They always fit. When you want a special gift for your sweetie, you don’t have to worry about “will it fit”.
When you buy – or make! – one for yourself, you know you’ll be able to wear it with many different necklines. So versatile! And a wise way to spend your jewelry money.
And – I’m going to do more with this soon – you can use more than one color on the featured teardrops, or special jewels at the ends of your lariat. Red – and blue? Why not? Purple and green? Why not?
Or just focus on one gorgeous color, like this emerald-tipped lariat:
Now is that a great gift idea or what? A gift for your bestie, using her kids’ birthstone colors. Or for yourself, with your faves. Save money, make fabulous jewelry, this is a win!
Sometimes you don’t want matchy-matchy – for example, take a look at these adorable drop earrings 🙂
The round glass cabochons shown here are aqua and totally opaque. The jonquil faceted navette jewels are a sparkling contrast to the solid aqua color. The shapes are opposites too – smooth round stones, paired with sharply faceted navettes. It really works! Choose your colors, adapt the idea for your own creativity.
Also it doesn’t hurt that the jewels are on sale 😉 Check them out in my Clearance section. You’ll find some more goodies at terrific sale prices!
As always, the idea is to take a suggested idea and make it your own. And save money while you make terrific jewelry. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Like a lot of us – most of us I hope – I’m staying home right now, finding things to do around the house, keeping my online business going even if times are weird, and sometimes playing with pretty sparkies in my workshop. There is no deep significance, it’s just that sometimes a pretty little bauble can lift the spirits, and I can rationalize it by saying “it’s business”.
Well it is, but it’s also that I like making pretties, and trying new combinations. You know how that is 🙂
I tried out this new combination for earrings and I think they’re lovely!
You see what I mean, though. It doesn’t have to be fussy or difficult to make pretty earrings! Or expensive either. It’s just a way to make a little treat for a friend, or for yourself, in these difficult times.
Okay, clear glass jewels. Oops 🙂 (I get so used to using both terms when I’m talking with peers and customers, I tend to think “beads” as the overall category.) Anyway. I was really happy with this earring design idea – and as you can see, it’s made entirely with clear glass… rhinestone… stones. There, does that sound better?
Yes, I tried to get a good (read: flattering) pic of this design. And I used good lighting. But the sparkle in this pic isn’t just because of the lighting – I also tried to *not* intensify the shine. Clear glass, especially when it’s nicely faceted really does sparkle. It’s not a “loud” sparkle, but it shines!
And hey, clear glass: it goes with everything. And it flatters a bridal gown without being too bold. It’s just a nice trick to remember: clear jewels really make a great piece of jewelry!
I just wanted to show you a DIY necklace design idea that combines ‘fine'(ish) jewelry components – with “just rhinestones”. The necklace chain here combines Bali sterling silver, freshwater pearls, and gemstone amethyst rondelles. The pendant is a faceted rhinestone (glass) teardrop in a silver plated setting.
Both the rhinestone teardrop – and the fancy necklace – look great. They complement each other beautifully. I just want to remind myself (and you too) that nothing is off the table! Use what you have. Combine metals – brass and sterling. Combine components – glass or rhinestones, and genuine stones and pearls.
If it looks good, if you like the combo, you can make it work. It’s YOUR design, it’s your necklace and your creation. It’s all good!
Here’s another example of how you can combine classic jewelry-making tecniques with simple, strong elements – to create a fabulous necklace that you can totally customize:
The necklace “chain” shown here is made with navy blue pearls, hand-wired together to make the necklace length you prefer. The pendant is a faceted rhinestone teardrop. Combine the hand-wired chain, the teardrop pendant, and decide how you can customize your design (colors? more strands? a cluster at the pendant?) Play with ideas here 🙂
An idea I thought of after I combined these elements… if you don’t want to take the time to hand-wire your beads to make this chain (it’s not a difficult technique, but to do it carefully takes time) – you could buy a simple beaded necklace with no pendant. That beaded necklace could be glass, pearls, crystals, you name it – it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Then add your pendant with jump rings, or bails. Presto: your necklace is unique, and it’s yours, and it’s great!
And speaking of necklaces, and like that: I love it when combining simple, “ordinary” elements can create such a lovely piece of jewelry. Like this one:
The necklace is made of simple, well-made black beads (in this instance they’re black hematite, but they could easily be onyx, or black glass, or ceramic). The idea is that the beads are strong, and simple, and don’t compete with the pendant. And the pendant is a fabulous bright red rhinestone oval that measures a bit over 1″ high. Not huge, but look at the impact!
That’s the beauty of designing your own jewelry – for yourself for gifts. You can customize colors, materials, and sizes – how bold you want to be, or how delicate. Do it yourself, save money, and make exactly what you want!
I deliberately chose “non Christmas” colors for this earring design idea, though of course earrings made with these rhinestone jewel clusters would be a wonderful Christmas present. I just wanted to illustrate the idea that pretty colors are good all year round! The main color here is peridot green, which is the August birthstone color – and terrific for springtime. But it’s a good color for fall, winter, and summer, too. I know you guys know this – gorgeous color is always in style!
I added an extra bit of color with the tiny (4mm) round stones – shown here in aqua and sapphire blue. I think this is a great way to personalize your earrings. If they’re a gift for a girlfriend (or your Mom!) – you could personalize with the birthstone colors of her kids. Or just use her favorite colors. A little detail like that makes these DIY earrings just an extra bit of special.
They’re already great – affordable and pretty and you made them. So a little bit extra special? Is just the icing on the cake!
You know I’ve talked about how useful “ornaments” can be. In this context, ornaments are links or charms – components that you use in your jewelry design to add texture, shine, and a bit more complexity to boost your design up another level.
Case in point, this lovely do it yourself necklace design idea!
I show a sheer sapphire blue rhinestone pendant here – you’ll use your favorite shape and color (or your customer’s favorite!) The textured brass flower is new in my shop and is a wonderful component used as an earring or pendant link (stay tuned, I’ll be showing some more cool ways to use these charms!)
Easy to use, customizeable, and affordable – this is the way it’s supposed to be!
I just got in some gold plated chain – it’s inexpensive, lightweight, and totally fun for DIY jewelry!
The second pic shows an earring design that’s one of my favorites – using the round glass jewels paired with golden chain ‘tassels’ makes lightweight earrings that have sparkle, and movement, and they are super fun to wear. Also flattering.
Also inexpensive, especially with this gold plated chain. It’s not precious, just pretty. But you know, sometimes that’s just what we want!
