Tribal Wrap

I have a new found love for silver and turquoise. I've always liked them together and had an appreciation for jewelry pieces that feature both, but lately, I have made a few of these pieces for myself which is new for me. Maybe my Cherokee ancestry is finally making an appearance? The Irish lass in me needs to make room for this new me. I'm liking it!

Native American by kristyabner featuring a suede coat

To see these earrings and more of my work please visit my website. 

Thanks!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations  

Nesting Instinct

I had the opportunity to travel to Michigan on May 18th to take a polymer clay beadmaking class with Heather Powers of Humblebeads. Her beads show up prominently in my work, and I came to find that I have almost every single Humblebeads in the collection! I really need to start using them more. (But wait! I just saw that there is a Humblebeads Destash going on and I spied a bead that is not in my collection! I will be shopping soon!)

Heather taught us all her secrets (shhhhh!) for making spectacular canes for polymer clay. And here I thought that magical elves made these tiny patterns and scenes on her beads! I can already see the possibilities opening before me and have bought my first pasta machine and bricks of colored clay. I am sure that before too long I will be making beads of my own, but that won't stop me from buying more Humblebeads! One is never enough!

While I was there, I suggested that having a signature cane would be a great idea. Funny that Heather had never thought of that before! Not only did she whip up a signature cane for me to use (the tiniest key you have ever seen in clay!), but she developed one of her own: a birds' nest with three little blue eggs. Quickly she was applying them to all different bead shapes, including the workhorse of the Humblebeads studio: the disk bead. 

She gifted me with a few of the very first she made, and I thought that it would be special to make them into some sweet earrings.

I love nests and eggs. And eggs need a bird. And nests need a branch. Don't you agree?

I would wear these sweet little danglers with a tunic top from Sundance that is the color of a brilliant spring sky dotted with clouds on a light breeze blowing by.

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her popular line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

A Touch of Old World Charm

I was lucky enough to spend some time with our beloved Heather Powers at her home in Michigan. What a fantastic time we had. Getting to meet her, her family and a few special beady friends was one of the greatest times of my life!! I was lucky enough to learn some amazing things while I was there, including the technique that made these leaves look like old world artifacts that were dug up out of the ground.

 I can't wait to get my hands on the products I need to make more of these! How fantastic and fun! Looking forward to many more creations with my little collection of Old World artifacts ;)

You can find these in my Etsy shop!!

Marie

Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights

I have been really enjoying etching using some lovely digital damask patterns from Aesthetic Addiction on Etsy. I was toying with some double-sided folded shapes for earrings, trying to think how I could add hanging loops here and there for beads. I had sketched out this idea and these were my prototype. I was so thrilled that my "thought experiment" worked in real life! The beads are Czech glass--daggers and roundels in a moss green, and lovely lavender nuggets.

Call  me crazy, but I picture them with jeans (or your favorite belly dancing costume):

Arabian Nights casual by lunebijoux featuring lacy tops

And when you wear your hair up, these earrings will look exactly the same from the back!

These are sold, but I will be making more and adding them to my Etsy shop. Stay tuned!

Carefree Copper Earrings

 

Copper Arrowhead Earrings

We've waited a long time this year for an elusive spring to arrive. Now that June is nearly upon us, I think it is safe to say that it's here. Time to put away the sweaters and expose some skin. Nothing puts me in the mood for spring and summer like brightly colored earrings! So I used large Czech glass rondelles in orange/pink with accents of teal, along with these wonderful copper arrowhead components from Kristi Bowman for a striking combination.

Carefree by bohobeader featuring a beach bag tote

For more carefree spring and summer earrings, click here or here.

Turquoise Sun

I just can't seem to get away from copper and turquoise these days. These gorgeous copper charms are by Kristi Bowman Design. She is such a talented clay artist and jewelry designer! I'm also loving the pairing of turquoise and blue with mustard yellow.

I'd wear them with this fun summer outfit that I created on Polyvore.

Turquoise Sun by kristyabner featuring heart sunglasses

                   To see these earrings (sorry they sold today) or see more of my work please check out my website.

Thanks so much,

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations

Double Trouble

These new double discs are all I've got to show for this week but I am super stoked about this new design in my Harbinger Collection.  I just started playing around with some metal discs and washers, and these double disc riveted dangles happened by accident! To spice em up a bit, I hung a dangling Prehnite cube in the center of the washers.

I really like how these turned out! I am working hard on getting lots of tin jewelry made for an impromptu Trunk Show this weekend in Hamilton NY at a shop called Swank.  I am going to try to take some time to make some of these earrings for my online shop and will get them listed soon!

Making a statement with earrings is a great diversion from the typical attention hog, the necklace. Lately the bigger the better! I can envision these being worn with a cute Summer Maxi style long dress in that beautiful rust red color.

Damask Whispers

In March I took a class with Debbi Simon, who is an innovative jewelry designer. We worked with metal and torches, stamping images that were then resists for the flame to produce these marvelous colors and patterns.

I took that knowledge to make some pendants for the senior dancers from my daughter's dance studio. Puzzle pieces to symbolize how they are all interconnected and a necessary part of the whole, and each was stamped with a different pattern to symbolize their uniqueness.

Some of my practice pieces were copper blanks that I had cut in 3/4" x 1 3/4" so that I could practice the technique. To me they look like the softest and most luxurious damask linens that have a shimmery reversed pattern in swirls of blues and greens and purples on the copper. I couldn't let these test pieces go to waste.

This picture is really hard to show the beauty of the colors. You will have to trust me. The pattern shimmers in the light with rainbow hues. And there is pattern and color on each side so you look as good coming as going.

I paired these copper damask dangles with some terra cotta colored lampwork glass beads rolled in silver leaf from Julianna Cannon of Studio Juls. These one of a kind earrings are available on my website.

I would pair these earrings with a soft and flowy sundress like the Varanasi Maxi from Anthropologie.

 

 

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her popular line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

To Outdo A Gypsy!

Did you know that in the gypsy culture they are always trying to outdo one an another? For example, if one gypsy girl had shall we say earrings? that measured 4 inches long and had 10 diamond filigrees on each earring, the next gypsy girl would get 5 inch earrings with 14 diamond filigrees on each earring and Swarovski crystals at the end... and so on and so on...

 Well I am OK with that! I love to make these large and long gypsy earrings! They are fun and full of elegance and whimsy! The crystals on these are Montana Blue, but any other colour is doable if you want something with more bling!  I change them up as you have seen if you follow this blog. I have a large variety of them since they are one of my top sellers!

You can find these in my Etsy shop. I don't think I have much left other than these, but hope top change that this week. 
Feel free to request your own gypsy style earrings, I can create something special just for you!!

Stop by again soon! 

Marie

Margaritas in Marrakesh

Margaritas in Marrakesh

I love Moorish architecture, and it fascinates me to see Moorish design elements trickle from Spain to the southwest United States, where it streamlined itself a bit into Mission style. These earrings could be straight from a bazaar in Marrakesh, or a street fair in Santa Fe! The clover-shaped ring beads are of natural, winter white howlite, and I've combined them with Indonesian glass beads in matte lime green, petite Czech glass flowers in topaz, and glass tile beads in amber. (Howlite ring beads and lime green seed beads from Happy Mango Beads, Czech glass flowers from BobbiThisnThat.) All sterling silver construction.

I picture them with something loose and comfortable like this:

Margaritas in Marrakesh by lunebijoux featuring leather shoes

You can find more earrings in this series, and other items at my Etsy shop HERE.

Santa Fe Earrings

Santa Fe Earrings

One of the places that I would love to revisit, Santa Fe has a very distinctive character that is unforgettable. The cultures of indigenous people, Spanish missionaries and frontier Americans were blended together in a facinating quilt of their heritage. The artists of the many pueblos in the Santa Fe and Taos area are know for their pottery, much of it designed and fired using the same methods as were used hundred of years ago. Contemporary artisans of all kinds are drawn to the "Land of Enchantment" and artists colonies have become well established and internationally renowned.

Terra cotta ceramic components in my earrings are from Pajego Art House . They capture the southwestern mood when accompanied by burnt yellow seed beads, turquoise sea glass, with gun metal and brass accents.

shop til you drop by bohobeader featuring t by alexander wang

T By Alexander Wang / Mango jeans / BC Footwear strap sandals / Leather handbag / Vivienne Westwood bandana scarve, $62

See more of my southwestern earrings on Etsy or Artfire.

Yellow Damask

I just had to have these gorgeous tiles from J Lynn Jewels as soon as I saw them! I'm also really into pairing yellow and blue right now so I knew what I was going to do with them right away.

Lovely photo by Julie G. Photography

I'm loving the blue and yellow combinations I see on Pinterest This one is credited to Stephanie Williams Photography.

To see these earrings click here or go to my website to see more of my work.

Thanks!

Kristy Abner

Kristy's Kreations

Mine!!

Hi folks, sorry for the late post today!

I got these cuties made and planned to bring them with me to work and, as I have learned from our own Keirsten Giles, planned to photograph them in the car! Lots of natural light AND shade!!

Alas, I forgot to bring them with me!  I started pawing through my bag and found the camera, a few other little things I was going to shoot, but no earrings.

So, there you have it. Copper flower blanks, texturized and stamped, holes punched for wrapping wire, dapped for depth!  I added Czech glass beads in a very sort of chartreuse green/electric yellow, with a bit of  Picasso finish, which adds a slight touch of blue.  I wrapped the beads on utilizing fine gauge copper wire and the holes I punched!    They measure about an inch in diameter and since I didn't add anything else, they don't dangle more than that from your ear lobe.

I thought they were so sweet, all I did was hang them from my "go to" non-sterling earwires.  These are so comfortable on, and affordable, so when I am not using my own sterling, hand-wrought earwires, I like these.

Hmm, after putting them on and looking at myself in the mirror for way too long, I have decided that these will not go in my shop...they are MINE!!!  I could probably wear them everyday and they would match something in my closet!!

If you would like something similar, just let me know ;)

Melissa Meman
Melismatic Art Jewelry
Art. Life. Love.

Tassels

Star Tassel

One of the popular trends these days is tassels in jewelry design. The possibilities are endless with beaded tassels, chain tassels, fiber and ribbon tassels. So I decided to create my own tassel design using some colorful waxed linen cording! They can be a stand alone feature of earrings or dangle from beads, and in this case, I thought the brightly colored tassels look great with these Star horn beads.  You can find these earrings for sale in my new webstore.