Rose of Sharon Jewelry

Inspiration for creating handmade jewelry can come from anywhere. My new At Dusk necklace started with a thumbnail picture on eBay. The pictures weren’t the best but something about the long oval scalloped beads just said “Buy ME!”

I could tell the pressed glass had a vintage look including the slight edge around each bead. The picture showed swirly, soft hues of cream, white, lilac, brown and pink. Something just told me I had to have these.

When the package came, I was thrilled to discover that my instincts had been right. The shape is wonderful and the colors better than I anticipated. See for yourself below -

So now I had 5 new glass beads. Time to dig! My beads are divided by color so I pulled out yellows, browns, pinks, creams and whites. I quickly decided against yellow or white as they created to much contrast.

I was thrilled when I found the perfect Rhodochrosite beads in medium pink with just a touch of brown to soften it. Next was a strand of brown Rhodochrosite that I had bought the month before.

Rhodochrosite beads usually are a blend of colors such as both pink and brown stripes or swirls. The beads I had were color sorted and came from two separate vendors.

Keeping the vintage element in mind, I added antiqued gold over brass bicone beads and daisy spacers and a antique gold over pewter toggle clasp.

A simple single strand of straight stringing just seem best for this piece where the color theme is the most important part of the overall design.

The creative and planning process took over an hour as I sorted through all my options.

No, No, No, Maybe, No, Yes, No, Yes, Yes, Yes!

At Dusk is available in the Rose of Sharon Jewelry store.

I love the finished necklace which I call At Dusk and hope you do too. Enjoy the pictures and don’t forget to leave your comments.

Thanks for stopping by again. Don’t forget to check out the newest releases in the Rose of Sharon Jewelry store.

I’ve been gathering up jewelry components of silver, gold and copper that needed antiquing. I mixed up a nasty batch of liver of sulfur from my bag of chunks. Mom and I spent the evening merrily dipping, swabbing and wiping with some very interesting results.

A wax-casting gold mounting was toned down so the real gold looked less like plastic and more like 14K. The finding (surrounding a turquoise cab) was purchased by my Dad several decades ago when gold was affordable. With a little antiquing, the pendant is now ready for Mom to repurpose into one of her necklace creations.

Some bright, bright silver chandelier earring components were transformed by the process. Some came out antiqued like a vintage piece. Others took on a peacock shine with blues, lilacs and pinks. A few sets immediately turned golden, then took on a rose gold tone. Yummy!

After smelling that rotten egg smell for way too long, I decided  to order some of the new gel formula of liver of sulfur known as Patina Gel from Cool Tools. Reviews have been very favorable in use, storage and effectiveness. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m a gadget and tool geek. I own tons of useful and plenty of not so useful jewelry making tools. What your newest favorite tool?

New today – Rain Priest charm bracelet. A golden charm bracelet handmade by Sharon to honor the spiritual beliefs of Native Americans. Charms celebrating the spirits and omens used by Medicine Men are mixed with handcrafted dangles of turquoise colored stone beads.

This antiqued gold over pewter bracelet is filled with images of powerful omens of birds, buffalo, horses and more.

A peace pipe is the largest charm in the Rain Priest bracelet now on sale in the Rose of Sharon Jewelry store.

To add to the movement and fullness of this one-of-a-kind charm bracelet, Sharon (that’s me) added dangles of turquoise colored Jasper.

I decided to use the Jasper because their softer more organic color was a better contrast to the bright and antique gold chain and clasp.

Glass of white, glass  of red – a handmade charm bracelet called Merlot goes with everything! After a recent trip to Sonoma, CA (wine country), I decided to pull out my stash of wine-themed charms to create this one-of-a-kind charm bracelet.

I hand wired juicy wine-colored garnets to look like grape clustered and mixed them between the gold over pewter charms. (These are new charms and certified lead-free.)

Over a dozen charms from wine bottles to glasses to oak casks to cheese wedges adorn Merlot.

Whether you love a bold red or a crisp white, you’ll love this artisan charm bracelet.

Merlot is available now in the Rose of Sharon Jewelry store.

These garnets have a wonderful translucent quality.

Vintage and new Christmas charms plus red Swarovski crystal dangles make our new Holiday Cheer charm bracelet a wonderful early Christmas gift. Each enameled gold over pewter charm celebrates the season of good cheer. 

I’ll let pictures tell the rest of the story.

Holiday Cheer is shown exclusively in our A.F.F. Jewelry line on Etsy.

Remember this is a one-of-a-kind bracelet so don’t delay if you are interested in treating yourself or someone special.

A great mix of vintage and new Christmas charms.

Charm bracelets make perfect holiday gifts.

Looking for other gift ideas? We’ve got some wonderful  choices all under $100 and most under $50 of one-of-a-kind jewelry in our Etsy store.

Our artisan line of Rose of Sharon Jewelry carries necklaces, bracelets, earrings and complete necklace sets for those interested in investing a bit more money for designer quality.

Pink Jade is such a luscious bead. The ladies of Rose of Sharon Jewelry love pink so you’ll see it used frequently on our different lines. This wonderful new 3-piece set from Betty is our newest original artisan design. Named Contessa for its elegant look, the necklace, bracelet and earrings are true statement pieces – and not for the timid!

Making Contessa

Betty started with a lovely pink enamel flower from China. Since she loves Swarovski crystals, she added them along with a glass bead to create the one-of-a-kind centerpiece.

The pink Jade beads came next (a wonderfully juicy choice).

She added shiny black faceted glass beads to make the “grown-up girl” pink even more luxurious looking.

The final choice was the Swarovski rhinestone spacers. Gold-filled findings continue the rich look of all three pieces.

Bold and Bright

You can really see the sparkling Swarovski spacers in this elegant bracelet. Both bracelet and necklace have gold-filled toggle clasps.

Finishing Touch

The matching earrings complete the set but would be a great choice to wear alone with a more casual outfit.

Are you a pink lover? Or does pink just make you think of silly little girls?

P.S. I’m starting my physical therapy for my ankles soon but I’m feeling stronger and will be blogging daily starting with this post!

Tiny mars on my silver wire  really bug me, especially when making the tiniest loops for silver earrings. Beadalon as an solution – nylon jawed round nose pliers! The nylon jaws are replaceable and the construction seems durable.

I haven’t seen these in person but it appears that the points aren’t very fine but any good tool is a very good tool!

These should be available at your favorite bead store or Beadalon wholesaler.

As a professional business person, I would never want to compete with my customers so it seems strange that jewelry suppliers market and sell finished jewelry.  Would you run your business that way?

To keep costs low and quality high, I am always searching for trusted suppliers. This means I am always searching the Web for “wholesalers” and suppliers. So many sites advertise that they offer “wholesale to the public”. I’ve worked in several different industries as a marketing professional and I find simply false advertising. Either you are a legitimate wholesaler or you are just a company offering a progressive discount system for anyone with a credit card.

But it is the companies that sell beading supplies at “wholesale” and imported finished jewelry that offend me. As a handmade jewelry artist and managing partner of Rose of Sharon Jewelry, I spend a lot of my time establishing our brand and our perceived value. This is a critical action for anyone creating a craft/art/design that value is set by desire and what the market will bear more than commodity items.

If you’ve ever heard “I could make that for half that price”, you know that setting value can be tough. And many crafters/artists/designers tend to cave in and lower their prices. The last thing we need is to have the suppliers we do business with contributing to this obstacle.