Picasso Rectangle Earrings

If you're looking for a different kind of earring these are for you. The rectangle beads are made from Czech glass with a Picasso looking design carved into them. The glass is an opaline violet and the

grooves and edges are highlighted in light brown.  Each side of the earring is a little different.  Round lilac Swarovski crystals cap each end of the rectangle and they hang from silver french hooks.

The Picasso beads have been in my stash for quite a while now and couldn't decide what to do with them, then I bough the lilac beads and knew they were a perfect compliment to the Picasso beads and would look great in an earring.

I like these these earrings a lot and was even tempted to keep them, but posted them in my Etsy store.  You can find them at https://www.etsy.com/listing/220844951/picasso-rectangle-earrings?ref=shop_home_active_1

Until next time, have a good week and 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

It's been a while, how have you been?

Yes, I know, my last post was in June... I've been either a slacker or way to busy to write, hmm, well I guess it's been a little bit of both.  But I'm back and will make an effort not to be gone for such a long time again.

While I've been gone I have been very busy creating and selling jewelry.  Just recently I started a new line of pendants called the Cheryl collection, inspired by a wonderful lady who loves to challenge my jewelry making skills.  A few weeks ago she came to me asked for a long necklace that has a heart pendant with a lot of bling.  Cheryl and her sister are singers and she wanted something to wear on stage with this gorgeous black dress that has a high neck and plain front.  So I made her this...

I was so inspired by the technique that I used that I started making other pendants using the same techniques and came up with 3 that I will be selling in my Etsy store in the Cheryl Collection section.  It may take a week or so to get them posted, but meanwhile here is a preview for you.

He Loves Me

The camera put the yellowish tint on this daisy but it's actually clear.

Time 2 Rock

Let It Snow

That's a little of what I've been up to.  I hope you will continue 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

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.

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

Challenge Week 39

Hello, and welcome back.  This week I have another piece to add to my Treasure Island Collection.

This necklace is made from Czech Beads called Blue mixed with Sand and black faceted glass beads with gold color glass seed beads. It is 18" long and has a great clasp to finish it off that is a TierraCast antique silver bali-style toggle clasp.

This is the third piece in the collection and I will be adding more each week.  I'm very excited about making a collection because there are so many different configurations of these beads swirling around in my head, and it's such a great mix and match way to go. I hope you like this collection as much as I do.

I've placed it in my Etsy store with more pictures for you to see.

See you next week.

Challenge Week 38

This week I have started a new collection called Treasure Island.  This collection started because I had ordered some Czech glass beads called “Blue and Sand mix”. You know how each monitor shows color differently, if you go to a store with TVs you will see that the picture looks a little different on each set. So I didn’t pay much attention to the color of the beads when I ordered them. Then they arrived and I realized that blue and sand mixed together make green.  This is the basics of art class.  So these beads arrived looking like the manufacturer didn’t quite mix the color completely and you can see green, sand, and brown and sometimes hints of light blue.  I like them and think they are very unique, they remind me a little of camouflage but the facets and shine of the bead bring the style of the bead upscale from the casual style of camouflage.  Then I had to decide what other beads to use with them and of course I used black and a little gold seed bead, which brings out the sand in the Czech glass.

The purpose of this new collection is so you will be able to buy different pieces of jewelry that coordinate with each other but aren’t necessarily a matched set. I’m going to make different styles of earrings or bracelets or necklaces using beads from the collection.  This way you can choose a style that you like that goes with other pieces in the collection.  This is my first attempt at a collection and I hope that you like the concept.  Leave comments, tell me what you like or dislike about have a collection.  If you like it I will make other collections too.   I was thinking about a birthday collection for each month.  What do you think of that?

The first two pieces that I made with these beads are for this week’s challenge.  I started with a bracelet and added earrings.  The bracelet will fit a 7 inch wrist and I think will go with a lot of styles and outfits.  I can see it with a black suit and gold blouse for work, or with a pair of khakis and a polo for casual.  The earrings are 1 and ¾ inch long, hanging from silver plated French hooks.  Wear them with a black or tan top and a skirt or jeans and to complete your outfit.

Next week I have a necklace planned to add to the Treasure Island collection.

You can find both of these items in my Etsy store. 

See you next week.

Denise

Challenge Week 36

Last week (week 35) I made a necklace that I called Shades of Grey and when I showed it to my sister she liked it and thought that I should make earrings to go with it.  I totally agreed with her because, well, it was such a great combination of beads I just couldn’t stop at a necklace.  Who knows, I may even make a bracelet.

The centerpiece of the earrings is the rectangle mother of pearl bead topped with a grey glass pearl.  I then added 2 leaves hanging from the bottom and in-between the pearl and the rectangle.  I took a picture of the necklace and earrings together (see below).  I think that whoever purchases these, either separately or together, is going to wear them a lot.  I’ve had them on display on my workroom table and can’t stop looking at them. 

Lately I’ve seen a lot of grey in the fashion magazines.  Even Elle Décor showed several rooms done in grey with either white or another color like turquoise or blue.  If you have been reading my posts you may remember that I moved in September.  I had decided to do my living room in black and white with a hint of color, I was thinking of the blue that Martha Stuart uses a lot of, but I couldn’t find the right pieces and ended up with grey and highlights of red.  So, maybe I’m just on a grey kick and everyone is going to think that I should just get over it and that this piece isn’t as great as I think it is.  Voice your opinion, leave me some comments and let me know what you think.

See you next week. And no I’m not going to make the matching bracelet, at least not this week.  I have something in mind for Valentine’s Day to do for next time.

You can see more pictures of this item in my Etsy store.

Have a good week,

Denise