All that glitters...

I had beautiful mother of pearl beads which I had been thinking about for a while, but had been unable to come up with a unique design. I recently bought some beautiful brown faceted beads as well. (Oh, how they shine!!) Now I must say that this design was not a sudden inspiration. I wanted to do something special with the brown beads. The insipiration again was an outfit with the same colors. I realised that these complement each other so beautifully, I had to put them together. Naturally, the next challenge was to come up with the design and I must say I did struggle with it. It took me over three weeks to work out the design.

The earrings were also a challenge. Since the mother of pearl beads are a good size, I didn't want to make a dangle and I also wanted to add the brown beads to create a well matched set. So working out the balance of the earrings without making them heavy was very tricky. I am extremely happy and satisfied with the final result!

Here is the complete set.

Jade and Jasper

I travelled to Tucson recently to attend the annual gem and jewelry show. It was just fascinating and I picked up some gorgeous beads and stones. One of them was a Jasper collar. The bright pink was just riveting and the finish on the stones was beautiful, each piece glinting in the light. The color was so unusual that I found it hard to come up with a design which would be trendy yet casual and which would showcase these beautiful stones.

I had my eureka moment when I came upon a shirt I had bought recently. The beautiful green shade reminded me of a jade necklace that I had been planning to restring. Well, as they say, the rest is history and this beautiful piece was created.

The earrings have been created from two trapezoidal stones and are stud earrings.

Roses are Red

The closest I can come to wearing actual roses would be through this lovely deep red necklace. I bought these beads at a jewelry show a few months ago. Being faceted glass beads, these range from a bright red to the deep dark red that can be seen in the pictures here. The stark contrast between the red and the golden color emphasis the beauty of these beads.

Dangling drop earrings are perfect with this necklace. The absence of gold beads in these makes the necklace a focal point.