Photo gallery: Handmade abstract fused dichroic glass jewelry sets

Happy holidays, everyone! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Joyous Kwanzaa! Happy New Year!

I hope you're all having a great holiday season, no matter what you celebrate. We always go to our friends' for Christmas, but this year, we brought a menorah so we could light the candles for the second night of Hanukkah. We really enjoyed combining our holidays and sharing traditions with our friends.

I couldn't take too much of a break, though, because December is always my busiest month -- and this year hasn't disappointed. I've had a lot going on with my jewelry and my music. This week, I had three holiday performances and on Friday, I'll be ringing in the new year (a touch early) by playing a local coffeehouse. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I love performing for seniors, but I'd also like to branch out and play for other groups. This won't be Carnegie Hall, but it'll give me a chance to entertain the people in my neighborhood and to try some different types of music.

I'm also working on various jewelry projects. People seem to like my glass jewelry sets, so I've made a few more of those. What I like about these is that they give me a chance to work on certain skills. For instance, that abstract set with the chunky blue and purple pieces was slightly underfired to give it that very textured appearance. That glossy pink and green set with the dots is called "Midnight At The Oasis" and was made with three layers of glass. I've gotten much better at firing the glass at even intervals so it results in a smooth finish, as you can see. The blue and pink wire wrapped set was made with transparent glass, which again, gives the piece an interesting looking finish.

As always, I have more projects in the works, so please check in regularly. And don't forget to check out Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Silver and pink wire wrapped dichroic glass jewelry set: fused glass necklace and earrings

This week, I had dinner with an artist friend and explained to her how to set up an Etsy shop. I suggested that she create some smaller, less expensive paintings to round out her collection, which includes large, expensive pieces. Granted her paintings are gorgeous and with the months of work she put into them are worth the money she charges... but if she's selling online, she'll need to expand her market if she wants to make steady money from her art.

When it comes to my jewelry, I'm basically the opposite as my friend. I use inexpensive materials and charge pretty low prices for my items. I don't use real gemstones in my work and my prices reflect my pieces for what they are: fun costume jewelry.

However, I've been offering some bigger ticket glass items, mainly in the form of jewelry sets... and to my surprise (and delight), they've sold quickly. Each time I've posted a jewelry set on Etsy, it's been purchased within a month of being listed. My husband's advice: "Well, that means you should make more!" Duh, right?

I don't want to slap any old set together just to make money. These pieces take a long time to complete and I only sell the ones I'd wear myself. For all of the pieces I list, I have a lot of reject pile projects, as well. Sometimes my friends want those, so my effort wasn't a total waste!

I recently finished a new set using just two kinds of dichroic glass: mirrored silver and crinkle-cut pink. I call these necklace and earrings my Pink Lady piece:

When I have a pile of colorful glass in front of me, it's difficult not to reach for every shade and pattern. I like this simple striped design, though, and how only two glass layers are used. I've added another clear layer to the silver, but I don't like how it looks. Most colors turn shiny and sparkly when they're under clear glass, but the silver becomes muted. I prefer it when it has that metallic sheen.

I wasn't going to add the Swarovski crystals, but there's a tiny burn mark on the pendant. The piece looks OK when it's bare, but the pink crystals add some pizzazz -- and cover that imperfection. I then wire wrapped the earrings so they'd go with the pendant.

Because dichroic glass has so many unique patterns, it can be difficult to find jewelry that matches. Offering jewellery sets is the logical way to go! Check out my handmade pieces at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.

Silver wire wrapped rhodonite jewelry: necklace, earrings, bracelet jewellery set

This pink wire wrapped rhodonite jewelry set was inspired by my friend Nancy.

A few weeks ago, I designed the little earrings, which I wrapped with silver wire in a crisscross design. Much as I like to work with more and more complicated techniques and designs, I sometimes like to go back to simpler pieces. As always, I posted my finished results on Facebook and received a lot of positive feedback ... even more so than when I've posted more complex jewelry. Nancy and another friend both ended up purchasing pairs of these earrings.

Soon after, Nancy asked if I could make a matching necklace and bracelet using those rhodonite stones. The necklace was pretty simple to design; I simply had to make the crisscross pattern on a larger scale. The bracelet was a bit trickier, though, because I didn't want to just link the stones; I wanted to create a structure that would flow and would fit nicely around a wrist. I decided to place silver spirals between the stones to break up the pink. I like how it turned out! The spirals and crisscrosses don't exactly go together, but they work well in making a complete design.

The most challenging aspect of designing this bracelet was figuring out where to place the bottom loop on each stone. When I wrap stones, I usually create a bail for the pendant or earring, string the stone up to the bail, and then complete the design by caging the stone and then twisting the wire around the bail. This way, the wire is secure and doesn't fall off the stone when the piece is worn. In this case, I twisted the bottom of the wire into a loop before wrapping it back up over the top of the bail. This way, I could easily connect each stone and spiral link.

Nancy and her husband are joining us and some other friends on a cruise this winter and she plans to wear this set as her "cruise jewelry." I'm so honored and can't wait to see her actually wearing my pieces. Much as I love making jewelry, it's most rewarding for me when I get to see my pieces being worn and enjoyed.

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