Cross Bracelet

I love this curved cross focal and knew I had to have it.  I put it with a very simple strand of black leather.
It would also look stunning with black beads - especially faceted crystal.   I think my friend is going to love it.

Big Blingy Hoops

The one thing that was most requested in jewelry is big hoop earrings.  I had a pair of the hoops left from a previous project (I always buy extra, don't you ?) so I finished these up with small Swarovski crystals and blue pearlies.  I'm getting my practise in on loop making and its getting easier, if not as high quality as I would like.

Swarovski Rivoli Set

Swarovski has a whole line of crystal jewels and matching settings that make jewlery making very easy. .  You just glue the jewel into the setting and use it in your design.  I'm not usually one to wear big blingy things, but I love looking at them.  I made this bracelet and ring set for my nephew's girlfriend..  She's got kind of a punk edge to her so I used gunmetal settings instead of bright silver or gold.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out, but the picture is awful.  The rivolis are a great emerald green, not the dark shade you see here.

Belated Valentines Day

Actually, I got these out on time, but didn't get the post done.  I had several of these Swarovski heart pendants around.  It was the work of just a few minutes to add a jump ring and chain. They are a little gift for my favorite waitresses.

Leather Bracelets

I've been wanting to get into leather crafting for a long time.  It involves learning some new skills and rather a lot of tools and materials. This is my first attempt. There remains lots of room for improvements.

First up a couple of bracelet blanks painted and blinged up with rhinestones.

Next a successful experiment. I have some scrap leather in brown. I found that my rotary cutter goes through it like butter.  Then I attached  these domed brass dots.  You need to poke a hole in the leather with a knife, then insert the little pointy legs and bend them over.  I used the side of the  head of my hammer to roll down the points.  Leather snaps go on just as easily as on fabric, but you use a hammer and setting tool instead of setting pliers. Piece of cake.  I liked this piece so well that I kept it for myself.

So, look for more and better leather stuff to come.  I'm thinking beaucoup bracelets, checkbook covers, small bags and eventually, purses.

Baby Bibs

The baby has grown out of his first set of bibs so I got to make some new ones.  Transferring images is so easy and fun I may have to come up with more reasons for making things.  The bibs are from Dharma and the images are from the Graphics Fairy.

Fridge Magnets

This project has been on my to-do list for a long time. Then Mom mentioned she needed magnets. Aha ! Time to do it.  Instead of picking out a lot of images I used the same papers as I used for the paper beads here.  I punched out circles of paper, glued them face down to the glass marbles and then glued on the magnets.  I forgot about how strongly magnets attract each other and giggled as the magnets swam off of their appointed spots and stuck to each other.  Boxing these babies was impossible until I made an insert of cardboard with holes punched in it to hold the magnets in their place.