Summer Resolution

The spring semester ended last week...grade are in...JAFAX is past... I should be up to my eyebrows in beads in Michigamme at this very moment but the best laid plans have gone awry.

I have had a tough time getting things together for posting the past few months. My studio has suffered some water damage, I had a terrible winter schedule despite only teaching two classes, and then spring hit and I had to move out of my office at work. Woe is me. I still don't have my photo booth set up so I'm taking pictures on my desk! Lovely!

Time for some bead therapy!

I am working my way through some unfinished bracelets at the moment. I started the striped one during the winter and decided to finish it with a roundel bead closure rather than a clasp. I'm not sure I liked the vertical peyote. It left a raw edge so I put some picot edging where needed to hide the threads. I love the colors!

The little free-form bracelet will be finished with a clasp. It is very narrow and I love the twist in the middle. It lays wonderfully on the wrist, but alas, is very small! Too small for me.

I'm really excited about the upcycle jewelry that I am designing. The charms are beautiful and I love the combination of brite and natural copper with the bottle glass. I will have about twenty of these done by the end of next week and will post on Etsy soon. The one pictured here is made from a St. Julian's Sparkling juice bottle and it is a lovely shade of green.

Olive oil and wine bottles are a rich olive green, but my favorite are the brown beer bottle beads. It is a rich clear brown that I have not found in rod glass. I have a whole case of Leinenkugel to play with once emptied.
I also made some in blue and clear. The clear I have decided to etch for a frosted look and will treat as "white."

I am trying to decide on how to attach the clasps. I have plans to make some clasps from copper wire and tie the ends to form a loop to attach the clasps to. I also brought some copper ends for a more formal look. I may even wire-wrap the ends with thin copper wire. So far, I've tried all three and am not completely thrilled by any of the final products.

The copper jewelry has been coming along fine! I spent a couple of weekends earlier this spring sorting through my lampwork beads and putting together sets for earrings. The copper is some heavy duty wire that I got from my husband after an electrical project. I flattened the wire with a hammer, shaping paddles at each end. The beads float on the center of the paddle. I finished the earrings with copper ear hooks. These are waiting for the photo booth!

Let me close with a brag... I sold my first bracelet on Etsy.com. My white RAW bracelet was purchased for a wedding. I am so excited! I have never had a "stranger" buy one of my pieces before and look forward to many more...It feels good!