Pantone Color of 2024: Peach Fuzz Bracelet and Huggie Earrings

I usually like to do something with the Pantone Color of the year when it comes out, this year is Peach Fuzz, which doesn't feel very exciting for me but I like how it's being paired with lavender so I decided to try it out on some jewelry. 

I made these a couple of months ago and just couldn't get back into the colors. When I think of pastels along side my artwork it just doesn't fit and they tend to end up in my jewelry stock for a long time. When the artist is uninspired, it tends to show. So I stopped after this bracelet and earrings. Maybe something else will come to me, but my bead palette seems to have already moved on from these colors. (See: Golden Boundary Bangle) Oh well, I tried. 

The last 2 years' colors were much more fun for me, 2023 was Viva Magenta and 2022 was Very Peri. 

I will admit that taking the photos and editing them for this post is making me like this set a bit more. I'll also blame the season changing. It's finally starting to get green and bright, I'm noticing more people wearing these colors in particular as the sunshine begins to promise us summer. Maybe, just maybe I'll try again if these colors call again.

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.

Long thin Wrap Necklace/Bracelet for CCFF 2019

I always have a jewelry piece that I'm working on.  Sometimes I get them done quickly because I can't put them down, sometimes I slog through a little bit at a time between other projects.  this one I slogged through because when I wasn't at work, I was focused on the River Terrace Church Installation.  This piece wraps to be a long, medium or short necklace, or wraps multiple times to be a bracelet.

This inspiration for this piece was a new dress I picked up at Grace Boutique in Old Town.  I decided it was perfect for one of the weddings I have to go to this summer, but also I wanted to wear it to the Capital City Film Festival Red Carpet event.  When I started this piece, I pulled all the different colors of beads that would match the dress is 15's, 13's and 11's.  My initial thought was to create this necklace in the St. Petersburg Chain Stitch (see below), but that was quickly scrapped.  It had too much going on, the stitch needed to be smaller and simpler.

Simple stitching is not my forte, but with all the color options I could still give this piece a complex feel.  5 feet, 9 inches later with a vintage clasp from my grandma's old costume jewelry I came up with a smooth multicolored blend of seed beads with little leaf and pearl accents.  This piece is very lightweight with a nice hang, almost like a very light rope.

You can barely see it in the above photo, but you can see the dress and how it didn't need a lot of extra pizazz with it's jewelry.  Honestly, the cut of the dress on my is just ok, but I absolutely fell in love with the fabric and print of it, it's very pretty and comfortable.

I chose this length so that I could wrap it 2, 3 or 4 times and wear it from a choker to all different lengths.  When it gets bothersome at work and I'm worried I'm going to snag it on something, I wrap it up to a choker or around my wrist.

Little Leaf Detail

Bracelet Pile

I'm just posting this now as a breather from finishing the huge River Terrace Installation and getting ready to lecture and teach at the Needlework and Textile Guild of Michigan next week to a sold-out workshop.  I can't believe I got everything done the week of Film Fest between floorset at work (rearranging the entire clothing sales floor for the new month and new clothes), volunteering at the Film Fest and finishing and hanging the River Terrace piece. What a whirlwind!  

Group Photo from CCFF. Film fest is always one of my favorite Lansing events,

this photo honors the pre-digital camera age where, due to Bryan's height, 

his head always got cut off in photos.

Large Purple Tonal Arrow Bangle and 2 sets of matching Earrings for Holiday 2018

I found the perfect dress for this holiday season this year and, as usual, decided to make jewelry to match it.  The Jax dress already has some fantastic purples and lines so I kept it simple with a wider version of of my tonal arrow bangles and 2 earring options. 

As usual, I was over-thinking it at first.  I'm trying to slow down and take it one day at a time since I've been so overwhelmed lately.  It became obvious to me that I needed to go with something simple that I could make in time for our events that didn't involve following a detailed graph.  

What I still enjoy about making jewelry is playing with color and purple is one of my favorite colors as well as my go-to.  Lucky for me, Bryan also likes purple, so he already had a tie to match.

I'm preparing for REACH Studio Art Center's Not So Silent Night and packing my car today, so this set is coming along with me if you'd like to check it out and support a wonderful local art establishment.  It's tomorrow night (December 8, 2018) at 7pm.

Bryan and I at the U-Club.

Not a great photo, but I wore both style earrings on my ear with the two lower holes, 

I really like how they layered together.