mother and baby set

A good friend was pregnant with her first daughter and had heard of "feeding necklaces" to distract the baby while bottle- or breastfeeding. She wasn't happy with any of the designs she found, so asked me to make one especially for her.

It took a lot of research to find suitable beads. They had to be flexible non-toxic plastic, and definitely not glass or wood. They had to be large enough size, and in an eye-grabbing assortment of shapes, colors, and textures. In short, something the baby could grab, chew on, and generally abuse.

I decided the best course of action was to buy pre-made teething rings and disassemble them for the beads. I used a doubled-up nylon kite string to string the assortment, with plastic keys as a sort of centerpiece or focal point. There were plenty of beads left over, so I made a mini-ring (which is actually bigger than a bracelet) for when mother and baby are on the go.

See the set at Sun Sparkle Designs: mother and baby set.

crystal rose bracelet

While playing with the camera settings for the crystal rose bracelet, I accidentally took this picture with my fingers over the flash. I just thought it turned out really well.

birthstones

From Wikipedia,

Month	Modern Birthstone[2]	Alternate	Traditional Birthstone[3]
January	Garnet	Rose Quartz	Garnet
February	Amethyst	Onyx	Amethyst
March	Aquamarine	Red Jasper (Bloodstone)	Bloodstone, Jasper
April	Diamond	Rock Crystal (Quartz)	Diamond, Sapphire
May	Emerald	Chrysoprase	Emerald, Agate
June	Pearl (the only non-mineral), Moonstone	Alexandrite	Alexandrite, Emerald
July	Ruby	Jade or Carnelian	Ruby, Onyx
August	Peridot	Aventurine, Sardonyx, or Sapphire	Sardonyx, Carnelian
September	Sapphire	Lapis lazuli	Sapphire, Peridot
October	Opal	Pink Tourmaline	Tourmaline, Aquamarine
November	Yellow Topaz	Citrine or Turquoise	Citrine, Topaz
December	Turquoise, Blue Topaz	Lapis Lazuli or Tanzanite	Zircon, Ruby

mystical crystals

Here are some selected physical ailments that may be relieved or strengthened with certain stones. There are also many spiritual and emotional aspects associated with the stones that I have not listed.

Taken from Crystal Visions by Roxayne Veasey.

AGATE
blue lace agate
neck & shoulder pain
headaches
sore throats
thyroid
anger
inflammation
infections

moss agate
blood circulation
lymph system circulation

AMBER
central nervous system
disease
glands

AMETHYST
meditation / sleep
pineal & pituitary glands

AQUAMARINE
fluid retention
thymus gland
creative expression
clarity of thought
fears and phobias

AVENTURINE
emotional stress / anxiety
muscle tissue
blood

AZURITE
psychic abilities / visualization
thyroid glands
spleen

BLOODSTONE
blood disorders
heart
spleen
bone marrow

CALCITE
white / transparent calcite
memory
eyesight

honey calcite
kidneys
gall bladder
digestive system

CARNELIAN
asthma

CELESTITE
headaches
communication
thyroid
creativity

CHRYSOCOLLA
stress
lungs
thyroid
anger, fear, & guilt
female disorders

CITRINE
tissues
intuition

EMERALD
eyestrain
immune system
nervous system

FLOURITE
stress
strokes
arthritis
hyperactivity

GARNET
bloodflow
anemia
pituitary gland

HEMATITE
spleen
stress

JADITE
heart
kidneys
immune system

KUNZITE
"broken heart"
depression
self-esteem
cardiovascular system

LAPIS LAZULI
skeletal system
thyroid
fertility / vitality

MALACHITE
illnesses
pancreas
spleen
circulatory system
pituitary gland
pineal gland
sleep disorders

MOLDAVITE
brain / central nervous system
comas

MOONSTONE
lymphatic system
anxiety / stress
female problems
birthing process
stomach
spleen
pancreas
pituitary gland

OBSIDIAN
black obsidian
intestinal / digestive system

PERIDOT
adrenal glands
heart
pancreas
liver
spleen
environmental stress

PYRITE
digestion / elimination

QUARTZ
rose quartz
kidneys
fertility
sexual imbalances

rutilated quartz
regeneration
aging
immune system
depression

smoky quartz
adrenal glands
depression

RUBY
energy
stability
immunity

SAPPHIRE
digestive system

SELENITE
nervous system

SODOLITE
endrocrine system
lymphatic system

TIGER'S EYE
spleen
pancreas
digestive system
colon

TOPAZ
digestive system
tissue regeneration
liver
gall bladder
spleen
arthritis & rheumatism
depression, anger, & fear

TOURMALINE
blue tourmaline
anger & frustration
sadness
sore throats
thyroid gland

green tourmaline
endocrine system
depression

TURQUOISE
strengthens body
nervous system vitality

fountain necklace

While visiting a friend near Chicago, we stopped at the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette, IL. Everything about the place was very beautiful, but I was drawn to the fountain. When I looked inside, I saw this:



I thought it was really cool and knew I wanted to make a piece of jewelry that captured it. The rest of my vacation, the back of my mind was formulating this necklace. (You might also recognize it as the background of this blog.)

When I got home, I did some searching for the perfect beads. Since I had only an idea of what I wanted, I couldn't go to my regular sources. Instead, I looked at good old ebay. Besides having a wide selection of things available right then, most things were reasonably priced. I found several things that would be perfect for my creation and bought what I could, bidding on the others. There isn't a big market for beads, so I easily won everything I needed.

I only had one problem (albeit a major one) when one company decided that instead of the $4.99 shipping charges, I would have to pay almost $30. That was a long drawn out fight, including reporting them to ebay, but in the end I ended up paying for them. It makes me sad, but they were really awesome beads. (If you look at the necklace, it's the lighter of the 2 large squares.)

So after I finally had all my beads, I set about creating. The design process alone took several hours, but I had a picture in my head (and on my camera) which gave me a clear goal. I'm quite pleased with the way the necklace turned out. It is a little bulky and heavy though, so it's not a perfect everyday necklace. But it is so nice to look at.

See the necklace at Sun Sparkle Designs: fountain necklace.

3-2-1 necklace

I wanted something to dress up a business suit, and thought a simple strand of pearls would look great. Of course, I couldn't decide which color of pearls to use, and they all looked so pretty together. First I thought I would just make a 3-layered necklace. But then it occurred to me that some of the colors might clash with certain outfits.

I never thought I'd be inspired by Swatch Watches.

I think I'm a genius, and I really hope that nobody else has marketed this idea before. However, with my readers as my witnesses, I came up with the multi-strand necklace idea all on my own, on August 11, 2007.

To see the necklace, go to Sun Sparkle Designs: 3-2-1 necklace.

clown bracelet

For my birthday, a friend bought me these cool beads. They were awesome, but hard to work into a design. Finally one day I decided that the beads are elaborate enough - the jewelry would be better simple.

I played around with my stock beads until I found some that perfectly matched. I wouldn't have thought about the blue lace agates if I hadn't seen them up close. The colors on the agate were just light enough to draw out the colors on the glass even more, and the hint of blue looked great with all the glass, even the red.

The result was a beautiful (accidental) work of art.

See the bracelet at Sun Sparkle Designs.