Variations On A Theme

Happy Friday the 13th! It has been 10 days since my last blog post. I finished up last week by making one more Christmas house to add to my nostalgic lineup. This one is orange. I made tape transfers for the windows, so they all have little images in them.

Orange Christmas House

Then I made this necklace:

Ancestors Necklace

Accestors Necklace - focal

The focal on the piece above is a sterling silver earring made by the incomparable Tabra. It was a gift from my friend Jamie. The strange and wonderful bamboo bead on the left side of the chain was a gift from my friend Sue, and the rest of the beads on the chain were also gifts, with the exception of the bone piece at the bottom, which came from Ethiopia, via etsy.

After an entire week of all things "Jaxed and waxed," (with Jax Pewter Black and Dorland's Wax) I thought it was time to lighten things up a bit this week. I made a series of pieces in silver-plated copper, with clear, beachy colors. The first piece in the series is this "Beach Walk" necklace:

Beach Walk Necklace

Beach Walk Necklace - Detail

One of the strands in this two-strand necklace a is crocheted cotton twine. The other is a 3mm silver-plated copper rolo chain from Sun and Moon Craft Kits. The focal is made from a shell, and the beads are glass, stone, and ceramic, all in cool shades of blues and greens. The necklace is very long, as you can tell by the photo of it being modeled by the lovely Lulu. I love obscenely long necklaces. This one reminds me of the years I spent in Florida. Sometimes my sister and I would wake up early in the morning and go beach combing. I ran across a small tin of shells from one of our walks last week. I drilled holes in them yesterday. I'll be using them as focals next week!

Next I made this necklace:

Metal Flower Necklace, modeled by the lovely Lulu

 Metal Flower Necklace - detail

Then I made four bracelets. I love making bracelets, especially these "bits and pieces" braclets. I think they are my favorite things to make.

Harmony bracelet, in turquoise

Milagro Bracelet in silver

Flower Bracelet in green

Milagro Bracelet in blue

...and finally these three necklaces, modeled by the lovely Gertie. She is a small table top mannequin by the way. The necklaces are not particularly big. Gertie is  a handmade reproduction, and I bought her at Shabby Town USA. I love Gloria's props. 

Honey Bee Happy

Silver Belles

The End Of Summer

Making these suede cord necklaces was an exercise in form for me. I wanted to see if I could pare down my usual forms to lighter, more clear and airy ones, while still maintaining the shapes that I love to use. It's hard for me to make cleaner pieces like this. I always want to add beads and dangly bits. I know less is supposed to be more, but for me, more is more! I can't help myself.

So that's it for this week. In retrospect, it was all about variations on a theme... using the same forms in different ways. I like doing that, because I find repetition can lead to discovery. Next week is going to be all about making chains and connections, and also using some of those shells I drilled. 

Until next time!

Leaving you with this quote:

"In skating there is always another jump or another spin variation or another thing to learn, and that's what I liked about it." - Gracie Gold

The same thing is definitely true about making jewelry, and for me, learning is the fun part!