Buy it because it fits?

I have very few hard and fast rules when it comes to jewelry.  One of my rules is that if I find a piece of jewelry that I want to buy but I can make it, then I am required to at least attempt to make it.  And secondly, if I find a bracelet (that I can't make) that actually fits my child-size wrists then I buy it!  Especially if the price is right.  I hit the Nordstrom Rack clearance section this week (at a minimum, this is a quarterly event) and discovered this plastic green cuff.  It fit perfectly, and it was under $10.  Sold!  But really?  A plastic green cuff?  Today I am questioning the thought process that went into this purchase.  I am thinking that I should add one more important criteria to my list of questions...must love it.  But here I waiver.  It was under ten bucks.  So what if I only have occasion to wear this funky thing once or twice?  :)  By the way, the chain link bracelet was a gift from my friend Kristin for my birthday last year, love it! 

The Brandi Wrap

I needed a bracelet to go with an outfit this weekend that I wore to the Brandi Carlisle concert at Red Rocks.  AMAZING show by the way, such a special and talented performer.  And what a perfect date night with our friends, Nicki and Bret, thanks guys!  Casey and I needed that!  So I whipped up this little double wrap delight and am calling it The Brandi Wrap in her honor.  I thought it looked really nice with the feather bangle from my very first post.  I re-purposed these rhinestones from an old piece and wove it into leather with blue-grey embroidery floss. 

Had to throw in a concert pic of Nicki and I!  :)  

Beaded Summer Bangles

I admit, I made the red one last week to have a little something patriotic to wear on the fourth.  I made a silver version of the ruby jade one for my friend and coworker, Katherine, this week, happy 30th!  And, the white quartz triangles I made today.  I have been wondering what to do with those triangle beads for some time.  I've seen a bit of a trend in triangle shaped jewelry in the last year, so it is timely that these beads find a home.  The flexible wire that I used allows me to get these on and off a bit easier than if they were rigid.  It also made it so that I could make it smaller than a rigid bangle since I can mold it over my hand when putting it on.  These are quick pieces, appealing to my instant gratification side.  My friend, Jen and I (who made the "Merry Wrist-mas" bracelets with me last year) are already beginning a plot to make a more stackable version of these for future gift-giving endeavors...hint hint.  :)

Beaded Leather Cuff

Etsy.com is a continual source of artistic inspiration and creative ideas.  I saw similar designs to this beaded leather cuff bracelet on many sites and thought I'd give it a try.  It was quite labor intensive (~3 hours) but the result was definitely worth it.  If I were to do it again, I probably will not use the cube beads down the middle.  They look beautiful when laid out straight but they do not lay as perfectly as I'd like when worn around the wrist.  This is a substantial piece worthy of standing alone or, as you see below, layered with some other wrist candy!  :)

Perfect Pink and Little Leaf

This shade of pink is not only my sister, Abby's, favorite color but just makes me feel happy!  And the little leaf button I found for the clasp is perfection.  Not too cutesy, not too plain, just right.  I used dark brown leather and DMC's Cotton Perle embroidery thread for this project.  I love this design, it is so simple and clean.  It could be worn alone or layered to create the all exciting "Arm Festival"!  (See previous post.)  My sister claims she will be wearing this one every day!  :)

Blog Crush: Meet Inslee Haynes!

I have a new blog crush.  I am not ashamed to say that I am totally smitten with Inslee Haynes and her Sketch Book blog!  I started reading her blog a couple of weeks ago and could not stop reading until I had consumed all 300+ entries!  This woman does the sweetest, most beautiful fashion illustrations.  And her passion for her work and how she arrives at her content is very endearing.  Her "little ladies" as I call them are quickly becoming an inspiration for my jewelry creations.  The night I finished reading her three-year-volume-of-postings I found myself standing in front of my closet saying, "what could I wear tomorrow that Inslee Haynes would find interesting and worthy of a sketch?"  As if it was not already nutty enough that I am having this thought process, I actually answered the question..."I should wear neutrals with a pop of color and an Arm Festival!"  (A direct reference to this post.)  And that is what I did.  White skinnies, a gray tank top and a bright salmon colored summer scarf and this super fun "Arm Festival".  All but the studded bracelet are my own creations.  Thanks to my co-worker, Katherine, for some great pictures!

The Hawaii Wrap

I got together with my friend, Kari, today and for some reason the conversation just kept coming back around to the beach and going to Hawaii and drinking margaritas!  We made these double-wrap-beachy-delights and I think they are totally in keeping with the theme.  Her daughter, 5-year-old Whitney, even got in on the action and made a sweet little triple wrap bracelet for herself and made me a beautiful beach drawing too.  The clasps are made out of a pink flower Lucite bead and an aqua recycled glass bead.  We used brown waxed linen and size 6/0 clear beads.  What a fun afternoon, thanks ladies!

The Friendship Bracelet: All Grown Up

A couple of days ago I stumbled into a little store on my lunch break called The Knitty Cat.  What a can of worms (or should I say "yarn") that turned out to be!  I had no idea what amazing, beautiful string there was out there these days.  I went in thinking that I may find a particular color of thread for another project I am working on but that is not what I found, of course.  I could have easily spent a sizable portion of my life savings in that store but I restrained myself in the end and just bought the gorgeous string you see in the bracelet below.  I love how earthy and organic feeling this is but still modern and clean.  I wore this out to eat last night with my friend, Kristin, and she already requested that I make her three!

This bracelet wraps around twice, the string is a cotton/silk blend, wrapped around leather cord and finished off with a muted-gold button clasp.  There is something about working with string that makes me feel giddy, like how I felt when I first learned to make friendship bracelets as a kid.  But this, this is what I am calling "Friendship Bracelets for Grown Ups"!  I think there may be many more versions of this one in my future!  This looked so nice stacked with one of my "Merry Wrist-mas" bracelets (see post from last December) today that I had to include a second picture. 

 

Lovin' The Wrap!

Day two of wrap bracelet frenzy.  The scene: Three full hours to myself while our 12-year-old-mother's-helper entertains the little one. Oh yeah!  This one is the same technique as my last post but with drastically different bead choices.  I went with cube beads for one side of the braid and faceted rose gold beads for the other.  I like the end result which makes it feel like two bracelets in one and gives it that stacked look.

Aqua Beaded Wrap Bracelet

I have very limited time these days and I have to think very carefully about what can be done in a 90 minute to 2 hour time frame while my two year old takes her afternoon snooze.  I am happy to report that from start to finish, this fun bracelet only took about an hour and fifteen minutes.  I have to give thanks to Erica and her blog (http://honestlywtf.com/diy/diy-beaded-bracelet/) for the idea and instruction. I think it will prove to be one of my summer staples!

I used brown waxed linen, size 6/0 beads which are a bit bigger that the one she lists in her blog and an aqua sea glass bead for the clasp.  The finished piece measures 13.5 inches and wraps twice around my wrist.

Oh and one more thing... after making this bracelet today I managed to post this blog entry before my daughter woke up from her nap.  YES!

Easiest Wrap Bracelet Ever!

I whipped up this little cutie when I realized I bought the wrong shade of leather for another project.  And, I used a bead that was left-over from a coworker's bracelet that I had sized smaller for her.  It is so simple but has a lot of impact and goes with so much of my wardrobe.  Just take a long piece of leather and figure out how long you want it, attach a button or bead clasp, tie some knots and voila...a lovely 5-minute wrap bracelet!

The Jewelry Bird's Dream Studio

One of the great things about being home sick with the sniffles is the inevitable curling up on the couch and partaking of daytime television that occurs.  While in a state of severe head fog recently, I caught an episode of The Nate (Berkus) Show and there was a segment on OlioBoard.com.  This is the coolest interactive online design site I have ever seen.  Users create and design mood or inspiration boards to depict a room they'd like to manifest.  Naturally, (post-head-fog) I logged on and created the Jewelry Bird Studio of my dreams!  Of course this room would also serve as a personal sanctuary and relaxation space.  For days I added, took away, nudged, rotated and adjusted countless elements and came up with the Olio Board you see below.

Oh what fun and highly addictive this process was!  That big blue flower you see is a rug, isn't that beautiful?  I am currently not allowed to log on to their site for a self-enforced-48-hour-design-detox.  My only miniscule complaint about the free version of their site is that I do not see a function to upload your own pictures; I am sure they have their reasons. 

This process got me thinking; what if there was a site like this for jewelry and other DIY crafts?  Or, inspiration board-builder-sites for goals and dreams?  It's endless!