Swirl Heart Earrings

Love is forged from the soul and strengthened by the heart.  

This week's earrings are made from silver and  topped with a crystal bead and can make a romantic addition to your outfits.  The earrings are on french hooks and are 1 7/8 inches long.  At the widest part, the hearts are 5/8" wide.

I wanted to make something to wear for Valentine's Day to add my collection of fun dangle earrings.  You can find these in my Etsy store

Thanks for reading and I'll be back next week with the finished earrings from the first Fan Fabulous project.

Denise 

Fan Fabulous for Jan 2015

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a great holiday season and that your New Year will be happy and healthy.

Recently someone asked me if jewelry making was difficult.  I said no, I really enjoy making jewelry.  She asked “What is it that you enjoy about it?” I said “When I’m making jewelry I feel relaxed, I forget any problems and just spend the time creating beautiful pieces of jewelry that others may enjoy”.  The last question really had an impact on how I’m going to do some things this year, she asked “What is your favorite part of making jewelry?” and I said “Creating custom made jewelry  I also learn something new with each custom piece that I make, and that’s a new way to look at a design.  An example is, one of my customers liked a long necklace that I have in my shop, but she wanted it in black and copper rather than silver with turquoise beads, and for the focal point of the necklace she wanted feathers. I had to take myself out of the traditional way of thinking of silver or gold as the metal and find a different chain and beads.  I also ended up using feathers made from copper.  It was a great learning experience and the customer got exactly what she wanted.

for people because I’m not guessing what people will be attracted to in my shop, I’m actually making a piece that someone wants, has created in their mind, and I’m bringing it to life.

This year, once a month, I’m going to give you the opportunity to help me design a piece of jewelry.  Comments can be posted on my Facebook, Twitter and blog pages and I will incorporate some or all of the suggestions received into the jewelry and post it in the newsletter and blog the next month. I will post pictures of the materials that I have for an idea for either earrings, a bracelet or necklace and you can comment on any changes you think that would make the jewelry into a piece that you would consider wearing.  After I post the new piece in the newsletter and my blog it will be put in my Etsy store under the category of Fan Fabulous, for the Fabulous jewelry that fans helped me design.

I’m excited to see what you come up with.  So, here’s the first Fan Fabulous challenge…

Fan Fabulous Challenge

The two photos here show an earring design with 2 different options, I thought a stamp design around  Feel free to make suggestions on changing the color of the beads if you would like beads or anything else, you don’t have to stick to only the items here but please stay with the basic circle and earring structure. Note that the circle is 1 and one quarter inches across, so about the size of a silver dollar.

the circle would be nice and included 2 different stamps that I think would look good.

Next month I will publish the finished earrings and will post another Fan

Fabulous design challenge.  Also in next month’s newsletter the 2015 Color of The Year.

Since this is getting so long I will close here. 

Until next time, stay warm.

Denise

Flower Power or Spring Fling

Many of the styles that I see lately remind me of the sixties, the pallazzo pants, the knit sweaters, tie dye everything, it's all so retro.  So to get into the spirit of the retro look I made these laser cut flower

earrings.  They evoke the feeling of spring with flowers everywhere but they also fit into the flower power category.  I mean really, just look at them, the frame is the shape of a flower and then inside the frame are lots more flowers.

I think these earrings would be great with a simple white shirt and blue jeans, but wear them with a tie dye t-shirt and a denim skirt and you have a time warp into the 60's.

There are only one pair of these earrings and you can see more pictures in my Etsy store.

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  Please feel free to make comments.

Signs of Spring

Spring is my favorite time of year and I've made some spring inspired earrings to add to my collection.

First up are these Organic Leaf Earrings. They are made from silver plated pewter and look like they are carved by hand for a very organic natural style.  They are lightweight and pretty and I've made them in two different sizes.  Including the french hook, the large hands 1 3/4" and the small hang 1 3/8 inches.  The reason I like these is they look like someone used a knife and carved out each little section.  I think they would look great with a linen blouse or a thick cotton t-shirt, but they will go with most any outfit.



Next spring inspired earring are these laser cut flowers.  They are a bouquet of flowers within a

flower shape.  Cut with a laser cutter and done in a gun metal finish these are light and airy. They hang 1 3/4 inches from your ear. 

If you would like to see more of my jewelry designs please visit my Etsy store at https://www.etsy.com/shop/demdesigns 

Thanks for reading. 

Denise

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

A new technique

Trying something new is always exciting and challenging for me.  When Carolyn from church gave me some sea glass to work with, something that I’ve never done before, I was excited and nervous at the same time.  It took me a while to figure out the best way to wrap the glass to enhance the beauty of it.  Then getting the creativity to flow through my hands was another challenge. I was relieved to find that it’s a skill that I liked learning and using.

Since I started making jewelry I have felt like the more skills I have, the better jewelry designer I can be.  I’ve learned many techniques so far and feel like the more I learn the more I want to learn. I just wasn’t ready for this new technique. It was definitely more abstract than I have ever done.

Sea glass was kind of a foreign object to me as far as jewelry making goes and I was happy to have something different, however I didn’t have a clue what I should do with it.  I knew that I should wrap it with wire but how. I’m used to nice even shaped beads with a hole in the middle; this glass didn’t have a hole in the middle. So, it was time for me to learn a new technique.

The creative process always amazes me because everyone goes through a different process to create.  Some people just dive right in and do it, some draw out their design, and some make a prototype.  Instead of doing the above, I do research, find the techniques that others use, look at photos of similar type work, watch You Tube videos, read books and then let it all sink into my brain for a while.  Once it all coalesces in my brain I start to think about how I’m going to make my project.  Sometimes it takes a day and sometimes it takes months.  I think wire wrapping the sea glass took me about 2 weeks to actually decide how I was going to do this.

You can see the results in the pictures on this page.  Once I started wrapping sea glass I couldn’t stop.  I love to do it and I love the results.  My favorite is the long white piece shown with the orange background.  That piece of glass has a design pressed into it.  I would really like to know what kind of thing that glass started out as. 

Thanks to Carolyn for the inspiration to learn a new skill to put into my toolbox of jewelry techniques and all the beautiful pieces of sea glass.

Shopping for Beads

Last weekend I went to a bead show and had a great time.  I was only a few steps in the door and couldn't resist buying my first item.  It's shown in the picture, a beautiful vintage crystal that is emerald cut and a beautiful light blue. 

Then the next table that I went to was selling charms and settings and I found the perfect setting for the vintage crystal.  I had thought about making a setting, it was my intention when I bought the stone, then I came across the setting shown in the picture.

Isn't it beautiful?

I found lots of other beautiful pieces and could have spent a fortune but I gave myself a budget.  In the next few weeks I'll post more pieces for you to see, from the beads that I bought at the show.

Have a great week!

Denise

Challenge Week 51

Welcome to Week 51.

In week 49 I featured a double strand turquoise necklace with silver accents. This week I made earrings to compliment the necklace.  They are simple with three turquoise beads and seed beads in-between. I also made a pair for myself and wear them a lot. They can be worn with most things in my closet because I wear a lot of black; I also wear them with green, white, and beige.

For the final challenge I have a fabulous necklace planned, it’s on my bead board right now just waiting to be strung.  I hope it comes out as good as I have been imagining it.  Come back next week to see what I made.

Have a great week.

Denise

Visit my website at www.jewelrybydm.com

Challenge Week 49

If you need luck, several world cultures have believed at one time or another that turquoise is the stone to give you good luck.  I guess it’s more durable than a rabbit’s foot and easier to get.

This week I made a necklace using turquoise, silver and crystals. I took a traditional southwest look and gave it a little bling.  The turquoise beads are round and are either 3mm or 5 mm, and then I put green crystal cube beads in-between and added some silver saucer spacer beads.  The focal bead is about the size of a quarter and is the reason why I made the necklace.  I found the focal bead in NYC at a bead store, then had to decide what I was going to make around it.  It’s like buying the shoes before the dress, but I really liked it and wanted to make something with it.  The clasp has an interesting design on it and is great because you can adjust the length of the necklace by moving the clasp up or down on the chain that is on the opposite side of the clasp.  At its shortest the necklace is 25 inches long and can be extended approximately another inch and a half.

I hope you enjoy.  Leave comments; let me know what you think.