Busy, Busy, Busy is Good

So, I've been working with the camera. It's amazing that settings that work for one piece of jewelry absolutely stink for another. I think it's the shiny-ness factor. The more sparkly something is, the harder it seems to photograph well.

But I do have pictures, and two new items to go up on Etsy. First, though, the item that I'm not going to sell. I made this from a pattern in Netted Beadwork, as previously noted. It was intended as an ornament cover, when that didn't work out, I repurposed it as an amulet bag. The ornament cover was going to be my entry in the Holiday Treasures challenge for the Etsy Beadweavers group, but come to find out, nothing made from a book is eligible. I knew this, but I'd forgotten. Usually, of course, I cannot follow a pattern to save my life, and this one is in fact different from the example in the book in color, shape, beads chosen to embellish it, and fringe style, but it's derivative enough that I won't list it. Some lucky person in my family may be getting a very odd tree ornament. Or a penis cozy. I don't want to know what they use it for!!

Now, for the Etsy items. The first is a necklace made entirely of peridot and amethyst, in a netted pattern. I got an inspirational flash when I found the strings of 3mm peridot rounds, and added the amethysts and larger faceted peridots for accent.

I've had this in mind for most of a month, and I'm pleased with how it came out.  It hangs well, and looks nice around the neck. I strung the main strand on beading wire, and then the rest on Fireline, because I wanted strength, but the wire didn't leave any space for netting, as the holes in the peridot beads are really small. But the whole item came out sturdy enough. It has a delicate, feminine appearance, and is very light to wear.

And finally, this is the Cellini spiral I started on my last trip to Mendocino. I thought it was a bracelet for awhile, but was having such a good time with it, I kept going! Working the reduction in size at each end was fun, coincidentally I had smaller sizes in each color I needed! Amazing. I guess it pays to work in favorite color families, as it meant I had the gold in size 6, 11, and 15, and the purples and opalescent ones in 11 and 15.

This is my first beaded clasp, too. I'd never done that before. It ended up looking very elegant, I think.  I used two amethyst beads for the ends of the clasp. It would have been a relatively low-cost (in materials) item, except that the opalescent seed beads in size 11 cost, for some unknown reason, nearly $28 for a 30 gram tube! But they are beautiful. They glisten purple, green, pink, yellow as the light moves. It makes the necklace gorgeous from close up, as well as far away.

I've yet to make my first Etsy sale. It would be nice if one of these items did it for me. I'd like to think of more of my things out there making people happy each time they're worn.