Becca's Bracelets

A couple of month back, my Mother wanted to make herself a new bracelet. I had some round 8mm and 6mm (or was it 6mm and 4mm!) Swarovski crystals in my stash so I mailed them to her.


When I laid out the beads I REALLY liked the look and the sparkle, so I decided that I needed to make myself a bracelet using olivine crystals.
 Here is a picture of my bracelet; I used Swarovski bicone olivine crystals and Swarovski light grey pearls along with sterling silver findings.

Pearls are one of my favorites, I think every woman should have a beautiful pearl necklace; they are timeless and can be worn with everything from jeans to an evening gown.


I have a pearl necklace that I’ve had for years and two pair of earrings that I made myself but I didn’t have a bracelet. In my head I see two bracelets that I want to make, one is a double stand and the other one was this one…

Psst...My birthday is coming up, and I will be doing another earring giveaway – so be on the look out for that.


Have a great day!
 
ReBecca

Family Bracelets

For Mother's Day I made my mother-in-law and mother a family bracelet. I've been playing around with the design and finally decided on the final one this weekend. Take a look and let me know what you think.

This very dainty bracelet was made for my mother-in-law, I used Swarovski bicone crystals to represent the birthstone of Eric, his sister Julie, as well as his parents. The bracelet also contains Freshwater pearls, and sterling silver beads and a cute little "Family" bead as a dangle.

click picture to enlarge

Here is the one that I made for my mother. Swarovski bicone crystals represent the birthstone of my six siblings and parents. I also used sterling silver beads, the dangle bead on this one has a heart on one side and "Love" on the other.

click picture to enlarge

Blueberry Swirl

My sweet friend Carla who is one of my biggest fans and gives the best hugs, commissioned me to make the yummy Blueberry Swirl necklace set for her. This is a gorgeous necklace set, of blue swirl lampwork beads, Czech pearls, Freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals and sterling silver components.

This is the third set that I've made using this combination of beads, each set is a little different from the others but all are simply elegant.

click picture of enlarge

The necklace set was a hit with Carla, here is what she said, I'm trying hard not to gush with joy!

Boy are they YUMMMMYYYY!

I love them. The colors are extraordinary! Not only are they beautiful, but they are FUN!!

Thank you so much my friend. I can't wait to wear them this Sunday ;-)

Blueberry Swirl II

If you have been reading my blog for awhile this should look familiar to you, I made something very similar for my mother when she came up for Thanksgiving.

Ma showed her Blueberry Swirl set to a friend and the lady wanted me to make the entire set for her! You know that I was grinning from ear to ear when Ma told me this!

click picture to enlarge

It is slightly different from Ma's Blueberry Swirl set, but just as yummy!

Fruit of the Spirit Bracelet

Nicole ordered this beautiful Fruit of the Spirit bracelet for her mother. The bracelet stars nine 6mm cube Swarovski crystals, sterling silver round beads, Bali silver flat beads and a sterling silver heart toggle clasp.

click picture to enlarge

Here is what each color of the bracelet represents:

Love - Red

Joy - Purple

Peace - Blue

Patience - Pink

Kindness - White

Goodness - Light Pink

Faithfulness - Dark Green

Gentleness - Light Green

Self-control - Yellow

Thank you Nicole, I'm sure your mother will love her new bracelet!

I Won!

Happy New Year!

Rejoice with me, I won the BeadL*Jewlz Bead Challenge! And yes, I'm still grinning from ear to ear!!!

My bracelet was paw selected by Boscoe the cat! I already received a 20% coupon for entering the contest and the grand prize is a $25 gift certificate. Oh my - free money to buy more beads, this is a dream come true! I'm making a list of beads I've had my eye on for my shopping spree!

Here is another look at the bracelet I designed....

Click picture to enlarge

Blessings from the Lord!

Chocolate Beauty

My mom wanted to learn how to bead, so I told her that a bracelet would be a great first time project, our first step would be to pick out a color to work with and that was easy because she bought a new suit while she was here and wanted something to go with the suit, so brown was the color choice.

The next step would be the "hardest" - coming up with a design. So armed with all the brown beads that I had on hand she played around with the beads until she came up with a looked she liked. Ma went with a random monochromatic pattern of glass beads in various sizes, shapes, and to give it a little more sparkle she picked beautiful mocca Swarovski crystals along with a sterling silver toggle clasp. Take a look at her beautiful chocolate bracelet...

click picture to enlarge

Another happy beader!

click picture to enlarge

Red Hot!

This is a scrumptious Siam bracelet and earring set with Swarovski cube and bicone crystals, Bali double square and flat beads, Sterling silver beads, tube, ear wire and clasp. You have to see this one in person to appreciate the beauty. Feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge.

This set would be perfect for your:

• birthstone
  
• the birthstone of your children
  
• your favorite color

Holiday Bead Challenge

BeadL Jewlz, one of the bead stores in Fredericksburg had a Holiday Bead Challenge. They wanted to see how many different styles of bracelets can be designed using the same beads. You could not duplicate the two samples the store provided for inspiration, and you had to use all the green fire polished beads, and some of the red seed beads and bugle beads. We were free to add our own sterling silver, gold filled or copper beads, and a clasp.

The deadline was November 29, and I have had my beads for awhile but only started my bracelet Thanksgiving day, just days before the deadline! My first design was a double stand and was all finished except for crimping the last crimp bead, and while doing that I cracked the tiny seed bead and couldn't salvage the bracelet. Then I had another design pop into my head, use copper wire to make dangles - Eric said they looked like resisters so I didn't make anymore. Then finally I just went with my favorite mode - plain and simple, and here is what I came up with....

Friday, Eric dropped on my bracelet off at the store and Monday my mom, the kids and I went to the store to check out all the designs. They only had four bracelets submitted. The two bracelets on the left (top and bottom) are what the bead store designs. They all are beautiful...

Here is Boscoe, the bead store "manager", he is a full-figured kitty that is SO lovable so I had to add him.

I really enjoyed the Bead Challenge and I'm looking forward to the next one, they are thinking about Valentine's Day. Next time, I will not wait until the eleventh hour to make my project!

Blueberry Swirl

My mother was able to come up to spend Thanksgiving with us again this year! She will be 83 in February - hard to believe because she looks much younger.

I wanted to do something special for her, so I made her a jewelry set to go with a outfit she would wear to church while here. The set features 6mm Czech Pearls in Royal Blue, 4mm Freshwater Pearls in Peacock, 6mm round Montana Blue crystals, large Glass Beads in a puffed square and a puffed heart, Sterling silver round and flat beads and Sterling silver clasp.

Here is the 7" bracelet, I really like the oval Sterling silver clasp, it would have been nice to have a square shaped toggle, but didn't have one.

Click on picture to enlarge

The crystals really sparkle in this 20" necklace.

Click on picture to enlarge

Here are the earrings that mom designed using Silver plated pierced look clip ear wire. The bead store didn't have any Sterling silver clip-ons, they came four in a pack so I have enough to make my mother-in-law a pair earrings as well.

Click on picture to enlarge

I forgot to take Mom's picture Sunday while she was wearing everything - aah. Trust me, she looked great! While I has happily beading, mom was teaching Gene and Nicole how to embroidery, I will share those picture later.

Purple Princess

For princess Nicole's birthday I made her a name bracelet. I used stretchy cord, 6mm square Cat's Eye beads, Czech glass faceted two-tone round beads, seed beads and acrylic alphabet beads. All pretty in the her favorite color - purple.

Here is the princess wearing her new bracelet. I did have to tell her that we take off our jewelry to take a bath and that we don't sleep in our jewelry! I think she likes the bracelet.

New Fruit of the Spirit Bracelet

Take a look at the beautiful Fruit of the Spirit bracelet that Rachel commissioned me to make for her mother's birthday present. This one features 8mm Swarovski crystals in bicones, cubes and faceted rounds, along with Sterling Silver round and flat beads, and a heart shaped toggle clasp. It is dazzling!

Click to enlarge

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

Here is what each color of the bracelet represents:

Love - Gold

Joy - Purple

Peace - Blue

Patience - Pink

Kindness - White

Goodness - Light Pink

Faithfulness - Dark Green

Gentleness - Light Green

Self-control - Yellow

I made up jewelry tags, here is one along with the Fruit of the Spirit bracelet, I think it is too cute, the flower is one of those rub offs from my scrapbook stash, I had planned to embellish the front with ribbon but didn't leave myself enough room, maybe on the next batch - so I used ribbon to attach the tag to the bracelet. So cute.

Rachel, I'm sure that your mother will love and enjoy the bracelet, if possible take her picture with it so that I can post it to the blog and I'll be able to see her beautiful face with her beautiful new bracelet. Happy birthday Rachel's mom!

Birthday Bracelets

Here is the bracelet I made for my sister-in-law Marcia. It features Carnelian gemstone beads, Swarovski Crystal Beads in green and brown bicones, and Sterling Silver flat spacer beads. This will go great with brown, green, and blue. Does this say happy Fall or what!

Click to enlarge

This bracelet is for my friend Tracey, who shares the same birthday as Nicole. Her bracelet features oval Snake Skin Jasper gemstones, a Sterling Silver "Inspire" message bead and Sterling Silver round beads. When I saw the message bead I thought of Tracey, I love that the message bead mimics the gemstone, the colors are warm and earthy.

Click to enlarge

Happy birthday ladies! I hope you both love and will enjoy your gifts!

Fruit of the Spirit Bracelet

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Click to enlarge


Love - Gold

Joy - Purple

Peace - Blue

Patience - Pink

Kindness - White

Goodness - Light Pink

Faithfulness - Dark Green

Gentleness - Light Green

Self-control - Yellow

My friend Michelle commissioned me to make this bracelet for her, we are currently doing Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself, Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit Bible study. What a great visual reminder of the verse.

The bracelet features 6mm Swarovski crystals cubes with Sterling Silver beads, and a Sterling Silver heart toggle clasp. Very, very pretty.

Pearl Bracelet

Here is a bracelet that I have had on my beading board for some time, it was all strung and ready to go, just needed the clasp. I sat down to attach the clasp Monday, and some how managed to drop the entire thing, of course BEFORE the clasp was on - beads flew all over the place! I managed to find most of them, but some are still missing, I'm sure they will turn up sooner or later, or will be vacuumed up!

This bracelet is made with Swarovski Maroon and Cream Pearls, Sterling Silver beads. So pretty.

Click picture to enlarge

I also made the earrings to match...

Click picture to enlarge

A Second Look

Here is a second look at a the green tear drop bracelet I made, CAB left a comment and wanted to see the bracelet on my wrist. With the help of my dear hubby, here it is.

Its funny because I haven't worn this one very much, and was thinking of restringing it to add more of a contrast to the drop beads. I do like that the drops can flip from one side to the other, it gives the bracelet character.

Thank you CAB for visiting and posting a comment, you are always say the nicest things!

Turquioise Bracelet

This bracelet has been on my beading board for several weeks, just waiting for me to put on the clap, and I finally got around to it Friday. Don't you just love turquoise and red!

Turquoise chips beads accented with Sworowski Siam round faceted crystals, and Bali spacers.

click to enlarge

Gemstone Information:
Turquoise is a soft, porous stone. Its blue-green color varies depending on the amounts of copper, iron, and chromium present - the more copper, the bluer the color and the more valuable the stone. Most pieces have black or brown veining.

Historically, Persia (now Iran) was the primary source for turquoise. Today, the southwestern United States is the leading source of turquoise. Sleeping Beauty and Kingman varieties (named after their respective Arizona mines) are among the most valuable. The gemstone is also mined in China, Peru, Mexico, Tibet, Siberia, Africa, Australia, and Europe.

Source: Bead Style Magazine, Spring 2008

New Jewelry

I have been busy over the last two weeks making jewelry, take a look and let me know what you think...

The picture does not do this bracelet justice. This is a multi colored fresh water pearl bracelet with 2mm clear crystals between each pearl to give it a little sparkle. I plan to make the necklace and earrings to match. Click the picture to enlarge so you can get a better look!

This bracelet features Swarovski pearls and fuchsia round faceted crystals.

The earrings to go with the bracelet above, I didn't want to use the fuchsia crystals so that I can wear the earrings with more things. I really like pearls because you can dress them up or down, and they always make you feel pretty!

This is a multi colored lanyard, I think this one is my favorite (this week!) I'm thinking of making a necklace to match, this is so cute.

The next two lanyards have a Native American feel, turquoise has been one of my favorites for years, and it really pops in this piece.



This one is more muted with turquoise and the amber and bronze beads.

My "All Things Red" lanyard, I even included red focal beads on this one. This lanyard will help brighten even the most hectic of days!

Someone at Eric's job saw the green lanyard I made with the pineapple clasp and wanted one just like it! This one is not exactly like the other one, but made with the same beads and of course the same pineapple clasp.

One happy beader!

Salvation Bracelet

Here is the Salvation Bracelet that I made this weekend.

Black = My Sin
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 (NKJV)

Red = The Blood of Jesus
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NKJV)

Clear = Forgiveness
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV)

Blue = Baptism
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:4 (NKJV)

Green: Growing Daily
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)

Gold = Promise of Eternal Life
Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10 (NKJV)

More Weekend Projects

I was commissioned to make this sorority bracelet for a friend, it has Siam Swarovski round and bicone crystals, sterling silver smooth and fluted round beads, sterling silver Greek letter beads for Delta Sigma Theta, with a heart toggle clasp.

Here is the green glass beads lanyard I made with a beautiful pineapple pewter lanyard ring...

Pretty pink lanyard...

This is the "can wear with everything" clear glass beads lanyard that I was working on, I finished this one Thursday evening for a co-worker of Eric's.