Jewelry by Dawn

This is only a test

2011-08-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

Google doesn't make it easy to transfer one's blog to a new Gmail address. So this is a post testing my attempt at switching my blogs to my new address. Here goes nothing!

Swarovski crystal bracelet and earrings

2011-07-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

These items include a lot of headpin wrapping, which can be a bit tedious. This set is a series of blue shades. I've also done similar items in green, pink, black and white, and red.

Bracelet

Earrings

Wedding jewelry

2011-07-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

I found a design online that I wanted to attempt for my wedding jewelry. Here is the result:

I used Swarovski elements along with filigree findings. This is one of the most intricate pieces I've ever attempted. The crystal beads are called chatons and are placed in a flower frame, folding metal tabs over each chaton. The pearl was glued into the middle, and the whole flower was glued to a filigree silver detail. I'm pleased with how it turned out. There are also matching earrings I'm not quite finished with yet.

Closeup of pearl and crystal chaton detail

Sparkly Swarovski crystal ring

2011-04-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

Another new ring technique for me. This one uses an adjustable ring with a loop on the top to attach beads to. I used 6 mm Swarovski crystals and silver headpins to make the charms. I used one headpin for each bead and created a wire loop at the top of each one. Then I used jump rings to attach the headpins to the ring. It was pretty tricky to get all the beads on, but I think it worked out okay. What do you think?

Olivine, Fuschia, Rose, and Indian Sapphire Swarovski

I tried a second ring with 4 mm Swarovski beads, but it just did not work out. So what to do with 28 wire wrapped head pins with sparkly beads attached? I made some earrings.

Wire wrapped rings

2011-04-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

I've been trying my hand at wire wrapped rings. Here's a few examples.

Jasper bead with 16 gauge copper wire

Side view

Swarovski pearl with bright silver 20 gauge wire

Sodalite with bright silver 20 gauge wire

Chinese agate with brown 26 gauge wire

The rings work best with an 8 or 10 mm round bead and 20 or 22 gauge wire. The other important tool is a mandrel, a tapered wooden stick used to make the round part of the ring. Some of them have markings on them for the different ring sizes, but mine is just plain. It will take a while to refine my technique, but making these rings is pretty quick and fun.

Pink shell child's necklace

2011-03-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've made two versions of this necklace now for little girls around age 4. I used a vibrant pink shell bead with pewter butterflies and flowers.

Full view of necklace

Closeup of flower and butterfly beads

The important thing when making jewelry for kids is to design it so that it can break away easily if it gets snagged on something. I used crimp beads to crimp the ends, and connected to the clasp are jump rings. If the necklace gets caught on something, the jump rings will open but the beads will not fall off the wire. Fixing it is as easy as closing the jump rings or attaching new jump rings.

Copper bead fun

2011-03-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

I got some copper-like beads for Christmas, so I started playing around with them. I started with a bracelet.

I paired them with some Swarovski crystal and a copper-like toggle clasp. After making the bracelet, I created some dangling earrings to match.

I fashioned a few dangling parts with copper flower beads, Swarovski crystal, and Czech crystal and attached them to a bit of chain. Pretty fun!

Czech crystal bracelets

2011-03-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

These are quite fun and sparkly. I sometimes wear them alone or with other bracelets.

Wire wrapping fun

2011-02-02T21:11:00.000-08:00

I've been playing with wire wrapping. Here are a couple of necklaces:

Copper wire with stone beads

Closeup of hook clasp

Brown wire with swirly ceramic beads

Black and clear crystal and glass necklace

2011-02-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

I felt like making something sparkly, so I started playing with black and clear Swarovski crystals and glass beads. Here's the result:

I used an earring finding to make the pendant. Here's a closeup:

I took a wire working class at a local bead wholesale shop and learned how to use sterling silver wire to make a hook clasp. Here is the result:

Swarovski earrings

2011-01-20T21:14:00.000-08:00

One of the websites where I buy beads and findings had some earring kits that looked interesting. Here are the results.

Fireopal Swarovski crystal with gunmetal findings

Tulip shaped Swarovski beads with gunmetal findings

View from underneath the tulip beads

Wine charms galore

2011-01-20T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a few new sets of wine charms. Enjoy!

Czech glass bead projects

2010-11-21T22:16:00.000-08:00

A local bead wholesale shop was having a special on Czech glass beads, so I found some neat ones and made a few new pieces.

The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but these are some fun colorful beads made into a necklace.

These are some incredible Czech glass beads. The striations are just beautiful.

Fun dichroic glass pendants

2010-11-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

Made another trip to Julian this weekend. In between the freezing rain and wine tasting, we stopped at Mountain Beadworks. They were having a special dichroic glass sale. My wonderful boyfriend bought me some neat pendants. I simply attached them to a silver chain, as I didn't want to take away from the pendants. I've designed the necklace so that the pendants are interchangeable.

Dichroic glass pendants

Stone bead extravaganza!

2010-11-21T21:53:00.000-08:00

I've really been into stone beads lately. I can't post some of them, because they are Christmas gifts, but here are a few stone bead projects I've been working on.

I think this is jasper, the additional beads are crystal.

Jasper comes in so many different colors.

The small beads came from the San Diego County fair, the large focal bead matched quite well with them.

I think these beads actually came from Michaels. I like how each of the large beads look different.

The small stone beads and black cube glass beads came from a neat bead store in Julian, CA called Mountain Beadworks. I just happened to have the pendant bead in my collection. Quite a good match.

Closeup of pendant bead

This bracelet includes a new line of antique brass TierraCast beads with some stone beads from the San Diego County Fair. The antique brass really look nice with the earth tone stone beads.

Just a few examples of what I've been working on in the little time I have between work and choir rehearsals. Hope to post a few more soon.

Green and purple multistrand necklace

2010-08-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

These beads came in a set, but the trick was to restring them all and figure out how to add a clasp. Since the individual strands were not very long, I added a chain with a cute flower charm to make the necklace adjustable.

More wine charms

2010-08-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some more charms that I made today.

Set for my friend Sara

Cute little hummingbird

Lilac Swarovski with sterling silver

2010-08-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

This set was a special request for my mom. My dad wanted to give her a gift that would match a specific outfit she has. So I obliged.

This piece features beautiful light purple Swarovski crystals with silver spacers placed on sterling silver chain.

Wood jasper pendant

2010-08-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

This necklace features a polished wood jasper pendant. Brown metallic seed beads, fire-polished yellow glass, and brass/gold spacers finish the piece.

Test post

2010-08-07T23:43:00.001-07:00

Testing my mobile posting skills.

Wine charms

2010-08-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't been making too many things lately (hence the lack of posts) but I have been trying my hand at wine charms. Goes well with my wine drinking habit. Here's a few examples.

Red and clear glass beads with wine glass charm

A cute dog charm

A sand dollar charm for my landlocked friends

Yellow cat's eye, mother of pearl, and a lovely flower charm

Instead of a charm I chose a large glass bead for this one.

As you can see, there's quite a bit of variety, both in colors and charms. These are only a few examples of the many wine charms I've made so far. And I'm sure there will be many more to come.

Turquoise teardrop set

2009-06-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

These are some more beads picked out by my mom. The teardrop turquoise was an interesting shape to work with. I accented them with some turquoise Swarovski and crystal beads. A sterling silver chain completes the necklace.

Purple stone bead bracelet

2009-06-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

These purple stone beads are accented with shades of purple Swarovski. My mom picked out the purple stone beads, and I think they were a good choice!

Swarovski crystal dangle earrings

2009-06-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Yup, playing around with sterling silver chain and Swarovski crystals again! These are some of my favorites.

Red flower bead bracelet

2009-06-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

This one was a special request. I was chatting online with my friend, Sara, and I sent her a picture of these new beads I had gotten. She loved them and requested a bracelet, and here is the result. I paired the fun glass flower beads with some crystal accents and some yellow seed beads. My friend loved it!

Cat's eye and Swarovski necklace

2009-06-17T17:20:00.001-07:00

I made this necklace for a friend to give as a bridesmaid gift. I accented the dark blue cat's eye with blue metallic and crystal Swarovski crystals. I used a sterling silver chain with microcrimps to get the floating effect.

Blue shell bracelet

2008-09-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

These are some fun shell beads. They are quite large and make a fun, funky bracelet. I've also used lime green beads in a similar fashion.

Purple Swarovski earrings

2008-09-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

I found these nice pewter diamond beads at a local store, and thought they would make great earrings. I used lilac Swarovski beads along with a light purplish-pink square glass bead.

Liquid silver multistrand necklace

2008-08-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

This necklace features a fun and beautiful liquid silver bead. I really like the floating look of the cat's eye beads interspersed within the strands.

Purple cat's eye nugget bracelet

2008-08-31T14:16:00.000-07:00

These beads came from an internet site that specializes in all shapes, sizes, and colors of cat's eye beads. They also have tons of Swarovski to match. This bracelet features the cat's eye nugget beads in a deep purple, with beautiful bead caps and turkish spacers. I also used some small squashed donut cat's eyes and Swarovski bicones as accents.

Turquoise bracelet

2008-08-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

This is a relatively simple yet elegant look. This particular turquoise has veins of dark green, which I accented with dark green seed beads. I particularly like the toggle on this one, with its flower shape.

Green stone bracelet

2008-08-31T14:10:00.000-07:00

I just found these beads today and I had to make something right away with them. They are mostly green with hints of blue, and the two different sizes and shapes were kind of fun to work with.

Pewter butterfly bracelet

2008-08-31T14:09:00.001-07:00

They are kind of hard to see in the picture, but this bracelet has the cutest little butterfly beads! I also used faceted cat's eye and glass beads to complete this piece.

Blue Swarovski earrings

2008-08-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

I found these pewter findings at my local bead store. I thought they would make great earrings, and it turns out I was right! I paired them with some blue Swarovski.

More Swarovski chandelier earrings

2008-08-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned that I've tried Swarovski crystal chandelier earrings in every color of the rainbow, and I wasn't kidding!

Swarovski butterfly earrings

2008-08-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

These butterfly shapes are so much fun! They come in all different colors, but these were just the first two colors I tried.

Blue mother-of-pearl bracelet

2008-08-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is one of my absolute favorites! The large beads are mother-of-pearl, and they are accented by smooth opalite and Swarovski crystal.

Cat's eye earrings

2008-08-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a few examples of cat's eye earrings, accented with Swarovski crystal.

Purple necklace set

2008-08-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

This set contains some fun square glass beads. I don't always know what to do with square beads, but this was a fun option. I coordinated the cubes with some squashed donut cat's eye and glass bicones. The necklace is adjustable with an extender chain.

Gray polished stone necklace and bracelet

2008-08-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

I used a gray polished stone for these pieces, accenting with faceted opalite, Swarovski crystal, and gray glass beads.

Brown shell necklace set

2008-08-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

This necklace and bracelet set features large shell or mother-of-pearl like disks accented by pearls.

A little bit of green...

2008-08-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

The bracelet on the left is Chinese agate with emerald Swarovski. On the right is Russian jasper with Swarovski bicones.

Red stone bracelets

2008-08-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of stone bracelets. The left is red jasper and the right is red winter jasper. Both are accented with bead caps and glass beads.

Pink necklace trio

2008-08-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

For all of you pink lovers out there, here's a trio in pink. The first is simply some pink square beads as a focal point with Japanese seed beads for the rest of the necklace. This one is adjustable with a chain on the back. The second is pink cat's eye, again with the Japanese seed beads. The third is an interestingly shaped pink glass bead interspersed with crystal bicones.

Blue Swarovski chandelier earrings

2008-08-25T13:00:00.001-07:00

Here are more examples of Swarovski chandelier earrings. Can you tell I like blue?

Larimar floating necklace

2008-08-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

This necklace features a larimar pendant. It is a stone found in a volcano in the Dominican Republic. I used the floating effect of coordinating Swarovski crystals on sterling silver chain.

Peach glass with pearls

2008-08-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

A warning: these beads are very heavy! Peach glass rounds accented by pearls make up this set. The earrings also have some small jasper rounds that have a lot of detail.

Red shell necklace and bracelet

2008-08-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

This set features a necklace with a floating effect, achieved by crimp beads on black nylon coated wire. I used some neat red shell beads and accented with black and clear glass.

Goldstone set

2008-08-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

These beads are kind of fun. They're goldstone and quite sparkly. They are accented with firepolished crystal and gold seed beads.

Swarovski with sterling silver chain

2008-08-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

These are some of my favorite earrings! I used sterling silver chain with microcrimps for the dangling effect. For sparkle, I used Swarovski crystals.

Swarovski chandelier

2008-08-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some more chandelier earrings. The chandelier parts are a bit more ornate, and the earrings feature Swarovski fireopal crystals on the left, and various blue shades on the right.

Heart bracelets

2008-08-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

I used these little heart links to make some fun bracelets. The top three are joined by Swarovski crystals. The pink one features opaque glass and small jasper beads. The red bracelet has jasper with opaque Swarovski crystals. They are also adjustable for different size wrists.

Study in black and white

2008-08-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

I felt like playing with black and white with these ones. The black beads are onyx, and the white beads are faceted opalite. I tried four different accent colors with each: green crystal, turquoise cat's eye, purple crystal, and pink opaque glass. The toggles for the opalite bracelets are silver, and the toggles for the onyx are gunmetal.

Flower bead bracelets and earrings

2008-08-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute little flower beads, both in yellow and blue. They are accented by faceted cat's eye beads and coordinating Japanese seed beads.

Green magnesite set

2008-08-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

I found these stones at a local bead wholesaler. The bright green just jumped out at me! The accent beads are lime green glass and tiny man-made pearls. The bead caps on the necklace and earrings are one of my favorite findings!

Swarovski crystal chandelier earrings

2008-08-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my first attempts at chandelier earrings from a couple of years ago. I've made these in pretty much every color of the rainbow.

I'm online!

2008-08-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to get pics of my jewelry online for a while now, and so, here they are! I'm just getting started, and it will probably take me a little while to get some new pieces up here, so bear with me! I'll post a slideshow to start, and hopefully add an index in the future, once I figure this thing out. If you have any questions about any of the pieces you see here, or if you would like a custom piece, feel free to ask.

Enjoy!