotton toile flower ) once I work up enough energy to actually put together another one of these tutes! They look so simple when someone else does them. When I do one? Not so much.

Anyway, I hope you can take away from this at least a snippet of an idea or two to help you with your next project. Until next time……….

My First Giveaway is Over!

June 9, 2010

Farewell, my Going Steady Charm Bracelet!

This has been one of my favorites in my Etsy shop. It was just chosen by the lucky winner of my giveaway that's been going on over at Adori Graphics. It's very representative of my style (eclectic) and my loves ~ antique brass, pearls and lockets.

Congratulations, Jen! I hope you enjoy your treasure!

Vintage Rhinestone Remix Necklace

June 3, 2010

Everyone knows how much I LoVe flea markets. And this necklace is a fine example of why.

(Psst....You might have to click on the picture to get a better view of the necklace :0)

As much as I loved the vintage rhinestone clip-on and screw-on earrings I picked up for a song, I knew they were meant for bigger and better things. For both pairs, I detached the backs and/or original attachments and was left with two rhinestone flowers and two rhinestone disco balls (which I'm always a sucker for). Add some pearls, crystal beads and a really unique focal piece ~ two birds sitting on a branch with their nest ~ and I think you have a one of a kind vintage rhinestone remix necklace. By the way, the nest was actually empty so I took the liberty of placing a pearl in it! Birds are becoming quite the thing with me, it seems.

I really wish the images were better, but I do think they're pretty good considering that my oldest chickadee took them for me (it's kind of hard to take a picture of yourself!)

This weekend is another flea market and barn sale ~ yay! What's up in your neck of the woods?

Shabby Chic Locket and Gem Necklace

May 13, 2010

Not sure why but I've been in sort of a bloggy slump lately ~ hopefully this creation will snap me out of it! If you've made any charm necklaces you love let me know here and I'll share them with my readers. It's much more interesting when they get to see a variety of styles and not just my jewelry designs:)!

I actually took apart another necklace I had made and took the pearls off of it to make this one ~ sometimes the necklace design in my head is a lot better than the actual necklace that I make, SOOOooo back to the drawing board!

This necklace design came to me rather quickly. That happens when I throw together baubles that I love. And I love ALL this stuff ~ antique brass lockets, pearls, semi-precious glass rondelle gems, Swarovski crystals, gunmetal chain and funky toggles. Don't you just love this clasp?

I'm still interested in hearing about any great flea market and/or tag sale finds! Spring is one of the best times for raking in the goods ~ one man's trash is another man's treasure, right? TTFN

"Courage is grace under pressure."

~Ernest Hemingway

Loves Me, Loves Me Not Pendant Earrings

May 2, 2010

Okay, so I'm not a big fan of dangle earrings.......I'm the conservative pearls and/or diamond stud type of earring wearer. I've always been happy with that since I think they look best on me. But I do know that there's a whole big world out there who likes and wears dangle earrings. So, in their honor, I made another pair of dangles.

They're pink pearls and fuchsia flowers. Delicate and romantic. And dangly. Not for me but I know they're for You!:0) Time to run over and put them in my Etsy shop! Hope you all had a GREAT weekend! TTFN

"If I can stop one heart

from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain."

~Emily Dickinson

Cha Cha Cha! Charm Bracelet

April 6, 2010

I am SO LoVin' this spring weather ~ I can take pictures of my jewelry outside and the photos come out (usually) great! I couldn't wait to share my latest charm bracelet:

I think I even topped myself with this one ~ talk about loading it on! There are charms and lockets and beads and pearls.......my favorite is the silver filigree locket in the front of this photo. I named it the "Cha Cha Cha!" bracelet because they'll hear you cha-cha-cha-ing well before they see you!

Even though it looks heavy, it's not at all. It's quite comfortable to wear. I guess it's clear that even though I'll make some traditional charm bracelets now and again, the bulk of my stuff will probably be like the Cha Cha Cha! bracelet. And I'm all right with that...........of course right after I say that I have to say that tomorrow's post will be about a bracelet that's a departure of sorts for me. It's just the opposite of a chunky, jingly bracelet. It's very delicate and feminine, perfect for spring!

Anyway, time to put the kids to bed and work on some more bracelets! TTFN

"True worth is in being, not seeming ~

In doing, each day that goes by,

Some little good~

not in dreaming

of great things to do bye and bye."

~ Alice Cary

Sundance-inspired Drop Necklace

March 30, 2010

Okay, so I REALLY like (LoVe) the jewelry from Robert Redford's Sundance catalog. So much so that I've created another piece of jewelry inspired by one of his artists' creations. (For my other piece, see my March 26, 2010 post entitled Sundance-inspired Chain Drop Earrings and Tutorial.) This time it's a necklace. Mine looks like this:

His looks like this:

A little different, but I like the way mine turned out. He calls his the Neo-Necklace. What I loved about it was its simplicity. Like Sundance, I mixed and matched stones/beads and metals to create a one-of -kind adornment. Mine is 24" long, not including the drop. It's made of crystal and pearl beads, a silver charm, and antique brass, vintage copper and gunmetal chains all woven together to create its unique look. Here's another look:

And my favorite looks like this:

It was SO easy to make, once I'd figured out what I wanted to use. It's as light as a feather and really sparkles in the light. Yay! If you get a chance, go over to the Sundance catalog and check out their great stuff ~~ clothes, too (to die for!). They may be pricey, but sometimes a girl has to have what a girl has to have:) Enjoy!

TTFN

Fanciful Charm Bracelet

March 25, 2010

OK, so where's Spring? Not here, apparently. Hopefully this bracelet will make you think of budding flowers and warmer days. I think it's the pink that does it for me.

And of course, gray and black again ~ a combo I love together. Plus the ubiquitous white pearl. The 7 1/4" bracelet has about 35 beads and 9 charms. There's a shamrock, a round locket, an antique brass heart locket, a fleur-de-lis, a regal crown with it's own bead dangle, a very cute envelope with a heart inside it and another one of my faves -- the angel :)

It's for sure another eclectic mix of whimsy and just-fancy-enough. What do you think?

I've been thinking about taking the leap and designing earrings for a change....perhaps my next project will involve some type of catalog-inspired (I'm keeping it a secret) pair of dangle earrings.

Tonight chickadee #3 is in a school play. The camcorder is charged and ready to go! Can't wait to see the little guy belt his lungs out (or so we're told). Ciao till next time!