freshwater pearls - leilani handmade

100 Days of Creativity: Day 61

Posted on March 7, 2009July 28, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

I am totally finding it hard to concentrate tonight! Sloooooow like molasses I am. But it is Saturday night so I am excused. On an up note, I had a very productive jewelry making day. Played around with sterling silver chain to make some more delicate classy jewelry that seems to be so popular; at least from my customers…

I am annoyed with this weather. Garnet is really hard to photograph since it is a dark stone, and with it being cloudy so much it makes it even tougher. I am too lazy & too pregnant to dig the light box out of the garage. I wanted the first thing I made today to be an anklet as I already had in my Artfire Studio a necklace, bracelet, earrings & ring. I also thought of making a headpiece but that is just too much work, therefore too much sitting for me right now. So I am keeping with simple. I just had a handful of these 3mm garnet beads left. Nice to make more room in the bead box…

This necklace was inspired by the 13mm Swarovski crystal rings. A supplier of mine had these and I thought I would get two to play around with them, maybe use them in earrings. Only, once I got them home, I had no inspiration as to what to do with them! So they sat in the bead box for 3 years. I think they make a great focal point for this hematite & sterling silver chain necklace.

These last two pieces, are my favourites of today. I adore black & white, and the black carnelian beads with freshwater pearls in these matching earrings & necklace are elegant, classy & sassy! Yep, still milking those 10mm black carnelian beads. 😉

100 Days of Creativity: Day 57

Posted on March 3, 2009August 5, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

Well, I did it. By the skin of my teeth I did it…I now have 100 things in my Etsy Shop for sale. I am really tired & brain dead…it is hard to focus after being kept up last night with contractions. I will continue tomorrow with my 100 days provided that I feel up to doing it. Tonight I am just finding it hard to concentrate…

So here’s what rounded out the items available in my shop:

I’ve been doing a lot with the black carnelian beads lately, & really wanted to play with typical carnelian. So I cheated & dipped into the “premium” supplies, which I usually only use for custom orders, to make this pretty bracelet. Carnelian is the traditional birthstone for August. These 6mm faceted beads are accented by sterling silver.

This bracelet was the challenge for the day: how to use up these 7mm lantern hematite beads. I paired it with 6mm tiger’s eye for a very earthy piece.

I figure you can’t go wrong with pearls. These 9mm freshwater pearls are very special to me since they are from the Philippines. A classy yet interesting pair of earrings mixing the dangle style with the hoop style.

For my final piece, I couldn’t help but get into those 10mm faceted black carnelian beads again. I really like how these earrings turned out coupled with the 7mm pewter beads. Tempting to keep for myself… 🙂

So, if it turns out I can keep up with the 100 Days of creativity, I will be putting any new work in my empty Artfire Studio. Don’t worry, regardless you’ll still be hearing from me…!

100 Days of Creativity: Day 49

Posted on February 23, 2009August 5, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

Despite being really tired today because my little was awake at the crack of dawn, I got quite a bit accomplished. This has to do with the fact I had my morning cleared as an appointment in the city has been postponed until tomorrow morning. So I was free to play amongst the beads. 🙂

First off I am happy to say my customer loved the baby birthstone bracelet I made yesterday, & bought it plus my tiny bubbles bracelet; which as I mentioned in previous posts I adore. It’s going to a good home, though. A milestone has been reached. I set a couple goals for myself at the beginning of the year. One was to have 20 things sold in my Etsy Shop by the time I have baby #2. As of last night this goal has been reached. It has been a really good month for me, considering how much time I can dedicate per day to jewelry making. Besides the Etsy sales I have had some off-line custom work as well. I am quite blissful with part time jewelry making & it is nice to see money in the bank again.

The second goal, was to have 100 things in my shop before baby arrives. Tonight I am pleased to say, I am 75% of the way there. Here are the three pieces I made today:

I am hard pressed to choose a favourite today. I so adore tiger eye & its metaphysical properties; yet pearls are always so classic & these are a light shade of violet; plus fluroite, another powerful stone…well, the cuff I am definitely proud of because of the tedious nature of this kind of work. No sore wrists today! Horray! 🙂

Anyway, I am very tired and probably incoherently babbling…so I bid you adieu for the evening…