Jewelry Factory at Full Speed!

This week, I really tried to get in as much time as possible creating charms for more Valentine's Day bracelets. I made another attempt at making a little book. This one is only 3/4" square, so it's pretty small! I added a little cotton loop for a jumpring and cotton strings to tie it closed as you see here.

I wanted to put some Valentine's Day message on the pages inside, but I didn't want to do each page individually. In an effort to streamline and speed up production, I made a word document that contained the phrase "I love you" in 18 languages in a variety of fonts, spaced just right so I could print a page and cut it up into little 1 1/2" x 3/4" pages. I printed the words on pink paper and stamped little hearts and things on the back so when the pages were folded, some would have words and some would have hearts. This is what the book looks like open:
As cute as it is, I still don't think it's small enough to blend in with the other charms I've been making. Maybe I'll put it on a necklace.

While I was frantically trying to come up with other ideas for charms, I received my first swap charms from the yahoo group! Here they are, below. They gave me just the right inspiration and push I needed! Aren't they great? I especially like the two wire hearts in the center, one with the beads threaded on and the other with the coil.
On Friday I managed to squeeze in a trip to JoAnn's Fabrics in between the orthodontist and the grocery store! I picked up some colored wire in both red and pink, some metal charms that say "love much" on one side and "laugh often" on the other, some larger, thinner jump rings, some filagree bead caps, some colorful plastic dice beads, and a few large red wire-wrapped beads. From those materials, I was able to make all these new styles of charms!
Now I have piles of pink charms,
red charms,
and mixed red and pink. I placed an order with Artbeads.com for silver-plated chain and some heart-shaped toggle clasps. As soon as it arrives, I'll be able to put together at least 3 more bracelets. Just in time for February!
I also worked up that glass charm into a cluster necklace hung from a ribbon. While I'm waiting for the chain, I can keep working on these!