Byzantine (aka birdcage weave)

This is one of the most used patterns for jewelry. It's a lovely weave, easy to do and it's faster to complete a bracelet than in the boxchain (see previous post).
Ouch, the earrings became so very long, lol!

Can be worn with any top and your regular washed out jeans, it implies a very casual look ;-)

Second set - box weave

I'm on a roll! Just finished this second set, and I love it. Even hubby liked this one, lol.
The weave is called 'box chain', and although I first found it a little more difficult than the European 4 in 1, once I got used to it, I find it actually easier and more fun to do.
Have to work in the ends of the earrings, otherwise they are ready to be worn.



















In the middle, a pair of earrings with a so-called shaggy loops weave. Very easy to make, and it works up very fast.

And last, bracelet and earrings with the shaggy loops weave. Made it within the hour (or two).

Set

I added a pair of earrings to the bracelet today, using the same weave, so here is the pic again with bracelet and earrings included.

Chainmail - new addiction!

I'm so excited, I've just finished my first chainmail bracelet, with the European 4-in-1 weave.
Spider's DVD just arrived yesterday, and this is the result. Now if everybody out there who teaches were using her style, I'd buy everything that's out there, lol!

I don't want to take it off my wrist, and it's time to go to bed, it's 10 minutes to midnight!!










As a matter of trivia, this particular stitch was used in Europe in the medieval times, to create chainmail shirts, coifs, vests, etc. It was used during battles, to prevent arrows or other weapons cutting to the skin.

Here is an example of a chainmail coif using this weave.
(original picture taken from http://www.schmitthenner.com/chainmail.htm)

Aquamarine: The Sea Stone

Aquamarine is the birthstone for March, so I've been working with it quite a bit lately, getting ready for next month. It is a gemstone that I love to work with though since turquoise and aqua shades are just about my favorite colours. I cannot help myself when it comes to naming jewelry pieces containing aquamarine: the only thing I can think about is water, namely the ocean, the sea, the beach, mainly the colour of the water in the Bahamas.
It is rather hard to find aquamarine at a reasonable price usually. Much of the aquamarine out there is so pale as to be almost colourless. But I have been lucky to find some aquamarine with good colour that is natural - and what a stroke of luck! Good aquamarine is truly beautiful; I don't have aquamarine with deep, deep colour except in some opaque nuggets, but what I do have is clear and true and lovely even when it has inclusions.
The first aquamarine bracelet is one of the few that does not have a "sea-name" since I called it "Silent Singing;" however, I'll let you in on a secret; I was thinking of the singing of the sea sirens who lured sailors to their deaths with their beautiful songs, so it is sea-related after all.
I am very fond of the set I made with aquamarine and coin pearls: earrings, necklace, and bracelet. (The bracelet isn't shown here, but you can find it on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website on our page of Aquamarine Bracelets.)Click Aquamarine Earrings for the earrings, and Aquamarine Necklaces for the necklace. They are all quite simple, but integrate the geometric look that is so in style this season.
I have made some aquamarine bracelets without any lampwork beads (for a change), but of course, I made some like the two above as well. Directly above, borosilicate lampwork beads add to the watery look and mysterious feel, and the bracelet above it has lampwork beads from Blue Seraphim lampwork that look great with goldfilled elements with aquamarines.
We've added quite a few new pages of jewelry to the Cluny Grey Jewelry website. One features Apatite Jewelry, and another features our new Prayer Box Necklaces which feature sterling silver prayer boxes as an element in our jewelry. The apatite bracelet above is a favorite of mine (the colour of course!). Until next time, keep beading and making the world beautiful!


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My first wire bracelet

We went with hubby today to a christening (lunch at a restaurant), so I had some wine, had nice food and felt generally pretty nice and cozy. Coming back in the afternoon, hubby started to watch the tennis match between Bagdhadis and the French guy (well, just found out that Bagdhadis is living in France. I thought he was still living in Cyprus. Oh well, one always learns).

So then I retreated to my room and started following an Eni Oken tutorial for a pendant, which I then turned to a bracelet. Simple, full of mistakes, but it's my first of this type. And definitely not my last.

New earrings

This pair was inspired by something way more beatiful than mine, found it on a Russian beading forum. However after the first few twists, mine became something else entirely (and much simpler, lol).


On Monday we have a bank holiday (Green Monday), which means I get to stay home and rest for 3 days, yeppee!!

It's Valentine

I'm not sure how I feel about Valentine. It's something we never used to celebrate in Europe before. Now it's the rave and a lot of money is going into it. We decided with hubby last year to stop 'celebrating' it, as all those bunnies and what not we always bought each other, end up being thrown away after a while anyway. And the Valentine flowers are the most expensive all year around!

At the bookrelay forum, however, I've taken part in a surprise Valentine exchange, and today we opened all our gifts. I got 5 great books from my wishlist, all paranormals, I'm so happy with them!

Here is a pair of earrings I made tonight, it took me only a few minutes to make them. Beading with wire is definitely faster than with seedbeads!

Chatoyancy: Moonstone, Sunstone, and All Mixed Up

I am particularly fond of jewelry that glows or sparkles or glimmers or shimmers...you get the idea. That's why I love jewelry that has chatoyancy or the Schiller Effect (flash or iridescence). You expect flash from rainbow moonstone, but look at the glimmer in this peach moonstone bracelet. It's as though there's is a light sprinkling of glitter in these natural stones. I liked these moonstones so much that I decided to combines them only with one lampwork bead and sterly silver so I wouldn't overpower them. This is listed on the Moonstone Bracelets page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.Above you see what most people think of when moonstone springs to mind: rainbow moonstone, here in a double strand bracelet with lampwork by James Derrick Reeves and lots of sterling silver. A ton of flash glimmers in this rainbow moonstone bracelet, and even the little sterling silver bezel-set cabochon rainbow moonstone charms have flash. I love this one. You can find it on the Rainbow Moonstone Jewelry page.
Ooooooo, sunstone! And this is great sunstone with its wonderful flash and fire. I've also added fire agate nuggets to this triple strand bracelet, and Swarovski copper crystals AB including a large Cosmic Swarovski crystal. This is the bracelet that cannot be ignored! It's on our Sunstone Jewelry page.
I went crazy, picked out some of my favorite colours in gemstones and combined them all together for this Spring themed bracelet that is very colourful to say the least. It will go with about any outfit in your closet. Gemstones include: citrine, amethyst, rhodochrosite, apatite, smoky quartz, blue lace agate, and amazonite. I have a newer page on the website that I've called Unique Gemstone Jewelry because I like gemstone mixtures so much, and I am not always quite sure where to list them. You'll find this bracelet on that page.
I've been busy with commissions and haven't blogged enough, but I remember my New Year's Resolution about updating and will try to get back on track!


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I 'got' the herringbone!

I've been trying my hands at the herringbone weave from Eni Oken's free tutorial, without success and I was pulling my hair in despair. Then I remembered I bought a DVD from Nix' creations, where this particular technique is explained. Was sort of skeptical, but the lightbulb finally went on and I got it! Yayy!
I still need plenty of practice, this piece is by no means a masterpiece, but hey, it's a start!
Btw, the bead is my own earlier creation, from the time I was dabbing my fingers at lampworking!


And here is my first herringbone pair of earrings. I'm using right now cheap material (glass beads and copper wire) until I learn the techniques well enough to be able to advance to silver and *sigh* gold filled wire...















And I managed a second pair as well. The end loops are not the best, but I do like this pair better than the previous one.

Green lariat

I was browsing last night through some beading books, and saw a very nice lariat in Kate Haxell's The Seed Bead Book, and I decided to try to do it.
This morning I woke up very early and started stringing.
This is the result. For a first project with stringing on wire, I like it enough to wear it.

Wire wrapping again

My second wire wrapped jewelry is a pendant, from a free tutorial by Eni Oken. Funny how the picture shows all the mistakes that the naked eye doesn't see so easily *lol*.
I have a long way to go, but these first pieces will be something to look back at while I'm getting better with the wire and the tools. One thing is sure, I definitely have fun making these...

First thoughts on wire wrapping

My starter kit hasn't arrived yet, but hubby bought me from the local hardware store some tools. Last night I had a go! P loops and eye loops are better now, 8 connectors are 'almost there', but I'm still having problems with wrapped loops. And eye loops when they are on both sides of a bead. But it was only my first day so I'm patient!
I've done my first pair of earrings, which I will keep in my 'crafts museum', to go back to again and again when I want to check on my progress :-)

Since I am not posting my first earrings, here is my second pair. Still not very happy with them, but for a complete newbie at working with wire, they could have been worse :) Hope the next ones will become better and better...
I made the earwires as well, it was fun to do them.

TGIF!

Yayy, Friday!
While waiting for my wire wrapping supplies to arrive, I'm dilligently browsing through online forums, tutorial sites and eye candy. I can't wait to try out some of the things I've seen!
I'm totally in awe with Eni Oken's jewelry, and she has some free tutorials as well. Plus the paid one are not expensive at all. What an eye candy her site is!

In the reading department, I'm making my way through the Kate MacAlister Vampire series, and I'm reading now Sex and a Single Vampire, which is the second one after A Girl's Guide to Vampires. A good series for the cold winter evenings, light and fun.

Amethyst, Aquamarine, and Coral, Coral, Coral

First, halloo to the jewelrymakers in Estonia; thanks for looking in on my blog.
The first bracelet is made of chunky, and I do mean chunky nuggets of amethyst and aquamarine. The aquamarine nuggets are rather rough cut, but it only adds to their charm. They were sold to me as aquamarine (I bought them directly from a reputable dealer in China), but I really think that they are probably aquamarine quartz. Anyway, I am crazy about this chunky nugget bracelet, and it looks like a million bucks. It's listed on a new page of the website called Unusual Jewelry Of course, I can't take credit for the lampwork beads; they are the work of master lampworker James Derrick Reeves.I worked with coral as a diversion (I usually do coral for the summer)but got carried away with the blue coral that I had and mixing it with other items. This blue coral necklace I mixed with some great mother of pearl flat beads I have; the flat mother of pearl has a blue tint and a gorgeous nacre; I was quite pleased with the way that it turned out. All three coral necklaces are on the Coral Necklaces page, and pricing is coming soon. But check out my ebay auctions since I think I may put one up for auction, and if I do, it will start at a much lower bid price than it will be on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.
I've been lucky lately in finding good faceted nuggets and these fire agate nuggets are just one example. Babylonian Tiger is fire agate mixed with some quite good lapis lazuli and sunstone. This is on auction on Ebay at a lower beginning bid than the website price.Finally, I like these earwires so much that I included them in the blog today. The little faceted squares at the bottom are a peach-pink moonstone. You can find those on the Moonstone Jewelry page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.

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