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 37

Yes, I’m late in submitting my challenge this week; I had family obligations that needed my full attention.  As I promised I have jewelry for Valentine’s Day this week.  I started with some wooden beads that I bought recently and wanted to use for the challenge. Then I thought “Is there a famous couple that I can use for my challenge this week?”

The hemp cord along with the wooden beads led me to Tarzan, vines and trees – get it. So I decided to use Tarzan and Jane for my Valentine couple for this challenge. I like the new macramé bracelets and made a his-and-hers set.

Tarzan’s of course is the wooden beads and hemp cord and for Jane’s I used glass beads that are robin egg blue with a black design on them and again hemp cord. I used the pretty blue beads for Jane to highlight her cultured background but continued the vine theme in her bracelet by using the hemp. Tarzan’s bracelet is about 7 ¼ “ at the smallest size and expands to 9 inches.  Jane’s bracelet at the smallest size is 6 ¼” and expands to 8 inches.

I hope you enjoyed the challenge this week and that you will come back for my next challenge.

Visit my website, McLachlan Design Studio, see more jewelry.

Challenge Week 9

Wow, can you believe another week has gone by.  This week I wanted to use April-like stones to make a pair of earrings. I used a piece that I've never used before, the Swarovski crystal drop.

These earrings are the most delicate looking earrings that I've ever made. The drop is clear crystal and then I put a round turquoise and a round clear crystals above the drop, and they are separated by a silver flower spacer. The clear round crystal has an AB coating, so it reflects colors around it. When I was taking pictures of the earrings it was hard to get a picture where the clear crystal actually looked clear, it would look like it was light blue from the reflection of the bead below it.

These earrings are so delicate and spring like, I really want to keep them, but I'll put them in my shop so you can enjoy them.   
Thanks for stopping by, come back next week to see what comes off the work room table.

Challenge Week4

This week I used the last of my favorite beads, they are a turquoise color Czech glass, oblong shaped bead. I paired them with white cats eye beads to make a very soothing combination of colors, in a princess length necklace (18 inch).  I have used this combination before in a floating bead necklace that was bought at a craft fair faster than I could put it on the table.  The clasp that I used is an antique finish square that I think compliments the shape of the Czech glass beads.

I have 2 of the Czech beads left and will make a pair of earrings to match the necklace.

Look for more pictures in my shop.