Custom Design - Beach Baby

This necklace/bracelet set is named Beach Baby, because it so evokes the sea and all things beach, from the colors to the stones, from the silver dolphin beads, to the pearls, which come from the ocean. It was commissioned by a client who loves the beach, who loves dolphins, and who wanted a bit of that feel to wear as jewelry.

The necklace and bracelet use basically the same findings: nuggets of apatite (the teal-colored stones) and amazonite (all the rest; amazonite naturally has a color range of blues, greens, whites and browns), sky blue and silver Czech beads, rice fresh water pearls, nautical-themed Bali silver toggles, and three types of dolphins in sterling silver. The neckace has a larger, curled dolphin and two tiny jumping dolphins, as in the detail photo.

The bracelet has a sterling dolphin puff focal bead, and they each have little drops made of the tiny jumping dolphins and Czech glass beads.

What a pleasure it was to create this set -- both the creation and the interaction with our client.

If you are interested in something like it, drop us a line using the contact form at: www.adornmejewelry.net.

Bali Belles

These striking, red carnelian stones really have a great deep red-orange glow. The large (12mm) rounds look lovely with heavily antiqued Bali silver bead caps on top. They're very swingy and feel substantial, but not too heavy.

They are hanging from sterling silver ear wires and are held up by sterling, beaded headpins.

This photo of them with a quarter gives a sense of scale (Canadian quarters are the same size as American quarters). They are just over 1 1/4" long, including the ear wires, and they sell for $20.00, plus a reasonable shipping fee. They can be purchased by using the contact form at www.adornmejewelry.net.

Custom Design - Pacifica

This set is named after the ever-changing moods of the Pacific Ocean: the light blue (amazonite nuggets) for warm, calm days -- those summer days where the heat and the cool breeze almost seem dreamlike together. Then the dark teal (apatite nuggets) for colder, less calm days, where the water is choppy and it looks cold. Finally, the greenish (butter jade nuggets) for the roiling, angry sea the Pacific was after the 2006 tsunami. It was green. A shade of green I had never seen before.

Our client had an 8-strand neckace of gorgeous little freshwater pearls -- very tiny. It was given her by her husband and it had been too small for years, so she wasn't able to wear it and wanted to. She wrote me asking if the pearls could be re-strung, making the necklace longer. I offered her the option of adding stones to it to add some interest. She liked that idea and said she wanted stone nuggets water colors, and that she'd also like the accent of dragonflies here and there. I sent her photos of the various nuggets, telling her which ones I felt would work best, and she approved them.

So, the necklace is now 36" long, and has side details of the various nuggets at differing heights, as well as small 2mm silver beads, and on one side, little bali silver dragonflies. It also has a lovely little drop at the back toggle clasp, where hangs a pearl and one nugget of each color -- with a top drilled apatite at the bottom, sharing space with a dragonfly.

It was evident that there was enough pearls left for either one more strand or a matching three-strand bracelet and earrings. She liked the second option, so a bracelet and earrings were created.

The bracelet is really a miniature of the necklace in many ways, down to the matching bali silver toggle closure and the drop hanging from said closure, as you can see from the bracelet close-up.

Our client's preferred earring length is between 1 and 1 1/2 inches from the drop, and they use, a bit differently, all of the elements of the necklace and bracelet. They are suspended from sterling ear wires.

Of course, it's always great fun when a client who knows what she wants gives free rein in the creation of a piece, or set, of jewelry. This set was so very satisfying to create, and that she loves it so much is the ultimate goal and pleasure for this jewelry designer.

Summer Solstice - a set.

This next piece is actually a set. It's a bracelet and earrings in the lovely summer colors of chartreuse and turquoise.

Large 20mm ovals of chartreuse howlite alternate with tiny silver beads and 10mm matrix chalk turquoise ovals make up this matching bracelet and earring set.

The bracelet has petite but effective bali silver a toggle closure, and hanging from it a little silver dragonfly, two small silver beads and a top-drilled AB swarovski crystal. It is adorned with bali beads at the ends. The howlite is a true chartreuse green and the chalk turquoise has a nice bronzey matrix.

The earrings really match the bracelet exactly -- down to being finished at the bottoms with the same little antiqued silver dragonflies that set off the bracelet. Here's a close-up of them.

The bracelet is 9.5 inches long and the earrings, from the drop are 2 inches long. The set sells for $51.50.