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.

Two New Pairs of Cluster Earrings, Blizzard and Leaves

As much as I keep thinking and saying that I'm going to slow down on making jewelry, I have been making a few pieces that I personally love and have been wearing quite a bit.  Which is the jewelry that I want to be making, if making any at all.  The above snowflake Blizzard Cluster earrings are large, bold, super-sparkly and fun to wear.  They have 3 snowflakes each and swarovski crystals for extra shine.  

I keep selling my favorite style of earrings that I make, they are tedious to put together, but are great to wear, so I am going to focus on making more leaf cluster earrings in different colors. I'm choosing to work on these rather than making small earring to have a smaller price point that are hit or miss if I even like them not less if they're going to sell just because they're cheaper. 

These latest cluster leaf earrings have 4 tiny leaves each (rather than the usual 3).  They're a bit more bulked up and more like what I want to be doing with my jewelry. 

I'm also pleased to announce that after showing my work in "Woven Together: The Influence of Sherri Smith" the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey asked to carry my jewelry in their shop.  So my artwork can also be found there now.  Crooked Tree is a wonderful space and I encourage anyone up there to go check it out.

Ultraviolet Leaves, Netting and Necklaces Set

This set started with the Pantone color of the year, Ultraviolet.  It doesn't hurt that purple is one of my favorite colors.  The wide netting bracelet has already sold, so I created a smaller one.  I hope to get these on my online shop sooner than later, but a lot of these are heading to galleries this month.  So if you see something you need to purchase, let me know!

This long necklace with the braid detail has been in my head for quite a while, I'm glad I got around to doing it, the braiding, pinning and stitching to make it lay right took me 6 hours alone. 

This leaf lariat necklace begged for a few extra leaves than I usually put on.  I'm looking forward to wearing it asap before it gets to go hang out in a gallery.

Cluster Leaf Earrings

Small Netting Bracelet with 3 Swarovski pearls, adjustable.

St. Petersburg Chain Small Loop Earrings, sterling silver earwires

Netting Bangle Revisit

After I finished my most recent leaf lariat necklace and earrings, I wanted to finish up the pack of green 15/0 seed beads that I had sitting in my tray.   I had been wanting to revisit my netting bangles (originally, I called it a wide open bangle) from 2011 as seen HERE.

This piece is half the middle width due to finishing up those green beads, but I have plans to make more of the original larger one to have in my stock.  

More Purple, Gold and Brown Jewelry Variegations

I feel like I've been working on finishing this lariat necklace for forever, I guess I've been busy with my day job, replacing a kitchen faucet and generally catching up on housework now that ski season is over. Today I'll throw in the towel and get my skis out of my car too.  Anyway, this set is finished and ready to head to the Ann Arbor Fiberart Guild's Fiber Feast at the end of April.  If it doesn't sell, it'll probably end up at Synchronicity or Higher Art Gallery.

I'm still on a purple, gold and brown kick.  Even the next bangle I'm working on is the same colorway.  Usually I'm inspired by something else or am tired of looking at this color set, but it hasn't happened yet so I'm rolling with it.  I wanted to keep this lariat necklace simple at the ends because there's a lot of color change in the lariat itself.  I used swarovski pearls and crystals as accents.

I think it's also important to point out that all of these pieces are just variations to the St. Petersburg Chain stitch.  I love how it looks and feels with tiny seed beads, so I keep coming back around to it.

Larger chandelier earrings can be the bane of my existence.  The perfectionist in me is annoyed that the left earring is not hanging as well as the right, even though they're stitched the same.  They're best stored hanging so the thread can bear the weight and sort itself out.  I've worn them a number of times and gotten some really nice compliments so in the end, that's what matters.

Triple Pod Earring Variation II

I usually post a run down for New Year's but it became more of a journal entry, so this coming year I'm just ready for whatever is thrown at me.  My previous post was the first of this style earring. It sold less than a week after I made it and I already missed them.

So here's another variation of the 3 pod earrings, it's a bit larger than the first pair and I decided not to add any accent beads, it preferred this smooth look.  

There is a significant amount of dimension to these which has me starting to think about other, larger projects.

Of course, I'm still making smaller earrings for every day wear. I finished these recently and am working on some new leaf sets.

Simply Earrings

Pod Earring with Dangle $45.00

I have been weaving weaving weaving and now finishing my weaving.  Since the beaded edging was veto'd during the critique, I have stopped working on that (don't worry, it matches the next piece going on my loom!) and can move on the some nice, relaxing jewelry for my portable beading projects.

I've had Spring 2016 color beads pulled for a few months, and as I look at what's dropping for fashion design, there's a lot of neutrals.  I love neutrals.  I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of designers weren't too excited about this year's pantone colors. So, here I am, excited to have just finished a pair of earrings.  Simple, sweet, a little sparkle.

I had a hard time photographing these this morning.  It's overcast and the natural light was doing funny things.  I think the top photo is best as far as true colors.  It's an eggshell white of sorts with pale brown/champagne swarovski crystals.