When I was in Florida a few weeks ago my friend and I hung out at a local art in the park event. One booth in particular caught our attention: Glas Designs, run by a couple from the Panhandle, had very unique pearl and leather jewelry.
I hadn't seen anything like their designs before since a lot of folks pair pearls with metal. I was also very impressed with the size of their pearls and the wire-wrapped rings that were on display at the front of their tent.
Linda, one of the owners, was creating additional pieces to sell as we stood and chatted with her and after deciding on the style of ring I liked, she wrapped it for me on the spot. This was wonderful since she could fit the ring exactly to my finger and I could watch her work.
I was tickled that the whole family was present at this art fair: Linda worked for the most part with the pearl jewelry; her husband Jason sat behind the tent and created glass beads which they also use in the jewelry; and their two children helped ring up and bag the sales. Even the dog was hanging out by their car!
They have a website that you can visit to see some more of their items. Linda also told us that they travel frequently to Gulf Coast events to sell their jewelry, so if you are in the area they will be visiting I would highly recommend stopping by their tent.
I finished working on two pairs of earrings this week that remind me of the ocean because of their blue colors.
I first turned my attention to these sad hoop earrings. I probably bought them at Claire's in high school and used to wear these ad nauseam. I eventually tired of them, especially after the silver pieces became so dirty.
I wanted the convenience of pre-made hoops so I went to my local bead store to purchase them. This is a good video to watch if you want to simply buy wire and make your own hoops.
I followed the same pattern on the original earrings and reused the original turquoise beads. I'm really pleased with how they turned out, especially since my wrapping skills aren't perfect.
I made this second pair of earrings to match a necklace that I bought at Forever 21. I purchased the necklace for less that $10, which is great because the handwork involved in making something like this would take hours to finish.
I used faceted chalcedony teardrops, glass beads, and crystals to complete the look. I bought a small amount of chain to create a nice dangled effect; this also gives enough space to let the various beads hang down and look extra pretty.
In learning about jewelry, you realize that sometimes the best way to create a piece is to use a technique called wire wrapping. It's exactly what it sounds like -- instead of using pre-made findings like jump rings, you make your own loops with wire and wrap it to finish it off. It can be used simply, like with these abalone feather earrings, or in intricate designs like these.
Around and after the holidays I finally found the time to create and finish some jewelry projects.
First on my list was to salvage one of my favorite pieces, an opera-length string of coral-colored beads. I bought the string at Macy's a year or so ago, but this past spring the silk knotting untied. At first I used some craft wire to connect the two ends, but it looked really ugly and bit into my skin.
I was in Michael's a while ago and bought some coral colored ribbon for another project, but I realized I could use some of it and a few jump rings to fashion a really pretty "clasp" for my beads.
After some experimentation, I placed two jump rings on each end of the string and then threaded a 12-inch piece of ribbon through them to create a small bow. The rings have held up well to the weight of the strand and I really like having the bow detail in the back.
I almost lost two of the beads when the silk snapped, but I managed to hold onto them and create them into matching earrings.
The next two pieces I've finished are very winter appropriate. I struggled with my stag pieces because I couldn't decide how many strands to make for the necklace. I really wanted to showcase the white and red beads, but they were getting lost when I tried to pair them with a solid strand of the red coral beads and some red plastic beads.
I finally gave in and went with a one-strand necklace, and I like how it turned out. If I could ever find more of the red and white beads I might redo the whole thing with more strands.
My second winter piece is this pair of simple metal snowflakes. I wrapped them up with a bright winter blue crystal to add just a bit of color without overpowering the little flakes.
And, last, but certainly not least, I finally finished my little owl necklace! After spending several months trying unsuccessfully to track down some more of those plastic apple green beads, I went ahead and strung the necklace. I gave it some length using 6/0 seed beads. I really love this piece and I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can show it off.
