The Dragon's Heart - Set

There's something about dragons that just seems to fascinate me. I was going to makes something really feminine with those handmade beads with rose gold, but the design would just not come together, however, once I started to think dragon, it was all there. LOL Remember the Dragon's Tale necklace? I bought both sets of beads from the same supplier and I am so pleased I did, they're absolutely wonderful.

Dragon's Heart

Here is the necklace of the set.


I've used: handmade beads in pink and gold, oval garnet, red coral, pale rosy pink chalcedony, white turquoise, deep red mookaite, carved big and smooth small ebony beads, and finally a lovely vintage heart shaped copper wire cage.

I've made my own wire swirls to give the necklace texture, I cut, filed, shaped and sanded copper sheet into a dragon's tail complete with a scaly texture, I made my own clasp and jump rings. Each bead was wire wrapped with different gauges of copper wire.

Finally, the necklace was dipped in liver of sulphur, cleaned, and polished with olive oil.

Here's the dragon's heart in detail: a vintage wire cage attached to the chain with sterling silver wire and the heart made of garnet and coral.


Here's the pretty clasp. One lovely round hook and a round ring wrapped with thinner wire. You can also see one of the lovely handmade beads in detail.


Here is the dragon's tail in detail:


A selection of the wonderful beads. The ebony beads are from my supplier on Etsy e&e Bungalow - the same one I used for the Sea in a Nutshell necklace. The necklace is very long, but can be worn wrapped around the neck, or with a particularly slim neck three times wrapped around. :-)


Here is the matching bracelet although it's more versatile than that as is can either be wrapped three times around a medium sized wrist or worn as a necklace. The materials used are the same as for the necklace above, except, I used a small vintage copper wire cage rather than the large heart cage.


Here's the cool clasp I made - it's meant to look a bit like a curled up dragon.



Here's the bracelet when worn three times around the wrist. It looks all luscious and gorgeous with an abundance of beads.

Both available in my Etsy shop soon... Promise!

Candy Roses Bracelet and Fire Flower Bangle

Said I was playing with something pink and sweet, didn't I? :-) Well, here it is.

Candy Roses Bracelet


Sterling silver roses with chalcedony wrapped in more sterling silver.

Complete with handmade clasp...


... and caterpillar made from fuchsia fossil beads.



Fire Flower Bangle

Can you spot the lovely Red Stones 2 beads from Firedance Beads I posted the other day?

Here's my first creation with the beads I bought:


I've used three thicknesses of bare copper wire. A medium thickness to create the first frame, which I oxidised. I then added a thicker gauge second frame (without the swirly bits) and wrapped it all together with very thin copper wire.


Here's the bangle from the side.


Here you can see the detail of the front. I've used the gorgeous Red Stones 2 beads from Firedance Beads, including the accent Swarovski beads in (I believe) Indian Red, and then added faceted deep red garnet faceted rondelles and a few Siam red Swarovski beads to complement the beads from Firedance Beads.


A little garnet at the back holds the two frames together, You can see the difference in colour of the oxidised and bare copper.

The bangle is lightweight and because of it's design will fit most wrists (it's adjustable). I am pleased with how it turned out. It's opulent and has a lovely warm glow and will work as well with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt as with a little black dress.

Available soon in my Etsy shop.

Wire Fever Still Raging...

Well, I've been busy... as per usual. I just can't get enough of the wire! It's addictive. You may also notice that my jewellery is becoming more sculptural. I just love the way you can bend and hammer the wire into almost any shape.

Here are my latest creations.

Keishi Petal Necklace

This is a necklace made with handsawn and brushed silver tubes, keishi petal pearls in silver grey, a single white new jade bead and lots of sterling silver wire. The pendant is a flower made with keishi petal pearls and the new jade round bead. The clasp is handmade too. At the bottom is a picture with a penny so you can appreciate how delicate the necklace really is.






Cranberry Sweetie Necklace

This is a necklace I made for myself to go with all my silver bangles. I wanted something to go with everything and this fit the bill perfectly. It's been made with handsawn and brushed square silver tubes, tiny garnet rectangles and lots of silver wire. The clasp is also sterling silver wire but bought. Again, at the bottom is a picture with a penny to show the size of the necklace parts.







Cloudberry Bracelet

Little hammered, flattened, shaped and partially brushed clouds made with fine sterling silver, filled with a variety of beads: pale blue and powder blue facetted chalcedony, white jade, crackled rock quartz cubes and frosted rock quartz rounds, lace agate in cube and chip form. A lovely opalite drop near the handmade clasp together with a handmade sterling silver heart and another frosted rock quartz round bead.








Cherry Blossom Earrings

The cherry trees are in bloom all around which inspired me to make these earrings. I've made oxidised sterling silver wire swirls, hammered and bashed them into shape, added some pale pink chalcedony, bright pink candy jade, and some lovely hot pink fossil beads to make it all work. The earwires and jumprings are also sterling silver wire and made by my own - not so fair - hands (the wire works is taking its toll).



Black Sun Necklace

This was inspired by the big black chalcedony I used as a pendant. I added lots of different beads to bring it all together, there are coral sticks, carnelian (chips and beads in dark red and orange), golden amber chips, and orange and sunny chalcedony. There are three lovely handmade bronze connectors and the findings (chain, jumprings) are a mix of copper and bronze which I oxidised.








Dragon's Tale Necklace and Bracelet

This one's ALL MINE. :-)

I bought these absolutely stunning, gorgeous handmade beads that looked to me like dragon's scales. I just couldn't resist making something with them almost the minute they arrived.

The necklace is shaped like a dragon with a bronze wire flame shape at one end and the beads getting smaller and smaller towards the end of the dragon's tail. I've used a variety of beads, from the beautiful handmade beads to lava beads, citrine, a plethora of glass beads, green coloured two-tone crystal, jade cubes and Miyuki cubes and Kyanite and black chalcedony rondelles. Mixed in with this are my handmade swirly connectors and there's a litte wire heart at the end of the dragon's tail. The dragon's tail fits through the flames at the beginning. Very mystical, I know. ;-) The bracelet is made with mostly the same beads but the tail doubles back on itself.

It took forever and a day to make all the links and string the beads, so it's a tale and a half, but well worth the effort.












Tattoo Necklace

Sorry guys, this one is ALL MINE too! I love making swirls and this one turned out looking like a tattoo, even more so when worn. It's made with two thicknesses of fine silver wire, the swirls made, then hammered flat, and lastly tied together - imagine puzzle shapes - with much thinner wire. A last tender bashing of the thinner wire to make it all stay in place. Least but not last, I've attached very thin sterling silver chain and a bought clasp and oxidised the lot. Voila!






Klimtesque Vine Necklace

Can you tell yet that I do like swirls? This one is made in the same way as the tattoo necklace but this time with copper wire and chain. I've made a clasp for it and added a lovely little dangle with a beautiful teal copper framed beads.







Ginkgo Necklace and Earrings

This set must be one of my all time favourites. It's absolutely stunning in real life (rather than on a picture on a computer... sniff).

I've shaped a Ginkgo leaf from thick copper wire, then added the veins with much thinner copper wire giving the leaves a look of skeleton leaves. Lovely golden yellow chalcedony beads dangle like little flowers in the centre of each leaf. A little dip to oxidise them, then I added the gunmetal chain and put the earrings together - the earwires and jumprings are handmade too, apart from the ones attaching the pendant to the chain, the handmade ones were too thick to get through the links of the chain.







Cityscape Bangle

This is a freeform double cuff bangle. It was quite difficult to do as I had to hammer the bronze wire between the be to ensure that it would be firm enough to put on and take off. The beads look like little sweeties - white with green and blue stripes respectively - and the pretty little opalite cubes add interest. More texture is added with the little spiral connectors above the candy (furnace) beads. Finally, I added a spray of Miyuki drops to one side.







SOLD - to Penny. :-)


Jewellery Display

There's no space in the house left to hang my jewellery so I had to get creative with some more wire.

I made the frame from silver plated copper wire, the used two thicknesses of black iron wire to create the 'web'. Took half a day to make. Oh well, only another 11 more to go....