international – leilani handmade

Orange Crush: The Bead Wrist Corsage

Posted on July 25, 2009July 21, 2017 by Leilani — Leave a comment

I am enjoying my summer vacation, therefore I am on a hiatus from jewelry making. I did find time this evening to list this great piece I made several weeks ago. It is inspired by the orange dahlias in my garden. I have had these vintage orange beads for several years now. I bought them as they intrigued me so, but no design ever came to mind. Let’s face it, it’s a pretty funky colour! The 10mm oval glass beads have a gold AB (aurora borealis) finish on one side.

Since the piece is inspired by flowers, I was thinking wrist corsage when I made it. Therefore, I concentrated on getting a large cluster of beads to sit on the front of the wrist, rather than wrap all the way around. A magnetic clasp finishes the piece. I thought of adding a lobster clasp in order to make it adjustable but it was way too tricky to clasp. So a magnetic one means no fuss, no muss!

100 Days of Creativity: Day 71

Posted on March 17, 2009July 26, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

Today was a fairly easy design day as I simply finished up the last two pieces in the garnet & pearls series. I think I needed the break, anyway. I’m feeling a bit unmotivated as I deal with some emotions stemming from my mother’s death a few months ago. Strange how those things come up at different times. So today, I put the finishing touches on a pair of earrings to match the necklace & bracelet I made yesterday, as well as a pearl cuff bracelet accented in the 4mm faceted garnet:

Even after all that – I still have some of these garnet beads left! The smaller sized beads are definitely deceiving. 🙂

100 Days of Creativity: Day 70

Posted on March 16, 2009July 26, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

When I started to think this morning about what would be my inspiration for today’s creations, I decided to take direction from my destash pile of beads. I have these 4mm faceted garnet beads to use up. One of those, I needed some for a creation awhile back & over bought…sooo…thinking about it, I didn’t want to make the same garnet pieces I made back in January for a birthstone theme, I really wanted to pair these up with something more light. Since we are heading into wedding & formal season, I decided to pair them up with some freshwater pearls. This is two of four pieces that I started. These two, a bracelet and necklace, are finished & I’ll complete the other two tomorrow:

Interesting info: garnet is the birthstone for the month of Janurary and also the planetary stone for those born under the sign of Scorpio. Pearls are the birthstone for the month of June & also the planetary stone for those born under the sign of Cancer.

Till tomorrow…

100 Days of Creativity: Day 69

Posted on March 15, 2009July 26, 2017 by Leilani — 1 Comment

Today was mookaite day. I felt the need to add a couple more affordable pieces to my Artfire Studio, and mookaite came to mind. This bead stands really well on its own therefore I thought it was the appropriate choice for these pieces. Mookaite (also spelled moukaite) is a form of jasper native to Australia. Stone variance from a reddish brown, tan and cream colored.

You can see by comparing the first and second pair of earrings, there really is a neat variance to the colour of the stone. Truly one of my favourites to work with. As far as lore goes, mookaite is believed to aid in in embracing new circumstances, acts as an emotional protector, encourages the desire for variety & new experiences, enhances decision making & helps us when dealing with negative situations. Indeed, a fascinating stone.