It’s been a little while since I made some new jewelry, pieces that take some time anyway, so it felt really good to sit at my worktable this week and play around with copper, dyed pearls and some other great finds I culled from my stash to create these beach treasures necklace and earrings.

I will be heading out to CHA on the 21st and need to make some new pieces of jewelry to wear. I have an idea of the clothes I will pack for the trip but I haven’t put everything out on the bed yet. So yeah, I’m just guessing this will go with one of my tops *crossing fingers* because I really like it and want to be able to wear it.

You may remember that I took a silver smithing class this spring and while I’m still very much a beginner I felt confident enough to tackle the copper piece that holds  everything together. It’s an idea I’ve had in mind for a while now but just haven’t taken the time to work on it.

I was inspired by an old charm necklace that my sons gave me for Mother’s Day one year when they were really young. It had sterling silver charms that said #1 Mom and the like. Do you remember those?

I wondered what would happen if you created that charm holder MUCH bigger and put MUCH bigger wire wrapped pieces on it.

Yeah, I know, I’ve seen them on the web lately too. Great minds think alike, you know. 🙂

I’m like you and when I see something I like that someone created online I want to know where I can get some of those supplies too. Truthfully, I’ve been collecting these supplies randomly over the last six months or so but here is a list so that you have a general idea.

• Local bead shops – sea glass, copper oval, clasp, copper, copper peanut seed beads
• Bead show – ceramic shell and sea horse beads
• Artbeads.com – sea horse, sand dollar, sea shell and starfish charms
• Jewelry Television – dyed pearls
• Beadalon – wire
• Plessmann Endless Leather – brown leather

The leather was sent to me by endlessleather.com and I have to say that it’s buttery soft and beautiful. It was easy to work with and I think it lends the whole piece a look of quality. Don’t you?

All of the supplies for the earrings came from the same sources, naturally and while I don’t generally make necklaces and earrings that match so closely I couldn’t resist this time. The necklace is rather long (that’s the way I like them) so it’s not like the earrings will be right next to the pendant of the necklace.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite pieces I’ve made in a while and I’m pleased with the way everything looks and feels. It’s just more proof to me that quality jewelry making supplies make a big difference in the end product.