Last week I made these:
The stones are red agate and I love the shape of the hoops. I got a string of the smaller red agates and hope to use them along with some larger pieces that I got from Mary Clare to make a matching necklace. I may tinker with the centre stones as I have some pretty little amber coloured seed beads that may work better than the clear bead in the centre.
I love that these are made from natural materials and therefore have individual characteristics. The two earrings cannot possibly match exactly. The stone warms against the skin until you don't notice they are even in your ears, despite being quite large. I really must get cracking on the matching necklace as I'm sure I'll love it as much as these earrings.
Yesterday I decided that I needed to make some jewellery to match two new tops that I bought in a sale, while shopping with my Mum. Both tops have grey/blue tones and most of my hand made jewellery doesn't really go all that well. I pulled out a couple of my beads from Spellbound and made some earrings.
Aren't the beads pretty. They hardly needed anything added to make them into pretty and striking earrings. Then I decided that needed a necklace to match, as both tops had quite scoopy necklines.
As soon as I saw this blue stone at Spellbound, I knew I just had to have it. I didn't really have anything for it to go with, I just loved it.
The centre square stone came from Mary Clare, from when I made my pink necklace. I love how left overs from one project, can become an integral part of another. I don't know what either of these stones are. I really should look into finding out what the names of my favorite types of stones are, if only to make buying them again easier.
When I made these necklace I used a chain to hang the pendant on, but after wearing it yesterday I decided that it looked too flimsy for such a substantial piece. Instead, I bought some blue ribbon and used that. I think it looks much better now. Unfortunately I forgot to take a "before" photo so you can see what I mean.
I think the ribbon also unifies the colour scheme across the combination of earrings and necklace. I'm really pleased with how these look with my new outfits.
The more jewellery I make, the more I enjoy the process. Its just as well, because I have enough beads and stones to keep me going for a couple of years now! I got a book at a charity bookstore a couple of weeks ago that should help me out as I try new things. Its from the same series that taught me to crochet, so it has to be good!
I do love charity bookshops, you never know what gems (ha, a pun! GEMS, geddit??) you will pick up.
If you live in the East Midlands and would like to learn about jewellery making there are numerous classes run at Mary Clare, taught by a really talented teacher and maker Caroline. Click here for details, and look under "workshops". If you don't have the time or inclination to learn, Caroline sells her creations for VERY reasonable prices in the store. Personally, I have to remind myself that I have plenty of beads at home and that I'll never learn if I keep buying other people's creations. However, that doesn't stop my fingers itching everytime I walk past the display.
