Summer Design Series :: RAW Crystals

RAW. A stitch I don't use very often. but sometimes it can be just the right texture and rhythm for the beads. 

These are a gun metal color of crystals that I got from ZnetShows and I absolutely love them. I used a variation on the stitch to include two smaller beads (size 16) to each crystal and it created a beautiful, simple bracelet band. 

I added a slide clasp and silver charm with the tree of life. Which I think looks quite nice as the focal to the bracelet. This piece was the last one I made. And so it was just a tad late, and isn't shown in the recent Spark Magazine. But I thought you all might like to see just one more design as I finish out my Summer Design Series.

Summer Design Series :: Rustic Boho

I love this dress that Kate's wearing in this second photo session. But then I did pick it out on a recent shopping trip into NYC. She slipped it on, and It fit her perfectly. So there you go.

We were a good hour into our session, and Kate starting to wonder if I was ever going to stop asking her to put yet another pair of earrings into her ears. You'd be surprised how sore your ear can get after a few 20 times or so of this. So can't say I blame her for wanting to switch to bracelets.

After I made the multi-strand necklace I posted a few weeks back, I had just two yellow sea glass nuggets left sitting there on the bead table. I always hate to leave bead orphans in a bowl just waiting to be used in some other piece. So I went on the hunt through my stash. I've been trying very hard to use up my beads vs. running out to buy more beads. I found these sweet lotus charms and decided to pair them with more crystals and a touch of leather. The look gave me a nice, light weight rustic boho pair of earrings.

Summer Design Series :: Oranges of Summer

I love this carnelian orange color. It reminds me of those deep colors of late summer and fall. I guess some would call this 'burnt' orange, or even tangerine which is what ZnetShows calls these tube beads of sea glass.

The thing about color (at least for me) is all in how you pair it. Sometimes you need to give a vibrant color a little breathing room. So when I paired it with some hematite and gun metal colored crystals I noticed that it seemed to deepen the orange color and create a very rich combination. Where black might have been striking, the grey was rich. It does really pop paired with Kate's pale blue boho dress.

This is the last multi-strand necklace that I created for this summer design series. All of these necklaces were the same pattern, but I changed up the colors and textures between ribbon, leather and beaded accents. Funny how just a small adjustment can seemingly create a whole new look.

Summer Design Series :: Water Dance

Of all the pieces I made for this series I believe these earrings are my favorite. I have had these silver twist connectors for years, but have never been able to find the right use for them. But for some reason when I saw these gorgeous little crystals in a color called 'lake blue' I knew exactly what I was going to do! I could just see them set as cluster drops for these earrings. 

They are perfect, long and dangling earrings for summer that are feather-light to wear. They like to twist in the wind. And when the light catches them they sparkle like the sun dancing across the water. 

I made two pair of these which are both featured in the recent version of Spark Magazine. The other pair have single crystal drops vs. these that are in clusters. 

Along the Saugatuck

Saugatuck River at Westport, CT

Kate and I have been working our way through photographing my growing pile of jewelry. We took a stroll down by the Saugatuck River near the downtown area of our little New England town. There is a wonderful wooden walk way that runs out into the tall grass that grows in the upper marshes of the river. 

It was a gorgeous day, and perfect to get our photography started. I still have quite a lot to photograph, but at least we're putting a dent in it!









This photo of Kate features a piece I've already shown on the blog back in April. It's a simple long, boho necklace with a bit of leather fringe. I do so love fringe in jewelry.

Through the winter I was trying to get my mojo back and started out slowly with some classic beading stitches that just felt good in my hands. I had swatches of beaded patterns all over the place with no clasps or closure. Yes, you can read closure anyway you like here. But sometime in the late spring my mojo sheepishly arrived and I started completing one piece after another. The simplicity of the patterns and closure to the project felt good. 

But my blogging muse was still on vacation somewhere North of the border. As you can see I've got posts stacked up and rolling out at this point. Perhaps my blogging partner has also decided to arrive; even if a bit late to the party.

Summer Design Series :: Matching Earrings

Sometimes you just need to do the matching set. Although I am a believer in not wearing it all at once. It can seem like over kill, and as one of my friends likes to say it is too 'matchy-matchy.' I tend to agree.

That said, this pair is a matching set. It is that same yellow sea glass and sand colored Chinese crystals I used in the previous post. These are hoops with some serious fringe ---that swings. Not sure why exactly, but I have been in to fringe earrings lately. Can you ever get too much fringe? I think not.

Another set of photos with Kate, but this time lounging in the yard in my husband's favorite Adirondack chair. He walked out in the middle of this session grumbling that we'd stolen his chair. 

.... that would be the look on Kate's face wondering if she was about to be kicked out. And the smile when she heard me say you'll have to find another chair since we were in the middle of the photo shoot and I had earrings, bracelets, scarves, necklaces, camera lenses ... strung out carefully placed all over the yard. Last thing I needed was him to step in the middle of my work! 

Summer Design Series :: Beach Boho

So, this is the second in a series of multi-strand necklaces I've created with Sea Glass from ZnetShows. This one uses some beautiful silk to tie at the neck by Marsha Neal. I love the combo of necklace and Kate's cute baby-doll dress. Hard to believe just how grown up she is these days.

My daughter Kate has been doing quite a bit of modeling for me lately. And I have to admit that I am so enjoying spending the time with her. I don't have a lot of time left as she'll be off to college come August. I am feeling so nostalgic about her leaving, and it probably doesn't help that we've been cleaning out her bedroom and we're finding all kinds of things from when she was younger. It seems like yesterday that she was still small enough to crawl up in my lap and snuggle. So many sweet memories.

Summer Design Series: Yellow Sea Glass

NOTE: for some reason I deleted this post and lost all my comments. Thank you to everyone who did stop by and leave me a comment!

Recently Hope sent out a call for designers to work with some ZnetShows beads. As always, there were some great choices of Cultured Sea Glass. But there was also an amazing choice of Chinese crystal beads. I'm not normally one for crystals, but these caught my eye. And once I opened the package from Hope it was love at first sight. These have a deeper texture to the colors than your typical Swarovski. I much prefer this colorway.

I created a series of these clustered, double strand necklaces for this round of designs. I have two others but I thought I'd start with this yellow one. It uses beautiful honey colored sea glass with the Chinese crystals (in a sand color). I wanted to keep the tone light and so added a blond leather. The result is a beach-boho look for summer.

I have a whole series of photos for these designs as I think it makes such a difference sometimes to see them modeled. So check back this week to see my other designs modeled by my daughter Kate. You can also see them featured in the magazine here. Bonus, Hope surprised me with featuring this necklace on the cover!

Thank you all for your comments (I didn't want to lose them):
Karin: What a perfect combination of colors and materials, I love multi strand necklaces and this one has a lot of softness to it.
Duni: That's gorgeous!! Such a unique design and congrats on the feature :)
Linda: What a beautiful design and beautiful model. Love the monotone color scheme in this piece. Great job. Congrats on the cover. This piece is definitely a summer winner.
JoJo: Beautifully done!!!
Val: Oh I love it! The pale yellow is not a color we see to often in jewelry. It really makes it unique and so perfect for summer. It looks so pretty on Kate!
Patti: That magazine was certainly a feast for the eyes! I can count on one hand the times I have used yellow ...but this necklace is so soft ...you know?! Gorgeous! Love EVERY piece that you contributed!
Susan: very pretty and looks just right for a Summer party. I really like how you paired the crystals with the honey colored leather.
Margaret: fabulous design! Kate makes a lovely model!
Alice: I love the yellow beads. Just right for summer that blond leather is just the thing to finish the necklace.
Keith: it's absolutely beautiful :)
Stacy: Gorgeous!!! Unique and beautiful! I love your creations! Congrats on the magazine!!! Big Hugs! 
Claudia: Lovely yellow color, perfect for summer!
Amy: It was a perfect choice for the cover!!!! Bravo! Love your work in this recent issue of Creative Spark!
Edi: The yellow is such a pretty color and looks great on Kate :) Congrats on the cover feature!
Sharla: So pretty! Clever use of the sea glass! Congrats on the front page too!
Marcela: Beautiful necklace!!! Nice photo!!! Have a nice day!!!:))) Besos, Marcela