Chellenge Week 50

Black and brown is being seen all over town lately.  Everywhere I go I see the combination in dresses, suits, blouses and more.  It’s a combination I never would have put together until I actually saw someone wearing it and I really like it.

Last week my friend Crystal and I went to the bead store on our lunch hour and she pointed out these black and brown beads and I had to buy them.  Crystal is a great inspiration, we have similar taste in jewelry and she gives me ideas that end up looking great. When I start hiring employees she is going to be my first hire as a designer. She is also one of my best customers…

Anyway, I decided to make a bracelet for myself to go with my new black top that has beige polka-dots and this week’s bracelet is the result.  Of course I’m going to make one for Crystal too, and one for the store.  These beads will look with black beads too and I may just make a pair of earrings with the black beads.  I used a magnet clasp on the bracelet, it’s the first time I’ve tried one, and I love it.  The bracelet is so easy to put on and take off.  Just be careful at the bank when you use the pen that is on the chain, you get stuck to the chain and it’s embarrassing. 

That’s all for now,  I hope you have a great week.

Denise

Challenge Week 45

Congratulations to Karin T. on winning the earring give away.  She left a really nice comment on the McLachlan Design Studio Facebook page, here it is:

"I love the April earrings because of the cute little flower in it. It is a nice new touch to your design. I would give the earrings to my friend Alyson who just had a new baby. New moms always need something to make them feel pretty!"

Last week I made some spring inspired jewelry and decided that this week I would look around New York while I walked to and from work and see what new spring colors the fashionable New Yorkers are wearing.

Usually when I walk I'm looking down at the sidewalk to make sure that I don't step in anything yuckie (yes that is a technical term). Or I'm watching to make sure that I don't get run over when crossing the street, and believe me when I say that my life has passed before my eyes more than once. So I decided to live on the wild side and observe people as I walked.  As I looked around I noticed that everyone was dressed in black, grey, beige and brown with a little white thrown in.  No more exciting colors than that. Where are the spring colors?  What's wrong with these New Yorkers?  Isn't NYC one of the fashion capitals? When the big lines put their locations on their tags and brochures they list London, Milan, Paris and New York as their places of business, the big four fashion capitals of the world. I thought, "Is NY really a fashion capital?"  Then I looked at what I was wearing, grey slacks, black top, grey sweater, black coat, black shoes and black purse with, yes, a touch of red.  Ah, ha, I found a little color. 

When I went into the office and looked around I found nothing different than what I saw on the street.  I felt like I was living in one of those black and white movies and the producers decided to only put color on the taxis. What a disappointment.  So, at least in real life no one in NYC is wearing color.  Maybe the fashion magazines are better, I'll let you know next week.

Which leads me to this week's challenge.  I call them layered earrings and although I didn't put any spring colors in them because I decided to use what I saw in the city, I used both silver and gold.

The bottom layer is black enamel with a swirl design in it, then the next layer a gold sun and the top a heart. They are fun earrings which you can wear with either silver or gold.
Next week I'll use some more spring colors ;-)

Have a great week.  If you get a chance visit my website at www.jewelrybydm.com