Ruby Bloom - Layered Pendant

I know, I know - it looks all festive!!! I didn't realise until after I'd taken the pictures. I'm really NOT one of those people who start thinking about Christmas in September... I don't start shopping until about a week before!

Complete coincidence as I wanted to make something using these gorgeous raspberry-coloured seed beads. I made the large frame first - wrapping the petals with seed beads and sterling wire. The inner petals were then formed separately, and wrapped with fine gauge silver wire, before adding a pale gold freshwater pearl and gorgeous faceted rubies to the centre.

And yes, I guess it would look good at the office Christmas party... :-)

Autumn Bronze Earrings

Autumn is now here I guess - not that we really had summer! You just can't beat the wonderful colours that go with it though - and I'm anticipating them with these earrings!

Wonderfully rich red faceted garnet marquise beads dangle from these fan-shaped frames, coiled with fine gauge sterling silver wire, and wrapped with topaz-coloured seed beads and bronze freshwater pearls.

Pink Chalcedony Wrapped Earrings

The wrapped sterling silver wire on the top frames of these earrings has a wonderful sheen to it when it catches the light - a lot like the flower pendant I posted some time ago - almost impossible to capture in a photograph, so you'll just have to take my word for it! :)

Underneath are tiny wrapped jump rings with salmon-coloured glass seed beads, and faceted pink chalcedony briolettes. These are quite long and dangly at 5cm, but they're very lightweight!

Indian Summer Earrings

Indian summer is a little bit of wishful thinking on my part I think...! These earrings were fun to make - the garnet drops are gorgeous rich autumn colours, and the chains really sparkle when they move!

The diamond-shaped frames are coiled and wrapped with sterling silver wire, I've added some Karen Hill Tribe faceted seed beads - I wish I could capture the shine and sparkle on these!

Rose Quartz Earrings

I've been wanting to have a go at this 'Danish Knot' or 'Lover's Knot' for ages - it took me a while to get the hang of it, but it was well worth persevering, I love the look of them! And of course they're always a talking point as everyone tries to figure out how they've been made... :-)

The top frame is coiled and wrapped with pink seed beads and fine gauge sterling wire, and the slender faceted briolettes on the bottom of the earrings are the most gorgeous pale pink rose quartz. Very romantic!

Oxidised Carnelian Earrings

Nearly forgot to post these! I've shown these carnelian earrings before when they were 'shiny silver'. At the time I felt like they might benefit from oxidising - so I took the plunge and ordered myself some Liver of Sulphur (how bad does that stuff smell?!), cleared a space in the shed and went for it!

Lots of polishing and a turn in the tumbler later - and I'm really pleased with the result! Still prefer shiny, but these have definitely benefited from the antique effect - I will be doing this again from time to time!

Peach Moonstone Earrings

I love this peach moonstone - the colour is so fruity! Orange is 'in' apparently - sheer coincidence - I just fell in love with these beads as soon as I saw them!

I've patiently coiled the frames as usual with very fine gauge sterling wire, adding lots of tiny faceted Hill Tribe silver beads and faceted moonstone - very shiny, sparkly and pretty little earrings!

Green Amethyst & PMC

Firstly apologies for this dreadful pic - I will try to photograph these again sometime, I just can't seem to capture the sparkle and colour in these earrings!

This is my first attempt at making something with metal clay - these were great fun to make! I'm so pleased with the way these came out - how cool is it being able to make your own components?! First try with my new tumbler too... :-)

The dangles are gorgeous pale green amethyst 'onion cut' beads, pale gold freshwater pearls, and golden shadow Swarovski crystals - subtle colours, and very sparkly!

I've Been Tagged...

...by Caroline from Crafted Gems

Over 10 days ago - which just shows how long it is since I've posted! I have been quite busy with the Etsy site, and also more jewellery which I'll show later!

But first 6 weird/random facts about me! :

1. My two sons have a 10 year age gap between them - they are 11 and 21! They have a fantastic relationship - I think because there has never been any sibling rivalry or jealousy, they have always wanted different kinds of attention from me at any one time. Just to keep things nice and tidy - I had the first one when I was 20, and the second at 30! :-)

2. I have a butterfly tattoo on my shoulder - I forget it's there most of the time, in fact I just had to look and check which shoulder it was on! (The left, if you're curious :-))

3. I am left-handed, which generally doesn't cause me too many problems, I do quite a few things right-handed - like eating, using corkscrews, using the kettle, etc. I also damaged the little finger on my right hand many years ago - which severed the tendon and means I can't bend it properly. Luckily this doesn't affect my making jewellery - it does however mean I have problems with the more difficult stages on Guitar Hero......

4. .....and talking of computer games - I am a self-proclaimed geek! Along with playing (amongst others!) Singstar and Guitar Hero on the Playstation with my sons, I also love adventuring on the PC with games like Guild Wars and World of Warcraft. I have also dabbled in the past with 3D art and animation - just for fun! lol

5. I love the smell of petrol! Along the same lines.. I also like creosote and freshly laid tar.....mmm!

6. Before I took up jewellery-making full time, my job for 4 and a half years was as a support worker for people with special needs/learning difficulties. Out of all the jobs I've had in the past - this had to be the most wonderful and rewarding one ever! The unsociable hours and shifts however caused a lot of stress for both me and my family, so sadly in the end I had to give it up... if anyone wondered where I got so much patience from, now you know! :-)



Phew - finished! Although it might take quite a while longer for me to find 6 people to tag... who haven't been tagged already that is!