It's Bead Week at Michael's

Public Service Announcement:
I received an email from Michael's. Bead Week runs Sunday 10/24 through Saturday 10/30 !!
The "Bead Gallery" beads are 50% off. And lots of other beads and findings are on sale too.
I know you all shop there, since we all participated in Lorelei's challenge!

Click here to see the email

Family Tree

I am starting to try my hand at Tree of Life pendants. The very first one I made with cheapo beads, just to see if I could do it, has, so far, been my best. Go figure!
But I was thinking of making one for my Mom for Christmas, since she's kinda hinted around that she'd like me to make her a necklace. She wears mostly the fine jewelry my Dad has given her, so I never thought she'd want one of my brass necklaces. Plus, she's not really a "jewelry gal" like I am.
Anyway, I tried to make one with the birthstones of her children and grandchildren. It is ugly!!!! All our birthdays are in Oct, Jan & Apr (pink quartz or opal, garnet, diamond), and the colors did not mix well.
So, never mind about the birthstones! Now I'm trying to do 2 colors, green and gold. Not sure I like it. I think I'll try just one color again, maybe garnets for her birthday. But, I wore this one to work and actually got some positive feedback. So, now I need to decide - Keep it or trash it?

The blog hop is on!

Lorelei picked out beads at Michael's and invited everyone to play along!
The challenge: To find & buy the beads at Michael's and create a necklace.
Here's mine:



Now, quick like a bunny, hop to these other blogs to see everyone else's!!
Mary Harding
Hilary of Fryestyle
For My Sweet Daughter
My Life Under the Bus
Kristie of DreamSomeDesigns
Linda Landig
Copper Diem

Andrew Thornton
TyneBodenNecklaces
Raida of HavanaBeads
Erin of Treasuresfound
Molly of BeautifullyBrokenMe
Beading by Malin de Koning
Singing Woods

AuntieAnnie
Gr8Findings
Deborah M Purdy
Spirited Earth
My Critical eye

beads by breul
Beads for Busy Gals
Nayas Organized Chaos
Crafty Hope

Rosebud For the Love of Beads
Jamberry Song
Peacock Fairy
Elysian Studio Art
Designs by Debi

Love at first sight

OK, I love LillyPilly designs anyway. I saw this Mother of Pearl with black "Dandelion" oval and just knew I had to have it. The black glass leaf hangs over the pendant when worn, but I hated to cover up the pendant!

Lorelei's Michael's "challenge"

I'm posting earlier than the deadline, to make sure I don't miss it!
I went to Michael's and was able to find all the beads for the task! This actually was a challenge for me, because, while I like all the beads individually, I probably would not put them all together into one necklace. I'm usually more monochromatic. So, this was a good thing to try.



I actually made 2 necklaces, my favorite one is the symmetrical-ish one on the left.



And, they look good worn together!!

This was fun!! I look forward to doing this again! Thanks Lorelei!

Official calling cards

I'm saying "calling cards" because I made them oversized. I wanted them to be reminiscent of Victorian calling cards.

This photo is the entire background of the card. It's a photo of my husband's grandmother (& her little sister). I was hoping to upload the card, with the type in it, but I have not figure out how to get blogger to do that!

cords galore

I recently photographed some cords I made. These have not been transformed into jewelry yet. I love making the cords, and they are fun to wear in colder weather (they're like little scarves!), but I think I'm the only person on earth who likes them. I was a textile design major, so I'm drawn to fibers. I love coming up with interesting color and texture combinations. I have had them for sale at various places, and I've only ever sold one. One. That's it. And that was to a woman who was buying it for her "wacky" aunt. So, not exactly a raving endorsement.
Oh well. I don't care if no one else likes them. I still like them.

Without further ado...

Here are the photos of Brittany's bridal jewelry. The instructions she gave me were "Big, Silver, Elegant". The centerpiece is a vintage rhinestone pin. The two side pieces are old buttons, so she has her "something old" already.


The earrings....


So, when she tried everything on with the dress at the bridal salon, the folks at the salon thought that the necklace was too fabulous for her to wear, because it took the attention away from the dress. I suspect this is only the opinion of a person that sells dresses. As the jewelry designer, I don't see a problem with the necklace being the focal point of the outfit....but I'm off track. So! She asked me to come up with a second necklace that was "less". Here's that necklace. As you'll see in the bridesmaids necklaces, this is a similar style.


And now for the bridesmaids: Brittany wanted the necklaces to be different, but to look like they were vintage necklace from the same collection. The dresses are a warm red/ coral and the Strawberry "Quartz" matched wonderfully.





Brittany wanted one for herself, for when they all hang out, so they can all wear their "matching" jewelry:

In the meantime, the mother of the bride requested a necklace to match her dress. Her dress color is "sable", which is a grayish brown. I did not get a swatch, but I thought Smokey Quartz would look good.

Here comes the bride, maybe

Well, I did not win the Vintaj challenge. That's ok. I like to enter it, even if I don't have a chance. You never know, someday I might win again.
But, in the meantime, the theme this past month was Vintage wedding. Coincidentally, I've been doing bridal jewelry for a friend's daughter's (Brittany) wedding. She took her necklace to the first fitting of her gown and the bridal shop owner flipped over the necklace, and now wants me to collaborate with her brides (customers!). This will be a challenge, because my designs tend toward casual/ asymmetrical and brides usually want formal/ symmetrical. It will be a stretch for me - but I could use a good stretch.
Here's some of Brittany's jewelry I made (very Bling-y)....

Oh crud!! The pics are not on my thumb drive - I'll post them tomorrow!!

Orchard Artworks

I am on the Orchard Artwork's website now.
Here's a link to my artist page:
http://www.orchardartworks.org/Artists/oa_cynthia-riggs.htm

Vintaj June challenge

I have submitted my design for the Vintaj June Challenge Vintage Wedding.

Inspiration: The vintage Czechoslovakian pin stars as the focal, and was my inspiration. The scene looks like an offering of a bouquet - perhaps a proposal? The Howlite beads, along with the Vintaj brass, gives the necklace an ancient feel. "My heart is ever at your service." - William Shakespeare

The challenge is open from June12-18, so head over to vintaj.com/wpblog after June 12th and check it out. Look for my necklace and vote!!

I'm a juried artisan!!

I have good news!! I applied to and have been accepted as a juried artist at Orchard Artworks in Bryn Athyn, PA. It is a small gallery with (I'm guessing) 40 or so artist/ members. I am going to meet with them on Saturday to fill out paperwork, and get more info. I'm actually excited and nervous about it - what have I gotten myself into?? They really want me to work one day per month, which doesn't sound like too much to ask. But Alan's only home on weekends, and I can only work there on weekends! We'll have to see how it goes.
I'll post more info later, with a link to the website and my "artist page".

New stuff.....well, old really!

I have been looking at some old broken pins on my jewelry desk for quite some time. I finally picked them up and did something with them. One is an old photo pin (but with no pin on the back. One is a G.F. pin with a small piece of coral (also no pin on back) and the last one was an unset floral cameo, just screaming to be wrapped in brass! Here they are....what do you think? (I still need to take a decent photo of the coral one)

It's been a while

I just have been too busy making jewelry to blog about it. I can't believe that the previous post was from last April!!!
Well, here's some stuff I've made recently

majong in silver

Here's a majong necklace made with antique silver findings. I have found a supplier, other than Vintaj, that makes brass filigree, but with silver plating.

Brown necklaces

Hi Jay-Louise! Here are some brown necklaces I made

More Dragonflies

These are my latest innovation in jewelry design!! I place the hook closure on the lower section, and 2-3 inches of chain on the end of the upper section, so the length can be adjusted. Also, I'm pairing a dragonfly with another brass stampimg, to create a mostly brass pendant. They jingle a little when you move.

This is slightly more close-up of the pendants....

Blooming Garden

I am so ready for Spring! We had very mild weather this past weekend. It was nice to get outside, but it really wasn't like Spring. Everything is still dead/ dormant. There were no spring flowers to look at. The crocus and my Hyacinths are starting to come up, so there's a little green out there.
This necklace is Spring inspired.

Seeing Red?

Here's a collection of red necklaces. The one in the middle is one of my most favorite. It was created when I was trying to make something special with some beads my neice (Isabelle) gave me. The striped beads were from Isabelle. Thanks for the inspiration, Boo!

Blue?

I've started photographing multiple necklace at one time. It will save on uploading time. Here's a collection of blue necklaces.