Serious Sparkle, Part 2 - The Earrings

So if you're wearing a fancy evening gown, you need some fancy earrings, right? Of course!

As I wrote about yesterday, we recently had a big formal fundraising event at my job, so may of my colleagues were looking for jewelry to complement their evening wear. You've already seen some of the necklaces and bracelets that I made especially for them to choose from, so as promised, here are a few of the earrings.

Freshwater pearls with some vintage rhinestone and pearl components

Who can resist blue crystal disco balls swinging from their earlobes?

Shoulder dusters

In case your formal tastes run more to the gemstone, these are lapis, forest jasper and freshwater pearl.

These big, bold beauties are vintage marcasite pieces from an old necklace that I found in an antique store.
I took the necklace apart, and used the various component parts in lots of different new creations.
Here, I added just a few crystals at the top and as dangles.

Serious Sparkle

Ah, crystals.

They're gorgeous, but I don't use them in my beading too often. That may have to change.

At my day job (you know, the one that lets me pay for the necessities of life - mortgage, food, beads...) we recently had a big fundraising event. Black tie, evening gowns, the whole nine yards. And everyone in my department was involved, so we all had to glam it up for the night.

Knowing that I make jewelry, some colleagues asked if I had any pieces that would work with their dresses. Of course, I took this as an invitation not only to pull out the fancier pieces in my inventory, but also to spend a few evenings making some flashy new things.

Here are some of the new pieces that came out of that flurry. Some got worn to the gala, others stayed home, but they're all a reminder to me to embrace the flashy side every now and then. Today, I'm sharing the necklaces and a bracelet - tomorrow, I'll share the earrings.

There were a lot of midnight blue and navy gowns at this event - a nice change from basic black.

Did someone say, "statement necklace"?

A different view of the same necklace, to show the flashes of color in the faceted ovals. Gorgeous!

This bracelet reminds me of tuxedo pants, with the dark stripe running down the side seam.

This was a lot of fun, and a good creative challenge, since I didn't know what everyone's dresses would look like. I had to make pieces that would be versatile enough to work with lots of different colors, working completely without specific direction other than "formal." Do you make jewelry for special occasions?

Cellini Explosion, or The Saga Of Too Much Tension

See this nice little Cellini spiral I was working on?

Apparently, I was channeling all the stress of whatever was going on at the time into my thread tension, because about two inches into the spiral, this happened.

Boom! Exploded in the middle.

Arghhhh!!! (Although my language at the time was, I admit, far more colorful).

I have put this one away for another, calmer day.