Back from a long hiatus.....

I lost track of blogging for awhile! I haven't been knitting much either. I think I needed a mental vacation from just about everything.

I started making jewelry again though. It's nice to have many hobbies so that you can switch back and forth between them so you won't grow tired of any of them!

I've made some jewelry with silver and gold wire and some with beads. I've been making mostly earrings and a couple of bracelets and a couple of necklaces. Today I took a class in Lampwork Bead making. So much fun and the creative possibilities are endless! Here are half of the beads I made today. These were made in the first half of the class so they are not that great. But, I still love them!

Top left - white with light blue and red dots

Top right - solid lavender encased in clear glass

Middle left - solid cobalt blue rolled in silver leaf and then encased in clear

Middle right - 2 lime green (my very first beads and not very round!) and orange, encased in transparent turquoise with white dots that were melted flatter than the ones on the top left

Bottom left - white round with orange and light blue dots

Bottom right - solid red with squiggle lines of light blue and white

It was such a great experience. The class was pricey but well worth the money. I will definitely go back for another one!

Here are the necklaces. The one on the left is browns and pinks and I kept it for myself. The one on the right was made as a Birthday gift for my friend Rox (Happy Birthday again Rox!)

I made these earrings for the same friend to go with the necklace. I LOVE them! They were an experiment and I can't wait to make a pair for myself.

These are the first earrings I made when I started taking classes. The beads were strung on wire, then that wire was coiled, then another thicker wire was put through the center and the whole thing was coiled again.

Next are all of the earrings I have made and kept for myself. The first pair below were made with gold accents and clear beads with flowers inside. I didn't realize it before, but I could make these beads now. It is just lamp work with flowers "drawn" with glass and then the whole bead was encased in clear. The second pair were made with jump rings and glass bead dangles. I have had these beads for years and love them. I am glad I finally found a good use for them.

This next pair is made with REALLY AWESOME beads. They seem like they are on fire and I had to have them when I saw them. I had no idea what i was going to make with them but bought a few of each side and came up with this design when playing around with them. The pair after those are made with one crystal, one square glass bead and a wooden bead. They are simple but I get a lot of compliments on them.

The next pair is also pretty simple. I think the focal bead is metal. The pair after those are made with another set of beads I fell in love with. I wound the wire at the base into a coil to make them more decorative.

These were pretty easy to make, but the wire bends easily so they become misshapen every time I wear them. If you hammer wire, it becomes less flexible but then it is easily snapped too, so I am afraid to try to use that as a solution.

This pair is easily my favorite pair. LOL They were stupid easy to make but I get a lot of comments on them. Most often, I hear, "Oh I get it! Chandelier Earrings", which is the direction i was going when I chose the materials.

Finally, here is the first bracelet I have made. It is called "Under the Sea" because some say it resembles a sea anemone. It was pretty time consuming, but well worth it. The beads are "sewn" onto the base and each stitch includes a 6.0mm bead an an 11.0mm bead.

So, there you have it. That's what I have been up to other than hanging out on Facebook taking stupid quizzes. LOL