Givin' it Away

In April, Notre Dame is hosting a silent auction to benefit Relay for Life. You can learn more about it by visiting Relay for Life's website. I think it's going to be a big event - they are holding it in the football stadium!

I was asked to contribute a handmade piece of jewelry to the auction, and I've been working on putting something together just for the event. I wanted to make something unique, but not too outside of the "mainstream". I can sometimes push the boundaries of what most people would wear, so... I wanted to scale back on the funkiness this time around.

I decided to work with sterling silver as my base. I have a few of these amazing faceted beads that I picked up at a bead and gem show a while back. They are called opalite turquoise, and are just stunning.

I thought that moonstone would be a nice addition, since they are a white shade with a hint of blue glowing from the center.

Putting those two stones together with the silver had a nice look, so I decided to go with it. I started with these components as my design base.

Personally, I love chains that have round links, as opposed to oval. It feels fresh and fun to me. Maybe a bit hip, versus something more traditional. I happened to have two different sizes of sterling chain with round links.

Plus, I had these two free-form ovals that I had picked up at my local bead store.

I thought they might be fun...

Adding in some bundles of dangling moonstones was the finishing touch.

I used the smaller chain along with a lobster clasp in the back. This will give the owner options of how close to the neck she wants to wear the necklace. I even had one teardrop moonstone, which is hanging from the last link of the smaller chain. It will sit at the back of the neck, or hang a bit down the back, depending on how tightly the necklace is worn. 

I love little extra touches like this when I buy jewelry. For someone with shorter hair, or for anyone wearing their hair up for an evening, what a treat! Some decoration at the back.

I thought it would be nice to make my donation a set, so I put together some simple sterling silver earrings, with moonstones. When you're wearing a statement necklace like this, I think it's nice to keep the earrings simple. You don't want to look like a crazy person, now!

The silent auction takes place April 16-17. It starts at 6:00 pm and goes until 9:00 am! What fun!! Are you interested in helping out? It's not too late - you can contact Jed Hanawalt at Hanawalt.1@nd.edu to make a contribution yourself. Join in and help the American Cancer Society.

Relay for Life

Finally Finished

A while back, I put together a necklace that I was very excited about.

I posted about it My Newest Creation.

I call it, simply, my flower garden necklace.

I then decided that the necklace desered to have a sister necklace. So, I began the process of creating another flowerful necklace. I began by putting the flowers together. You can see the progress on my previous blog entry, Dreams Run Amuk.

Putting together this necklace was a bit more tricky. I tried a couple of things that I didn't end up liking. So, after a few adjustments, cutting it apart and switching out stones, I finally have it in it's finished state.

So, what do you think?

Happiness is a Large Box

Is there anything that I love better than coming home from a long day at work, only to find a big box sitting on my front porch? {um, no}

This year, I have decided to expand my crafting abilities, which can be a slow and painful process. Though I don't have enough time right now to properly learn any new techniques, I have started to collect the tools and materials I will need when I'm ready to get down to business.

My current expansion is working with metal; wire wrapping and making clasps and ear wires by hand. I even took one wire wrapping class {and wrote a blog entry about it} in the fall. I have been comparison shopping for a rock/jewelry tumbler. Mostly, because I just had no idea how expensive they would be! I went back and forth between buying one at a craft store that's really meant for kids, versus coughing it up and paying for a more professional model. I found myself a solution...

Have you ever shopped at Fire Mountain Gems, or another website that offers discounted prices as you buy more items? Well, my brain started clicking away, and I decided to place the mother of all orders! I brought the price of that tumbler down by getting myself into a pretty sweet pricing range.

So this week, a gargantuan box landed on my front porch. With, of course, the much sought-after tumbler.

 

As I was reading the instructions, I noticed that you are instructed to add an abrasive in with the shot... well... I guess that will have to be in another order. Whoops! 

So, perhaps you're wondering what all I did to fill out my extra large order.

Well, I'll tell you.

 

It's always a good time to stock up on some staples - sterling silver chain is something you can never have too much of.

 

Until I have the time to perfect my craft, store-bought clasps will tide me over!

I have recently gotten on a kick of making longer and/or chunkier necklaces. I thought a great way to keep them light weight and inexpensive would be to mix in some big, acrylic beads. Fun!

And there were many more items, along those lines, in my box. I'm looking forward to a day when I'll have time to work on some new projects. Right now, I'm hoping to get a photo shoot done soon, because I have a BUNCH of new inventory at home that needs to get listed and out there on Etsy! One step at a time...

Special Day, Special Order

A couple of months ago, I received an email from a girl I knew growing up, named Katie. She was getting married in January, and had purchased a Nicky Butler moonstone necklace. After deciding that she liked it and wanted enough for her bridesmaids, she discovered that they were sold out!

So, she emailed me {knowing that I made jewelry because of my Facebook page} to see if I could make some more necklaces, using moonstones, to coordinate with the one she had. So I found some moonstones that were the same size and started on my project.

I was very excited when I found an Etsy seller, Unkamen Supplies, who had a set of 5 matching sterling silver clasps. That was exactly how many necklaces I would be making, so it was a perfect find.

I bought multiple strands of 4mm moonstones. Each bridesmaid would actually have a different dress style, so it made sense for each of them to have a different necklace. Since one girl would be wearing a V-neck dress, the bride thought that a pendant would go well with her neckline. So I found a lovely moonstone drop, wrapped it, and hung it from a sterling silver chain.

As I worked on the necklaces, I was asked if I could also make earrings. I picked up a few sterling silver ear wires from my local beading shop for that. The hardest part was making each set of earrings unique. But I really wanted to do that, since each necklace would be a bit different.

So each necklace was paired with a pair of earrings. Now, there was also a flower girl in the wedding. I made a smaller necklace for her, but no earrings. I think she liked it!

And then the bridesmaids put their outfits together on the big day. I must say, the moonstones were a beautiful choice with the lovely blue shade of dress they wore.  {You can click on any of the pictures for a larger image}

And of course, no wedding story is complete without a picture of the bride on her big day. Katie wore a vintage necklace, from her grandmother, with her wedding dress.

Congratulations, Katie!!!

When off the Shelf won't Do

I generally don't make jewelry for children. But I have one custom item that I keep listed in my Etsy shop now; a bracelet set for motehrs and daughters.

This gift idea actually came from a sad occurance. A few months ago, a good friend of mine called me. Her sister-in-law, who was pregnant, had a still birth. She lost the baby just a few weeks shy of the due date. My friend wanted to do something special for the family, and to give them something to remember the baby. She asked me to make a set of bracelets - one for the mother, and two for the baby {one as a keep sake and the other for the funeral}.

Now, this is a horribly sad thing, and I typically don't write about such serious topics. {apologies all around!}


But from this tragedy, I took the idea and created an Etsy listing. What a special thing for a mother and daughter to have bracelets that are meaningful. Some people want a favorite color or birthstones. A little charm with their initials is a neat touch. Others want a cross or other charm that means something special to the mother.

So, I've done also done custom bracelet sets for Christmas and birthday gifts. I think it would also be a lovely gift for all those moms out there on Valentine's Day!

A Very Handmade Christmas

Well, Christmas is over and I'm in the process of organizing and storing all of the great new tools that I got from my lovely husband and mother-in-law. {Not to mention all the stuff I bought myself after Christmas!}

More about that later. Needless to say, I'll be learning some new techniques. And that means, there will be plenty of blog entries erring on the side of comedy in the near future!

One of the best things about Christmas is giving away some hand-made gifts and hoping that they go over well with the family. I gave out a few gifts that I made myself this year.

{My sister-in-law custom ordered this black and white charm necklace for her daughter}

{A crystal and ruby quartz necklace for my mother}

{A funky animal print bracelet went to my mother-in-law}

{This wrapped chalcedony pendant on sterling silver went to my grandmother}

{And a custom order bracelet, bought for a coworker, by her boyfriend}

I hope everyone else is having a lovely holiday season. Did you give any hand-made gifts this year? If so, leave me a comment and tell me about it!

It's Been a While - for Etsy

After a couple months of creating, selling locally, creating more, and another sale, I've finally gotten what is left photographed and listed in my Etsy shop. I find that I tend to work in shifts, somewhat. I go through stages when I am creating new designs, and I just keep going and going. I don't take the time to photograph or list things in my Etsy shop. Well, I finally took a creative break, picked up the camera, and got to the part of the job that I struggle with. {photography} I'm working on improving my technique, and am hoping that I'm making progress. So, without further ado, here's all that is new and fresh in my Etsy shop:

I've been working hard on improving my photography skills, so please leave me a comment with any advice or suggestions. Of course, you can always leave a comment to ask me a question, too!