Black and Grey Wide Bracelet and Earring Variations

I've been working with the color black a lot lately.  Usually I'm super inspired by lots of bright colors and, for no specific reason, black feels very cozy right now.  I do feel like my jewelry stock is lacking in black options and I'm having a tendency to lean toward a black base for my personal style as of late.* It layers with all other colors easily, so, I'm just following my spirit and letting my hands make what they want. 

This is what has come of it. First, a black, gunmetal and grey wide pearl clasp bracelet. In the past I have simply striped the colors with one full row of color at time for this style bracelet. This time I striped the strips every other row by row. I like the busyness of the patterning and I think it turned out stunning. 

Wide St. Petersburg Striped Strips Bracelet

Next is a pair of "huggie" earrings. I really like this style for work, it's simple, clean, a little bit flashy but not dangly. I think I meant to make them a little tighter to the ear but I always end up worrying that it looks too short between the post and the backing so I did an extra row and it made it a little longer and it doesn't "hug" my earlobe. I also have to remind myself that one can't account for where holes are in ear lobes so it may be loose on me but snug on someone else. In any event, I love wearing this style so I made another pair.

Huggie Earrings

Last, I decided to make a new pair of beaded blob earrings. I haven't made any of these in a long time and they're just fun to make and to wear. I hadn't done a pair in this color range, I feel like they always end up having some blue in them so here's a nice change for this style. 

Beaded Blob Earrings

Lets face it, I created this colorway for something new to wear at tonight for Midnight Madness in Ann Arbor. I'll be set up at my friend's meadery, Bløm Meadworks 100 S 4th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 from 5-11ish. This has been my one pop-up holiday show the past few years and even if I don't sell much I love the vibe, other makers and people that attend this event. A big thanks in advance to my friend Jenn for joining me as it's kind of a long day and it's nice to have company on the drive. 

*Sidenote, Bryan and I were laughing about this a fe days ago because when we first met, he basically only wore black and I barely had any in my wardrobe. I had never seen so many black tee shirts before! Now I'm wearing black a lot more often whereas he's been leaning toward more colorful outfits.

Beaded Blob Earrings in Southwest Colors

I don't make this beaded blob earring style often enough. I just love them, and when I do make a pair the next thing I know it's been sold or they're off to a gallery.  I put together a really fun color pallet with the Wide Southwest St. Petersburg Chain Bracelet and decided to apply it to my beaded "blobs."  

These are heavier than my earrings usually are but they have a nice swing and a lot of personality.

I was thinking of beaded blobs from the past, here are a pair from 2016.

A blue pair from 2017.

And a purple pair are in this post from 2010 (before I started mixing colors and bead sizes).

Do you want to see these new earrings in person?  I'll be at Art Feast 2021 in Old Town Lansing on August 21st, 10am-5pm!  Come visit, check out local artists and food trucks!

Beaded Blob Earrings in Blues

As you may or may not have followed, I really love making these 3-D forms.  I'm starting to make the beaded blob earrings again!  These will be headed to the Lansing Art Gallery soon with more blue and purple jewelry!

Beaded Blob Earrings

It has been a few years since I've made any of my "beaded blob" earrings and I realized that I don't have any of this particular style left, which I used to wear all the time.  So this past weekend I made a pair.

They are somewhat in a style of how I do my Uprooted sculptures, I used varying sizes of seed beads and cuts to gain texture.  I have a lot of purple, brown and golds out right now for holiday jewelry I'm working on, so that's the direction these went.

Beadwork and Model Magic

(Midsummer's Fairy Dream Necklace with 1 Blue Beaded Blob, 2010)

I am falling in love with beading around Model Magic!  I did my show-and-tell for the first time with the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild and found much interest in the Model Magic that I have started using to create my own shapes to bead around.

My thought process was that beaded beads are really "in" right now, but I have no interest in beading around another bead, I did that a few times when I was young (like middle school) and got over it.  I did recently use this air-drying clay stuff recently for a larger piece ("Clambering")  I am finding that in that size it can be very fragile.  It's made by Crayola and called "Model Magic."  I plan on continuing to experiment with it but here are the earrings that I am having a great time wearing: 

And I am moving on to playing with more "twisty" shapes.  I have been fantasizing about getting into beaded sculpture for a while so I think this may be an oulet for me. 

More updates to come I'm sure!