Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms out there: "Yay for you!" I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day. I haven't been a mom all that long, but I've already experienced some fantastic Days of the Momma and some really pathetic, icky ones. This year will be another fantastic one and if it isn't, I'll just have to twist someone's arm a little harder! :)


Now, I just need to figure out a great "thank you" gift for my mom. Of COURSE it has to be some of my jewelry. Not the macaroni-on-yarn necklace--I think I already gave her one of those when I was five. I like making stuff for my Mommy.


I want to share a few necklaces that I made so far this month. I bought a basket-full of mixed-stone beads and put them together in an asymmetrical, long necklace. The picture was taken in a hurry and I didn't align the necklace right--it looks like the green donut beads hang evenly on each side, but they don't. The one with the feather charms dangling from it is positioned quite a bit higher than the other donut. There's also a collar that can be wrapped and worn as a bracelet. The earrings are matched, but not identical to each other. When I showed this set to Mom when she returned recently from a short trip to Arizona, she said that it reminded her of Tucson. So, that's what I'll call it, "Tucson":






I think I have fallen for large pendants. I'm finding more and more of them in my bead stash. This one is made of wood and I love the contrast of the gold foliage outlines on black. Coming up with an assortment of colors that worked was tricky. I didn't want to keep it strictly black and gold. I really like how the teal and purple perk things up without taking over. The whole thing reminds me of a field that's been control-burned to prepare it for new growth. I'm having a hard time naming this piece. I don't know how to convey this image I have into a title that doesn't freak anyone out. "Scorched Earth" is just wrong on so many levels. "Controlled Burn" sounds so blah. Maybe something like "Before the Planting."



I saw these silver stars and gasped. Well, you know Independence Day is only two months away. Yeah, I'm ready for the 4th of July, but not Mother's Day. Hmmm...



Finally, I made this set today. It's a really wild, organic pendant (again, on the large side) with little spacers of flowers and leaves. I chose mostly milky-colored glass beads for this one. I've never done that before. I usually either go for completely transparent or completely opaque glass. The earrings use glass beads that are very similar in color, but one is fairly square and the other is pretty cylindrical. It's hard to tell in a photo. This one is also hard to pin down a name for. Something jungly would fit the metal pieces, but the beads just don't agree. They're too soft and gentle. Not exactly what comes to mind when I think of a jungle. I'll get it worked out. At this hour, my brain is too tired to be creative. It'll be a miracle if any of this post sounds sane at all!