Challenge Week 28

 Hi and happy Sunday.  I'm a day late posting due to an upcoming move; I have been packing boxes.  Next week is the move, so I won't have a post for the challenge.  I'll just have to make it up the following week.

This week I made a version of necklaces that I have seen others wearing.  This necklace is approximately 18 inches long, for the longest strand, and consists of large and small circles. The large circles are both round and oval and the small circles are all round.

My favorite part of this necklace is the clasp, which can be worn in the back or front of the necklace. Why hide it?! It was a close out piece that I got from one of my suppliers.  One side of the clasp is a flower and the other is 3 leaves. It is decorated with crystals and in my humble opinion it is a beautiful clasp. I have been searching for more of these but can't seem to find any.  Jewelry findings are like any other fashion accessory, they are sold for a limited time and then have to go to make room for the new.

On a side note, they do the limited time thing with perfume too and it really bothers me because I get used to a perfume and then the store discontinues it. I read somewhere that men associate you with the perfume that you wear. That can be both good and bad.. think about it. I was wearing Lauren perfume and really didn't think guys noticed, and one year for Christmas I got Lauren from my boss, my Dad and my boyfriend.  They notice! They also notice your nails, makeup and jewelry, even if they won't admit it. Any guys out there that want to comment on this? But I digress.

This necklace will be a great addition to your wardrobe because it will make a little black dress look elegant or dress up a v-neck sweater.  There are also earrings in my shop that will look great with this necklace. It will take a couple of weeks to get this into my shop.  If you can't wait for it just send me an email at denise@jewelrybydm.com and I'll get it out to you asap. There is only one of these so first come first served.

Have a nice afternoon and I'll see you back here in 2 weeks.

Challenge Week 27

 Getting your wardrobe ready for fall and winter in the heat of summer always seemed a little crazy to me. I usually want to buy summer clothes in the summer. Lately, however, I realized that to get the new styles easily, without searching through every store, I have to start the fall and winter clothes shopping early; which leads me to this week's challenge.

This necklace will look great worn with a plain or turtle neck sweater. It is long enough to carry the bulk, yet delicate enough to be feminine. I used turquoise color Czech glass beads, (also used in challenge week 4), chain, and a beautiful medallion that you can see up close in the bottom picture. At first when I looked at this medallion I thought it was 4 little hearts in the center but I think it's a 4 leaf clover. The clasp is beautiful too, it has little Swarovski crystals on it. 

The original design for this necklace was inspired by a customer that wanted a necklace to wear with one of her sweaters, so I had purchased 2 of the medallions. After making her necklace I used different beads and chain to create this one.

Don't get me wrong, this necklace is very flexible and can be worn with a summer top, and even into the fall with a long sleeve blouse and jacket. Since I just made my first sweater purchase I'm in the winter wardrobe mode - not winter weather though.

Have a great week and enjoy the rest of the warm weather, fall is just around the corner.

You can see more of my jewelry on my website.

Challenge Week 26

Week 26... wow, half way through the challenge.  I wasn't sure I was going to make it this far.  In the beginning it was difficult to discipline myself to get the jewelry and blog done. I made sure that the jewelry was done so that Saturday morning I could post it on the blog, and now it's just part of my Saturday routine. Recently I watched the movie Julie and Julia and saw that a weekly challenge was a piece of cake (pun intended) compared to her challenge which was a daily challenge. Although cooking each day using another persons recipes is easier than creating a piece of jewelry. Just to have the stamina to come home from work every day and cook and then write a blog - I give her a lot of credit. She also ended up getting a book deal and a movie out of it so it paid off.

The piece of jewelry that is being used for this week's challenge was actually made last week along with the pendant that I did.  My co-worker asked me to make this ring and another one that is similar, one having her birthstone and the other her daughter's birthstone.  It is from the same book that the pendant was in so I can't claim the design, only the skill of reading the directions and bending the wire.

The ring is called the wave ring and the little waves that go off the ring on either side of the stones really make this unique.  On one side the wires are twisted to give it even more texture.  The ring in the book used smaller stones so there were 3 across the top; I like the larger stones because you can see them better and also it's easier to thread the wire through them.

If you would like a wave ring just send an email to me at denise@jewelrybydm.com - it is a great ring to give as a gift because I can customize it with birthstone colors using crystals and being unique the gift won't be duplicated.

Have a great week and I hope to see you back here next week.