Pink Grapefruit Set

... and because it was so much fun to make felted beads... I made some more. LOL
Here's my Pink Grapefruit set. I love pink grapefruits and it's one of my favourite juices to drink in the morning. The colour combination of pink and orange has always fascinated me. I love the combination of the two colours, but I know a lot of people don't like it, although it's used widely in India and other Asian countries.

Pink Grapefruit Set

I've used the felted beads I made, but this time I used vintage brass bead caps that almost look like flames or the green tops you get on tomatoes. Very organic. For the smaller beads I've used vintage bead caps shaped like little flower petals, again brass. All the chain and other findings are brass too. The clasps are handmade as per usual.

The beads I've used are soft pink chalcedony, pale pink rose quartz, lovely lemony citrine and deep orange carnelian.

The stars of the show are of course Paul's fabulous Tangerine Dream 3 beads (Firedance Beads) on both the necklace and the bracelet.

The large felted beads are three-tone: palest pink, bright golden yellow, and deep orange. The smaller ones also have teeny threads of pink silk felted into it - the same kind of effect as you get in handmade paper that has rose petals included.

Earrings

I am really proud of these as they are so unusual. They are feather light and easy to wear and they are great on their own.


I've dangled the pink chalcedony, pale lemon citrine and bright orange carnelian from the bottom of the earring.


Bracelet

The bracelet is made with two different vintage brass chains and more fuzzy grapefruit balls and the lovely Tangerine Dreams 3 beads. For the centre bead, because it's smaller than the other two, I've used different vintage brass bead caps. On either side of the big fuzzy beads are chalcedony beads in lovely soft pink and deep orange carnelians.




Necklace

The necklace is made with three of the large orange fuzzy felt beads, two more of the Tangerine Dream 3 beads and a mix of chalcedony, citrine, pale rose quartz and carnelian. I've again used the same two vintage chains to make sure the chain will hang nicely and to add a little texture. There's a small little fuzzy bead hanging from the clasp as a little dangle.




I am really pleased with the set, but I think it's a 'love it or hate it' set as it's so unusual - the colours as well as the design. However, I really like all the different textures - the fuzzy soft felt against the smooth glossiness of the handmade glass beads and the precious glow of the semi precious beads against the dark patina of the aged brass. I also love the fact that it mixes old and new and the colours are so soft and yummy. The necklace reminds me of high summer and a party at the beach.

This set, like the two bracelets from the previous post, will soon appear in my Etsy shop. :-)

Bloomin' Marvellous

Nope, I haven't been working my fingers to the bone, these are all pendants I've made a while back and didn't have any chain for, or as in the case of the last one, hadn't decided quite what to do with them. I bought some lovely sterling silver chain at the BMF on Saturday and I think I've put it to good use. :-)


Daisy, Daisy... Necklace

I love the simple shape of daisies and I wanted to make one in sterling silver wire, so I did. LOL I added lovely crayon red Japanese seedbeads and wrapped them around the centre.



The pendant is very light but quite large (5cm or 2") and it hangs from a lovely 40.6 cm (16") chain.


Here you can see all the tiny red seed beads wrapped around the centre of the flower (the back is flat and all wire ends have been securely hidden).



Pretty in Pink Necklace

This is similar to the Daisy, Daisy necklace but I've used a thicker gauge sterling silver wire and added the most gorgeous, delicious fuchsia pink chalcedony briolette to dangle in the centre.


The heart has been hammered, oxidised and polished to give it texture and a lovely satin shimmer. I've used lovely smooth, bright sterling silver snake chain and the wire wrapped around the chalcedony bead is also lovely and bright in contrast to the oxidised heart.

I'd tried lots of different ways of hanging this heart - handmade chain, larger chain, satin rat tail in bright pink, leather, belcher chain, nothing quite worked, because the heart is so striking it needed something slinky and stylish to stay the star of the show.

The chain is 16", the pendant just over 2" (5.5cm).



In Bloom Necklace

I love this necklace - it's full of the colours of Spring.



I've made 'branch' from shaped, textured and oxidised very thick silver gauge wire, then wrapped lots of semi-precious beads.

I've used carnelian (orange), prasiolite, peridot, amazonite, and chalcedony and hung the pendant from more lovely sterling silver snake chain, this time 18" (ca. 45 cm). The pendant is just over 2" (5.5cm).



Calla Lily Necklace

Another labour of love. The calla flower was made from copper sheet: first cut, then shaped, hammered, filed, sanded and oxidised.



Next, I've added lovely beads - freshwater pearls in white and taupe, mother of pearl, and a white tiny shell. The pendant is again about 2" (5cm) in length and hangs from a double-link vintage copper chain about 16".


Free Necklace

The making of the copper bird has been described earlier, I've further oxidised it and achieve a lovely colouring - almost like oil on water.



I've added home made figure of eight links and vintage lucite and glass beads, rock crystal, and white jade to make up the chain. The beads and chain are graduating in size from small starting on the wing of the bird to much larger back to the tail feather of the bird.

The necklace has no clasp and just slips over the head.

Here you can see the detail of the colouring on the swallow. It looks like it is flying and the chain looks like those pictures showing the flight of birds in books about birds.



Below is the chain in more detail:

Re-invented Black Sun

I am having one of those strange days when nothing seems to go quite right. Found a cool contest on Etsy yesterday with a theme of Cinco de Mayo and thought, hmm, with a few teeny changes my Black Sun necklace would be perfect. So I made the changes and took the photos, ready to upload... and then I just couldn't find the contest anymore!!! Really should have saved the link!

However, I think the changes made it into an even more exciting necklace than it was. Sorry, it's a lovely necklace and much prettier in real life than my measly photographs are showing.

I've added two different coloured turquoise chips (lovely deep cerulean blue and a slightly lighter shade) and a Kyanite rondelle to a bit of shaped wire and then did a fancy swirly bit for a lovely heart shaped turquoise. The blue really seems to set of the gold of the chalcedony and amber, and the oranges and reds of the Carnelian and Coral.

So, all in all I am glad I made the changes. :-)

See for yourself.