Trying something

A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to try making a necklace for myself. Nothing complicated, just something simple, long and sparkly. I've tried my hand at jewelry making before, but I always shy away from projects that require expensive supplies and tools.

I love smoky quartz, so I bought some nice big, round, faceted beads on Etsy, as well as 3' of delicate gold chain.

Today I found some gold plated eye pins and a set of tiny jeweler's tools at Michael's. I couldn't wait to try them out.

It's far from perfect, but I really like how it turned out. A little fancy, yet a little quirky with the beads spaced unevenly. No need for a clasp. Just right!

And just how I imagined it. I think it'll look nice with the outfit I'm assembling to wear to my brother's wedding. That smoky quartz is a winner.

Wrist corsages

Tonight I'm suffering from a bit of insomnia, so instead of browsing the Internet for who-knows-what, I'm going to show you what I've been working on.



My little brother is getting married in about 3 weeks. He and his sweet fiance kindly asked if I'd be willing to help out with a few things. They wanted some wrist corsages made for the sisters, mothers, and grandmothers that coordinate with their wedding colors- white/pearl, ivory, moss green, gold and gray. Pretty, huh?



I had to look up how to make ribbon flowers, then went kinda crazy and tried out a bunch. They both liked the variety of styles, so I put together this prototype to see how they liked the results. Both were pleased so I've been making dozens of tiny ribbon roses, "daisies", rose buds and leaves when I have a spare minute here and there.



The flowers and leaves are adhered to an ivory felt oval with hot glue, and a lovely dove gray ribbon will tie the corsage to the wrist.


I've also been asked to make two somewhat matching ribbon headbands for the flower girls to wear, as well as the ring bearer pillow. I'm so glad they've asked me to help out with such special details of their important day! These projects have me so excited that it's becoming very hard not to ignore the other projects that need my attention.