Update: Queen Anne's Lace Bracelet and Earrings

Back in February I participated in the Halcraft Pretty Palette Challenge and created the Queen Anne's Lace necklace and earrings set below:

I was quite happy with how the necklace turned out, but (as I mentioned in the original post) I wasn't really satisfied with the earrings--they were just too big to be easily wearable, and I knew I wanted to remake them. I thought perhaps I could create new, smaller earrings and instead use the large wire-wrapped frames from the original earrings to create a bracelet. And I finally did!

I took the two original earring frames and remade them into one central focal element (an exact replica of the focal components in the matching necklace) for the bracelet, and then added several chains of glass pearls on each side to connect to a handmade toggle clasp.

I created a pair of earrings to match the set, although they do not directly mimic the focal elements of the necklace and bracelet. They are much more wearable--lighter and smaller--though I'm not sure I feel that their design meshes with the necklace and bracelet well enough. I really don't want to remake them AGAIN though, so this is how they'll stay.

The wire components are all handmade with German style copper wire, and the beads are a mix of quartzite, shell, agate, crystal, freshwater pearls, and glass pearls.

I think my favorite part is the freshwater-pearl-and-jewel-encrusted toggle clasp on the bracelet! It's the finishing details that can really make a piece special, like handmade clasps and artistic earwires. Overall, I think these new pieces will create a really beautiful set when paired with the original necklace:

A set perfect for a bride with a pink-themed wedding, or maybe the honoree at a sweet quinceanera celebration. Until then, I will happily find every occasion to wear these fancy pieces in everyday life for no reason at all.

Do you enjoy wearing matching jewelry sets? What do you think about the earrings not perfectly mimicking the necklace? I'd love to know.

Sarah


Possibly linking up with:

Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims
Show and Tell Link Party at Flamingo Toes

Mixed Metal Floral Bangles

Recently I was wanting a quick project; something I could throw together in an hour or so to feel like I'd accomplished something, but still detailed enough to not look cheap. I scrolled through my iPhone photo album where I often keep screenshots of jewelry and other projects I've come across that inspire me, and the images that called to me had lots of color, beads, and big, beautiful flowers (check out Divya's amazing floral bridal jewelry for some inspiration!). And thus, these pretty floral bangles were born.

Unfortunately they're a bit difficult to photograph since they're so dimensional, so please forgive my poor photos. I'll give a quick explanation of how I put these together!

These bracelets each took only a few materials, including a simple bangle form, 26-gauge jewelry wire, a focal flower element (I used metal flowers with faux pearl centers), small 4 - 6mm beads for wrapping around the bracelet, beads of your choice for wrapping around the flower base, wire snips and chain nose pliers.

I started with a 6-foot strand of the jewelry wire and wrapped one end several times around one of the connecting ends of the bangle where it meets the bracelet's focal plate.

From there I strung on one bead, then wrapped the wire three times around the bangle, and then repeated this process until the bangle was fully wrapped with beads. I finished by wrapping the wire several times around the bangle frame after the last bead, then pulling the wire end back through the last bead and trimming and tucking in the end of the wire

How to attach the floral focal element is determined by your floral piece and your bracelet focal blank; in my case, the metal flowers that I used had flat bases (and no holes), so I wrapped the bases with more lengths of jewelry wire, and then used that wire to wrap the flower bases onto the bracelet focal blanks. Because the bases of the flowers were visible, I wrapped each flower base with beads strung on more jewelry wire to cover the not-so-attractive meeting of flower base and bracelet blank. You'll notice (in the photo above) that I used small glass pearls with the red flower, as the flower itself was large and I didn't want large beads that would detract from the flower itself.

The blue flower was quite a bit smaller and much of the bracelet focal blank was still visible around the metal flower base, so I used some petal-shaped beads (side-drilled tear drops) in a similar color to the metal flower and used more jewelry wire to string and wrap them around the base of the blue flower, creating the illusion of a second row of petals and thus a larger flower.

The nice thing about these bracelets is that they open and close! I struggle with fitting traditional bangles over my often-swollen knuckles/thumb joints, so this is a perfect solution for me--the look of a bangle with the ease of a clasp!

I had the blue and red metal flowers already in my stash (and no others), so I had to work specifically with those colors. I also had one silver and one gold bangle frame, and with me being the fan of mixed metals that I am, I knew right away I'd wrap them with contrasting wire for a more interesting look (and to make them even more versatile).

I paired the red flower with green aventurine beads and glass pearls, and used copper wire to wrap them onto the silver bracelet frame.

I paired the blue flower with fuchsia quartzite and turquoise howlite beads and used silver wire to wrap them to the gold bangle frame.

All in all I love how these pretty bracelets turned out. They're lovely worn individually or paired together--kind of like wearing a non-perishable wrist corsage. Perfect for the upcoming spring months!

How do you feel about bracelets? Would you wear the dimensional flowers? I'd love to know.

Sarah


Linking up with:

Friday Finds at Minted Strawberry
Link Party Palooza at Tatertots and Jello
The Creative Corner at Curly Crafty Mom
Fabulous Party at Lou Lou Girls
Show and Tell Link Party at Flamingo Toes
Worthwhile Wednesday at Crafty Allie
Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims
Idea Box - Thursday Link Party at Mila's Little Things