Design This - Sheep Jewelry Part 2

In my previous blog post I described how I came to make a pair of sheep earrings for a friend of mine to give as a gift. The byproduct of this process was a sheep bracelet mock up that sat on my bench for a couple of weeks before I decided what to do with it. Between the holidays and running the Happy Holidays Pop-Up Market, I did not have time to put away unused supplies from the few pieces I managed to create during December.

When I finally had time to start putting away those unused beads and findings, I contemplated what to do with the bracelet mock up. I really liked the way the faceted black agate beads complemented the single lampwork sheep bead

that would be opposite the clasp in a finished bracelet. It would have taken a similar amount of time to disassemble and properly stow the parts as it would to complete the bracelet so I decided to finish it up. The mock up anticipated a sterling silver toggle clasp and findings to finish off the bracelet. Since I was no longer constrained by the request for sterling findings, I could now consider other options. With the beads being mostly black and white, I thought gunmetal would be the perfect color for the crimp bead covers, jump rings and toggle clasp.

Now that I had a plan, I gathered up some beading wire, crimp beads and gunmetal tone findings and set about to turn my design into a finished bracelet. I liked it so much I listed it in my EDCCollective Etsy shop.

Design This - Sheep Jewelry

When a friend of mine visited the Happy Holidays Pop-Up Market and spied my lampwork sheep earrings, she said her mother liked all things sheep. The only problem, she saw with those earrings was that her mother did not like long earrings and the metal in her jewelry needed to be sterling silver.

We talked about some options and we decided I would mock up a bracelet design for her consideration. After some back and forth on that design we reconsidered what my friend's mom would likely enjoy the most. We went back to discussing earrings. I had some

sterling silver posts with a loop to attach the sheep to that would create shorter earrings than the pair on French ear wires she saw at the market. She decided to go with this option and I made them up in time for her to take them with her for a Christmas gift. I was thrilled when I saw my friend after the holidays and she reported that her mother loved them.

In my next post I will share what I have done with the bracelet mock up that sat on my bench for a couple of weeks.