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 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 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

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 34

Happy New Year!  This post is a little late because of the holidays.  I hope you all had happy holidays and your new year will be the best yet.

My Christmas was very nice, spending it with family.  My brothers did the cooking this year and the food was so good! I would have liked to be able to eat everything on the table, but then I would pay for it with having to buy bigger size clothes. Leave comments, let me know how your holidays were.

Week 32 is a varriation on another pair of hoop earrings that I did.  These earrings (at left) are for a friend for Christmas, to match a bracelet (below/right) that she had ordered from me.  The large center bead is amethyst color and the edges of the bead are copper coated. I accented the center bead by putting a copper and an amethyst bead on either side of it. I think the earrings go well with the bracelet. Don't you?

The bracelet is similar to the one featured in week 33, using different beads.  I really enjoy making these bracelets, it's so much fun and a refreshing change from the work that I usually do.

In the month of January my goal is to add 30 new items to my website, McLachlan Design Studio, with some of the items featured in my challenge and others that I bring to craft shows which have never made it to my website because they sell faster than I can photograph them.

Have a great week!
Denise

Challenge Week 33

This week I have a special treat for the guys in the audience.  I made a masculine bracelet.  Most of my jewelry is for females however, I have made some cufflinks and tie pins.  It surprised me that most of the male jewelry that I made has sold.  One gentleman at a craft fair told me that he didn’t see many things for men and he was disappointed, so that’s what gave me the inspiration to add the cufflinks and tie pins.

One of my co-workers asked me to make him one of the new macramé bracelets that they are showing in the stores.  He wanted all black, so I used black hemp cord and 8 mm black onyx beads.  The bracelet fits an 8 inch wrist and can be adjusted by either pulling on the cords at the end of the bracelet to make it smaller, or pulling the bracelet apart to make it larger.  The piece that keeps  the bracelet closed is also the mechanism used to adjust it. 

I have several new orders for this bracelet so it may be after the first of the year before I put one in my shop.  If you would like to place and order for one I will need to know the size, in inches, of the person’s wrist and the color beads you would like.  It’s too late for Christmas but you can always put a certificate in an envelope letting the person know that their gift has been custom ordered. To place a custom order please send an email to me at denise@jewelrybydm.com and I will get back to you with an expected completion date.

Have a very Happy Holiday season and Happy New Year!