To Oxidize or Not To Oxidize???

I've been working with sterling silver for some time now but I only recently learned how to oxidize silver. What a transformation! It really adds depth to the pieces.

Here are a few examples....

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After:



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What's your preference?

Ring Crazy!

Rings are my new obsession!

They are so versatile and relatively easy to make. The beauty of them is that they can be made with sterling silver or artistic wire and you really can't tell the difference!

Here are three affordable rings I made in less than an hour!

Swarovski Crystal Copper Cosmic Ring


Swarovski Meridan Blue Rivoli Ring


Swarovski Volcano Rivoli Ring

RAW Tennis Bracelet

I have always admired the Right Angle Weave Tennis Bracelet at 1 Stop. When Need 2 Bead offered a RAW Tennis Bracelet class, I signed up immediately! They used seed beads and 6mm Swarovski crystals. After I took the class and picked up the technique, I decided to take a stab at making the 1 Stop bracelet. It uses 3mm Tierra Cast Heishi beads as the base and 4mm Swarovski crystals.

I like them both for different reasons.

What do you think?


Seed Bead RAW




Tierra Cast RAW

Egyptian Coil Links Bracelet

Working with metal is fun and exciting because you can do so many things with it! Last week, I took another class at Need 2 Bead to learn how to make the Egyptian Coil. The pattern made is from Laura Pacino and she calls it Lotz of Links. I want the Egyptian Coil to be the focal, which is what I'm focusing on.

The beauty of this link is that you can use a lot of the coils to create a striking bracelet or even necklace.

Rainy Days

Rainy days are good for catching up.  I've been reading up on the Etsy forums and perusing various blogs.  There are a lot of creative people out there!

Last week, I learned how to make a caterpillar bracelet.  The base of the bracelet is a square stitch with cube seed beads.  The cover is made of teardrop seed beads.   It was quite the feat to make.  It took me about four hours to complete it.

Today,  I think I'm going to try a Buckeye caterpillar bracelet.  I bought some scarlet and gray size 8 seed beads that should make a nice variation.

I'll take some pictures of my recently finished pieces soon and post them!