Turtle! Turtle!

Yay! I may have been away from my creativity for a while, but the creativity wasn't gone for good!  This cute little turtle came to me as an inspiration when I decided to make an ornament for my turtle loving sister-in-law!

I love how the use of spirals for the shell and larger glass beads for the coloring came together in this most adorable creation!

Peace Ornament - Beaded Decorations

These chenille stem and tri-bead peace sign ornaments make for simple bead craft projects. Fun bead decorations that can be made and given to others for any occasion!
 





Visit my articles to see the full pattern.


 

A Tisket, A Tasket..

..A Little Wire Basket!

I thought it might be fun to crochet up something a bit different from jewelry, and decided on a making a wire basket.

Though this basket did not take too much time to make and was pretty simple (once I got the starter dimensions right), it took an immense amount of wire to create such a small item... a majority of my 40 yard spool of wire, in fact!

But I must admit that it was quite fun to make and to see come together. Though it is a small basket, I decided it would be a perfect size to hold business cards for a fun and unique display.

Click here to see my instructions on how to make this crochet wire basket





Unique crochet ideas and  inspirations
     

Sew Buttons!

I have decided to start a kid's crochet jewelry line. But after spending quite a bit of time at craft and bead stores only to find no beads that fit my vision of design. But then, a thought occurred out of the blue... why not use bright buttons?  Here is my first design creating a child size crochet wire and button bracelet.

I have to mention that when I first threw out the idea of using buttons,  my teenage daughter thought it was a weird idea. But once I finished this, she thought it was really neat and mentioned doing the button idea in adult sizes. I think that's her way of saying that maybe she'd like one for herself!

I added seed beads to this blue button bracelet. I think I like the extra flare added to the design.







Aren't these just cute as a button!

;o) 




Buttons have great potential for many creative ideas. Be inspired:
          

Spring Inspirations!

I have spring fever, and my anticipation of new life has me inspired!

St. Patrick's Day is coming up and that got me to thinking of wire clover designs. Here is my draft idea. The idea is to add Celtic knot accents to each of the clover leaves. It's just my idea in draft, so smoothing of the details will occur next!







This first book is on my must get list. Exquisite!... these are types of work I want my own jewelry to get to:
           

Moving on to Elegant Jewelry

I've had a lot of fun making my simple jewelry; jewelry that can be made in about an hour. But I was finally ready to move on to making something more intricate and elegant. I also got a request to make something with a gothic look to it. After much contemplation, I finally had an idea in my mind to fit the style I wanted to put together.

This choker, which took me about six hours to make, was the result of such. I used 28 gauge wire and a B crochet hook. I twisted out wire away from the project at the appropriate sections to get the branch accents.The red beads and design were just enough to provide a gothic look (fulfilling the request), while still being quite an elegant piece that can be worn with a formal dress or a casual top.

With this choker, I also stepped up to making my own jump rings and clasp in order to create an adjustable fitting, which allows it to be worn at any position of the neck that is desirable.

Here is an elegant bracelet that I've recently made.
This bracelet was made from the most thin wire I've used yet. This is made with 34 gauge wire, which, though very dainty looking, I think may be too thin.

I created this using single crochet stitches and added clear beads. My favorite part of this bracelet is actually my handmade clasp and ring. I may just try making a full bracelet out of those!   ;o)

Actually, I do love the look of the bracelet, so I may just try making them with a smaller gauge/thicker wire and see how that works.









Inspiration for forging my own rings and clasp hook came from books such as:
I'm also interested in making chain  mail style jewelry... maybe later!

              

Expanding my wire creation skills beyond crochet.

Over this past summer, I began to work on crochet wire jewelry and have found something that I truly enjoy doing. I have found that working with wire has become my passion and tends to spark lots of creative ideas for me.

Because of this, I have expanded my skills to create other types of delicate wire works. Here are some of my latest creations in shaping and wire wrapping. I used a stronger 20 gauge wire for the outer shape and 26 gauge wire for the details.


Here is a pendant I created by bending wire.

However, not everyone 

wears jewelry. So I was 

inspired to shape & bend

wire to create colorful
bead sun-catchers/
ornaments, like this
dolphin and waves
creation.

I have also been shaping & wrapping wire to make elegant pins.

Creating wire shapes was first inspired by books like these;

and then later by filling the interests of customers.