Beads and More Beads

I'm still making bead jewelry and I just finished a super long multi-gemstone necklace. 

But first I used up some leftover burgundy pearls to make a matching bracelet for the Rose Quartz and Pearl necklace I made earlier.  I had these neat little magnetic clasps and had never used them.  I wasn't sure how well they worked, how much weight they could hold without just popping loose, or how well they would hold together during normal daily activities.  A bracelet seemed like a good experimental project. If it came loose and I lost it while wearing it I wouldn't be devastated. It actually holds very well and makes putting a bracelet on much easier.  But I think I would feel better if there were a safety chain between the two ends so if the magnet came loose the bracelet wouldn't just fall off the wrist. 

I also wanted to try making a necklace that did not have a clasp. I realized that the necklaces I'd been making didn't need to have clasps, they were long enough to slip over a persons head. But I didn't know exactly how to finish a necklace off without a clasp. I had an idea but wasn't sure how 'real jewelry makers' do it so I looked it up on the Internet. That's were I find almost everything because I have no one to ask about almost anything I have questions about.  In this case I know no one who makes jewelry, and why waste a clasp when you don't need one? I found a YouTube video showing a method to do it that was basically exactly what I was thinking so I made this long necklace out of a mixture of random gemstones with some clear and copper colored glass beads. 

It's a fun little casual necklace and even long enough to wrap twice around the neck with no clasp. 

Finally I felt like tackling a longer no clasp Earth Power Bead necklace with the 42+1 gemstones I have.  Because it was going to be so long and I didn't want it to be too bulky I only used the smallest beads I had in each of the 42 types. I have some larger beads (10mm+) in some, but not all, of the gemstones I've collected.  I used four of each type plus a few extras and sorted them by size and color so it is sort of random but also by design in sets of three all separated by copper colored metal beads.

Thanks for reading.

Aileen

Stringing Pearls and Other Stuff

I didn't really know I liked pearls until I saw these bumpy colorful freshwater pearls. The way a pearl shines is uniquely different from metals or polished stones. But they have the weight and density of a piece of rock. I'm hooked on them. 

Today I made a simple necklace with pearls and hematite beads. I'll probably just wear them around the house. 

I also finished up an ornament I started in December.  There are several more of these I plan to make but for now I'm putting that project away until next Christmas.

And I'm going ahead and working some more on Christmas quilt projects and just need to sit an do some quilting on a table runner and place mat. 

Finally, I'm still working on some artwork. There is a painted collage that refuses to be completed but I think I'm almost finished it. And the continuing pursuit of the perfect turquoise abstract. Now I'm just painting on heavy fabric.

Thanks for reading. 

Aileen