Wire wrapped jewellery designs: silver wire wrapped football bracelets!

A few weeks ago, I received a custom order from a woman who asked me to make a wire wrapped bracelet featuring garnet red and black beads, the colors of the University Of South Carolina's football team, the Gamecocks. I used bronze wire for the bangle and really liked how the gold color worked against the red and black crystals.

Well, the same customer has now asked me to design a similar bracelet using silver wire -- and has also asked me to make a bangle with purple and orange beads, the colors for Clemson University's football team, the Clemson Tigers.

Honestly, I don't watch or like American football. In fact, I barely watch sports at all. If I do, it's usually ice skating or gymnastics, and occasionally swimming or track and field if the Olympics are on.

That said, the idea of making sports bracelets never occurred to me. According to my football-loving friends, though, team-themed jewelry is popular and is apparently a big market I've been missing. Now that I think about it, it makes sense; I mean, I've seen people paint their faces with their team's colors, so why not wear a bracelet with the appropriate hues?

I'll have to see how these sell, but I'm wondering if I should try my hand at making other wire wrapped sports bracelets. I suppose I could design them in honor of basketball teams, hockey, baseball, maybe even soccer (which seems to be getting more popular in the USA). Many teams color combinations are pretty interesting, such as Clemson's purple and orange, so it could be fun to play around with different crystals and beads.

Though I'm not a sports fan, I do respect anyone who has a great passion -- and if it's for a particular team, why not show your love? I hope this customer's friends enjoy their bracelets and that their teams do well this season!

Check out the rest of my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Bronze wire wrapped bangle bracelet with garnet red and black crystals

As I've said before on this blog, I often get great ideas for jewelry from customers. Many request custom-made items and have a very specific vision in mind. I try to accommodate them as best as I can.

This week I received a request from a loyal customer who's purchased several bracelets from me. She wants to give a bracelet to a friend who is a fan of University Of South Carolina football, where the Gamecocks' team colors are garnet and black. She asked if I could design a garnet and black bracelet with a gold-colored band. I came up with this:

I don't know if the crystals are garnet, exactly, but they are a shade of deep, rich red. What's interesting is that I couldn't find red and black beads that were the exact same size and shape, so I ended up going with two different, but similar crystals: diamond-shaped black beads and barrel-shaped reds. The wire is 20 gauge bronze, but has that golden color.

I think she has a great sense of style because these colors work well together! The combination looks very regal; perfect for fall. I don't use a lot of reds and blacks; I tend to go for "cooler" colors, like blues, greens and purples, but perhaps I should add more red and black pieces to my repertoire. I also never would've thought to make jewelry based on sports team colors (full disclosure: I don't watch sports AT ALL unless you count ice skating), but this bracelet is appropriate for anyone -- not just fans of SC.

There's that old saying about how the customer is always right. I really don't think it's true, but my customer was right on in this case!

Check out the rest of my wire wrapped jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations. And check out my novel, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, at Amazon.

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