Hi All!
I've only worked on a couple of things lately. I have been working on getting my stuff together for starting my ebay selling. I have postal mailers on the way. I've ordered packaging. And I've made my first official ebay necklace and earrings. I'll probably put older stuff up too, but these I made with ebay (and low cost) in mind.
But first, the last few projects from the calender:
I tried a couple pendant wraps. The first is wrapped bezel set. I wasn't as careful as I will be next time.
Next is a herring bone weave pendant. I think I like it. It's a nice way to make a pendant a little more special than just wire wrapping it.
OK, now for the new new stuff:
The earrings are made out of silver wire & rectangle jade beads. I still need to file the earwires, they poked my neck all day. That's why it's good to wear your stuff and test it out. The necklace is silver-plated chain with a base metal barrel clasp with one rectangular jade bead.
I went through McD's drive thru & was complimented on the earrings today. Awesome! So either he liked my earrings for real or he was flirting. A compliment either way - ha, ha.
Anyway, I'll be working on ebay and getting ready for that, but I'll keep posting new designs!
Last time I forgot to show these earrings. They came before the chain mail stuff. I don't love them, but enjoyed using the wig jig.
Now that we're caught up - here's more projects. I haven't attended any classes lately, but will be starting the PMC class in a couple weeks. So, I've been sticking with the calender assignments. I admit to getting bored with some of the & realizing what I'm not good at and what I'm not as interested in doing. For instance, one project I recently skipped was a ribbon necklace. So simple & something I would never wear of sell.
I also realized that chain mail is not for me. Too intricate to make & not my look to wear. The pieces I have done I'm very proud of. But I tried & failed at some projects and decided to move on.
Also, there was one pair of earrings after the green bead ones above that I failed miserably at. But I also didn't like them enough to carry on. I'm waiting to have more skill before I start designing and making all willy-nilly, but am excited for that time to come.
Here's a wraps bracelet. I did it with fancy jasper nuggets. It's not my thing, but I always enjoy learning a new skill. I think it turned out nice.
So then I did this piece. There are pages in the calender that are "Inspiration". I try to do these like any other assignment. Match the basic style, but use my own ideas for color, etc... Here is an "Inspiration" piece. The original was much nicer than mine. With some of these I admit to being a little impatient with - like doing my homework so I can go out and play. Soon, soon...
Then came box chain mail. I sort of got it, but the link kind of droop when there isn't tension on the chain, so I really don't see any point in doing the bracelet - even though I bought focal beads special for this.
Then came Byzantine link. I got that one, but my camera sucks at close-ups and that's the only way to see how clever this weave really is. I didn't complete any jewelry because the assignment looks like it would take me days to make a bracelet I would never dream of wearing. So I pooped out on that one too.
Then there was Trizantine. I couldn't even get the first, like, four links together. Ugh... So, no keychain, even though, again, I had bought a special bead for it.
Okay the "Garden Bangle". This one is A LOT of work & takes A LOT of supplies I would have to special order. I would usually do this, but the bracelet is not my cup of tea anyway.
But, next came - French-style Earring Wires!!! Yay!!! A completely useful skill! Now I can make my own ear wires out of the sterling silver wire I buy. One less thing I have to order - yippee! There are so many numerous & tiny items to buy to make jewelry that even a shopper like me can get exhausted. And I AM a shopper.
You'll see the pair I made on the last pair of earrings.
Then was the ribbon necklace. It listed "1 shear ribbon kit" as one of the supplies needed. I've not run into such a thing, but thought I could just buy ribbon & use some end caps used for rawhide necklaces. Then I thought, "Gee, this is getting kind of complicated for such a simple projedt that I could do in my sleep, so, forget it."
Then the beaded chandelier earrings. I like these & made them 2-tone to get rid of some gold-filled chain I had bought a while back. I'm pretty sure that I'll be only designing in silver. I prefer the white metal tones & prefer to keep the overhead down, for now. I love the style of the gold chain. I'm going to see if I can get it in silver. Anyway, I like these. I'll probably wear them.
If you look at the next pair of earrings you'll probably be able to tell that I'm getting bored and impatient with all the wire-wrapping. I don't especially like all the curly-cued metal either. It's not really my look. I guess when I figure out what my look IS I'll be on the right path. So, anyway I only tried to compensate for the lack of 5 small beads per earring with one huge bead per. Did it work? :) Lazy, lazy girl.
Well, that's it for now. I'm not sure how many more "assignments" I'll be doing. Some are becoming redundant. Plus it's time soon to find my "voice" or my "style" or some artistic crap like that.
So, I haven't been much lately (except spending a lot of money on supplies - or so my bank account would lead me to believe).
I'm making much slower headway on my projects due to the more complex nature of them. There are more tools needed & different gauges of wire, etc.
I had to set one aside until I can find affordable 14 gauge wire - it's thicker and thus more expensive than ones I've been working with until now. That project is an S-clasp. I don't know that I'll use it all that much since I prefer toggle or lobster claws, but I'm still psyched to learn it. I just got the chasing hammer for it today.
I've also been reading up on & exploring ebay. I'm hoping to put some of these projects up for auction. And from here on out I'm trying to use real stones & real sterling so they will be worth more to a consumer. That has also slowed my proress since I've been avoiding using the cheap beads when I began.
Okay, so here is what I've done lately - not a lot.
There was an easy memory wire necklace project. I like the simplicity of this. I may start doing variations of this to sell on ebay.
Here is a Smoky Topaz chip necklace with a Leopard Jasper drop pendant. There are also some smoky colored glass beads to mix it up a little:
You know, I don't know if these pictures suck because I always wait till dusk to take them or because my camera sucks. At any rate, before selling on ebay I think I'll invest in a new camera.
This last one was supposed to be a triple strand, but it was already looking a little busy to me with two, so I made an executive decision to leave it at two. What do you think? Good call? This one is Fancy Jasper chips plus Fancy Jasper accent beads with a gorgeous Cat's Eye Chrysoberyl teardrop pendant. I think this one is really well done and well chosen. Somebody will really love this necklace.
So, now I'm working on a Fancy Jasper necklace or bracelet that has wire wrapped around each stone. I'll post a photo as soon as I can!
