YOJ 5: Gemstone Bouquet Earrings

Gorgeous earrings made with 14K gold filled wire and an assortment of gemstones.  The gemstones include labradorite with a pretty blue flash, deep aqua apatite, deep purple amethyst and two different sizes of light green peridot.  These earrings swing gracefully from french hooks and are about 2 inches long.  The flower stems can be re-positioned to your liking (within reason - too much bending will break them).  These will dress up any outfit for spring or summer.

YOJ4:Gemstone Vine Earrings

I love these earrings!  They are very showy at almost 3 inches long.  They have gorgeous lt blue chalcedony faceted rondelles and dazzling rainbow moonstone briolettes with lots of blue flash.  They are light as a feather to wear.  They hang from handmade french wires.  All of the wire is sterling silver.

YOJ3: Gemstone Flower Pendant

I love it when a plan comes together.  One that note, this week's project would have been amazing if this was really what I planned!  To be fair, I did plan a gemstone flower.  I had hoped for a pair of earrings, though.  By the time I finally made a gemstone flower that I was satisfied with, I decided a pendant would be just fine for this week.  From a technique perspective, I learned a lot from my mistakes.  The pendant is very pretty - so I guess everything worked out just fine in the end.  It has a green jasper faceted round surrounded by rainbow moonstone briolettes.

YOJ2: Multi-Gemstone Woven Bracelet

This is my project for Week 13 of the Year of Jewelry Project (week 2 for me).  I wanted to play with C-Lon string a little more, so I used the same technique as last week's necklace.  I found an assortment of flat gemstones in my
'lonely bead jar' and used them on a light colored cord.  I used a shell button with a woven loop as a closure for my bracelet.  One thing I figured out right away was that it would be almost impossible to put this bracelet on by myself without something to grab the loop by.  I found a small sun charm that I purchased from Tierra Cast to weigh the loop down and give myself something to hold on to when I put on the bracelet.  It works, well, like a charm!

The stones in this bracelet are all high grade gemstones and include: aquamarine, amethyst, carnelian, citrine, green garnet, moonstone, pearl, peridot, smoky quartz, black spinel, and tourmaline.  This bracelet is fabulous to wear.  It is very comfortable and I barely notice it all (which is especially nice when I am typing on the computer or writing).

Yikes... Feeling the Pressure

Must finish my Year of Jewelry project!!

YOJ 1: Woven Gemstone Necklace

My first Year of Jewelry (YOJ) project is a long woven gemstone necklace with aqua blue apatite and smoky quartz beads.  I love it!! I have never made anything like it before, but it was relatively quick and easy to do.  It did take some planning though.  If you're interested in tips on how to make one, see my other blog Lisa Yang Jewelry for more pictures and information. I'll be wearing this for the next few weeks to make sure the design is sound and it will wear 'happily ever after'.  There's nothing worse than jewelry that doesn't withstand the stress of every day living.

Year of Jewelry: Week 1 (for me)

I'm excited and nervous all at once.  The first week of the Year of Jewerly 2012 has started for me.  For everyone else who joined up at the beginning of the year - it's the beginning of the second quarter.  I've decided that I'll be making a woven necklace with gemstones.  I've tried a few different things, but I'm still not quite satisfied, although I do feel like I understand the technique that I'll use and the materials (at least the C-Lon size that is appropriate!).

One of the things I have the most difficulty with is convincing myself that I don't need to buy any supplies to complete a project.  I have 10 different spools of C-Lon thread in different colors, but I've convinced myself of two things:  first, a color other than the ones I have would be better and second, that there is a weight of cord that is heaver than the thread and lighter than the C-Lon cord that I have (another 10 spools of different colors) that would really be better.  However, I am going to complete this week's project without buying anything!  It's almost inconceivable, but I know I can do it.

My goal is to complete my project tonight, so I can have the next couple of days to get my photography area worked out.  I have a light cube and a great camera, but that doesn't mean I know how to take great photos.  I'm sure two days should be enough to get at least decent photos - and then I can improve from there.  I'll be posting my project this weekend.  Yay!