Lapis Lazuli on 14kt gold-filled

I’m celebrating life tonight. No, not the holidays – not yet, that will come next week. I’m still working on getting my act together on that…and at this point, it’s still shakey.

What I’m celebrating is random connections that out of the blue come together and work in unison…like this roundel jasper stone that I’ve had for over a year. I love it but have been struggling in what to do with it. Along comes some freshwater pearls…and what the heck, let’s see what they do together…

Voila – I named it “By Chance” for you never know what’s coming around the bend that will enhance what you already have in your pocket.

And if by chance, you want to see the all of it, contact me. Otherwise, I’m taking it to Trot Home on Friday.

This past Thanksgiving before my daughter came home from San Francisco, I sent her money and asked her to come home with her pick of beads from The Bead Store. The only guidance I gave her is to pick out something she thought I would have fun with. As soon as she came through the doors and after the hug, I asked to see the beads she picked out and they were wonderful.

Not something that I would pick out but that’s what makes it fun! Give me a handful of random beads and challenge me to make something out of them.

In the mix were these beautiful blue glass beads with silver accents and two plum colored beads with an iridescent finish. I chose two of each and decide to make a silver wrap bracelet. Did you ever make something that was not only starting to get the best of you but decided that it was going to choose how it was going to turn out?

I envisioned a simple bangle bracelet showcasing these lovelies. But no…one more embellishment, now I have to balance that embellishment…then balance the colors and weight. This one was pushing me into corners where I didn’t think I was going to get out of. In fact, it almost ended up in the lake.

So I took a break…and a nap. After a few hours, I went back up and decided to give in to the creation and let it guide me to its final form. It did as it challenge me to go places and try techniques I have never tried before. It called to me to go outside my comfort zone and take a chance. It did and it won…but so did I.

I call it “Wild and Wonderful” for that’s what happens when we color outside the lines.

BTW – if you are interested in purchasing this lovely, I’ve listed it in my 1000 Markets Shop!

I was cleaning out my office recently and found two sheets of Christmas images that I had printed out a couple years ago. The images were of Dover Publishing Christmas images that I had modified to look like postage stamps. A couple years ago I handmade Rummikub® Christmas postage stamp ornaments for gifts for the kid’s teachers. I also sold a few extra sets. They were surprisingly popular. I was just too busy with other things to make more.

Because they have a little wire-wrapped loop at the top, thay could be used as gift tags as well.  They can be made to be a gift on a gift.

I didn’t want to do the same thing over again. This time I decided to use some of my leftovers and give the ornaments a new spin. I painted the backs a brassy gold color. I filled in with some gold leaf to make them look a little tarnished. Some of them worked better than others. I found some jewels that we had been using for kid’s crafts. One of the sizes fit perfectly in the circular indent of the Rummikub® pieces.

The wires came from a dollar store purchase last year. I ended up with a huge number of wire ornament hangers.  Instead of using them “as-is”, I reshaped them into something that was more pleasing to the eye.

I still have quite a few leftover jewels, wires, and Rummikub® game pieces.  If you would like to make your own handmade ornaments or gift tags, you can find instructions for making altered dominoes in my how-to section of this blog.  Making Rummikub® game piece ornaments and/or gift tags is very similar. 

Note that I do sand the front of my game pieces regardless of whether I’m using wood or plastic ornaments.  I think it helps the image on paper stick better to the surface.

I’m always up for a new challenge especially if it involves game pieces.  Last night someone, we’ll call her Katie, suggested I make a bracelet for that can be passed from one Farkle champion to the next.  Every Thursday a group of crazy Farkle players gathers at the pool for 1 1/2 hours to take their chances at the dice.

I’m always up for a challenge.  I was given one day to create an adjustable (Farkle players come in a variety of sizes) bracelet with appropriate dice and various other doodads.   Now it may not be perfect or overly elaborate, but I think it is heavy and gaudy enough to meet the requirements.

Since the timeframe was short and I neither wanted to go out to buy materials or spend a lot of money, I chose to use materials I had on hand.  I have a jar full of letter dice that I really wanted to use.  I also had a set of 4 black and white dice and a set of 5 black and white dice.  Since Farkle uses 6 dice, I decided to use 3 dice from each set.

I drilled the holes in all the dice so that I could make some wire-wrap head pin charms.  I added some red glass beads, some silver metal beads and some glass pearls.  Since I know how wild those Farkle players can get, I attached all my charms to the silver chain with split rings.  HAH!  Try getting those charms off the bracelet.

I decided to put a hook and eye clasp on the bracelet.  The hook can be attached to any ring along the chain.  Big (not gigantic) or small anyone should be able to wear this bracelet!  Personally I’m waiting for one of the few men to win the opportunity to wear this one.

For some reason I’ve been stuck on turquoise and red, a great southwest color combination. I’ve been collecting buttons, beads and other findings in those colors for months.  Until recently I haven’t had the time to do anything with them.  I would wander into my studio to stare at some pretty turquoise and coral.  I decided I needed a bit of discipline.  Instead of starting with the stones and coral, I decided to begin with some ceramic turquoise beads I bought and some red plastic buttons I found at an estate sale. 

I formed a chain by wire wrapping my ceramic tube beads onto copper wire.

I found a wonderful vintage metal button in my collection.  The patina on the button goes well with the copper wire I used for wire-wrapping.  I wanted a little fringe on my pendant.  I decided to reuse some wonderful brass tube beads.  I put red glass seed beads on the end of copper head pins added the brass tubes, did a bit of wire-wrapping, connected them to a reused round glass bead (turquoise too!). Viola!   I had fringed pendant.

To each side of my re-purposed vintage metal button, I added a wire-wrapped head pin with a pretty red glass bead and a little turquoise Howlite bead.

My vintage button has a shank.  I didn’t want to remove the shank, so I slipped a copper head pin through the shank, added a couple reused glass turquoise beads and put in a wire-wrapped loop.  The beads in this case are used as spacers to make sure the wire loop is below the button.

I thought that this necklace should sit a little closer to the neck, so I added a minimal amount of copper chain to each side of the necklace.  The clasp is a copper-colored metal toggle.

I have so many components that are red, turquoise and copper that I think I may have to create a Southwest-inspired recycle jewelry video soon.

Meilė – tai noras perduoti tai, ko negali išlaikyti. E.M.Remarkas

I’ve been so busy lately. I really felt like I needed to get a little more art into my routine. I had created some altered dominoes for a “how to” demo on this blog. I really wanted to get some of the necklaces finished.

When I pulled out scraps of mulberry paper and I saw the light blue, I went ahead and pulled out some delicate blue beads. The beads were a pleasant surprise I discovered in a sewing basket filled with buttons. Someone else had already taken a necklace apart and saved these little blue beads. How do I know that they came from a recycled necklace? They had little bits of string inside a few of them.

I liked this little green parrot and I thought he would do well on the blue background. I saw some of this birds while I was in Central America. Although they were often among the trees, the skies were so blue and clear…when it wasn’t raining. Close-up you can see the fibers inside the paper.  You can also see how closely the parrot is cut out of the paper.  I like my images to blend right into the background.

Wire-wrapping is a very time-consuming activity. Usually when I use such fine wire, I don’t wire-wrap an entire necklace. The blue was such a delicate color that I thought it was appropriate to make a very simple and fine necklace to go with the beads and green parrot domino pendant.

You get a very intimate view of your beads when you wire-wrap.  It’s sort of “Zen” experience.  I really fell in love with these delicate light blue re-purposed glass beads.  The color is really quite lovely.  What a wonderful frame for this beautiful green parrot!

I decided to do another step by step tutorial for making wood domino pendants.  I will tell you some of the products I use.  No one is paying me to endorse their products.  I try to find the most cost-effective product that performs well.  Recently I did a tutorial on sanding and priming the dominoes, so I’m going to start with primed wood dominoes, see Altering a Wood Domino, Part 1 Sanding , Part 2 Prepping.

Above you can see that I’ve resized some public domain images and printed them out on my printer.  I always print them on thin paper and use the “Best” quality setting on my printer.

Some of the primer has leaked onto the number side of my domino.  I’m going to be finishing this side, so I sand off all the primer.  I want a clean surface to paint.

Before I even begin, I want to get a general idea of how I’m going to lay out my little domino collage.

After I know the basic design of my collage, I can drill the holes.  Sometimes the holes will be small, sometimes large.  If the design is in landscape mode, I’ll have to drill two holes.  Notice that the dominoes are not perfectly square.  I don’t care.  To me the beauty of working with recycled or reused items is that they aren’t necessarily perfect.

I’m using a Krylon® paint that look like gold plate.  Krylon paint can be hard to find, but it is my favorite all purpose spray paint.

The background of my domino collage is going to be mulberry paper.  Mulberry paper, like tissue paper, is very forgiving.  The texture hides a lot.  The paper soaks up the gel medium well.  I put a generous amount down on the smooth side of the domino and lay the paper on top.

Since I coat both sides of the paper with gel medium, if some of the gel medium leaks to the front all is well.  If I were using a different paper, I would still coat the front of the paper to seal it.  I use my finger to smooth out the top while the gel medium is still wet.

Just to show you how easy it is to work with mulberry paper, I tore off a few pieces of paper and added them on top of the previous layer.  The new pieces just blend right in.

When the glue is dry, I use a toothpick to poke the paper through the hole.  If the hole is large, I add a little gel medium to the inside of the hole to hold the paper in place.

I place the embellishments in place before I finish sealing the domino.  I want to make sure that I don’t want to add more paper images.   Above you can see I’m adding beads, broken jewelry, vintage findings and crystals.

I pull the embellishments off and seal all of the papers with a few coats of lacquer.  If I can find it, I use Deft® Clear Wood Finish.  Another very good choice is American Accent® Clear Top Coat by Rust-oleum®.

After the lacquer has dried and the pendants can be handled, I start adding embellishments.  I use Gem-Tac® or Aleene’s® Jewel-It® to glue down the embellishment on top of my domino.  I use wire to wire-wrap my beads and create the bail for my pendant.

Sometimes I have a complete idea when I start altering.  In this case, I knew I was going to make a leather necklace with the cord going through the pendant.  I wanted that little red bead to sit flat against the copper lily pad finding.

I never know which directions the other pendants might take me.  They may be a centerpiece or they may be another component on a larger piece.  I’ll just put them away and wait for some inspiration.

Kalnų krištolas dažnai būna skaidrus kaip ledas (graikiškai kristal – ledas).
Kalnų krištolas simbolizuoja švarumą, skaidrumą, harmoniją, šviesą, pažinimą, energiją.

Tikima, kad šis akmuo padeda atspėti ateitį. Iš jo gaminami būrėjų rutuliai. Padeda geriau pažinti save, skatina intuiciją, paaštrina pojūčius. Miegantį žmogų šis akmuo nuramina, išvaduoja nuo košmariškų sapnų. Žiemą nešiojamas šildo kūną. Jis taip pat gerina virškinimą, tvarko kasos veiklą.

Kalnų krištolas:

• Suteikia kūnui energijos, harmonizuoja,
• Gydo žaizdas, viduriavimą, akių ligas,
• Dėl savo stipraus poveikio paryškina sapnus, tačiau miegas gali tapti ne toks gilus ir neramus,
• Tinka visiems energetiniams kūno centrams,
• Suteikia kūrybingumo,
• Apvalo mintis.

Randamas: Brazilijoje, Lenkijoje, Prancūzijoje, Mianmare, JAV.

Zodiako ženklai: dvyniai, vėžys, liūtas, mergelė, šaulys, ožiaragis, vandenis, žuvys.

I received a request for a pair of earrings to match a personality. The recipient worked as a therapist and had very strong native american beliefs.

To keep with her beliefs, I made the earrings around common Native American knowledge.

The earrings are made in the shape of a water drop, as water is representative of emotions. Dreamcatchers are meant to catch the bad dreams and banish them away, while still allowing the good dreams to take the dreamer on a journey. The dreamcatcher weave in these earrings are representative of the banishment of bad emotions and experiences and the allowance of good to consume. And lastly, turquoise is the stone of healing. I decided to emphasize the last process of therapy in these earrings with the turquoise because of it’s meaning.

This new piece I designed for a fellow artist on Etsy.com. She is a wonderful lady and had fallen in love with another one of my designs. She requested that I make a bracelet/earring set that was similiar to the necklace. I kept to the same bead weaving, but I had changed it up a bit. (If you would like to see the piece then follow this link: http://www.gypsyrosefootprints.com/Portfolio.html and scroll down to Mistique)

Share your comments and questions! I love hearing what you have to say about it! 

It may be my birthday this week but I thought I would give the gift of a sale to my buyers.  20% off this week only!  Sale does end Friday so follow the link below to check it out.  If you don’t see anything there that you like just send me an email  – Custom Orders are always welcome.

‘THE LINK’

I love how different we all are, and yet the same. We all have two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Two legs, two arms and a spine. We all have brain and a soul.

It is our soul that defines who we are. Some call the soul their “conscience” or their “Giminy Cricket.” But it is this that helps us to make the right decision, say sorry, or give money to the mother who has none and three children.

A lot can be done to partially mirror the depths of the soul. A painting, a story, a photograph… But what about jewelry?

If you ever look into the henna tattoos, there is actually a meaning to the dots, the curls and points. There are full designs that represent health, fertility, wisdom, etc. So why can’t jewelry be as expressive?

When it comes to making a personality piece, I not only look at the person and who they are but who they want to become; how life has changed them and how it is still improving them. The gemstones are incorporated into the piece to bring stability, good health, wisdom… Even the wire is hammered a certain way to promote the betterment of the person.

I know that some believe that jewelry, or any other inanimate object, doesn’t and can’t do anything for a person and their life. But if that were true then why is it that when we eat healthy (the food being the inanimate object) our bodies perform better. Or how a simple gift can brighten someone’s day! Even the placing of a ring on the finger can change a person’s mood!

The “new age” way of thinking promotes the use of stones to heal and balance one’s life. Quartz for healing, rose quartz for love, hematite to repel negativity. The purpose and meaning of the stone will all depend on the persons beliefs and studies. The common way is to find the meaning that fits best for you.

Sometimes I don’t even pay attention to the meaning of the stones when picking the right one for a piece. I allow the stone to jump out at me and say, “PICK ME!” There have been times when I don’t even use a natural stone to express the personality. I have made a couple sets out of dichoric glass. They are eclectic, expressive, and have a vivacious way about them! A perfect visual description of the ladies personalities! (A Bold Character, Eclectic One)

Much like the stones the wire work says a lot about the person. The number of curls and points can tell how carefree or how strict they are to their ways and beliefs. The coils and spirals can tell how spunky and full of fun they are.

Hammering can express perfection, transition, goofiness, boldness… In the piece ”Healing Work” I hammered only in the curves of the wire and made it fade from heaviest at the apex of the curve to light to represent transitions that are made in life and how we are supposed to adjust… Gradually. In the piece “Notes and Lyric” I hammered the wire to represent the perfection of music and also it’s fluency.  In “A Bold Character” I hammered the wire flat then twisted it to represent spunk. The lady that I made this for can talk… A little too much sometimes and so I twisted the wire to resemble the “on and on” abilities! She’s a good lady!

You can check out all these pieces on my offical website at : www.gypsyrosefootprints.com

I’ve finally added a couple of new items to my webmarket.  Below are my two new additions.  Go to the site and check them out!

***Click Here for the earrings above***

***Click Here for the earrings above***

My name is Emily Rose and this is my journey.

I am 19-years-old and I live in California. My first job experience was with my uncle. It started out as the usual yard / house work, then it evolved into me helping him with his two businesses: Neon/Florescent/LED signs, and vintage motorcycle restoration. After four years of cleaning engines, polishing metal, installing signs, and working with electrical, I decided it was time to move on.

I ended up finding a job at a local craft/bead store. It was a definite change from what I was originally used to but it proved to be a very prosperous change.

It was at this job that I learned everything from leather working to beading. I was taught by not only my co-workers but my customers about the tricks of the different trades. After a year of experience at this 9-5 job, I decided to branch off on my own and start my own business.

From my first job I was taught how to properly charge for the job and avoid short changing myself. My second job taught me how to buy, the various types of gemstones and their costs, and all the different techniques that went into making jewelry.

With all the knowledge that I gained from these stepping stones, I’ve incorporated into my business.

Gyspy Rose Footprints originally started as a blog for a roadtrip that I was to be taking to explore the United States. Life ended up getting in the way and I had to figure out a way to bring in the money without actually getting a 9-5 job. I had been making jewelry as gifts for friends and family and it was suggested that I begin selling my creations.

So now I proudly offer to the world the products of my imagination and the journey of building a business.

I look forward to sharing my adventures with you and  hearing your comments on these experiences!

These gorgeous earring jackets are just so beautifull. They hang at approximately 2 1/8″ long and drip with amethyst briolettes, amazonite beads, apatite beads and citrine briolettes. Both have a beautiful focal brolette of blue mystic quartz. They have also been completely hand formed out of sterling silver wire (some slight variation), oxidized and then hand finished to bring out the details.  

Wear your favorite gemstone studs or pearl studs with these beautiful enhancers. They are sure to liven up your collection. 

Kai pasitraukia nakties šešėliai, klaidžioję po miestą… Kai gera basomis justi rasotą pievą… ir laukti ryto…

Description

I am so happy with how this necklace turned out – so much so that I named it after my great grandmother.  

I created Lillian from sterling silver wire and delicate Italian sterling silver chain, freshwater pearls, chalcedony rondelles, a faceted quartz flat briolette and a puffed diamond shaped moonstone. I finished the piece by oxidizing it and polishing it to bring out the details.  

Lillian is approximately 18 1/2″ stretched out from ring to hook of the clasp. The main focal of the necklace is a hair under 2″ in length.

Ir kai tu tikrai ko nors trokšti, visas pasaulis slapta padeda tau įgyvendinti šį troškimą.
(P. Coelho)

Negalima tiksliai nustatyti akimirkos,kada gimsta draugystė. Tai panašu į indo pripildymą: galiausiai krenta paskutinis lašas ir skystis ima lietis per kraštą. Taip ir darant gera lašas po lašo, galiausiai atsiveria širdis.

Bratara tip catusa, realizata din fire placate cu argint  sau din argint si perle de cultura crem-portocalii.

Cod: B04

Pret: 45 lei placata cu argint

Pret: 65 lei din argint