C'mon, Baby! Let's do the twist!

The pastor at our church loves to tie in songs and song titles to his sermon. Uh oh, looks like it's rubbing off on me! (See not only this post, but also the one about diamonds.)

For some unknown reason, I'm on this twist kick. It's like I can't get enough of it! I saw a bracelet made elsewhere that incorporates a similar twist, so this series of bracelets is inspired by that style.

This is an unusual bracelet. Most bracelets encircle your wrist, with the clasp suppposedly staying at the middle of the underneath part of your wrist. Anyone who has ever worn a bracelet knows that bracelets have a tendency to move around on the wrist, and we are forever adjusting them, trying to get the clasp to stay in the middle.

This particular design prevents that problem from occurring, or at least lessens it. How?

First of all, the bottom part of the bracelet is made with approx. 300 lined, glass beads that I've individualy sewn together to form a twist pattern. They contain a couple different colors, so they appear to change colors slightly in the light. The twisted tiny bead portion *stays twisted* and also curves gently around the bottom of your wrist.

The top portion attaches to the base at the side, and the clasp for the bracelet is on the other side of the wrist. I wear mind with the clasp facing away from my body, but you can wear yours towards the inner portion of your wrist if desired.

(I'm actually toying with the idea of making a variation on this bracelet as a different design. I'm considering making the base and the top part of bracelets that attach to one another with decorative magnetic clasps, which look like beads. Then you could purchase from a series of bases as well as tops that could mix and match, putting you as the final designer. [Hmmm, should I wear the pearl top with the purple base or the blue base today?] I could vary the top parts---make some in gemstone bead chips, or clunkier gems, or dainty pearls or crystals. The possibility of the mix & match variations is staggering!!)

Please share with me your thoughts on that idea.

For now, I'm making the twist bracelets with a single clasp. And they are so comfortable! The twist cuddles your wrist with no pinching, and the top of the bracelet stays in place!! I love, love, love this design, and have even made one that I intended to sell, but couldn't part with it. (And I'm receiving many compliments on it.) ;)

The one in this post is: Apatite for Apatite: The top portion incorporates genuine gemstones called Apatite. These stones are blue gems with flecks of teal. They are linked together with sterling-silver handmade links. This is a definite blue jeans piece---made to wear with your denim!! Additional beads are sterling silver, and the clasp is sterling silver as well.

Sometimes, jewelry with jeans looks kind of silly. You are dressing down for a reason! But this piece adds a little class to the everyday look that I so adore. You can go from a frumpy to a polished look with one piece of jewelry, and this is it! De-frump by asking me about the price for this item!

Moukaite, Mate!

Moukaite is a gemstone in the jasper family, and is found in Australia. Put this baby on when you go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner!

Each moukaite gem on this bracelet is a hand-cut tulip-like flower. (No, I don't do the stone cutting.) Notice the awesome color variations in these stones, ranging from creamy white and tan and also the plum colors. The stones are grouped in pairs, with a purple rainbow fluorite faceted gemstone between. The set of stones is linked to the base with solid copper, hand-turned wrapped loops.

The base is plum-like lined glass beads, with a hint of copper color. The accent beads are coppe- plated, and I finished it with a hand sculpted and hand-forged solid copper hook and eye closure.

Many people love copper jewelry because of its wamth and swear that it helps alleviates arthritic symptoms. I am not making any medical claims, however. Dr. Donna says just buy the bracelet for its beauty, and if your arthritis feels better, then, fine!

Upon age, copper will achieve a patina which will only add to the character of the piece. (You can always gently polish it with copper polish if you don't enjoy the eventual patina look.)

So far, Dave says this is his favorite of the bracelets I've made, due to the fact that the stones are so unusual!

Please contact me about pricing. Matching earrings can be made by request.

Purple Jasper Twist

Please read the "C'mon let's do the twist" post prior to reading this one. It is the pre-requisite post, so-to-speak.

One of my favorite plants is lavender! We had lavender plants at our last home, and they were next to our garage. It was so nice to be greeted by a waft of lavender when getting out of the car and coming into the house!

Put on this lavender twist bracelet. Close your eyes, and you can pretend that you are in Provence, France, surrounded by fields of this fabulous plant with the heady fragrance. Open your eyes. Look, you have some of it encircling your wrist!

These purple jasper beads are accentuated with genuine tourmaline (pinkish) beads. Sterling silver spacers and bead-cones grace the beadwork. I sculpted and hand-forged the hook and eye clasp/closure using my tiny pliers, hammer and anvil. (The bracelet ring does not slip off of the clasp because it is stuck in amnongst the clasp's spirals.)

The earrings are also purple jasper, with tourmaline and sterling silver. I sculpted and hand-forged the earhooks, too. The teardrops on the earrings are wider and flatter than those used on the bracelet.

Please keep in mind: these are true stones, not plastic pieces made to look like stones.

When you buy my jewelry, you will be owning little pieces of art. Each piece is made individually, and is often a one-of-a-kind. Why purchase items from a catalog or a big-box store when you know that thousands of others may have the same thing?

Do you need this set? Oui! Please contact me for pricing information!

Are diamonds really a girl's best friend?

OK, we've all heard it before. We can even sing that line, even if we don't know the rest of the song!! But I'm wondering if diamonds really are a girl's best friend?

Have you ever misplaced a piece of diamond jewelry? I have, and that feeling is not pretty. I was miserable, went through a self-hate mode, ("How could you allow that to happen?") etc. I was fortunate, though, that my diamond ring was found!!!, and is now happily on my finger. :)

I have heard from others about their horror stories about losing diamonds and not getting them back. They all have that same despondent/aghast look on their faces when they tell their stories. My heart goes out to them.

I have also heard from others that they are afraid of wearing their diamond pieces because they might lose them. So they stash those gems in their dresser drawers, and pull them out occasionally to marvel at the sparkle!

Well, if any of you have those feelings, here is the solution!

This bracelet definitely has glimmer appeal! It contains sparkly Swarovski crystals and tiny gold-filled beads make a lattice-work design between them. Watch these babies flash in the light!! The bracelet is reversible---the flip side shows the crystals only. It is finished with a claps made from gold over sterling silver.

(A friend of mine saw a lady in a store with one of these on, and she gasped at her "diamonds". She approached the woman, who then told her that it was made from crystals. My friend immediately asked me to make her one, and this is the resulting piece!)

This piece is sold, but I have one that is made with silver lattice work over a slightly different shade of white crystal. The silver one is a little more muted, for those who want to subdue the glitz a little! And, I could of course make additional ones in the gold-filled style.

Lest my husband thinks otherwise, I'd better say: Hey, I'd take diamonds over crystals any day, honey, so feel free to shower me in them!

But to my other blogger readers I'll say: Swarovskis will give you the flash you want, but won't cause you to flip-out if you lose it. ;)

A girl can have more than one best friend, right? Please contact me for pricing information!