Autumn Walks & Carnelian Wire Flower Necklace

We are having a beautiful autumn in the south of England at the moment with some fantastic weather this week, which is just perfect for those lucky ones on half term holidays. I love walking in the local countryside at the best of times but autumn walks have to be my favourite just for the sheer beauty of all the different colours on show.

I also love the beautiful shades that carnelian comes in, from light shades of orange to deep russet red - a true autumnal gemstone. Here I have adapted my 'Wire Flowers' design to create this double petal flower with wrapped and coiled gemstones around the central bead.

As usual, you can find this necklace on sale in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

Time for a blog giveaway – Littles Earrings

Listed in my Folksy and Etsy shops today are some new earrings I have just made:

LILAC LITTLES

Amethyst Coiled Jewel Fine Silver Hammered Circle Earrings

It’s been a while, so I thought it was time for me to do another blog giveaway. Here is your chance to get hold of a CUSTOM MADE pair of my ‘Littles’ earrings in your favourite colour (I have a variety of different gemstones, so hopefully I can find some colours that suit you).

Questions?.....

Q. What do I have to do?
A. Leave your details and a comment here telling me your favourite colour or which colour you would choose for your custom made Littles earrings and your name will go in my pot.

Q. Can I DOUBLE my chances to win?
A. Yes, be a ‘Follower’ of my blog and I will put your name in again.

Q. Can I TRIPLE my chances to win?
A. Yes, blog about this giveaway on your blog and I will put your name in again.

Q. When will I know if I’ve won?
A. I will be pulling a name out of my pot on Monday 12th October and the name of the winner will be announced on my blog. Please remember to check back to see it it’s you.

Best of luck
Kristin :)

Coiled Jewel Bangle - The Second

Here is version two of my coiled jewel bangle, this time with faceted beads of magical labradorite. This bangle is more sturdy than version one.

My order of thicker wire and 'fine silver' wire (for fusing) has just arrived so I'm going to have a try making bangles with them.

I love spirals

I am loving spirals at the moment and can't get enough of them! Back in February I posted pictures of some earrings that I had made with sterling silver spirals over gemstone beads - both of those sold really quickly, so I made some more.






Then I got thinking about gemstones over spirals and came up with my 'Wonky Spiral' design (some more wonky than others!).

The aquamarine spiral earrings here were my first attempt and, although I hammered the wire for strength, they are still a little delicate. I've kept these for myself.









My second attempt with ametrine included some wire wrapping at the top. I found this gave the earrings much more stability. However, in finalising the design, the spiral shape became quite wonky, hence the name. I've kept these for myself as well!








And here is the third attempt with sparkling faceted amethyst rondelles secured in the centre of the spirals. These are definitely not so wonky and I am happy how they turned out.

They are up for sale in my Folksy shop.

Little Flowers

I think I have finally cracked my new design of little flowers made from one length of wire. It took several attempts and quite a bit of silver wire (why, oh why, didn't I practice with silver plated wire first?!). The design is based on my Daisy Flower set I made last summer (necklace, earrings and hairspins).





This time I wanted to include a gemstone in the centre that is held in place by the end of the wire. I worked on this over several evenings struggling to get a final piece that I was happy with. I was probably 're-inventing the wheel' (my husband often accuses me of this) but I haven't seen a tutorial that offers this design. Also, it is quite satisfying when you puzzle through your difficulties. Mine were mainly how to make the flower sturdy as well as neat.




I reckon there is a lot of potential in this design and have already made a pendant to match the amethyst earrings and am thinking about pointed petals, more petals, double petals, hammered petals, textured petals ..... Any further suggestions, anyone?