Mermaid's Treasure

See, this is what happens when I have lots of extra pieces and parts lying around.  The shells are from a strand that broke a long time ago, the pearls from an old bracelet I no longer wear.  The gems, however, are a bit more unique.  All but the red one came from the Jewel Princess book series.  All of the books came with either a necklace, bracelet, or ring with the title princess' jewel.  I think the only part I actually purchased recently was the red crystal. 
I have to admit, stringing the shells was a monumental pain in the rear.  I like the end result though.  It strikes me as something a little girl in princess mode would wear.  It is a bit on the heavy side, since I usually don't put that many crystals on one necklace. 

Cheers,
IlmareYavanna

Tula

As you can see from the picture, this is one that I no longer have.  Tula now resides in Massachusetts, with my awesome cousin of the same name.  Actually, I named the piece for her after I found out she absolutely adored it.  Tula is made from white seed beads, pale green seed beads, green crystals, and a silver charm.  Tula is also one of my first pieces. 

Damara

One of my few sets of earrings.  Damara had been in my head for a while; I just wasn't sure how to go about crafting her.  Then I found these silver-like leaves at the craft store.  I basically used two full sets of these leaves, and placed the fairy charm toward the back.  The idea is that the fairy darts in and out based on the wearer's movement.  The one on the right is fanned out so one can see the fairy.
This is by far my students' favorite set of earrings.  I will definitely make more of these if I ever find leaves either identical or very similar  to the ones above. 

Aurora

Aurora is one of  the pieces I gave away (hence the lack of display).  I mean for the colors to resemble the Northern Lights, with pale blue, green, pink, purple, and white.  The crystals were dark blue, with two lapis beads flanking the main crystal.  I might recreate this one at some point.  I know I have the materials to do so, and I was rather fond of it.  I was half considering making a circlet to match it.  Not with a centerpiece nearly as big, but along the same color lines. 

Hestia

I had a lot of fun with this one.  It was originally strung out very similarly to Dione, but I later decided it would look better as a memory wire necklace.  I was surprised how comfortable the stones are.  I thought they would poke my neck something horrible...they don't at all.  The stones are (in no particular order) carnelian, citrine, gold pearls, garnet, goldstone, and strawberry quartz.  The pendant is bronze tone with enamel. 

Oh.  Should probably make a quick note of this...some of my photos will not be on the necklace mount you see above.  Some will just be on a table.  This is because I have given away several of my pieces prior to getting this stand.  The pictures aren't bad; it's just that the necklace display shows how they would actually drape on a person. 

Cheers!
IlmareYavanna

Dione

Yes, I do sometimes work with mediums other than memory wire.  Dione is nearly all pearls and river shell, with the pendant being silver with blue crystals.  You can't see them, but the clasp of the necklace is secured to a pair of blue teardrop shaped agate beads.  I am somewhat tempted to restring this one, as I now know what I am doing with crimp beads.  If you haven't used those, give them a shot.  Less mess than glue, and just as strong.  Anyhow, Dione came about because I had a ton of blue river shell beads, and no idea how to use them.  Then I found the pendant lurking in one of my jewelery boxes.  I figured, I have pearls and shell...why not go for a sea theme? 

Cheers,
IlmareYavanna

Echo

Echo is yet another result of me experimenting with leftover pieces and parts.  Normally, my memory wire necklaces are pretty straightforward.  This time, I decided to use a bit of chain I had from a necklace I no longer wear.  Waste not, want not, right?  The result was Echo.  Since the Echo of Greek mythology was an Oread (mountain nymph) I tried to go with a "rocky" color pattern: silver, light blue, and white seed beads with labradorite chips.  Contrary to appearances, Echo isn't heavy at all, and is really quite comfortable to wear.  Not bad for a whim!

Cheers,
IlmareYavanna

Rose

I called this one Rose, not only for the centerpiece, but also for the general color scheme.  This one did take a bit longer to put together, simply because the color pattern was a little more intricate than what I normally do.  I also used some leftover freshwater pearls from another project to accent the necklace.  Rose might turn out to be a unique necklace, as I have not seen this particular pendant again.  I guess that's what I get for shopping sales. 

That said, it's still a pretty piece.  My students have frequently commented that they like Rose a lot.  They also seemed a bit surprised that their nerdy science teacher makes jewelery.  Come on, kids...I can't devote all of my time to science-y stuff. 

Here We Go...

l try to post one of my pieces every few days.  Here is one of the first necklaces I made.  I decided to call her Matoaka.  Here she is:

I purchased the main pendant, as well as the seed beads and crystals surrounding it.  The green adventurine leaves on either side of the pendant I got years ago (I think they were part of a large strand of the same thing), and these two were the last ones left.  Believe it or not, the golden leaves were actually a set of earrings that I re-purposed for the necklace.  This basically means that this particular necklace is a one-off piece.  I could probably create something similar, but the gold leaves would not be the same. 

Cheers!
IlmareYavanna

Pretty Things Happen When I Get Bored

I've been making jewelery for a while, usually when I get bored or the mood takes me.  I've made everything from necklaces (long and memory wire), bracelets, anklets, earrings and circlets.  Rings, well, let's just say that the first and only time I attempted a ring ended with me bleeding and cussing like a pirate.
What's my style?  Hmm...difficult to say.  I get inspiration from a lot of sources, from books to paintings to movies to history.  I guess the closest one could get to my style is Fantasy-Medieval-Elven.  I know, as if that helped.
I'm mainly self-taught, though I'm not above watching the occasional YouTube video to learn a technique I'm not familiar with.  I mostly do beading, no real metal shaping or gemstone faceting (both of those endeavors led the the same thing as rings).  One thing I am going to try is to restring some of my old circlets, the ones I made with copper or steel wire.  In retrospect, not a good idea to use those materials...they stretch  and eventually break. 
I tend to only make one of each design at a time, but I do photograph my stuff in case I ever need to recreate it.  Or rather, my fiance take the photos, as I'm next to useless with a camera.
Honestly, it's also stress relief for me.  My day job is non-stop, and just sitting down and making something pretty helps me, even if I never wear it.  And honestly, I don't wear a lot of my stuff.  When it comes down to it, I'd rather give my pieces away to someone who really likes them than have them sit around my house.  Besides, creating beauty is its own reward.

Cheers,
IlmareYavanna