Necklace # 4

I finally did something with the filligreed pendant I have.  I was going to use the beads to make a bracelet since I originally thought they were too small for the pendant, but I found some oval metal beads with a flower pattern on them to break up the smaller ones, and the necklace came out nicely.

Idea Book

Last night I got a book chock-full of beading ideas for my birthday.  Didn't really look through it very well, but I suppose there are some nice designs in there.

It doesn't feel the same working from a plan that someone else designed, though, so if I do anything from the book, I'll probably change something up so it feels like it's my own thing instead of copying another person's idea.

What Next?

A little stuck on what I want to work on next.

I still have to work on that silvery pendant with the crystal in the middle, and I purchased a variety of clear and metal beads to go with it. After toying with them though, I think they're too small and I should buy bigger beads for it, and maybe use the smaller beads in a bracelet, maybe with some memory wire instead of a clasp.

Also, I have orange goldstone beads that I purchased around the same time I bought the snowflake obsidian ones, but I'd like to get a pendant to go with them, and that probably means another trip to Michaels, since Bead Rock, the bead store close to home doesn't have many.  I would probably need to get gold-toned beading wire and findings too, since it would look better with the stone, even though I don't like yellow-gold.

My LAST trip to Bead Rock gave me an idea to make rosaries too.  I'm not a religious person in any way shape or form, but my family members are, and I am sure I could give them away.  I bought 2 crucifixes and that little piece in the middle that connects the main string of beads, so it's a matter of reminding myself of how many beads I'll need, and picking them out.  I could go traditional, or I could even pick out some unconventional colours or patterns one wouldn't normally think of using.  I guess my lack of worry about offending the man in the sky would make me a little fearless in that sense.

Blue Goldstone & Blue Chalcedony Agate

Here's my latest.  It's a blue goldstone pendant I wanted to jazz up.  I bought it at the  local occult/magic/spirituality/don't know how else to explain it shop, and it came on a velvet cord.  I was unsure of which beads I was going to use on the strands until I stopped into the same local occult/magic/spirituality/don't know how else to explain it shop the other day, and found a few strands of blue goldstone chips.  I figured I may as well use the same stone as the pendant. 

I also saw some pretty blue chalcedony agate chips, and thought I would use it for something else, but the lady behind the counter thought I was going to use it for the same necklace.  That was a pretty good idea, as it broke up the darkness of the goldstone.  I should go back and show her what came of it.  

My mom said the pendant may be a bit small for all the busyness and angularity of the strands, and she may be right, but consider this:  I almost had 3 strands.  Luckily they didn't all fit into the crimp bead when I was making the clasp. 

Here's a picture.  I thought it would look worse than it did against a black background, but it came out okay.

Cinnabar & Howlite

As promised, here is the black cinnabar and turquoise howlite necklace I wanted to make:

This picture shows the detail of the cinnabar and the pendant:

I'm happy with how it turned out.

I also redid Firstborn with some different beading wire.  It was hard to put the little silver beads on because the wire was too thick, but I managed, and I know they won't move.  I took another picture of it, along with the earrings I made to go with it.

Plans in the Works

Last night I visited Michael's (a craft store that has an extensive jewellery-making section) and went hog-wild.  I can't go there without spending tons of money (partly because their wares are a little pricey).

Anyhow, I purchased some more beading wire (the non-memory kind) so that I can re-do my Firstborn, and some bails, eye pins, and another roll of that clear plastic beading cord, because you can't have enough findings.

I also bought some beads to make a couple of necklaces I was planning.  I picked up some turquoise-dyed howlite and what I thought were carved dark wood beads but turned out to be black cinnabar, because I love the way those two colours look together.  I wanted a wood pendant, but they didn't have any I really liked, so I went with a turquoise-coloured shell with a peacock on it.  I think it matches rather well.  I have enough howlite left over to make some earrings to go with it, but I need to get some head-pins because using eye-pins will make them look incomplete.  I also picked up some clear glass beads and some more small silver round beads to complement a pretty silvery-rhinestone pendant I picked up earlier.  I'm still in the designing stages of that one though.

Another thing I want to do is maybe make some necklaces for my cousin's bridal party, if she likes my design.  I purchased some purple glass beads, but don't really have any ideas yet.  Michael's didn't really have a big selection of purple beads, so I may try the independent bead store near my house.

Behold My Firstborn

Today I made my first necklace.  I had a snowflake obsidian pendant that I bought a while ago that I wanted to do something with, so I bought some loose beads to match the stone, and made this.

It's pretty simple, nothing you can't find anywhere else, and I'll totally have to do it over since I used memory wire, and somehow I don't think that's what you're supposed to use.  I also forgot to put bead tips on before the crimp tubes, so I had to remove the tubes, and that was kind of hard, because the point of them is to stay on and keep the necklace together.  Oh well, we all have to learn from our mistakes to get better.

I have quite a few of these loose beads left, so I think I'll be making me some earrings to go with it.  Pictures of those to come.

Jewellery

This blog is going to be about my attempt at jewellery-making.  To be honest, I'm surprised that I've become interested in this hobby, since I've never really considered myself to be a very creative person.  I think I chose it because I just need something constructive to do with my spare time, and quite possibly make some money if I get good.

I signed up for a jewellery-making course, but they called me two days before to cancel, since they couldn't get enough students for the class.  I was a little disappointed, because even though I bought some instruction literature, I was hoping to have some demonstration too.  I am not too worried, though.  There is a bead store near my house that holds classes (as I'm sure most of them do).  The problem with this store is that they hold many of their classes during the day while I'm at work.  I'll get around that somehow.  In the meantime, I'll attempt to teach myself something, and hope for the best.

Keep an eye on this blog for my creations.