~ Compliments ~

"Congratulations on having such gorgeous work published in Bead Stringing! I really like the cornucopia necklace. The jasper is beautiful! ... great job!" -- Tracy M., Alabama
~ ~ ~
"Just wanted to say how much I love your "smoke on the water" design. Very elegant and simple." -- Nancy L., Morristown, NJ

~ Random Thoughts ~

My brother calls this one "Gothic." I just designed a necklace around a silver heart pendant that I've had for the longest time.

Gothic Necklace

I added black seed beads, silver daisies, and deep red freshwater pearls. I was surprised at how a simple design could look very attractive.

The first day I wore it, I had to stop by a couple of stores for errands. The sales clerk at Barnes and Noble asked if I make my jewelry, adding that it looked "professional." The cashier at Michael's asked the same question and said it looks "very nice." With a broad smile, I nodded, handed out a business card, and said, "There's more at my website." Even if they don't come around at all, I sure had a blast receiving the compliments. Simple joys make my day.

The Hobbit Bracelet

My learning experience with resin casting happened at the time I was nursing a hangover from watching The Hobbit at the movies (twice). My first tries were what one would usually end up with — stuff encased in clear plastic.

Because the resin kit instructions demonstrated how to insert a photo into a backing and sealing it with a resin cast, I figured, hey I could do that with photos of the Hobbit dwarves and I could string those into a bracelet! I could use polymer clay as the backing. So I went to work.

The resin cast came out really nice. It was tedious, though, having to wait two days for the resin to cure. To me, that was the hardest part.

I glued clay pieces to the backs of the circles to allow for stringing. And here’s what the backside looks like.

Here’s my Hobbit bracelet with Thorin and the 12 dwarves, made with polymer clay, resin, and natural cord.

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