Silver Wire Wrapped Bangle Bracelet With Blue, Turquoise And Purple Crystals

I wasn't kidding about being on a wire wrapped bracelet kick! This morning I made another one, only this has tri-colored crystals in blue, turquoise and purple:

What I like about these diamond-shaped crystals is that a really interesting looking "frame" is formed around them when I bend the wire to make the bracelet. The crystals are the main focus, but the wire has a unique design, as well. I also like this combination of the blues with the purple. I used only one turquoise crystal and put that one in center because I felt as if that color is the brightest; I wanted to have that pop of light, but also keep the other colored beads balanced.

As I make more of these bracelets, I'm getting better at doing the clasps. Frankly, my older bracelets were a mess. The ends of the wires poked out all over the place and the clasps weren't as secure as they should be. I feel much more confident in my designs and my bangles' durability -- but I do spend a lot of time practicing!

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

Silver square bracelet with multi-colored square crystals

I've been thinking a lot about where I get my jewelry making abilities from. Almost everyone in my family is musical, so it's easy to trace back that talent: my mom is a pianist, my dad plays guitar, my grandfather played violin and my great uncle was a jazz composer. However, as far as I know I'm the only jewelry maker.

My married last name -- my husband's -- is Edelstein, which actually means "precious stone." So someone on his side made or sold jewelry. We have no Edelsteins on my side, to my knowledge.

I suppose I get some of my artistry from my grandmother, who's a seriously talented knitter. I told her that it's a shame that sites like Etsy didn't exist in her youth because she would've made a fortune! She mainly knits for family members or friends, but has rarely sold anything commercially.

Meanwhile, my dad also has some artistic talents. For a while, he was making stained glass projects, but hurt his hand and was unable to continue. Still, he's very handy and you can see his work all over my parents' home. He designed a dining room table out of European tiles and put together the brick work in the living room.

I guess it doesn't matter where I got the talent from, just as along as I enjoy what I'm doing -- which I am! Today's featured item is my silver square wire bracelet with multi-colored square crystals. I'd originally made a version of this with blue squares for my friend's sister. I gave it to her for Christmas and she loved it; she put it on right away and then wore it the next day, as well. I wanted to try the same pattern, but with more color, so I chose crystals of blue, purple orange and green. I think it looks really cool -- fun and funky, but the colors aren't overwhelming.

I'd actually forgotten that I'd made this until I dug some stuff out to photograph yesterday. Now I'm debating whether I should sell this or keep it for myself...

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs or Naomi's Studio.

Silver and Swarovski crystal wire bangle bracelet

It's hard to go wrong when combining silver and clear Swarovski crystals, but there were some challenges involved in making this bangle bracelet.

For starters I decided to experiment and use a softer wire than what I normally use. Most of the time I work with 14-18 gauge wire and then use softer wires (22-28 gauge) for wrapping purposes. However, I envisioned a bracelet that was very thin and delicate and went with 22 gauge. It held up a lot better than I expected, but I then had to deal with the round Swarovski crystals. Most of my other bracelets contain square or faceted crystals, which are easy to work with; they stay in place and you just shape the wire around them. But the round crystals kept spinning and moving, and wouldn't stay in place. I finally gave up and secured them as much as I could, but still let them have some "spin."

Overall, I like how delicate this bracelet is. It's not too chunky and because it has the crystals woven into it, isn't too thin either. Since it's silver and the crystals are clear, it will match pretty much anything; this is the perfect type of bracelet to wear with a stack of other bangles.

To see or purchase more of my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs or Naomi's Studio.

Silver wire bracelet with Swarovski crystal hearts

First up, some good news! I received my packet to sign up for what will be my first craft fair this May! I'm very excited about this and hope that it will be a beautiful day outside. While I'm, of course, looking forward to selling my jewelry in person, I'm also anxious to meet new people and see what the other artists are selling. I've always had a lot of respect for the artists who participated in fairs, so now it's kind of surreal knowing that I'm going to be one of them.

As for my jewelry du jour, this Swarovski heart bracelet came together as a result of another bracelet that turned out to be a disaster. I love heart-shaped things so I purchased these Swarovski crystal hearts on sale in bulk. Unfortunately, they're not drilled top-to-bottom or side-to-side as many beads are; instead, they're drilled front-to-back at the very top of the crystal, meaning that it's kind of difficult to string them.

My original plan was to make a silver bangle bracelet and then wire wrap the hearts around the outside of the frame. This didn't work. No matter how tightly I wrapped the wire, the hearts were sticking out at weird angles or slipping off the wire .... the project was completely messed up.

I realized that the best way to showcase the hearts was to just let them dangle from a piece. That said, I created one of my favorite patterns, the nine-loop lattice and strung the hearts along the bottom. The bracelet was looking a little bare, though, so I added some matching Swaorvski crystal bicones to give it more color. In the end, this turned into a really cool-looking, fun bracelet.

I still have dozens of these hearts, so I'm trying to decide what to do with them. A matching earring and necklace set might be next...

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs or Naomi's Studio.

Silver wire bangle bracelet with square purple crystals

When I was in the second grade (this would've been in the '80s), purple was my very favorite color. I had purple headbands, purple pencils and entire outfits that were purple. They even had a store dedicated to all things purple at South Street Seaport; there, my parents bought me a purple mug and a purple set of erasers.

These days, my favorite color is actually blue, but I still like purple when it's used appropriately. I fell in love with these purple crystals; seeing all of the different shades like lilac, violet and lavender took me right back to my childhood.

I've been on a bangle bracelet kick for a while now, and let me tell you, that are not easy to make. You have to line up the pieces of wire and make sure that they don't get tangled. Then you have to make sure that the crystals are framed well. I love how this came out, though, and how all of the purples work together to create one unit. Looking at this bracelet makes me happy because it reminds me that spring is coming. Just like the purple crocuses would work their way out of the ground in March, this bracelet is a reminder that these long days of winter will soon be gone.

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs or Naomi's Studio.

Silver wire bracelet with blue crystals

By now, I think it's pretty obvious that blue is my favorite color. I especially like when different shades of blue are combined.

When making this bracelet, I wanted the blues to be front and center. That's why I used three different shades of blue and put all of the blue beads in the middle of the design.

This was one of the first bracelets I made in this particular style. Let me tell you, making a bangle bracelet is hard! You have to get the strands of wire to be the same length and then make sure they don't get tangled. Then you have to wrap them to keep them together and form the bracelet -- only the wraps have to look artistic, too. It took a lot of trial and error, but I'm happy with how it came out. And I own a lot of blue tops, so this matches them all!

For more of my jewelry, check out Naomi's Designs.