Bracelets for Spring: Part I

It is now officially Spring, and I am loving it! Thank goodness I live in a place with four seasons, since the change into each one seems to rejuvenate me.  Spring here in Washington is beautiful; the cherry blossoms are everywhere and they are truly beautiful (I'll have some cherry blossom bracelets up soon).  Our daffodils started blooming about three weeks ago.  I don't know about you, but I'm sleeping with the windows cracked so the cool night air can come in (forget the pollen count!) and I've been cleaning everything in the house. I have found some time to make some new jewelry, including the bracelets that you see on the page today.

   Above, a handmade bracelet that is truly unique combines emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and amethysts for a different looks.  Tiny little flower charms from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes are at intervals around the bracelet.

I recently found these gorgeous blue lace agate faceted nuggets at a favorite source; they have a high polish and beige and brown "skin" at one end.  The artist's lampwork glass beads are some of my favorites. Karen Hill Tribes sterling swirl and arrow charms are at three places on the bracelet.

The rest of the bracelets today are made of moonstones.When many people think of moonstones, they only think of the rainbow moonstone with its "flash", but moonstone comes in many colours.  The first bracelet, below, is made entirely of moonstones with sterling silver and artist's lampwork beads.  The dark greenish-grey faceted nuggets are moonstones as are the white faceted nuggets.  I love the dragonfly toggle clasp.

The next three moonstone bracelets are made from dusky peachy-pink faceted moonstones of different sizes. First, large faceted nuggets are complemented by a single special moonstone artist's lampwork bead.

If you look carefully at the pictures,you can see that these moonstones have a gleam to them, so while they may not exhibit the "flash" of rainbow moonstone, they have a pretty sheen to them and a flash that is the same colour as the stones themselves. 

Below, this moonstone bracelet has gorgeous silver studded artist's lampwork beads with a frostiness that goes perfectly with the moonstones. 

 The last moonstone bracelet features smaller faceted rectangles with a gorgeous sheen and plenty of sterling silver.

I hope you are enjoying these Spring days as much as I am!

The Gleam of Abalone

My first post on my new computer! It always takes a while to get things right on a new computer, and finally, I have figured out enough to get pictures and my first post on my new laptop. All of the old programs from the old computer have to be tranferred, usually reset in some way (all my pictures are getting filed under Documents for some reason)and I have to figure out the new keyboard.

I've been working with abalone;I love its iridescence, its wonderful gleam, and the way that it works with so many gemstones. Above, the abalone bracelet with two strands features only abalone and sterling silver; below, the abalone gets a special kick from faceted peridot rondelles.

Below the bracelet is a pair of abalone earrings.

Above, wonderful, small faceted apatite rondelles and sterling silver tubes make a great bangle bracelet. Below, aquamarine earrings feature spiral accents in sterling.

Above, a favorite combination of mine: abalone with aquamarine. Below, a salvation bracelet with Swarovski crystals.

Hope you have a great week!

Aquamarines, Emeralds, and Labradorite

March is the month for aquamarines although anytime is a good time for aquamarines!  Who doesn't love them?  From pale green to turquoise to strong blue, aquamarines are just luscious - and they go so well with so many other gemstones.  Above is a simple aquamarine bracelet with cultured freshwater pearls.  The smaller aquamarine nuggets are a gorgeous shade of blue with great faceting.

Below, aquamarine nuggets and rondelles are paired with a pretty deeper green peridot for a striking result.  The intricate braided-look sterling silver chain adds to the bracelet's complexity, and a single pendant-like charms has a faceted, bezel-set peridot in a pretty star or flower-like shape. 

I always love emeralds (I'm a May baby so I'm fortunate to have the emerald as my birthstone). Two views of the same emerald bracelet, below show how wonderful emeralds look with sterling silver.  There are two strands of emeralds, large and small, and little Thai Karen Hill Tribes sterling flower charms hang at intervals along the bracelet.

Labradorite with its blue and blue-green flash is amazing.  The photos here really don't show the great flsh of the main focal nugget, but it is great! The other labradorite stones all have flash as well.  And the toggle clasp is a sterling silver dragonfly!

Finally, a simple citrine necklace has a pretty dangle with carved, nugget, and gem-quality citrines hanging from the main strand.