Searching Etsy with PicClick

I've been fortunate enough to have had some items listed in a few cleverly curated treasuries. Then someone asked me what the heck are Etsy treasuries?  These are theme based and time limited selections by sellers to promote items. Some make it to Etsy's front page like the one my copper wire wrapped turquoise pendant ended up in (it just sold too!).

How Chanel made their Venetian Bib Necklace

A reader told me she is working on her first bib necklace after she read some tutorials I wrote about (see links at the end) - way to go! Bib necklaces are indeed a hot trend and not just by handmade enthusiasts. Chanel designed this spectacular Venetian Bib Necklace for their 2009/2010 Cruise collection.

The  neckpiece is made from what are known as plastrons which I learned from Laura Sweet's blog post The Making of Chanel's New Venetian Bib Necklace. That is an interesting name because a plastron is actually the flat (underside) part of a turtle or tortoise shell. I understood why when I saw the pictures of the resin work.

Gorgeous Free Woven Wire Tutorials from Wickwire Jewelry

Michigan based Nancy Wickman is one lucky artisan. Not only is she blessed with wire working talent, she was able to retire from her civil service job a couple of years ago to focus on her jewelry business, called Wickwire Jewelry. She has two stores on  Artfire and 1000 Markets. She also teaches and recently shared these awesome wire weaving tutorials.

Chunky Bling's Interchangeable Watch Giveaway

Chunkybling.com was started up by a husband and wife team, now based in Utah. Laurel is the one who does the designs while Doug is in charge of marketing.  He contacted me not long ago and asked if I would do a giveaway on my blog to help promote their particular line of chunky jewelry. Easy answer!

Mad Men Inspired Retro Housewife jewelry

I confess I have never seen the much acclaimed tv drama series Mad Men which is set in the 1960's. But after seeing the attention to period detail the set and costume designers paid, I am going to watch! Check out the fashion files as well as the videos on the costumes as well as hair and makeup.

Right on cue with the series' success is New York based Lizzie Fortunato Jewels' Fall 2010 Mad Men inspired collection. Their Look Book shows how much fun they had not just designing the jewelry but plotting the photo shoot - note the ashtray in one of the pictures below.

Learn to needle tat jewelry with Totus Mel

When I wrote about the tatted jewelry of Totus Mel aka as Pamela, a lot of people were amazed with her work. Her signature tatted masks are just stunning and her ankle corsets were flattering. She is also a very generous artisan. I included one of her tutorials in my past post How to make tatted jewelry. 

Pamela does not use a tatting shuttle. She tats with a needle. To help us get started, she has great beginner tutorial called Learn Needle Tatting with My Flower Pendant.

My Purple Dancer Earrings in a Most Romantic and Pink Treasury

Doing an Etsy treasury requires inspiration and creativity.  It always amazes me what artisans come up with.  It's a pleasure to view treasures for that reason. The STOP.think.ROMANTIC.pink treasury by jewelry artisan Sommarvinter of Australia was created when she was "daydreaming of a softer world". She chose such gentle hues of pink from an array of art and accessories - even the steampunk piece looks soft.

Tithi Kutchamuch's "gutsy" Companion Parrot Necklace

Making jewelry is an art form. You can find inspiration in anything and you can interpret your feelings and ideas in any way you want. Remember too, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

So it's not surprising the Dezeen blog reactions to Tithi Kutchamuch's Companion Parrot necklace with its skull and bird entrails charms varied from "Disturbing" to "Tithi - you're nuts. Good nuts." and "This is beyond awesome". I especially liked the witty comment, "It takes guts to do a project like this."

Earring Dangle Variations

Earrings are small jewelry items. There are far less components when compared to necklaces and bracelets but they can be just as varied in their designs. You can see what I mean with these three workshop and beading party designs. Carol varied her bead selection with frosted leaf beads from Debbie's (Widget's Beads) collection.

How to Make a Paper Sushi Pendant and Cocktail Ring

Like paper jewelry? Here are two very clever tutorials to try.

The sea anemone cocktail ring tutorial from Paper Beads is perfect for those who already like big, fun and funky cha-cha rings. The video tutorial shows the different types of ring blanks you can use for this project. Wire wrapping at the base makes the spikes stand up.

The ring will look great with different colored paper beads. Make them smaller if you don't like such high rings or even substitute with glass beads if paper beads are not your thing.

Warrior Jewelry for Men and Women

Did you know the Spring 2010 trend is the warrior fashion in clothing and accessories? These are inspired by military wear from ancient civilisations. Fashionising.com identified the key elements as  metal plating (think armor), tunics especially leather, chain maille inspirations and tribal motifs.

Cool!  I already enjoy doing the last two in jewelry design.  So here is a look at some inspirational designs on the warrior theme - it is always fun to see how different designers tackle the same theme.

How to Debur Ear Wires

Alas, I omitted something important in the recent post about how to make elven or elvish earrings. I have amended my post to add the deburring step. The wires going through ear holes must be deburred. There are two ways and different types of tools you can use.

How to Make Elven or Elvish ear wires

Every time I see or make elven or elvish ear wires, I am reminded of the movie Lord of the Rings. There were several elvish ears on display! This style of ear wires is popular because they are different. They are very easy to make - I am sure many readers have already done so. Shown here is a pair I made for myself.

ArtBead's Beauty of Spring Design Partner Gallery

Remember my last ArtBeads post featuring twisted flower designs? Well, their Beauty of Spring design gallery from many of their blogging partners is now out on Facebook including the two I did. There are 123 pictures to inspire so do check it out! This is not a complete gallery as they are still uploading.

Beaded Wire Wrapped Flatware Inspirations

Have you come across wire wrapped flatware?  It's a great way to customize all kinds of flatware with wire and beads to make them unique.

If you have no idea what I mean, then check out these awesome designs! They sure add pizazz to utilitarian cutlery. But there is a small price to pay - you are best off carefully wiping clean or hand washing them. The dish washer is not recommended!

My favorite is this dessert spoon set from wowimports.com shown on the right. Simple but elegant.

Mistress Jewelry - Then and Now

The unfortunate public saga of Tiger Woods' marital transgressions recently sank to a new low. Did you know Howard "Shock Jock" Stern hosted a Best Mistress Pageant earlier this week? The prizes included $100,000  and this beautiful 3.5 total carat weight black diamond ring by Phildelphia jeweler Steven Singer.

Sunset Mother of Pearl and Copper Cord Necklace

When Sabrina designs jewelry, she invariably goes for something unique. She brought in to one of our workshops, this large mother of pearl disc which had sunset hues. The orange color was the perfect match for the antiqued copper findings she eventually chose. But look what she did with them.

More Anthropologie- Inspired Necklace Tutorials

Many people just love the look of Anthropologie necklaces and have gone on to make their own versions to wear. I have found a few more tutorials.

First up is Tatertots and Jello's Anthropologie inspired nautical necklace. The combination of thick rope with sparkling accents is awesome!  Use proper cord ends for the ends if you have them. If not, follow her suggestion on how to finish with wire and bead cones.

Jewelry on Babies Photo Shoot by Elisabeth Hoff

Ask any one in the ad industry and they will tell you adding babies or small children in commercials or print ads works well. Ask any actor and they will admit it's tough to compete if they have to act with these scene stealers.

"Is that pensive enough for you?"

So after the Jewelry for Women on Men photoshoot post when some readers might have hyperventilated while reading it, the jewelry on babies photoshoot would surely bring out the oohs and aahs as they showcase bling.  I couldn't resist adding the captions.

Princess Diana's Swan Lake Necklace and Inspiration

Image from ArtFixDaily

There is something about pearls and diamonds which appeals. This classic combination has been used for centuries. One lovely example is Princess Diana's Swan Lake parure.

In 1997, she wore the necklace to a Royal Albert Hall ballet (and hence the name) which turned out to be one of her last public engagements before her death three months later. Click on the link above to see the necklace on her.

How to Make Twisted Wire Tree Sculpture Tutorials

Botanical Inspirations
2 of 2
Twisting wire can easily be scaled up to make trees with little beads or even gemstone chips at the end for leaves. Instructables.com actually has two tutorials, each of which approaches the process literally from different directions.

Artbeads' Beauty of Spring Challenge

Botanical Inspirations
Part 1 of 2
Around the time Artbeads let their blogging partners know the next "challenge" is about the beauty of spring, I had just written the post about how to make French and Victorian beaded flowers. Well, I thought, that was easy (famous last words). I'll just make twisted wire beaded flower jewelry. I had fun going through their Swarovski crystal bead section.

How to Make Hair Fascinators

Have you ever wondered what else to make besides necklaces, bracelets, anklets and rings? As a way to  use up beads and to extend your creativity. Then hair fascinators may be your next project!

Fascinators used to be light scarves worn over the head. Today, they are once again fashionable but completely evolved as glamorous hair jewelry. The trendsetting new Duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton also wears them and she has increased the popularity of fascinators.

Picture Source

Andalusite and Chiastolite Gemstones in Jewelry

Andalusite is a gemstone named after Andalusia in Spain where it was first found. A lovely type of andalusite is the opaque form called chiastolite. The natural dark carbon inclusions form a checkerboard pattern. When the stone is cut just right, you can see why it is also known as the cross stone.

The coiled wire pendant necklace is a recent Life Collection addition to my Etsy store where 100% of the net proceeds goes to cancer research.

Fluorite and Pearl Elven Earrings

Fluorite is a lovely gemstone and even prettier when it comes in greens and purples. Jillian designed this awesome pair of elven style earrings using fluorite chips. The pearl dangle at the end of each earring was the "icing" on this scrumptious gemstone design.

Review : New Metal Clay Artist Magazine

One of the chief joys I get out of jewelry making is the sheer number of techniques out there to explore. There is no reason to be jaded! One I hanker to get into is metal clay work. So when Margaret, the senior editor of a new magazine publication called Metal Clay Artist contacted me through Jewelrygeeks (social media site for jewelry artisans) and asked if I would review issue 2, I naturally agreed!

How to make a water bracelet for kids tutorial

Playful Inspirations
Part 3 of 3
It might not be the same for some of you but in my neck of the woods, it's March Break. We're nearly half way through the 2 week school break. If you have younger children, this might be a good time to find extra crafts for them to do. Two sizes of clear plastic tubing, seed beads and sparkles make the coolest bracelets for budding fashionistas.

The Water Necklace Photoshoot by Aaron McPolin

Playful Inspirations
Part 2 of 3
Fashion photographers can be very creative. Take Aaron McPolin's photoshoot entitled "Which Witch" for example. Some of his pictures from his project shows a model wearing a water spray necklace!! Before you peek further down this post, have a guess how he did it.

Etsy Project Embrace - A united front against cancer

It's funny how things turn out. I started the new year by picking a cause to support via my jewelry making. I chose to support cancer research because the disease is so prevalent. The statistics are not good - 1 in 3 of us will develop cancer some time in our lives.  Then about a month later, my good friend who lives far away told me the devastating news - she has ovarian cancer.

Treasury West : Passages

Childhood Toy and Game Inspired Jewelry and Tutorials

Playful Inspirations
Part 1 of 3
Spirograph
Do you remember toys from your childhood?  I do. One that stood out in my memory was the spirograph where you got to use plastic geared templates to draw geometric patterns. The two French accessory designers and architects of MIETTE created some awesome spirograph inspired jewelry.

They are amazing. The Spiro Collection is but one of many outstanding geometric and 3D based designs. Check out the store here. Via

Curtain Rope Necklace Tutorial

Well, my favorite DIY fashionista has done it again with her rope necklace tutorial. Love Maegan took ready made curtain rope ties and ribbon and turned them into a fabulous statement necklace. The route to a good design can be hard or easy. It couldn't be easier or more stunning than this. Not to mention cheaper too.

Too Precious to Wear : Red and Pink Coral May Soon Be Trade Protected

We are all aware of the international trade restrictions on vulnerable wild animals and plants to ensure their survival. While ivory easily comes to our minds as a material we shouldn't use, precious red (and pink) coral may not.

These deep water and slow growing corals fished for centuries as a jewelry component and for home decor are now facing enormous threats from pollution, rising sea temperatures and from overfishing.

Historical jewelry at the 82nd Academy Awards

For the second straight year, many of the A-listers who attended the Academy Awards wore no necklaces. But they did sparkle in other ways especially their ears and their hair. Diamonds were hugely popular.

My favorites of all the red carpet jewelry were the real historical pieces from Fred Leighton - who specialize in gorgeous vintage jewelry. British actress Carey Mulligan, the Best Actress nominee had the evening's most stunning earrings -a spectacular 19th century cascading diamond earrings which only recently came into the Fred Leighton collection.

How to Make Hoop Earrings Tutorial Links

Today's collection is much hoopla about hoop earrings! There are so many ways to make them. So pick one, or more! You can make them from scratch or use hoop findings or beading wire. Some of the videos do repeat the steps but each artisan has different tips to offer.

Hoops as ear wires
Wanda over at the Making Beaded Jewelry site has a super set of hoop earrings tutorials. One which stood out is her chocolate pearl hoops - you'll have to scroll down a bit to get to it.

My design is in the Touch of Green Treasury

My thanks to Carol over at the Designingit store on Etsy twice over. Firstly, she graciously included me in another treasury, Touch of Green and secondly for having such keen eyesight! She picked the niobium or hypoallergenic earrings from my store. They were essentially a purple and clear crystal pair but the tiny seed beads I used in between were the rainbow or aurora borealis (AB) kind with flashes of green which my camera caught.

A new Agatha Christie mystery - missing jewelry found in old trunk

Do you like whodunits? I do and one of the first mystery authors I read when I was younger was Agatha Christie (1890-1976). I also enjoy the dramatized Poirot and Miss Marple series. Long after her death, there is another Agatha Christie mystery.

One fan, Jennifer Grant, purchased an old trunk auctioned at the estate sale of Christie's only daughter Rosalind Hicks back in 2006.  The trunk bore the initials of Christie's mother, Clara Margaret Miller.

Bracelet makeovers

Making your own jewelry means never having to say you're sorry!  When you get tired of a design or you changed your mind about the choice of clasp, you can easily undo the piece and do a jewelry makeover. That's what Erica did with her two designs here. She had made the bracelets at a previous beading party.

More Easy Chain Jewelry Tutorials

The highly creative folks at Beads Unlimited (UK) have been at it again. Here are three easy chain jewelry tutorials to add to the previous collection of tutorials, How to make different kinds of chain jewelry.

Swarovski Right Angle Weave Pendant
We can never get enough of Swarovski crystals, right? Well here is another sparkler sure to please.  The right angle weave pendant tutorial is great  for beginners who have never done this bead weaving technique before. It's also an excellent way to use up your odd colors of crystals. I like the way they added the chains to the design.

Two ways to wear pearls you never knew about

Sometime ago, I wrote a post about the gemstones in skin care fad. Crushed pearls were used by Imperial Chinese women for centuries as a pigment and for its anti-aging properties (acts like a sunblock).

Lady Gaga, the singer and performance artiste skipped the pulverizing step and just glued pearl beads all over her face and her body when she performed at the amFAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research)annual gala last month. With white skin makeup, white pearl encrusted bikini jacket, hats and boots, she was a pearl wannabee in the flesh. I wonder if she used water soluble glue for easy removal?

Origami Heart Earring Tutorial

Jo from the Chubby Hobby blog shared this awesome tutorial on how to make origami heart earrings. If you're wondering about paper jewelry, they are fine so long as you protect them. Jo used polyurethane.

Muranero - African art in Murano glass

When you create, you put something of yourself in that design. And so it is with Moulaye Niang, an extraordinary lamp worker who creates African art in Murano glass. Born in Dakar, Senegal, Moulaye now makes distinctive glass beads in Murano, Venice where he manages to evoke the colours and the atmosphere of Africa in his chosen art form. He calls his work, Muranero - a blend of Murano and nero which is Italian for black.

Evie's Tool Emporium $20 gift certificate winner

When I posted Michelle's tool certificate giveaway from Evie's Tool Emporium last week, I thought I was writing a giveaway post. I was wrong! Judging from all the tool lust comments, that had to be a tool porn post!

Spike Necklace Tutorial and Focal Inspirations

PS I Made It has done it again! After her hair roller necklace tutorial, she has come up with a spike necklace tutorial made from.....coffee stir sticks! The maroon Dunkin' Donuts sticks make for a dramatic contrast with the black ribbons.  A stunning and fun conversational piece for sure.

However, this design also shows "good bones". The basic focal structure is inspirational. You can do something similar with beading, wire, or fan or spike components like the gemstone ones we have in our workshops.

Quotation Jewelry by Victoria Contreras

I have seen many jewelry designs which include words like "Inspire", "Dream", "Love" and so on. But a whole sentence? Just check out the amazing quotation jewelry by Spanish artisan Victoria Contreras Flores. The acrylic and metal chain pieces from her Words Collection are visually stunning and perfect for literature fans.

How to Make St Patrick's Day Shamrock and Lucky Clover Jewelry Tutorials

It's March already, begorra! Time to check your wardrobe and your jewelry box for something green to wear on St Patrick's Day on March 17. Better yet, make yourself some shamrock  jewelry.

The shamrock is actually a 3-leaf clover of the Trifolium species. The ancient druids in Ireland believed 3 was a mystical number and regarded the plant as sacred. There doesn't appear to be much evidence for the story of how St Patrick referred the three leaves to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit of the Holy Trinity.