Assymetry

In our daily lives we're constantly reminded that symmetry is important.  Lack thereof is somehow jarring and draws the eye- and not always in a good way.  I decided to experiment with that concept a bit.  I don't know if any of you has seen this necklace before...

...but it was the first asymmetrical design I've ever made.  Since then, I've refrained from duplicating designs like this, primarily because my first attempt at asymmetry didn't sell well.  I had the necklace a full two years before someone purchased it.  Well.  Since I like asymmetrical designs, I've decided to make as many as I want.  Poopoo on the rest of you if you don't like it.  It pleases me.  Viola!

 

I made two of these.  One, less lustrous one I will be keeping for myself for..uh... advertising purposes.  The other is now available in my Etsy Store. 

Trying to be Manly

I don't make men's jewelry.  It tends to be quite boring.  You either have to stick to a simple, repeating pattern, work with huge, bulky elements that are expensive and difficult to come by, or submit to a completely monotone, unexciting design that would probably be better off not existing for all the attention it draws.  
It's hard to get men's jewelry right.  On one hand, you want to create something to adore, amplify and embellish.  On the other, our culture seems to believe that that sort of thing and men is mutually exclusive...unless they are drag queens.  There's almost no examples of men's jewelry that I can duplicate or expand from.  I had to find inspiration from something else.

I took a look at manly men's bags to get ideas.  What I saw was interesting.  Plain, dull colors (like I expected), boxy minimalist designs (also, like I expected), and something odd.  Quirky things, usually focusing on one major element.  There was the bag that looked like clipart...

It's real!  It just looks like that

It looked like something that it wasn't, such as an envelop, turtle shell, or that Simon game from the 90s.

Courtesy of Zazzle

Courtesy of Style Magazine

Or it was festooned with motifs from cartoons, games and comic books.  It made sense that these recurring themes in men's bags could be applied to jewelry.  I tried.  Let me know what you think?

I chose the skull design because I had plenty of them lying around and because it's a common inclusion in men's casual bags.  Somehow skulls + dark colors = manly, so that's what we went with.  Honestly, I feel that it's unisex, well besides the length of the bracelet.  It's a great deal longer than I usually make because men tend to have larger wrists.  I'm satisfied with how it turned out.  Why don't you guys give it a try.

Simple Necklace: Y-Styled again

This necklace was created with some findings from Art-i-Cake as well as a bunch of beads from those mixed lot auctions I won from eBay. 

All in all, this simple necklace was a good exercise and a great experience.  The details are consistent, it flows well with the pendant link I chose and the bluish-gray crystal at the bottom makes the piece stand out.

 Again, this is a simple necklace with some length and versatility without being overpowering. 

It's inspired me to try my hand at some more steampunk pieces.  We'll see how that goes. 

Ladder Bracelets

What if I told you that there are simple bracelets that you can make with fewer than 40 beads?
Would you be inspired to make something magical?  Something punk?  Something industrial?  Or would you keep complaining that you don't have enough beads in your stash to do anything?  

Introducing the Ladder Bracelet!! 

I'm certain that the idea is not new, by any means.  Still, I realized that with 12-14 inches of chain and a small handful of beads, you can make a pretty funky bracelet.  It doesn't require a whole lot of beaded chain or stringing or anything like that.  Just simple wire work.

I was looking at some odd chain I had laying around and some beads that weren't quite enough to do what I originally wanted when I realized that the positioning of chain links ALWAYS follows an alternating pattern that puts adjacent links at perpendicular to one another.  Their positioning makes it possible to thread things like wire with beads on it through the links to form something of a ladder.  That is what I did. 

As you can see above, depending on how large the bead is and how large the chain links are, I use about 16-32 beads to make one ladder bracelet.  The beauty of this design is that it requires so few materials and works up very fast.  In the end, you have a neat bracelet with a lot of versatility. 

 

Why don't you guys give it a try and post links to your ladder bracelets in the comments? 

Industrial Strength Necklace

It's been a struggle keeping up my momentum recently, but I'm doing my best to put the Crafting Supplies of Years Passed to good use.  I have some truly bizarre things in my stash...  Sometimes, it's  much more difficult than I'd like to admit to pull together a good design that sticks with the trends and my aesthetic.  Here is another bauble that I made out of the treasure trove of findings I uncovered not too long ago.

First, is a stodgy and imposing sort of pendant.  It's composed of a large, heavy, dull gray steel ...wheel?  I don't know what the heck it is.  It was interesting and unusual and I could see possibilities.

It's a necklace and a bludgeoning implement.

The 'wheel' acts as the focal, drawing attention towards itself with its heavy shape and sparkling rhinestones.  I didn't want the necklace to look like a grungy chain with a rock on it, so I added some swarovskis and a tassel at the end of the focal to feminize it a bit.

Still, the industrial look of this particular opera length necklace isn't for everyone.  Thanks to the copious sparkle, it CAN be worn as an edgy accessory to a more formal outfit or to dress up a very casual ensemble. 

As I was struggling to get good pictures of this design, I kept thinking that I needed a model to help me truly showcase it.  Sorry to bother a cliche, but the photos do it no justice.  Anyone know anybody who'd pose for pictures in sparkly stuff in exchange for small gifts?