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 I'd originally made a version of this with blue squares for my friend's sister.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.

Gold bangle bracelet with green crystals

Whenever I make a new piece of jewelry, I like to experiment with interesting color combinations. One of my favorite ways to do this is to simply take colors from the same family and mix them. When I was a kid, I used to like to do this with paint cards when my parents were at the store choosing wallpaper. It amazed me to see just how many shades of purple or blue or even white even exist. We may only see seven colors in a rainbow, but there are probably millions of colors between each band.

For this bracelet, I went with a green theme. I'd gotten new gold wire that I'd never worked with before -- 16 gauge square -- and really liked the combination of the yellow with green. But I didn't just want to go with one sjade of green, so I went for several and chose crystals of forest green, kelly green, grass green, yellow green... you get the idea. I then made a simple bangle bracelet, alternating the green cubes, but in the end, they look like one unit.

Though I'm not Irish, I'll probably wear this for St. Patrick's day this year because this bracelet is the perfect accessory to wear when welcoming the spring. And remember, when looking at a color, note that there's more to it than meets the eye.

To see or 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.