Hades Necklace

Today is a necklace that I've had pictured in mind for a while, but I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to create it.

It's a collar - almost tribal-style necklace using silver-plated connectors, 6mm & 8mm turquoise/blue glass beads and 6mm & 8mm magnetic hematite.

It's brought together with gunmetal-plated cable chain and a gunmetal-plated lobster clasp.

Looking at the finished article, I'm thinking I may have enough materials to do away with the chain and make it into a full collar, or at least make the chain shorter. It might be very heavy though.

The 8mm blue glass beads that I used were part of a mystery pack of glass bead strands that I had from the U.S.  They're absolutely beautiful up close, with a kind of texturing underlay, almost like foil.

I'll have a go at the full collar and I'll repost it if it works out.

=:x

My First Necklace

As I was going through the jewellery that needed to be re-photographed, I came across the first necklace I made at my therapy class.  This was got me started on this beading obsession.

 

It was just a simple beaded necklace.  I remember they didn't have anything purple in their selection so I chose these small bugle beads.

As you can see, a lot of the colour has worn off by now.  These days I rarely wear it as a necklace, instead I wrap it around several times and wear it as a bracelet.

 It's got me thinking about maybe making some more in different colours.
=:x

Mistakes & Work in Progress

Hi everyone, I haven't forgotten to upload but recent projects have been kicking my ass!

I'm trying a Cellini spiral for my next addition to the I Heart...Collection, however I wasn't pleased with my first attempt.

Starfish Earrings

I don't have anything else to show from the I Heart...Collection just yet, so for today's post, I'll be sharing this pair of earrings I made recently.  One of the things I love most about ordering from Jilly Beads, is the free little packet of beads you get with your order.  With my last order, I received these cute little starfish-like beads (glass, I think) and I immediately wanted to turn them into a pair of earrings.

Frozen Necklace & Earrings

Hello, long time no see! *waves*

I've decided I'm going back to what I originally intended my jewellery making to be all about - a distraction from my depression and to increase my self-confidence.  For the past couple of years I've been too focused on sales and it just made me miserable.  Although I like interacting with people to talk about my creations (everyone likes to have their ego stroked!) I'm not a sales person and pretending to be one lowered my self confidence even more and I lost all inspiration/passion to create anything new, as all my focus became fixed on thinking about how I was going to sell it.  Eventually I'll be looking into getting someone else to do the selling for me - because honestly all this business crap is sucking the life out of my creativity.
So I'm just going back to creating jewellery for the heck of it and for my love of being creative.  My Etsy shop will remain open, so if there is anything you want to buy feel free!  I've extended the Sweet September Sale - so you can pick up a bargain gift for Christmas!

Peppermint Cream Set

Disclaimer:  No copyright infringement is intended.  These are my own interpretations of various sweets and candy using various beads.  Nothing in the Sweet Tooth collection is edible.  Please try to refrain from eating!

I love peppermint creams!  The ones made by Fry's, York's Peppermint Patties and the bags you can get at the supermarket.  So when I saw these glass pearls, I knew exactly what I was going to do with them:

Peppermint Cream Set

 The necklace features alternating clotted cream and teal coloured glass pearls, which vary in size (obviously you have to have more cream than peppermint!).  The pendant is a beautiful glass bead that I've been meaning to use for a while.  Diamond shaped with green and gold glitter swirled into white.

Pendant

 I knew I couldn't use an ordinary clasp, so I used this Rhodium plated (so it won't tarnish) clasp with a turquoise rhinestone.

Rhodium plated clasp with turquoise rhinestone

 The earrings are pretty simple, but stunning nonetheless.  Same design as the necklace with nickel free earwires.

Peppermint Cream Earrings

The bracelet is the one I'm most proud of.  Its design is a bit different to the necklace, as I added teal green seed beads to imitate the peppermint chips you get in some peppermint creams.

Peppermint Bracelet - laid out

 It has another of the diamond beads as a focal and is multi-stranded to it looks more like a cuff when worn.  This is definitely one of the more elegant sets I have ever created.

Peppermint Bracelet - as worn

If you would be interested in this set or would like me to make you something similar, please feel free to contact me at: kymberligee@gmail.com with "Peppermint Cream Set" in the subject line.

Smarties & Chocolate Eggs Set

Disclaimer:  No copyright infringement is intended.  These are my own interpretations of various sweets and candy using various beads.  Nothing in the Sweet Tooth collection is edible.  Please try to refrain from eating!

Easter is coming up and who doesn't love unwrapping chocolate eggs?

 Multicoloured egg-like acrylic beads and silver grosgrain ribbon to tie.  Spaced between the eggs are metal smartie shaped beads inside hammered metal flowers.  New acrylic eggs are bigger than these pictured.

Smarties and Chocolate Eggs Necklace

Acrylic eggs and Smartie spacers

Smarties & Chocolate Eggs Earrings

 The earrings feature a smartie shaped bead (rainbow fluorite bead pictured) inside a hammered metal oval.  The earwires used are nickel free for anybody that has a nickel allergy. :)

Other coloured Smarties are available, so please let me know your preference upon order.

Smarties & Chocolate Eggs Bracelet

 The bracelet is on memory wire, which means it will fit any adult size wrist.  The bracelet pictured is a mixture of foil acrylic "egg" beads, rainbow fluorite "smarties" and sparkling glass "smarties".

Please note that all sets will look different from this one pictured, as I use a random mix of eggs & smarties.

 

If you would be interested in this set or would like me to make you something similar, please feel free to contact me at: kymberligee@gmail.com with "Smarties & Chocolate Eggs Set" in the subject line.

Butterfly Garden Set

Despite hating pink and "girly" things, every once in a while, I do surprise those around me by liking something girly.

My American supplier had a gorgeous pendant with a butterfly embossed on it and some beautiful two colour beads (Rose & Peridot).  I had no idea that by combining the two, I'd end up with something this...well, girly: 

Butterfly Garden Necklace

 All of the beads are glass and you may recognise the silver flower spacers from the Calypso necklace.  As you can see, I'm still having fun with wire.  I threaded the wire through the holes in the pendant and wrapped them into spirals of varying size, which I think makes an intresting focal.  

Hanging from a line of small crystal glass beads is the fringe, which I made from turquoise, light green and lilac beads.  The colors are supposed to represent the gradual change of the colour of the sky throughout the day, with crystal clouds on top of course!

Next I alternated the rose and peridot rice beads with the crystal beads, which to me is the dusky pink of the evening sky in the butterfly garden, slowly turning into night. (I'm a writer, I'm allowed to have imagination!)

Round crystal beads with Rose & peridot beads

Finally, to tie it all together I decided to use ribbon, but I didn't want it too wide.  Fortunately, a friend of mine makes the most amazing candles and soaps (please check out her site - One Stop Pamper), and her candles are tied with tiny white ribbons!  So guess where I got these from? ;)

Candle ribbons

One of those, I'm not sure if it's the left or the right is from her Butterfly Meadows votive candle, so it actually smells like a butterfly garden too!

The Earrings took a little more thought.  I'd run out of the rose and peridot beads and I was fast running out of the crystal beads too.  So I decided to carry on the fringe effect from the necklace.  None of the butterfly charms I had, matched the feel of the necklace, so I used these dragonfly charms instead, which are equally as good.  I hung them from the hoop I made from some left over wire.

Butterfly Garden Earrings

Peacock Set

I've had this peacock feather (bought when I was a kid) lying around, and it's always getting lost.  So I thought, why not make something out of it that won't be so easily lost, so I made this for myself.

 

First I cut the feather as close to the plumage as I could, but I didn't throw the other bit away.  I'll show you what I did with that later.  I wrapped copper wire around the top and around a copper jump ring several times for security. 

 

I used the many different coloured semi-precious stones I had to emulate the graduating colours of the feather itself.  I started with Goldstone flecked Bluestone chips on either side of the feather pendant.

I didn't have any purple beads that matched the shade I wanted, so I went for turquoise instead.  This is "S" shaped Blue (dyed) Lemon Turquoise.

 I then threaded different sized Antique Bronze metal beads onto pins and bent them into a marquise shape and hung these pear shaped - Turquoise (dyed) Picasso Jasper beads from them.

 There's two thin lines of brown either side of a bright green before it fades into the beautiful dark green colour on the feather.  So to emulate this, I got to use my new brown acrylic beads and lime silver lined seed beads.

 Finally I ended with one of my favourite semi-precious stones - Malachite.

 And it's all connected with an antique bronze barrel clasp.

 So what did I do with the rest of the feather?  I stripped it and made earrings!

 A couple more malachite chips and Capri blue beads for distinction...

 

and voila! Peacock earrings.

 

I have no idea what the price is as I was just having fun.  I can't replicate this design at all, it's just something I made for myself.  I do plan to do more work with feathers though, so keep checking back!

Calypso Necklace

I'm designing more summer jewellery and here is the latest installment:

The Tagua Nuts are back, this time in fuchsia pink!  I wanted a bright, colour clashing necklace that really stood out.

I added these pretty flower spacers and used the beaded star bead caps to cover the large holed Tagua nuts.

Next we have these turquoise and black Greek ceramic beads and in between those are lime green acrylic beads with an AB coating (reflects various colours), which were taken off an old bracelet. 

I thought I'd show you a close up of what one of the bark blemishes look like.  As you can see, it only adds to the uniqueness of these beautiful beads.

Finally; the necklace is strung onto leather cord, and connected by a lobster clasp, although it is long enough that it should fit over most heads.

There is a limited supply of this necklace.  Once they've gone they've gone.

SOLD!