Snakes! Did It Have to Be Snakes?

Perpetual Motion Necklace

Free Fall Necklace

Charisma Necklace

Although they are getting harder and harder to find, I recently bought a large lot of tangled vintage chains at a very good price. There were several delicate snake chains in the group (not fun to untangle!)  and I immediately made three new necklaces using them. I have had a group of glass pony beads and large hole metal beads that just didn't work in my usual creations where I insert eye pins into beads and connect them together with jump rings. But when all the beads in the necklace slide freely on the chain, it gives the piece a modern, industrial look I like. I think I've overcome my fear of snake (chains). 

Trade Winds Necklace

Trade Winds Necklace

Alice in Wonderland Dangle Earrings

Alice in Wonderland Dangle Earrings

These delicate dangle earrings (made from vintage glass beads) are perfect for tea parties with Mad Hatters! And maybe the Queen will be so impressed, she'll let you keep your head :)

Bella Bead Jewelry ~ ETT SOTW (Etsy Twitter Team Shop of the Week)

The new ETT SOTW is Bella Bead Jewelry, where you can find handcrafted glass beads and completed jewelry made from them! They are created by proprietor Linda Lawrence, who is an elementary school art teacher that "plays with fire by night!" Many things inspire Linda in her bead and jewelry-making including her students. "The students I teach are a huge influence on me. I adore children. They are not complicated and are so free and open generally".

Fun Jewelry 4 Fun People

Bella Bead Jewelry is offering a

15% discount

for the week of July 26, 2010

Learn more about Linda by following her on Twitter and by reading her blog.

It Pays to do Spring Cleaning ~ Thing a Day

I don't know about you, but to me, Spring cleaning means tackling those really big, easy to put off jobs. Yes, I wash the windows and clean all the floors, but I do those chores throughout the year. No, Spring cleaning means going through my closets and packing up the things I never wear or use and dropping them off at local thrift shops. As I was going through shoe boxes this morning, with that end in mind, I came across a box that didn't hold shoes but had a bunch of different things I purchased at an Oktoberfest festival in 1985 or 1986. How do I remember the date? My son's age is always my reference point when I'm trying to remember dates. I remembered that at this festival, the woman I chatted with about her glass beads, also had a baby in a Snuggli at her chest like I did. She was a glassblower who was selling small collections of her beads in different sizes, shapes and colors, trying to get her space organized because of the new baby. I bought the bag of beads (even though I did not make jewelry at the time) and found them again in the aforementioned shoe box 25 years later. There were just a few pairs of matching beads which I immediately turned into earrings. As I was working with them, I fondly thought of my son's own forays into glass blowing, a craft he has studied and enjoyed for years. Maybe it all started with an overheard conversation in 1985 or 1986.