Gail Nettles

Archive for the ‘Jewelry’ Category

"From the Deep" Sterling Silver Pendant With Pearls

These sterling silver pendants with pearls came about from a forum.  I'm a member of quite a few forums, and in one (I'm ashamed to admit I forget which one), I was introduced to the work of Eni Oken.  Eni is a jewelry maker after my own heart, producing one-of-a-kind work in a semi-organic style (well, some of it anyway). 

I got some of Eni's tutorials for her intermediate and advanced work, but the projects (bracelets mostly) take such a long time, I eventually abandoned them for faster work -- like with pendants.

I'm not the world's best photographer I'm afraid, and this pendant is a little over on its side instead of flat on the background.  (I can tell because of the way the top loop is facing).  All I can say in my defense is that my camera's batteries were almost dead and I need to buy some more -- so I tool the pictures quickly!

OK, how I did this is pretty easy.  I took a piece of 16g sterling silver wire and roughly 2.5 inches long put the loop on top.  Instead of wrapping the loop in the normal manner, I added side loops for decoration.  I left about 1.75 inches hanging down.  I added a small loop at the bottom for a "stopper".

"Blue Lagoon" Sterling and Pearl Pendant

Next, I took 28g sterling wire and wrapped the length of the straight wire, making sure the wraps were close. I start at the bottom and work my way up.Once I was just about to the top, I ended that piece of wire and cut another piece. and finished the wrapping.

Now I just strung pearls, sterling silver and shell beads in whatever pattern I felt like.  I'd usually string.  After each 3 to 7 beads (depending on the size, I'd anchor the beads to the main 16g wrapped length. 

I covered the front of the pendant (and part of the back) in whatever pattern I chose, always making sure to keep my wraps as neat as possible.

Here's the other one I made at the same sitting.  It has pearls, abalone, sterling and shell beads.  The pendants don't take long to make, once the main length is wrapped -- maybe 30 or 40 minutes, with most of that time trying to decide which beads to use next!

Once again, my lack of photography skills has me laying the pendant slightly to the right instead of straight on.  Ah well, hopefully you get the idea of how they look.

Here are more lampwork jewelry photos, courtesy of Jennie.  Like I said in the previous post, I'm always thrilled and touched when people send me pictures of their creations, made from my beads.

Lampwork Jewelry Set (Click to Enlarge)

I really liked what Jennie did with this one set of beads.  I think I named them "Storm Warnings", but she did a much better job of capturing their aura.

It's neat, what Jennie did with the sides of the necklace, don't you think?  The soft ovals are a contrast to the more squarish pillow shaped beads, but the effect is marvelous!

With her lampwork jewelry bracelets, Jennie says that she likes to make them adjustable by the wearer.  When you're making a bracelet, the exact length is hard to estimate.  After all, not everyone has thin or thick wrists; not everyone likes them tight (or loose).  And by having a small extension that makes the bracelet adjustable, it lets the wearer decide what suits.

And I'm glad Jennie does this, because I mentioned that I had bought one of her bracelets.  Since I've had the wonderful bracelet, I've lost in the neighborhood of 60 pounds.  And yes, my wrists are thinner now!  But thanks to being adjustable, I don't need to worry about it.

Hey folks, if anyone has jewelry made with my beads, send me a photo and I'll gladly publish it here, and give you the credit/link!  (And in case you might have forgotten, my "professional" studio name was/is TasminAnn Studio.) 

Bracelet, "Caribbean Blue" (Click to Enlarge)

I am always so very thrilled when people send me photos of what they've made from my beads.  Today I am honored to have my friend Jennie send me some pictures of some of her lovely items.

Here's the first photo, and it's my favorite as I bought it!   And it's as much fun to wear as it is to look at.  Narly every time I wear it, people remark on it.  I don't think Jennie named it, but I've christened it "Caribbean Blue" (after the song I like so much).

This has some of my very early lampwork, from 2004 and 2005.  And as you see, Jennie was not stingy when it came to the amount of sterling silver that she used!

True story about this bracelet.  One day David and I went to Home Depot.  I decided to wander around and see what I could find that was interesting.  As I was walking down an aisle, a gentleman passed me going the opposite direction.  He then backed up, stopped me, and said, "That's a wonderful bracelet!"  Never expected to get that kind of reaction in Home Depot!

Cobalt, Black and Silver Bracelet (Click to Enlarge)

OK, another of Jennie's creations.  This one I haven't seein in person, but I do remember making the beads!  Once again, Jennie did a superb job of wrapping all those headpins full of beads, pearls and silver.  I don't even want to think about how long it took her to do it!

But it's funny how we can spend time with beads and not notice the time passing?  Have you ever sat down with a pile of beads (or glass) in front of you, and the next thing you know, it's 5 hours later?  I think every true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool beader has had that happen!

I enjoy lampworking, when the weather isn't too hot.  Lampworking, if you don't know, is the art of making glass objects (in my case, beads) with a torch.  In other words, I take rods of glass, heat them in the flame of a torch until they melt, then make beads.

Here's one set that I made.  The beads are about 18mm tall and wide, and about 11 mm thick at their widest.

I mentioned that I prefer to make beads when it's not too hot.  You see, my studio is in my garage, and I live in South Florida.  As you can imagine, between May and September, the weather is hot and humid.  Since being in the garage seems to make it hotter (especially with the torch and kiln going).  So it will be another month or so before I'll start up again.

You know what's funny?  I make all these unique glass beads (and trust me, they are unique; it's rare that I can make two exactly alike) and I rarely make jewelry!  I tend to sell them faster than I can hang onto them.  However, sometimes buyers want me to make bracelets for them, so I get a chance to play then.

Seed Beads

Before I got into lampworking, I did make jewelry -- from seed beads, mostly.  Although I did also like to include keshi pearls, gemstones and Swarovski crystals.  I learned most of the stiches, but my absolute favorite was making organic jewelry.

Here's a bracelet that I made which is an example of the kind of work I enjoyed.  It's made mostly with size 11 seed beads, but I also utilized size 15 and size 8 in places.  Oh, and turquoise chips here and there as well.

I always got tons of compliments when I wore it, but when people would ask the price, they would flinch since I'd quote $100.  It takes so long for me to make a bracelet like this, that I wanted to earn at least minimum wage, after the cost of the materials.

I also delighted in making organic watch bands.  My biggest problem was trying to find the right style of watch, so that I could make bands that would attach and detach (in case something happened to the watch itself.