Honeybee Necklace & Earring Set

My aunt recently contacted me to ask if I could make her a Honeybee themed necklace and earrings.  Apparently in his retirement, my uncle has started keeping bees, and they have been selling the honey at a local Farmer's Market.  She wanted something to wear while selling it.

The necklace chain is made from Vintaj artisan brass chain and findings, Swarovski Crystal rondells, Czech glass, and cherry quartz beads.  The honeybee pendant includes a bronze bee from Green Girl Studios, and a pewter bee charm, with bronze chain, and more Swarovski crystal and Czech glass beads.

The earrings are Czech glass and crystal beads, with pewter bee charms. 

Agate Slice Necklace & Earrings with Sari Silk

A piece I've been working on over the last week.  The front portion of the necklace is beaded onto jewelry wire, and the back is braided strips of sari silk.  It was made from a kit from Candie Cooper.  I love a good kit once in awhile to get you working with colors or supplies you might not choose on your own.

The earrings feature Czech glass flowers.

Purple Impression Jasper & Bronzite Necklace

I received these lovely purple stone beads in my welcome goody bag at last year's Adornments Retreat.  I believe they are dyed Impression Jasper & Bronzite.  I loved that the focal set was matched with a long strand of smaller beads to use with them.   

I paired them with some antiqued copper spacer beads, to highlight the shades of brown and copper that fairly glow in the stone.  Simple, but easy to wear with lots of things.  Also, a nice little stash-busting project.

Crystal, Pearl & Brass Necklace & Earrings Set

I almost forgot to post this!  This is my entry for the Bead Soup design contest at the Adornments Retreat earlier this month. Everyone was asked to bring a 16" strand of beads, matching some aspect of a provided color palette.  I assumed we were mixing all the beads that everyone brought, so I provided a 16" strand of the same beads.  But in actuality, we were in smaller groups, where we mixed beads with the few other people at our individual tables.  Some tables were full with 8 people, and others, like mine, were smaller.  We had just 4 people.  To get us started, Swarovski Crystal who was one of the sponsors, placed a few strands of their beads in each bowl.  The crystal rings, and the deep blue pearls both came from that.  The other beads were from my various table-mates. 

Since the other sponsor was Vintaj, and they provided clasps for the designs, I went with a very Vintaj-heavy feel for my design, incorporating some of their brass filigree components and bead caps, along with some antiqued gold chain, and some chain tassels.  The result is a simple piece, that I could wear comfortably.  (You should have seen some of the more awesome designs!  There was some crazy beautiful stuff in the mix.)

Silk Tassel Pendant

I got to attend the Adorments Retreat last week, where I was lucky enough to take two classes with Candie Cooper.  The first focused on using silk in jewelry making.  We made large scrappy fabric tassels out of silk, bits of chain, and lace; all topped with beautiful large Swarovski crystal beads and Vintaj findings.  We were given beautiful knotted crystal strands to hang them from.

 I'm not really a girl or pink person, and yet I can't help but love the results, and I've been wearing it nearly every day since.  :D

Antique Key Necklace

This was made for LeapFeetFirst in the Asheville Adventure Swap.  The swap had partners who had not 'met' or didn't know one another well here on Craftster, get to know each other by exchanging a letter, and later a medium crafted item as well as a craft supply that your partner could use and some sort of local treat.  The final portion of the swap was optional, and allowed for partners to bring a final small crafted item to give their partner in person. 

The pendant base is an antique key.  It was decorated with a glass Christmas light bulb, stone beads, freshwater pearls, antiqued charms, a paper bead, bits of ribbon, and anything else I could find. 

Hooker's Helper Necklace & Scrappy

I promised yesterday to share the yarn cutter & stitch marker necklace that I made to match the Scrappy Quilt As You Go Basket.  Each individual charm hanging from the pendant is actually a crochet stitch marker that can be removed and replaced via a lever-back earring hook. They are clipped to a pendant consisting of two sizes of metal hoops, and the large disk is a yarn cutter, perfect for NOT losing your scissors in the couch cushions.

Here are each of the stitch markers laid out individually.  They include Vintaj charms, Czech glass beads, and freshwater pearls. The color scheme was chosen to match the scrappy quilted basket. 

Here's a view of the pendant, when the stitch markers are removed.  I love how it came out, and have ordered a copper toned pendant to make one for myself soon.

Bad Ass Bitch Necklace

I recently had the great fortune to partner with kittykill in the Feminism & Diversity Swap.  I knew that I wanted to create a piece that felt like donning armor when putting it on; something with weight to remind her of her own innate strength while fighting for equality.  The result is almost a gorget in size and area covered on the body. 

I made the chain from large individual gunmetal links and Swarovski crystal 'cosmic rings' in jet black.  Each individual element was chosen to reflect intersectional feminist principals, or to reference kittykill specifically.  I'll list a few of them...  The central eye pendant to help us stay woke, and keep an eye on The Man.  The pink crystal hearts represent one of her favorite songs, Rebel Heart by Madonna.  A large claw shaped stone to remind her that sometimes we need to use our teeth and claws to grab and hold onto our rights.  A Mexican coin to represent the 'Bad Hombres' among us, working as allies in our fight for gender equality.  A Queen Bee bottlecap as a reminder of 'who runs the world'.  A resin pendant that reads 'elusive', as reference to the fact that after decades of bold suffragettes and women's libber's alike fighting for equality among the sexes, that equality still eludes us in the pay gap, in stereotyped gender-based marketing campaigns, in how we treat the victims of sexual assault, in what toys are marketed to our children, and so many other issues.

There is an antique key gifted to me as an extra in a Craftster swap, to remind her of the strength found in friendships among women and the communities we create for ourselves.  A 'P', for kittykill's first initial; a wing to soar on; a playing die for luck in the game of life.  I'm really thrilled with how it turned out, and hopefully it will bring her as much joy as I had making it.