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Just in time for St. patrick’s Day – or, well, anytime you want some pretty heart jewelry – take a look at these gorgeous goodies!  When you’ve got a simple, pretty pendant or pair of earrings with these heart jewels, you don’t need a lot of fussy other accessories. The color is rich, it’s flattering, and it’s affordable. This is a win 🙂 Just a small detour from the pretty sparkling stones – I just got a new batch in of silver plated brass leverbacks. These locking earwires are super popular – also affordable and comfy.  They’re not precious metal sterling silver (if you need those, just holler) – but unless you have metal sensitivies, you really don’t need to be paying for sterling. For fun everyday earrings, I love the leverbacks 🙂 They just take your earring designs up a notch, you know? Crystal AB is the name given in the jewelry trade to crystal – clear, colorless, sparkling – glass gems that have an “AB” coating. In this instance, “AB” stands for “aurora borealis”. To us, that means there are little glints of color on the crystal glass. Like this:  They’re pretty, they have a little extra sparkle, and they’re absolutely lovely for spring, for bridal and bridesmaid jewelry, and… hmm… for Prom. You know, in case you need some prom earrings that don’t cost a fortune… Just sayin’ 🙂 I’ve been hearing about this trend lately – we’ll see if it’s really true! Minimalistic clear glass jewels are fresh and new for 2016. Like these:  These particular jewels are vintage glass (from the 1950s I think) that I’ve just restocked. They have well defined faceting, so that even with totally clear glass, they have a sparkle and catch the light beautifully. And of course, they’ll go with anything you wear! That makes for a good “go to” earring – or one to pack when you travel. No matter what you buy, you’ve got some jewelry to go with. Of course the clear glass is also great with other colors – I’m going to do a few examples and post later. Stay tuned! Just for fun, I pulled out some of the pretty glass jewels I have right now – in Christmas colors 🙂  So if you should happen to want to make some sparkly jewelry with Christmas colors – ruby red, emerald green (and of course, you could choose crystal, or golden topaz, or pretty amethyst, or many more) – why we still have time to do that. And if you’ve already made your holiday jewelry, wasn’t it fun? and money-saving? And kind of satisfying to know that you could do that? A pretty gift, from you to your loved one. That’s the best part of all 😉 I just wanted to show you a few examples of what you can do with these sweet little blackened brass heart charms that I mentioned a few days ago. Showing is always better than telling, don’t you think?  And I use these examples only to say hey, there are lots of things you can use to turn these little hearts into something really special. Look around your craft room. Try those few leftover beads you had. Wire them to hang with the hearts, or add a cluster to a necklace focal. I have the hearts in golden raw brass, too – I think they were originally intended as stamping blanks. They’re fairly thin so it’s best to stamp on a very smooth hard surface like a jewelry anvil – but it works terrifically when you do that. So: add pearls or charms. Or stamp your own message. Or just use the hearts “as is”. They’re fun, they’re inexpensive, they’re a little boho. What’s not to love? I recently found some smallish, adorable brass heart charms, both golden raw brass ones and deeply blackened hearts. I think the possibilities with these are endless!  Well, okay, maybe not endless. But varied, and interesting. I was thinking how cool these would look, paired with a vivid glass charm in red, or maybe a hand-wired white pearl dangle. I’m going to try a few ideas and will post them here later. Heart charms are always in style, you know? They’re feminine and seasonless – and for easy, fun earrings? A win 🙂 Just one more little post and then I’ll shut up, really. About the emerald green, I mean. But that darling dress (see post here) just reminded me – again – how wonderful emerald green is. So, a few more colors and shapes of sheer, sparkling emerald green jewels 🙂  With the classic silk dress, you could wear tiny oval earrings – or chandeliers down to *there*. Or a simple teardrop necklace. Or an armful of bracelets (right now, I think that’d be the most fun – ask me again next week!) But you see what I mean? Gorgeous color. Easy to use. Inexpensive (really). This is a win! Or “ornaments”. I’ve mentioned this before but it’s so simple, and adds such a nice variation, that I wanted to highlight it. Take a simple glass jewel – in this case, a navy blue (montana sapphire) 10mm round. Put it in a silver setting (or pick up a pair in my Etsy shop already in settings. Then add the simple silver-plated leaf charms (yes you can get those too and they’re very inexpensive).  Voila! A delicate, interesting earring, or pendant on a silver chain. Add more jewels or pearls if you like – or just it just “as is”. You see what I mean? It’s pretty, it’s inexpensive, and you can tailor the colors and details exactly as you like. DIY: that’s the way it’s supposed to be 😉 Sometimes a pretty color is all you need to make your jewelry shine. I don’t mean harsh bling (though that can be totally fun) – I mean a pretty, soft, seductive color.  Sheer colors are looking wonderful to me these days. The color really is the star of the show. It’s a little quieter, and it just feels classy, you know what I mean? Plus: pretty, affordable, easy to use. All the usual reasons that DIY glass jewels are a good way to go. Plus Christmas and the holidays are on the way. I’m just saying. |
Jewelry and Accessories
Vintage, Recycled, Upcycled!
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