Week 16-Labradorite Vine Necklace

I've had this gorgeous labradorite pendant that I got from Szarka at Magpie Gemstones for a while waiting for a project to come to mind. This labradorite has tons of blue chatoyancy so I combined it with apatite rondelle beads and little green amethyst faceted rounds. I struggled with attaching the coiled vine and I'm not 100% happy with the way the wrap wires are showing but maybe I can talk myself into believing that it adds an organic element to the necklace.

Week 15-Surprise-More Earrings

Since I'm already overrun with earrings, I naturally decided to make more. My friend, Deborah Gray-Wurz, procured some gorgeous pyrite briolettes for me and I used them in the first pair of earrings. I also added gems in shades of purple and violet including tanzanite, amethyst and iolite.

The second pair is olive jade with cascades of green vessuvianite, blue aquamarine and some some keishi pearls thrown into the mix.

Etsy Treasury by Shay Stone

Shay Stone put together this fabulous Treasury on Etsy. In case you're not familiar, treasuries are curated galleries handpicked by members of the Etsy community. I love the title Shay gave this one "Amazons-Woman Wire Warriors!" I'm a big fan of all of these artists so I'm very flattered to be included in such good company. Check them out here before the treasury expires.

Week 14-Silver and Crazy Lace Necklace

Lately rice-shaped beads have really been appealing to me. I don't usually wear pink but I bought a really cute dark pink top from Anthropologie and it really needed something bold to fill in the neckline. These beads are from Limabeads and they're dyed crazy lace agate. The shape of the links was inspired by a reproduction of an antique necklace that I saw in a museum catalog once upon a time. I made the headpins by hammering the ends of 22 gauge wire.

I Had Company Today

I had a class at my house this afternoon and, fortunately, as I have a houseful of dogs, all the gals are animal lovers. But Yvonne is also involved with wildlife rescue and she brought along these two adorable orphaned baby squirrels. They're four weeks old and still on formula so they had a feeding while they were here. The rest of the time they love to snuggle in their blanket or in the palm of your hand. I want one although I would probably have a hard time releasing it back into the wild.

Free Tutorial #3-Woven Wire Bangle

Woven Wire Cuff Bracelet Tutorial
This is the third project we completed in a series of classes I did for the Flint Schools. This is the bangle that I posted for Week 9 if you want to see additional pictures. The only thing I did that wasn't in the tutorial was wire a bead on either side of the focal bead to kind of fill that space. You could also put a small bead directly on the core wire if it has a bid enough hole. I used some 26 wire for this and ran the wire behind the bead a couple of times to keep it from spinning. I hope you enjoy trying this out.

Week 13-Rock Quartz and Fine Silver Necklace

I've had this big honking rock crystal quartz briolette for awhile, and when I say big I mean it's 1 1/8" tall by 3/4" wide. I suppose I could have just wrapped it and put it on a chain but noooo, I had to try and get fancy with it. Maybe the folks who are so good at these vining type settings can visualize them in their head but I can't. So I just grab wire and start twirling it. The fact that it was 16 gauge wire didn't make it any easier and I actually had to anneal it a couple of times while I was messing around with it. I ended up with some awkward looking spaces in the middle, hence the pearls. I'm still undecided about this one. Maybe it will grow on me.