New Jewelry and Old

 Here are two of the new bracelets I finished last week.  Above is my tropical "Margaritaville" bracelet featuring a mini margarita charm right in the middle, as well as a little bit of beach in a bottle, a flip-flop, some glass fish beads, and a little shrink plastic charm reminding the wearer to "chillax."  I love the way it turned out.  Chelsea saw it and loved the colors, so I ended up making a second similar one for her (without the margarita!).

Below is a more sedate version of a beach charm bracelet:  plenty of reminders of the water but all in shades of aqua (click on the photos to see a close-up).  They are both on silver-plated chains with toggle closures.  Maybe I'll bring some with me when we go to the Jersey Shore next week and see if any of the boutiques might be interested in carrying them next summer...

 By the way, how do you like my photo staging for these pieces?  I wanted to make the pieces look like they just washed up on shore.  I'll take some without the sand as well, so all the details are visible.  Below is a pair of earrings I made from the wooden beads I dyed and decorated.  I really like the unusual look of the beads combined with the filagree caps and the little fantail bead on the bottom.

Finally, here is the first piece of "art jewelry" I ever bought for myself (maybe the only one!).  I got it in a shop in Durham, NC more than 20 years ago.  It is made of brass and originally had more of a verdigris patina to it. When I saw it, I just fell in love with the handmade quality and diversity of all the charms.  The little oval charm to the right of the bar part of the clasp has the artist's signature on it.  His name is Lochlin Smith and I recently found his website.  He lives and works in Vermont and is still creating unique jewelry like this.  I still enjoy wearing it, although now I have quite a collection of charm bracelets to choose from!