Design This - Gathering Pin Black and Silver Request

A potential customer found an item in my EDCCollective Etsy shop whose function fit what she wanted but the color was not what she was looking for. She sent me a convo from a listing of my 3 inch pink, silver and floral gathering pins. She asked if I had any options in black and silver. I did have a two inch pair of black and silver gathering pins that was not currently listed, however she needed the three inch pins.

I checked my bead stock to see what I had in black and silver that would fit the three inch pins and sent her a picture of the bead choices. My customer let me know which beads she would be happy with and I came up with a couple of designs based on that input. She picked one of them for her custom order which I made up for her and shipped them out after she purchased her listing. I liked the other design too so I added it to my shop.

Contact me about any of my designs if they are not quite what you are looking for. I'd be happy to let you know if I can create what you have in your mind's eye. This offer obviously goes for my jewelry creations but it extends to my photo art items too. I have many stock photos and might have that flower or critter that you want on a print, note card or bookmark. I enjoy creating custom items, so please get in touch with your custom request.

Design This – Flying Pig Pins for Weddings

Most of the time I am not told what a purchase will be used for and that is fine. However sometimes some of my customers who order ready to ship items from my shop will let me know and often my custom order customers will tell me. It warms my heart when I find out that my items will be part of someone's special day such as their wedding. Last summer and this summer I have received inquiries based on the same flying pig pin listing in my EclecticSkeptic shop that turned into custom orders destined to be part of weddings.

Last year my customer asked what I might be able to do to incorporate a heart and the color green into my flying pig shell pin listing. After a few conversations back and forth, I came up with a few choices as a starting place. The white shell with the light green heart was her favorite so I made a mockup of that option to make sure that was going to be what she wanted before proceeding with the custom order.

My first inquiry from this year's customer was just to see if I could make more of the blue shell pins than I had listed as available. After I replied, she also thought of checking to see if I could produce similar pins in black and purple. I didn't have any plain black shell beads but I did have one light purple and three dark purple tagua nut beads in stock. (Tagua nuts are referred to as vegetable ivory. They are a green alternative to ivory that can be carved and dyed a variety of colors.) It turns out that the color combination I had on hand along with the flying pig theme was perfect for what this customer wanted to be able to include in her wedding.

Photos of the completed orders can be seen below.

The customization for custom orders I have done is sometimes simple and sometimes quite involved. Either way, if I have the materials and can tweak a ready to ship item to meet your needs or start from scratch from your request, I'd love to help you. My contact info is under my custom order tab above.

Design This – Snowy Owl, Crystal n Pearl Jewelry Set

At a recent trade show I purchased some pretty pearls from one vendor and a fabulous collection of nature themed hand painted porcelain beads from another. At the time I didn’t know some components from each purchase were destined to become part of the same jewelry set even though both the pearls and the porcelain beads were by far my favorite finds from that show. I did know that I liked the snowy owl porcelain beads so much that I wanted to make a necklace and earring set for myself, so I bought extras of those beads. (Click on the images if you want to see a larger view.)

As I was unpacking and putting away all of my purchases I noticed that the colors in the freshwater pearls perfectly complemented the lighter colors in the snowy owl beads. This gave me the inspiration I needed to start pulling together other beads with colors that might also work into my project. From this large grouping I picked out a subset of pearls, crystal and coated glass beads that looked like they would play off each other well. Then I set about designing my necklace. After trying a few different designs, I hit on one I really liked and strung it up. Then I paired a couple of the smaller components with the small snowy owl beads to complete the matching earrings.

If any of the nature themed porcelain beads in the link above speak to you in such a way that you want to inquire about a custom piece for yourself, please contact me and I’d be happy to discuss your options.

Design This – Branded Jewelry

Last year I got involved with brainstorming a way to include jewelry in the small, exhibit related gift shop that the Arlington Museum of Art has started including with their larger exhibits. The jewelry would need to be related in some way to the exhibit and I thought that it would be good for it to also relate to the museum if possible. Branding isn’t very different from the personalization that I was already doing so I immediately thought of making a charm using AMA’s logo. If additional charms could be found that related to specific exhibits it would then be easy to design some simple earrings and necklaces that I could wholesale to the museum for their gift shop.

The challenge with the AMA logo for me was that it was square and if I reduced it to fit into my round bezels that I have been making custom jewelry and accessories with, it wouldn't be as recognizable as I’d like it to be. Luckily, after quite a bit of searching, I found square bezels and glass that matched the size of an available square punch.

The first exhibit that AMA wanted to do a full test run of jewelry in the gift shop was for their “Artists in Motion” exhibit. It highlights the grace and beauty of dance. I located a few charms that went with this theme and then it was time to begin designing. I came up with two earring designs and a few variations on one basic design for necklaces.

You can see what I came up with in person if you get a chance to view “Artists in Motion” at the Arlington Museum of Art during its run from January 11 – February 16. Click here for more information about the exhibit.

If you find yourself in need of personalized or branded jewelry for you or to promote your business or event, please check out the “custom” tab above for my contact information so that I can brainstorm, what I could create, with you.

Design This – Gypsum Crystal Necklace

With Christmas and the gift giving that goes with it right around the corner, I got to thinking about a gift I made for my niece for her birthday earlier this year. The two of us went on a field trip of sorts the previous summer and were allowed to collect some gypsum crystals as souvenirs. I remembered the crystals that I had collected when I was pondering what to get her for her birthday.

I cleaned up a few of the crystals and chose the one that I thought would make the nicest pendant. I drilled a small hole in the crystal to anchor the wire that I used to wrap the crystal with. I placed one of the spirals that I created over the anchoring hole on the front of the crystal. Once the crystal was wrapped securely, I attached it to a black cord necklace.

I have not done a lot of wire wrapping, however I was very pleased with the way this pendant turned out. I enjoyed being able to turn a simple souvenir into a wearable keepsake of the trip.

If you have a special souvenir that you would like to have incorporated into a piece of jewelry contact me to see if I can come up with a custom solution for you.

Design This – Bridesmaids’ Bracelets

Last year when a customer of mine was picking up her custom jewelry set, we got to talking about her daughter’s upcoming wedding. It was coming together as an outdoor summer wedding. I asked if the jewelry had been decided on yet and if not did she have any idea what style, colors or types of jewelry were being looked for. She said that her daughter already had her jewelry taken care of but the bridesmaids’ details had not been worked out yet. I pulled out a strand of pretty, shell leaf beads that I thought would go well with an outdoor wedding, pearls and whatever the wedding colors were going to be. My customer liked them and I suggested that if her daughter liked the necklace and earrings that I had made, that perhaps she would like to come over and look at materials that I had on hand to see if we could work up a design that she would be pleased with.

After being told that a brainstorming session would be welcomed by her daughter and that the materials for the bridesmaids’ bracelets should incorporate clover green, some sparkles, some nature components such as the beads that my customer had seen previously, some pearls and possibly some chain work as I had used in a section of her necklace, mother and daughter came over to look through the materials that I pulled together and examples of some jewelry that I had in stock that I thought might serve as inspiration. After looking over the jewelry and materials, an idea for the bracelets began to take shape. The bride to be liked the idea of a double stranded twisted bracelet for each bridesmaid. She wondered about incorporating “something blue” in the bracelets with another crystal color that complemented her tanzanite ring. Luck was with us and I had what she was looking for. She picked crystals in clover, golden beige and the tanzanite match for one strand and pearls, a pressed glass Czech leaf bead similar but more dainty than the beads I had originally shown her mom and an antiqued gold plated chain for the other strand. She wanted the bracelets to close with a toggle clasp. I was going to have to locate antiqued gold plated toggles to go with the chain that she had picked. We had time though, so I searched.

First I searched at a couple of traveling jewelry markets when they were in town. I could only find shiny gold plated or gold filled, no antiqued gold findings. Then I turned to an online supplier that I had purchased from previously. They had so many choices in a variety of styles that I wanted input from the bride to be to see if she had a preference. We finally settled on a dainty toggle with a leaf motif to complement the Czech glass leaf beads. Once these were ordered the only thing I still needed to know was sizing for the bracelets. After a bit of discussion back and forth, we decided to make two of them the same size with one a little longer.

Now it was time to sit down at my beading board and compose a design from the chosen materials that would look essentially the same in both lengths and put everything together. The twisted design allows for a bit of flexibility in sizing. While there is some twist already incorporated into the bracelets, it is possible to twist them a bit more, shortening them slightly before clasping them. I was very pleased to hear from the bride after the wedding that all three bracelets fit perfectly.

While this design came together through a couple of face to face meetings, it is not necessary to do so for me to design a custom piece for your needs. You can find several other “Design This” posts, using the "search this blog" widget, that describe my custom design process at a distance. Whether near of far, I’d be happy to discuss your custom design needs with you.

Design This – Necklace to Match Bracelet, Part 1

When a previous custom order customer mentioned to me earlier this year that she had a bracelet that she wanted me to design a necklace to match, I told her that I’d be happy to see what I could come up with. I love a good challenge and eagerly awaited what was in store. I must admit however that I was initially a bit intimidated when I got to look at her bracelet (and I don’t intimidate easily). It was a beautiful bracelet, but very complex and it included a pretty dark gray macramé section that I wasn’t sure at first how I’d complement it. I don’t think I let my brief bit of uncertainty show and said I’d go home and pull out materials that I had on hand to match the components of the bracelet and start to work up a design.

After sleeping on the challenge, I realized that some gunmetal chain could be a good stand in on the necklace for the dark gray macramé on the bracelet. After pulling out a large pile of materials that matched or complemented the other components of the bracelet, I was still a little unsure of where to start. Did I mention it was a very complex bracelet and that the pile of materials was large and varied? In addition, I was unsure which components of the bracelet were most important to echo in the necklace and which materials of mine that my customer would like best. (If you haven’t checked them out, click on the images of the bracelet and the large pile of materials to enlarge them for a better view.) I decided that the best course of action would be to ask my customer to look over the materials in person instead of just in a photo.

This turned out to be a good plan. My customer was able to identify which components of the bracelet were most important to work into the necklace and set aside my materials that didn’t interest her. We were then better able to focus on the smaller pile that was left. I had a strand of small mixed gemstone spherical beads that made the cut with several containing good color for use in the necklace. (Not pictured, I thought of them after I took the photo of the pile.) My customer seemed to have a good time picking out the beads that she liked and arranging them. This gave us a good starting point. We brainstormed what to do with some of the other elements. Unfortunately, I did not have a good companion for the large pink soapstone bead or the filigreed silver elements of the bracelet, so I searched for materials from my suppliers and ordered some beads to see how they would work into the necklace design that was starting to come together.

Part 2 describes how the necklace design evolved and what the finished necklace looks like. If you have a custom project in mind, simple or complex, please contact me to see what I can work up for you.

Design This – Statement Earrings

While I have had the pleasure of creating many custom pieces for other people, sometimes it comes in handy to be able to whip up something for myself. A few months ago, I found myself in need of some statement earrings to go with an outfit that I wanted to wear.

I was going to be emceeing a charity wine tasting and silent auction. A few days before the event, I went through my closet to find a suitable outfit. I decided on a short sleeved black blouse adorned with sequins and beads worn over a velvet textured maroon long sleeved shirt. Now I needed to pick accessories. The folds of material in the neckline of the maroon shirt precluded wearing a necklace and I thought a bracelet would pretty much get lost under the long sleeved shirt, so I needed to see what earrings I had to work with. While I had some simple silver and/or pearl earrings that would have worked, they were more subtle than I wanted, since the earrings would be the major addition to this outfit.

So I grabbed the beaded blouse and headed to my supply station. My goal was to create a pair of lightweight clip earrings that had sparkle, movement and picked up the colors from my blouse. I pulled out a pair of silver plated, hinged, screw back clip earrings, all of my crystal and Czech glass beads that picked up at least one color from my blouse and some sterling silver chain. I played around with several combinations and finally settled on the beads and chain that I wanted to use. I made up four short crystal sections using silver headpins for each earring. I suspended each of these sections from different lengths of sterling silver chain. I then attached the chains
to the loop of each ear clip.

These earrings are long enough and have enough sparkle that they don’t get lost, but rather are the statement earrings that I was trying for. They are wonderfully lightweight and their sparkle and movement give them a lot of life as I move.

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation and would like something designed especially for you, please contact me to see if I have the materials needed and enough time to design something to fill your needs.