First Jewelry Made in 2011

These are the first pieces of jewelry that I have made this year. As I said in my last post I have been in a bit of a funk so to be out of it feels great. I read somewhere to just make something so I have been crocheting a 50 inch cowl (scarf/hat) to keep being creative while I figure out which pile of laundry my muse is buried beneath. I am actually almost done with it a goal in and of itself as I have ton's of projects half finished in my house.

I was inspired by this view outside of my window to make this first bracelet. It snowed here on Friday and it was so beautiful. The flakes were small but there were so many of them. The Girl kept running to the door screaming snow! snow! The sky was the perfect shade of blue which made me run to my bead stash and pull from one of my favorite artists Nancy Schindler.

The ring is from Nancy Schindler of RoundRabbitExtra who's items I have a bit of an obsession with. She does these one day updates and it is like being at Kleinfeld's for their wedding gown sale. Everything sells so quickly that you have to jump on the pieces before someone else does. I sometimes can't pick and end up buying WAY too much stuff. I know I will make something with them sometime but I think I need rehab. The rest of the bracelet is sea glass from a shop in LaGrange, NY I Dream of Beading, the biwa pearls are from a bead store in Red Hook that went out of business last year (sad for them, score for me), some sterling silver wire, crystal quartz beads in different shapes, a blue lace agate, a chalcedony bead and a toggle clasp that resembled the ring from Nancy finishes off this wintry feeling bracelet.

Another bracelet I made features a Bee from Nan Emmett of Spirited Earth I love her bee pieces partly because my In-Laws are bee keepers and I find that fascinating, Nan's colors are amazing and because I just love anything with wings. This bracelet also has 2 beads from Gaea Cannaday, I have to get more of these beads because it is so hard to find the perfect white/cream beads and these are great. I left them in a cup of coffee for a few days to add some color to the crackles. I used seed beads, green adventurine and grain stone ovals from Michael's, metal flowers from Hobby Lobby, spacer beads from Tierra Cast and clasp from Vintaj.

The last bracelet I made is perfect because Valentine's Day is around the corner but it isn't too Valentinesy (I know that's not really a word)! In fact when I first got this charm from Marie-Noel Cramp of More Skye Jewels I didn't notice the heart at all. I ordered a grab bag of beads from Marie and this was one of them.  I used a bead from Nan Emmett, wire from Parawire, green olive jade from ArtBeads.com and Vintaj chain. I made the clasp myself and after the baby's nap and these pictures I was able to hammer it for some texture and strength.

Let me know what you think of my new bracelets. Funny that everything I made today was bracelets,  I usually am on necklace kicks.
~Shannon