Favorites For Friday

It's been a while, that is what happens when you get a job...lol. Actually, it has been weird working after being unemployed for 2 years and of course, in my job I have a different schedule every week. Some days working early and others working later. Fortunately I don't have to do any graveyard shifts otherwise I really would be up a creek! I was wracking my brain trying to think of something good for this weeks favorites seeing as it had been a while and I went to my favorites over on Etsy and decided to spotlight some beautiful niobium pieces. If you don't know this already (which I'm sure you do) niobium is a great metal for those with metal allergies. Now, to the best part.

WYSIWYG Niobium Spin 'em In Earrings - Element 41

Parallel Helm Chainmaille Bracelet - Greenstar Jewellery

Coiled Niobium Toggle Clasp - C & T Designs

Rainbow Peacock Earrings - Late Night Muse

Cerulean Blue Fantasy Earrings - On The Bead

As you can see by my picks, I prefer niobium when it has been anodized. It changes to some amazing colors.

Here's One I Made Earlier

Obviously I have had a severe lack of funds to buy more jump rings for a little while so I have been playing around with what I have. I really don't know how I ended up with SOOO many purple jump rings but as I was sick of looking at them sitting there and didn't want to make more purple items for my shop I decided to make something for myself. It's just a simple double spiral chainmaille weave necklace (choker).


I also noticed that despite the fact that I love copper, I really didn't have that many pairs of copper earrings in my own collection. With the new job we are only allowed to wear small earrings though I have noticed quite a few people don't follow that rule (lol). I had been wanting to make another pair of these earrings for myself and I finally sat down the other day and did it. They are woven in a variation of byzantine weave called romanov. Basically it is just two sections of the byzantine weave, connect at each end with a slightly bigger jump ring and add a lovely Swarovski crystal in between. I used 6mm crystals and they were some freebies I got but I think the color is Siam though it is hard to tell in the photo as well as in person. It's such a dark red but really pretty with the copper.


Needless to say, I have plenty of ideas running around my head for projects it's just getting the rings to play around. One thing I really want to do is play with some really thick gauge rings, like 14, to make some chunky jewelry. Hopefully I will be able to get those and of course, I'll post any and all new projects here.

Been Busy

Ahhh boredom can do funny things to people. For me, it makes me just sit down and play! I'm sure there are others of you that do the same thing and you will know that sometimes things work....sometimes they don't. The first photo is a bracelet that I ended up making for myself. I've had my coiling gizmo for a while now and had attempted these coils before but just could NOT get them right. I finally sat down and set it up and was determined this time to get them to work. They turned out much better than previous tries but I still wasn't 100% happy with them. At least not enough to sell something like this but at least I'm getting there.

I love wire, all colors, shapes and sizes. In fact, I collect wire like Lisa over at Alterity Art collects buttons! Seriously, I have a box full of wire. So, again time to play and I came up with these babies. I also have a real fascination with swirls so I love to mix and match colors. By the way, these are listed over on Etsy here....only $6!


Of course, I couldn't make all these earrings and skip out on my first love - chain maille. These are Shaggy Loops earrings which I also added some big (size 6) seed beads. I have this tube of beads in all these lovely shades of purple and thought they would look very nice on some aluminum jump rings. I made them shorter as I know the majority of women prefer shorter earrings, especially for every day wear.


Lastly, this was originally a necklace which I had used these fake Swarovski crystals that I bought years ago when I first starting making jewelry. They really looked fake too. I decided to take it all apart other than the chain maille bits and then re-connect them. I decided to go with these orange anodized aluminum rings which I think look pretty nice. Now it is a bracelet which I shall be listing on Etsy soon.


I still have a few more pairs of earrings that I haven't had a chance to take photos of yet but there is time. Plus I have a few more ideas running around in my head of some more wire creations.

More New Photos

First of all, thanks for all your comments on my last post. Good to see I'm not the only one who LOVES pink. Since I signed up on Facebook, a friend got me hooked on playing that game Farmville and I'm dying to buy a little pink house for my farm...so sad!

As I am writing this post the husband and his mother are on their way here to Las Vegas. Hopefully he is not too stressed out. He has been calling me all the time while he has been away. Mostly because of his mother, though also because he misses me and of course, I miss him. Last Friday I went and stayed with friends which was great because we spent most of the time in the pool or making jewelry. Works for me. My friend Jenny had ordered me these pieces and I managed to get some shots before I had to move my "photo studio" to the closet since it is in the bedroom the MIL will be using. I just love the little pillow.


I definitely think that on the whole my photos are improving all the time. There are some that when I've taken them I though they looked okay until I put them on the computer. No problem though as I'll just keep taking more.


This last one is one of my favorites. I think it really shows off the square wire rings of this piece and that (to me) is the high-light of it. Though I do love the chainmaille weave which is called Full Persian.


Hope everyone has a great week.