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!

Challenge Week 32

Happy Thanksgiving!  This month, well this year has gone so fast, I can't believe that we're just a week away from December and a month away from Christmas.

For my challenge this week I used a wire that has a design in it and made a cuff bracelet.  It was a custom design for a co-worker Beth and I like it so much that I am going to make more.  The design in the wire is difficult to see because I forgot to take the picture at home before I delivered the bracelet, so I used my mobile phone, and taking detailed pictures is not a good use for it.

The wire is about a half inch wide and has a pretty design in the center and on the edges of it.  I can make the bracelet to custom fit your wrist.  Beth has a 6 inch wrist and she can't find bracelets in the store that will fit the way she wanted it, close fitting so it won't move around a lot.  You can see that it fits her well.

I hope you had a great holiday weekend.  If you need gifts you can find them in my store at www.jewelrybydm.com

Challenge Week 31

Hi, welcome back.  Many of my winter clothes are red, I guess because it's such a warm color. With the cold weather coming I was inspired to use some warm red beads - I really love of the color red.

The beads that I used for these earrings are red, but when you look at them they look like they have black highlights. The headpins that I used are tipped with red; I think it look better that just the silver tips on other head pins.  Silver bead caps finish off the earrings, giving them a little sparkle.  You can wear these as little Christmas ear ornaments during the holiday season or just to give you a splash of color after the holidays.

Have a great week and I'll see you back here for week 32.

Denise

Challenge Week 30

Halloween has passed and the commercials are in full swing with gift ideas for the holidays.  I received an email today that I thought was a great idea, this is unusual for me because usually I cannot stand getting the forwards and just delete them. However, this email said that we should all buy American for the holidays. This means giving gift certificates for local services like car washes or oil changes or beauty services like hair cuts or manicures. It also suggested buying from local artisans. If I can help you with this in any way let me know, and not just my jewelry, I know people that make all kinds of hand made items from guitars to paintings, photography, t-shirts and sweatshirts, cards, scarves, toys and more. Let's get our economy back on it's feet by buying American and buying local.

Now I will get off of my soap box and get back to the topic at hand, week 30 of the 52 week challenge.  This pair of earrings is a little different from my usual conservative look.  I like the animal print look but rarely wear it because I'm a bit shy when it comes to bold prints.  These earrings bring the animal print in without being too bold. For those of you that aren't afraid of the bold prints I salute you and for those of us that shy away, lets just try something new.  I think that if you wear these with a black  or white sweater and a nice silver chain it could be a very classy look.

The earrings are the size of a quarter, so they aren't too big and they have a nice finish to them.  Each pair will have a little bit different pattern on them so don't expect the exact look of the earrings shown above.  The pattern is quite close though.  I bought these beads in New York on one of my lunch hour walks, it was a short string of beads, so there will be limited quantities.

You can find these and other earrings on my McLachlan Design Studio website.

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 28

 Hi and happy Sunday.  I'm a day late posting due to an upcoming move; I have been packing boxes.  Next week is the move, so I won't have a post for the challenge.  I'll just have to make it up the following week.

This week I made a version of necklaces that I have seen others wearing.  This necklace is approximately 18 inches long, for the longest strand, and consists of large and small circles. The large circles are both round and oval and the small circles are all round.

My favorite part of this necklace is the clasp, which can be worn in the back or front of the necklace. Why hide it?! It was a close out piece that I got from one of my suppliers.  One side of the clasp is a flower and the other is 3 leaves. It is decorated with crystals and in my humble opinion it is a beautiful clasp. I have been searching for more of these but can't seem to find any.  Jewelry findings are like any other fashion accessory, they are sold for a limited time and then have to go to make room for the new.

On a side note, they do the limited time thing with perfume too and it really bothers me because I get used to a perfume and then the store discontinues it. I read somewhere that men associate you with the perfume that you wear. That can be both good and bad.. think about it. I was wearing Lauren perfume and really didn't think guys noticed, and one year for Christmas I got Lauren from my boss, my Dad and my boyfriend.  They notice! They also notice your nails, makeup and jewelry, even if they won't admit it. Any guys out there that want to comment on this? But I digress.

This necklace will be a great addition to your wardrobe because it will make a little black dress look elegant or dress up a v-neck sweater.  There are also earrings in my shop that will look great with this necklace. It will take a couple of weeks to get this into my shop.  If you can't wait for it just send me an email at denise@jewelrybydm.com and I'll get it out to you asap. There is only one of these so first come first served.

Have a nice afternoon and I'll see you back here in 2 weeks.