The ring is the thing

Making metal jewelry I find that I have scraps that are too big to be tossed in the recycle pile, so I try to incorporate them into other pieces of jewelry.  Today's blog shows how I converted those left over pieces into great jewelry.

I made several bracelets using strips of silver with really pretty designs pressed into the metal. I had several pieces that were each 2 or 3 inches long and decided to make some rings.  The results are so good that I'm actually buying the silver just to make rings. 

One day I had on a ring that is similar to the one on the left. On my way to work a woman in the train commented on it, then in the doctor's office I got another complement from one of the nurses.  At work I got some great comments and a couple of orders too.  I call it the cascading crystal ring because the beads are free flowing and every time you put it on the beads fall into a different configuration.  It's a fun ring. 

The ring on the right is the first ring that I made and is a casual ring. Very simple in style with a stable swirly looking bead that reflects the swirl on the side of the ring.  The wire is simple, yet beautiful.

Inside both rings I've stamped a secret message.The purple ring at the top says "Laugh" and the blue ring says "Dream".

Making these rings was so much fun and I will have several on my website, if they aren't purchased before I can post them.

Visit my website at http://www.jewelrybydm.com

Challenge Week 35

Happy New Year!  I hope the New Year brings you much peace, happiness, health and prosperity. 

For the challenge this week I got out my bead stash and decided to use some of the beads that I have been thinking about for a while.  I bought these rectangular shell beads a couple of months ago along with the leaf charms intending to make “something” with them.  The idea floating around in my head was either a necklace or some earrings.  When I put the beads on my bead board the necklace just seemed to fall into place.  I didn’t have to change it around, the way I placed the beads the first time is the necklace that is shown in the picture. That doesn't happen often.

Sometimes I struggle with a project, switching the beads around or adding or taking away beads, but this one was there the first time and the thing is I like it very much, I hope you do too.  The rectangles are mother of pearl, the pearls are glass beads, the leaves and the clasp are antiqued silver. The necklace is 18 inches long and drapes nicely when hanging.  The clasp is called “Del sol” and finishes off the necklace with flair.

This piece will be on my website within the next few days.  I will also be adding many pieces of jewelry to my website in the month of January.  Since my stock was depleted during the holidays my goal is to put a total of 30 new pieces up there, so check often.

Here is my web address www.jewelrybydm.com stop by and see if there is anything you want.

Have a great weekend!

Denise

Challenge Week 29

It has been a while but I am back and on with the challenge.  I thought that it was only going to be a week or 2 that I wouldn't be able to write. The move took longer that I thought, actually it was delayed because of hurricane Irene, then the following 3 weeks I had family obligations.  With the move came the loss of internet connection and on and on.  Finally I'm back, with a great pair of earrings.

 The earrings that I did for this week are hoops. This is my first time making hoops and I am very pleased with how they turned out.  I used sterling plated wires and put Czech glass flowers with silver spacers to create light weight, beautiful earrings. The earrings are easy to put on, just slip one end of the hoop into your ear and then click the end in place.  Simple!

Named after the woman that gave me the idea, I call them Crystal Hoops.  I work with Crystal and she asked me to make hoops for her with clear and silver beads, so I used crystal beads for Crystal. I've also made these earrings in different colors, and you will be able to see them on my website in the near future.

Crystal says that she wears these earrings a lot because they go with everything, so I made a pair for myself and also one for the website. If you have a color that you would like in these earrings let me know and I will custom design a pair just for you.  Contact me at denise@jewelrybydm.com

It's good to be back, I hope you have a great week!

Challenge Week 23

When I first started making jewelry it was for myself, then for family and friends as gifts. Then I started selling jewelry that I made and rarely made anything for myself. Which brings us to this week's challenge.

In my closet is a pink, no iron, oxford shirt that I love to wear. The only problem is that I struggle each time with what jewelry to wear with it. Yes, I make jewelry but don't have anything to wear with an outfit. So this week I decided to make a pair of earrings to wear with my pink shirt.  Swarovski has a lot of faceted rondells that I use to make earrings and I found the perfect color, it's called Vintage Rose. It's beautiful and I'm not sure that my picture does it justice.I only bought the 4 beads because I wanted to be sure they were going to go well with the shirt and if I would be happy with the color. I will buy more of these, they are beautiful!  They are a little on the expensive side because they are Swarovski crystals and they have an Aurora  Borealis finish. They look so pretty, it was worth every penny. The center spacer bead is  antiqued silver, complimenting the vintage rose, it's just enough to highlight the beads without taking away from the crystal. The earrings hang from fancy hooks with completes the look with style.

Similar earrings are on my website in black, red and red & black. I plan to make them in blue and peridot too.  So watch for them.  My website address is www.jewelrybydm.com

Have a great week, stay cool, and I'll see you here next weekend.

Team Tuesday, Week #3

Welcome to the third edition of the EtsyNJ Team Tuesday blog hop! Here's how it works - write a feature about any EtsyNJ team member on your blog (as long or as short as you'd like it to be) and then add the blog hop code at the end of this post and check out all of the other great features - get to know the EtsyNJ street team!!

Rules:
Blog post must be about an EtsyNJ member shop. To find an EtsyNJ shop, see the side bar of this blog or search EtsyNJ at Etsy.com.
You do not have to be a team member to participate, but you MUST feature an EtsyNJ member on your blog.

Check out my Tuesday pic for Team Tuesday, Kissable Kreations.  These Hair Accessories are so cute, you are going to want to buy them even if you don't have a little girl.