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Black Diamond and Crystal Pendants or Earring Jewels

The light gray “black diamond” glass gems shown in these earrings are cabochons with interesting, ‘checker’ faceting. They look great in these two jewel settings, combining the black diamond pears and tiny round crystals.





And one of the great attributes of these jewels is that you can customize them – you pick the color of the tiny round stone at the top of the setting. Black diamond (gray) with sparkling crystal, as shown, is great – but what about birthstone colors? Or vivid contrast? There are many colors you can choose from – I think you’ll love them!

Aqua blue glass stones – the March birthstone color!

If you stop to think about it, knowing designated birthstones and birthstone colors can be really handy. Suppose you want to give someone a bit, and you know they love jewelry, and you really don’t want to spend precious – expensive – gemstone money. We all know what that’s like, right?

But knowing the month’s gemstone colors can work. Sometimes it’s not even appropriate to spend big bucks on a gift for a friend, potential girlfriend, cousin, whoever is your giftee. But spending moderate dollars on things that she’ll like, that are a bit personalized – like her birthstone? That’s definitely appropriate.





So we know that the birthstone for March is aquamarine. And the birthstone color… is aqua blue. Here you go – some gorgeous glass gemstones in aqua!

And yes there are more aqua stones in my shop. Go peek!

DIY Earrings with Peridot and Emerald Green Glass Gems

It’s always cool to see how the faceted glass jewels I sell look when made into actual jewelry! The mannequin I use in these pics is close to life size, so you can get an idea of scale.





The emerald green octagon is 10mm x 8mm (that’s approximately 3/8″ x 1/4″). The peridot green teardrop is 13mm x 8mm, a bit over 1/2″ high x 1/4″. You can see the earring has real presence, large enough to be sparkly and “seen”, but not large and heavy. (Love that they’re really not heavy!)

Of course you’ll choose your own beads and stones – or find some in my shop 🙂 And adapt this idea to your own style!

Necklace Design Idea featuring Peach Glass Gems

One of the interesting things about this design idea is that it combines foil-backed glass gems (the 10mm x 10mm diagonal square stone) with a sheer, no-foil-back teardrop shaped pendant.





Really I just wanted to point out that we can do that – we can combine colors that aren’t actually the same. Or textures. Or in this case, sheer and foiled stones. And it works!

That’s the fun of do it yourself jewelry – make it the way YOU want (and save money!)

Crystal and Emerald Glass Gem Earrings – DIY and Save!

These lightweight, delicate-seeming earrings are great for every day – and hey, if you need emerald earrings for a special occasion? These have the fabulous color of precious gemstone emeralds – without the high price tag!


These would be great for May birthstone earrings – but they’d also look good with blue jeans. You know: as jewelry ought to. You’ll love them!

Sapphire Glass Gems for DIY Earrings or Pendants

This sapphire blue, two-stone glass jewel combination is turning out to be a customer favorite! These are sheer rhinestones (glass stones) – with no foil backs. The color is rich enough to shine even without the foil backing – as you can see here:





They are slightly different shades. Note too that the lighter sapphire octagons are handset into silver plated brass settings with closed backs – so the silver shows through and helps to actually lighten the color a bit. If we used patina brass settings, the octagons would appear to be much darker.

Really what I want to show here, is two different shapes, and how wonderfully they combine. And how much fun it is to try different prong settings! You’ll adopt the idea to your own particular style. That’s the fun of DIY jewelry!

P.S. Well, and also that you can save money when you design and make your own jewelry. Now that is *really* fun!

Necklace Design Idea – Happy 2024!

I think this picture illustrates one of my favorite jewelry design ideas. No, it isn’t “faceted teardrops on a pearl necklace” (though that idea right there is pretty terrific.) It’s simpler than that. Gorgeous colors in a pendant, combined with pretty (and inexpensive) glass pearls. Presto: a great looking necklace that you’d be proud to wear anytime.





But the real point(s) are even simpler than that. One, you don’t have to spend hours, and learn difficult and time-consuming skills, to make pretty jewelry. Of course those skills are fabulous, and yes you can use them to make fabulous items. But you don’t need to, if you just want fun and lovely jewelry!

And point two is even better: you don’t have to spend a lot of money. You can of course, and there are wonderful (and costly) gems to be found. But if you’re not rich, you can still make gorgeous jewelry!

It’s that simple. Buy a few quality items. Learn to string beads, and work with jump rings. Or just buy a pretty (and once again, inexpensive) chain. Make the jewelry you love. Don’t spend a fortune.

That’s a great way to start the new year!

Black Diamond Glass Gems

These black diamond (medium gray) faceted glass gems are a great year round jewelry choice! Now don’t laugh, you know I like rich colors in my jewelry. But sometimes a neutral is just right. And especially if you’re making jewelry for someone else, and are not sure about their favorite colors, neutrals totally work.





These are what I would call “medium small”. The diamond shape stones are 10mm x 10mm, about 3/8″, and are great glass connectors as well as small pendants or earring jewels. The pear or teardrop shapes, shown inverted here as connectors, are also fabulous in one-ring settings for smallish pendants or earring jewels. Together or separately, these are terrific with most colors – and they work wonderfully for last-minute Christmas gifts too. Just saying!

Aqua Blue and Silver Chain Earrings

The earrings shown on this model (mannequin) are faceted glass ovals in rich aqua blue, paired with dangling silver chain – in this case, not even sterling silver but rather silver-tone chain. These earrings would be easy to make – and easy to wear – and affordable!





Sometimes you don’t need “precious”. You want pretty jewelry, and you probably want to be able to make gifts for your friends and family. These would be great gifts!

Adapt the idea to your own style, have fun, and make great jewelry! That’s what it’s all about 🙂

Sapphire Blue and Fuschia Pink Earring Jewels (and a BOGO sale!)

The 18mm x 13mm (3/4″ x 1/2″) sapphire blue pear or teardrop shaped faceted glass stones in this pic are a rich, almost royal blue (though just a bit deeper in tone). The smaller diamond shape stones are gorgeous fuschia pink. Of course I love neutrals – but sometimes you want rich, fabulous color in your jewelry!





These teardrops are probably the most popular jewel shape – and of course I have them in lots of colors in my shop. Please go take a look when you have a few minutes – I think you’ll fall in love!

And just to make them even more tempting, from now through midnight on Friday, December 8, 2023, when you buy one pair of 18mm x 13mm pears (teardrops) in my shop, you get a second pair free! You just have to mention this blog post and the BOGO sale I mentioned!