Time just speeds by!

I can’t believe it is already the end of January 2009 and I feel I haven’t accomplished much.

I am very happy to say that I sold all of my peridot and crystal Xmas tree earrings and I already ordered supplies to make them for next Christmas. It was a fun time and I feel great that I made the right decision about the Xmas trees.

I enjoyed making and selling the “theme” type trees that I’ve decided to make more earrings following various themes. Right now I’m making a few styles of Patriotic earrings in red, white, and blue colors and also Valentines earrings. I love my little red hearts. I’ve never worn a heart before and it does feel strange for me to wear them, but since I made them I started wearing one pair.

I’m always looking for charms or other components that can be used as earrings and it’s amazing what you can find. I am careful, though, not to use components that contain lead.

Also, a new law controls the amount of lead in jewelry for children. I have felt for some time that children should not wear jewelry that is not specifically made for them. It’s too difficult for jewelry designers to know for sure just what the content of the gemstones and metal pieces we handle really has in them. So, to be on the safe side for everyone’s sake, my jewelry is not appropriate for and should not be worn by children under 12 years of age.

Crystal Christmas Tree Earrings

Crystal Christmass Tree Earrings

I made a few pair of gorgeous crystal christmas tree earrings to show at a talk I gave recently and the ladies just had to purchase these Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree Earrings on sterling silver earwires. What beauties! Purchase them at CEN Studios for only $20.00 including shipping.

 

A Very Busy Time!

There are so many beads but so little time to get to know them and design them into beautiful jewelry. My latest project for the Pantone 2008 fall colors is working with Lapis lazuli. What a lovely stone with its golden pyrite spots against a dark blue background. I have finished three unique necklace/earring combinations and I want to make one more.

I try to have jewelry at various price levels so there is something beautiful for everyone, whether you want to pay under $20, less than $40, or the sky’s the limit. There’s no reason why you can’t have a lovely real gemstone necklace in your price range. I’m going to try to design a Lapis lazuli necklace for less than $30.00. I’m hoping it will have two-strands. Let’s see if that’s possible. I’ll work on that tomorrow and show you the result tomorrow night.

Fall Fashion Colors for 2008 from Pantone – “Twilight Blue”

 In my previous blog entries I previewed my recent jewelry designs based on “Shitake” and “Aurora Red” colors from Pantone’s color choices for this fall and winter.

Today I preview my jewelry design based on “Twilight Blue” which is a lovely, vibrant navy and I found the perfect dark blue beads for “Twilight Blue”. They are faceted dark blue cat’s eye beads. Between the faceting and the cat’s eye effect, these beads really do sparkle. I’ve paired them with light gray oval cat’s eye beads. Gray seems very popular right now as a clothing color. To give the set contrast, I’ve added Serpentine gemstones in a light yellow color and larger in size than the cat’s eyes. The necklace is finished with silverlined seed beads, sterling silver spacer beads, and a fine-quality TierraCast leadfree pewter toggle.

The bracelet is similarly constructed but has 4mm light blue Swarovski crystals instead of seed beads.

The earrings have sterling silver earwires, dark blue and light gray cat’s eye beads and Swarovski crystals.

To purchase these piece go to my website at CEN Studios. You may purchase the three piece set for $60.00, a savings of $7.00. Email me for instructions.

Fall Fashion Colors for 2008 from Pantone – Aurora Red

In my previous blog entry I previewed my recent jewelry designs based on the “Shitake” color from Pantone’s color choices for this fall and winter.

Today I preview my jewelry set based on “Aurora Red”–a pure red with no blue undertones. I found these tablecut beads with a copper edging with a ruby center and I thought they would be perfect for Aurora Red and they are. I put them with oval glass beads and shell beads with warm markings that are just a perfect foil for all that red. The necklace is 22 inches long and includes a couple of TierraCast copperplate “Spirit” beads which are lovely diagonal beads. I finished the necklace with a copper toggle clasp.

The bracelet is 7.75 inches long and is also finished with a copper toggle clasp.

The earrings have glass beads, including the tablecut and the shells as well as sterling silver earwires.

To purchase these pieces go to my website at CEN Studios. You may purchase the three piece set for $40.00, a savings of $7.00. Email me for instructions.

Fall Fashion Colors for 2008 from Pantone – “Shitaki”

Fall Fashion Colors for 2008 from Pantone.

Pantone, Inc. has been the world’s color authority for 45 years, providing design professionals with products and services for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity. Always a source for color inspiration, Pantone now offers paint and designer-inspired products and services for consumers. (This info is from Pantone’s website.)

Each Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter, Pantone issues the color choices for the fashion industry. You may download a PDF copy of their information here. I love to look at the designers’ clothing and channel the style and colors into my fashion jewelry.

Here are, the luscious 2008 fall/winter fashion colors from Pantone, Inc. They are not the typical hot-hued fall colors of orange/brown/gold, but the cool tones of purple, blue, blue-green, and teal.

For the typical fall warm tones, Burnt Orange, Ochre, and Shitake are included. The Burnt Orange is not bright but muted. The Ochre is a soft or light gold. Shitake is somewhat brown but has been greyed down with possibly some green–a very complex color.

Blue Iris is a lovely blue with a little bit of a cool purple cast. Blue Iris combines well with deeper plums, red-browns, yellow-greens, grapes and grays.

Royal Lilac is this year’s purple showing clearly a warm red hue.

Shady Glade has very little yellow and much more blue and is not a spring green at all. It’s a nice change from the yellow-green of last spring and summer.

Caribbean Sea is an aqua but darker and more wearable for winter. The information notes that this color will be used for jewelry and accessories.

Aurora Red is a true red with no blue.

Shitake is a brown with grey or a black with brown (however you wish to look at it). It just might have some green in it as well.

Withered Rose is a pink with brown undertones.

Twilight blue is today’s navy–not as dark as navy–but a little bit livelier.

Burnt Orange is a darkish orange just the right intensity for the fall and winter months.

Ochre is a lovely yellow with a hint of mustard. The spokesperson for Pantone, Inc. said that “People are ready for yellow. We’re going to see much of this color in knitwear and accessories.”

I will be designing jewelry sets using the Pantone fall 2008 palette as a guide. My first color is Shitake.

Silver Mist Jasper is Shitake–a greyed, green brown. The necklace is 19.5 inches long and includes a Silver Mist Jasper pendant and rectangular beads, as well as natural freshwater pearls. I’ve added sterling silver spacer beads and a beautiful Heirloom style TierraCast lead-free pewter toggle and fern charm. Buy the necklace for $63.00.

The bracelet is 8 inches long and can be shortened if you prefer. It also has sterling silver spacer beads and a beautiful Heirloom style TierraCast lead-free pewter toggle and fern charm. Buy the bracelet for $31.00.

The earrings have sterling silver earwires. Buy the earrings for $12.00.

Buy the 3-piece set for $90.00, a savings of $16.00.

This Silver Mist set is the perfect neutral complement to almost every color in your wardrobe.

A New Way of Doing Things

I bought a string of shell pendant beads from one of my internet suppliers–Fire Mountain Gems. They weren’t my usual style of beads but large leaves. When I received them they looked larger than I anticipated. Oh my! I am not a large bead person. I liked them though and opened up my stash of shell beads and found large and medium shell coins in white and wishbone beads in a color that reminds me of “cherry quartz” which would blend well with the colors in the pendant.

I thought I can do this. I can design something different from my usual style and I may even like it better than the usual. So I laid out my beads and changed them around until I decided I had found the perfect design for them.

Wow! I really liked them. They were not something I would not normally wear but I think others may like them enough to purchase them. I was correct. I was showing some of my new creations recently and the large shell necklace was included in the show and almost everyone gravitated toward that necklace and mentioned that they loved it. Before I left the event, the necklace was sold to someone who enjoys wearing large bead necklaces.

I’ve often read when deciding what style of jewelry to make for sale to others is to design the style that you would wear. Well, that may be O.K. for awhile but we have to expand our horizons a little bit and try something new and perhaps something that we wouldn’t necessary wear.

I can’t show you a picture of the necklace because I forgot to take pictures of my new jewelry. Luckily I keep detailed inventory records and I should be able to make something similar to that new style again.

I will definitely include some chunky pendants and beads in a few of new designs. Maybe I’m on to something new here.

Lima Beads

I’m fussy about knowing the correct names for the gemstones that I purchase from various internet suppliers. Over the past few months, I’ve asked for information from Lima Beads about the various beads they sell. One particular new gemstone was “Blue Water Jasper”. As in the past, I received a  nice friendly reply regarding this stone. They don’t think it is dyed because when the stone is cut it is blue all of the way through. That’s a good sign I think! They did not know where Blue Water Jasper was actually from.

That last sentence brings up another question. Almost all of the gemstone packages I receive from various internet suppliers are marked as a product from China. Is that really true or are the stones mined somewhere else and then shipped to China for final finishing? 

In any event, I’m glad that Lima Beads took the time to reply to my question. I actually haven’t purchased anything from Lima Beads yet but I will do so now.

Now, how shall I use Blue Water Jasper. Its navy blue color looks like it would go well with sapphires. I enjoy using light greens, both cool and warm, with dark blues. That’s probably what I’ll do. 

Moonstone

Moonstone is my new gemstone love. What a beautiful stone and it seems to be inexpensive as well. I love the color or non-color – almost other-wordly. It has chatoyancy similar to that of tiger eye gemstone or cat’s eye glass beads. Much of what I am buying is called “Rainbow Moonstone” which is supposed to be the high quality stuff.

I haven’t actually made anything from the beads that I’ve purchased. I’m thinking I will make several different items. I purchased some twisty oval beads and I think they would look good as a choker with some small round beads in between.

I also want to make a more complex set with various sizes and formations of beads. I purchased two small cabochons that I want to wire wrap for pendants.

I want to have this new collection ready for Christmas. Let’s see what I can come up with.

Making a new green necklace

I found some new green beads that I want to make into a necklace, bracelet, and earrings to sell. I want to design it a little differently than I normally do. All of my necklaces have the clasp in the back and I want to have the clasp in the front so everyone can really see how beautifully made the lead-free TierraCast clasps are.

I recently purchased some swirly green Agate beads that I really like. I already had 4mm and 10mm green Aventurine rounds. I also bought some dark green Aventurine rectangles and small light green Aventurine teardrops.

For the silver beads, I used shiny silver daisy spacers, round 4mm beads, and a few TierraCast’s beadcaps. How beautifully made they are with their precise triangular cap peaks!  

I put the 4mm Aventurine beads at the back of the necklace so the necklace would be comfortable to wear. I added the swirly Agate and more interesting beads and components to the front where everyone could see them more clearly.

Well, I must stop for now.