Hanging Gardens

This set captures the feel of a summer garden full blooms and vines! It was so much fun to create! It started with the flower - a project showcased in one of my favorite beading magazines. From there the design gradually unfolded. I went to the local Gem Faire in Turlock and found some beautiful tourmaline rondelles (The colors that naturally occur in this stone - a gradual change from mauve to green -just happened to match perfectly!) Then I found the cubic zirconia briolette that is at the bottom of the necklace. From there it just happened. The pearls and garnets just seemed to want to "drip" off the necklace. The floral toggle-style clasp is off-center in front - another escapade in asymmetrical design! (The french hooks on the earrings are gold-plated.) Perfect for a Garden Wedding!! **AVAILABLE**

Into the Mist

The pendant reminds me of mist rising from the ocean. I was discovering how fun it is to mix colors with polymer clay and made a few donut pendants. Then I added the peyote swirl (which is a lot of fun, and easy to do), which culminates in a cascading chain of glass drops. The metal components are entirely copper to keep the brown and blue color-scheme. The clasp is a filigree-toggle design that makes the length of the necklace adjustable - just drop the "T" part of the toggle through whichever part of the chain you like! SOLD.  (If anyone wants one of these, I still have one more pendant like this and can make another necklace - special order.)

Lantern Earrings

These earrings were inspired (like the Banana-Rama earrings) by Diane Fitzgerald's book Shaped Beadwork.  They are worked in peyote and strung with garnet chips.  The color of the delicas I used to weave this project are a really nice metallic neutral which would go well with many different colors.  These are a nice departure from your everyday earrings, but still good for the office!  AVAILABLE.

Waterlilly

This set started with a rare, vintage swarovksi crystal I found at my local bead shop! (I love the way the cut of the crystal looks like the surface of a still pond - like there's some mystery hiding at the bottom.) I bezeled it with gold-plated delicas. From there, it "grew" leaves and became the slightly assymetrical necklace you see here. The dangles are fresh-water pearls in olivine and purple to set off the colors reflected in the center crystal. The gold-colored elements in the necklace and the earrings are all gold-plated. The bluish-purples and greens of this piece remind me of Monet's Waterlillies. **Available**

Mirror To The Past

The reflective, mirror-like, almost magical quality of the Swarovski Crystal Rivoli is central to this design. I kept it as minimal as possible, not to detract from its beauty. It's my twist on a victorian, feminine style - thus the name, Mirror To The Past! It is strung quite simply as a floating necklace - which is why this picture only shows the bottom where all the detail is. Enjoy! **AVAILABLE**

Jester

The colors and color-placement remind me of a court jester - one color for each "leg".  It was done in herringbone - a design that morphed from one thought to another as I was going.  If you saw my wave bracelets in last month's posts, you'll see the progression of ideas.  I was trying to see if I could make a necklace with the criss-cross style established in the bracelets (which I call cable-style herringbone).  This necklace features delicas and swarovski crystals that end in a leaf-style pendant.   **Available**

- This would probably look really classy in black and white.  Remember to contact me if you're interested in a custom necklace.  Just click on the envelope logo to send me an e-mail.

Banana-Rama :-)

I was going for an art-deco look inspired after the fabric you see here. But when I finished, I realized how much these earrings looked like a stylized pair of hanging bananas! Oh well, these earrings were really a lot of fun to make and still make me happy just to look at them. The french hooks are sterling plated, but the body of the work is mostly made of Delicas. (If you are wondering about the inspiration for the design, look at the book Shaped Beadwork by Diane Fitzgerald. It's really good.)