Making Designer Jewelry With Hardware, Gems, and Beads Contest Extended

Making Designer Jewelry from Hardware, Beads, and Gems

Nicole Noelle Sherman

25 gorgeous how-to projects!

Interest in beading and jewelry-making continues to grow. Making Designer Jewelry from Hardware, Beads, and Gems offers DIY crafters and jewelry-makers a fun, funky approach to jewelry constructed from not only glass beads, pearls, and semi-precious gemstones, but shows how to incorporate simple stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass and tin hardware, such as nuts, bolts, washers, and tubing, into stunning, innovative, and modern jewelry pieces.

Using hardware in jewelry has become popular, and features an aesthetic twist that mixes "high" and "low"--inexpensive and common metal hardware with favorite bead-store jewels.

Nicole Noelle Sherman designs and creates jewelry in her studio in Free Union, Virginia. Her work grows out of a family tradition of art and architecture; her aesthetic exhibits complex patterns on a geometric structure with careful attention to detail. Nicole is also the author of Making Designer Freshwater Pearl Jewelry.

You know what they say, "A girl can never have too much jewelry" well, this girl certainly can't especially since I can't stop making jewelry. And being the lover of hardware that I am, I can't stop flipping though my copy of Making Designer Jewelry from Hardware, Beads, and Gems and making jewelry inspired by the kick a** pieces in it.

Today's inspiration came from this pair of washer earrings:

(Click on image to enlarge)

And it just so happens that while cleaning out my new Airstream I scored a bunch of washers. What kismet!

I scrubbed up the washers and poked through the stash for some chain and a focal bead. As it happens I found this chunky square pink stone bead. Hmmmmm again with the square peg in the round hole...when I have a theme, I stick to it.

This necklace is so fun because it can be worn so many ways. I love the adjustable!

All you need is:

56 inches of chain

1 washer

1 large focal bead

1 head pin

Thread the chain through the washer.

Then thread the two ends of the chain through the hole of the washer.

Thread the head pin through the bead and form a loop.

Link the two ends of the chain into the loop on the focal bead.

Adjust to any length you like to go with your outfit!

Jewelry is not the only thing I make. When you have as many bits and pieces as I do, it is nesseccesary to come up with clever ways to sort and organize them. I of course, try to do this by recycling things I already have.

I happen to have a stash of film canisters. And I have been saving bottle caps originally to mosaic with (look for that project soon).

So I combined the film canister with the bottle caps and voila! Instant compartmentalized tray to keep all my small bits of chain from getting tangled. I even go so far as to put gold tone chain on one side and silver on the other.

Try this with different size bottle caps and any low flat container for what ever you need to organize.

Scrapbookers wouldn't this make a great organizer for brads, grommets and other little bits?

Don't forget to leave a comment on:

Whoo-hoo Wing Nuts-NEW!- Making Designer Jewelry with Hardware, Gems, and Beads

Post from July 12th

We are extending the contest to win a free copy of Making Designer Jewelry from Hardware, Beads, and Gems until July  9th! I know you all are full of ideas, share, share!!!

Comments

[Marilyn from Freer, TX]

This was an interesting article. Not something I would want to do because I don't have that much imagination to create something like that but I know others can and do make beautiful items out of hardware.