Swan clasps, and "S" clasps and hooks! Oh my!

Michael has been on a mission making swan clasps, "S" clasps, and hooks so that I can finish some necklaces that I made.


Designing and making jewelry makes us more aware of jewelry on TV, in the movies and in magazines. It's not unusual for us to be watching a movie and one of us turn to the other and say "Wow! Did you see those earrings? (or necklace? or bracelet?)" And the other one says.. "Yeah! REALLY nice!" It makes me laugh that we are both so conscious of the jewelry as it goes by. Plot? We may miss it, but jewelry? Never!!!

There is a viewer who makes jewelry for Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, so I always have to check every morning before I go to work, to see what she has on that day. Pretty stuff!

Colors this spring seem to be more vibrant than usual. Although pastels are always "in", they seem to have a little more punch this spring.

Thinking vibrant - I found some beautiful round, fire opal Swarovski crystals for a simple, elegant, FANTASTIC necklace! A picture never does justice to Swarovski crystals - especially ones this size. I can picture this on someone with a deep tan this summer. Wow!



So many ideas! So little time! *sigh*

Have a great day!
jane

Rrrrrrrrrrrring!

Silver rings!!!!! Michael has been playing in the silver again! This is BEAUTIFUL! I love the things he makes and this one is one of my favorites!! Hand-forged silver, hammered, soldered... soooooo pretty!
SO! Of course while Michael was making rings, I snagged a few for some really pretty earrings. I added a couple of deep blue lampwork beads (made by Ray Cooper) to this pair.


Cane glass. Furnace beads. The color of cotton candy. This bracelet is made from artisan made cane glass beads (also called furnace glass beads).The beads are handmade by pulling molten glass into long canes. The glass is then cut into beads. The beads are smoothed, annealed and tumbled to a bright polish. You can clearly see the difference between these handmade beads and the "factory-made" beads. These REALLY sparkle.

I've been saving these for something special. And this is very special. Of course, there are earrings and a necklace to match. Shades of pink - and pretty silver. What do you think? Pretty?

Well, time to get moving. We're thinking of going to a bead show in Cherry Hill, NJ today for some "staples" - components like headpins, etc. At least, that the goal. BUT... I'll let you know if we find anything pretty that we just can't live without! ;)

Have a great weekend!
jane

I'm in the mood for...

...orange.

I've been having a great time with the Carnelian that we bought at the bead show. I made the necklace and earrings to match.

The bead caps are Thai silver - 99.5% pure silver (as opposed to Sterling which is 92.5% silver) and the earwires are unique and beautiful!

The necklace uses the same Thai bead caps and a medium weight, lovely sterling silver chain. The clasp (which you can't see here) is a hand-made sterling swan clasp.

For the bracelet, I left the Carnelian plain and added some absolutely gorgeous knobby sterling silver beads.


I'm so happy with these! I hope you like them, too!

Have a great day!
jane

Orange and Purple and MORE! Oh my!

Michael and I went to a bead show yesterday. What fun! We decided that this time we were going to focus on getting a few really spectacular things - things that we really loved. We decided that if we buy things that we love working with - love looking at - love wearing (Ok... mainly me. Michael's bead wardrobe is a little limited.), chances are someone else would love them too. Good choice? We hope so!

So... what did we find????

I found some exquisite clear faceted crystal briolettes that are HUGE! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet. I'd love to do something "bridey", but I'm just not sure. I'll have to look at them a while and see.

Michael saw some Amethyst that caught his eye - BEAUTIFUL! By the time we got home, I had an idea for a bracelet that I wanted to make with them. Maybe we can get it up on Etsy tomorrow.

Then there were some 14mm round, faceted Citrine beads that virtually leaped from the table into my hands! I tried to put them down, but they refused to leave me. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!) What could I do but buy them. They're not the standard yellow Citrine that I'm used to seeing. They are very special. The picture is a little strange with the light shining through the facets. The string appears zig-zaggy. But the beads are GORGEOUS!

The last "find" were some beautiful round 16mm Carnelian beads - again, very pretty - more unusual than what I'm used to finding. I do have some ideas for them, so you may see them here soon. So pretty! SO pretty!

Have a great day!

jane

Ready! Set! Go!

W E L C O M E !

This is the official beginning of the Thunder-Moon blog.

:::: applause applause ::::

We hope you'll come along with us on our journey to

who knows where!

Jane and Michael