Still on a Jewelry Binge...

It's me again...yeah, it's been quite a while...so sorry bout dat. 


Still having the Jewelry Bug nibbling at my brain stem like Mynocks chewing on power cables.

Aren't they too cute? Ahggoooo!!! Ummm...right moving right along...


This one is a Collaborative Effort with SageHealer. I got the Clay Thunderbird Focal, the BlueLaced Agate and the "Turquoise" from her.  She was going to use the Pendant for something but it didn't quite do it. So I snagged it. The whole thing came out pretty good, I think. I used fake leather to macrame the  beads into the necklace. 

Then there was the Native American Forum Team Challenge. It was the Circle of the Year, of Life etc.

The Focal in this one was Black Lipped Abalone that I snagged from Aneurythm's shop. It's carved with Circles in a Spiral Pattern. It also has AB Glass and Clear Glass Beads along with Shell Beads and some sort of clay/resin beads with teeny itty bitty beads in em. This is a really beautiful piece too.

DH actually thought I had bought it, which is high praise indeed.

I also actually found the focal for the Cobalt and Copper Cathedral Beads that I had gotten from Diana of LunaEssence. I actually bought it off Ebay (boo hiss)This has Navy Blue Ceramic Beads also.

These are the same Amber Glass Beads that I used in the Contradiction in Terms necklace. Just a complete difference between the two using basically the same beads. Amazing isn't it?

I got the Rhodonite Focal from Diana at the same time as I got the Kambaba Jasper and the Cathedral Beads. I found the Purple Ceramic Beads at one of the craft stores and they went really well, I think.
There's also Green AB Bicones, and Sterling Spacers. I made earrings and a bracelet also.

There's plenty more things I've done, but I'll stop here...There'll be plenty of time to show more goodies...

I've been on a jewelry kick...

Last time I was here I was bitching about my lack of headpins...well, I took care of that matter and finished up the bracelet/anklet/necklace. It could be any of those...I used a silver chain with a black coating which was then diamond cut, adding sterling findings for the end. The bears are a resin, with black glass seed beads, silver headpins, and silver spacers and silver crimps.

This is the end result:

Artaios: The Bear King:

And I got the focal for this necklace as an extra goodie when I ordered from Luna Essentials on Etsy.

The focal is ceramic, the beads are pearl and Keltic style plastic beads and glass seed beads. I named it Mefusen, the Welsh name for Strawberry. Because that's what the colours reminded me of.

And I made earrings to match with the beads that I had left over:

I also made THIS one for the Pagan Team Spring Challenge. I bought a couple of Bone Arrowhead and didn't know what I was going to do with them, until then.
It's called Mitakuye Oyasin which is Lakota for "Everything is Related."
I also made a bracelet to go along with it and it hasn't really left my arm since I made it.
They're made of cowries, buri nuts, lava rocks, and wood beads.
I made a similar necklace which I posted on my new Artfire shop...this one had an adjustable piece of wood for the main part of the necklace, which came from Aneurythm's Etsy shop. You can even see my brand new pacemaker scar in this one...
This was my first Artfire sale and it went to a gal in Washington, DC who was going to wear it doing tribal dances...way cool.

Then I went and got some Kambaba (Crocodile) Jasper from Luna Essence...it was different, but I had no idea what I was going to use it with...this seems to be a major feature of this adventure...

Then I found some neat black glass twist beads on clearance at Michael's, green and black dyed Buri nuts, and gold spacers. It came out really nice. I named it Osiris in Khemet. Because Osiris (Ausur) was known as a Fertility God and was pictured with a green face. Khemet is the Egyptian name for the country. I made a set out of this bunch of odds and ends also.

I sold the matching earrings and the earrings to Mefusen to the same customer. She was waiting patiently for me to make them.

This one is made with Blue Tiger's Eye, black pearls and dark metal findings. I bought the Blue Tiger's Eye from Luna Essence. I had to go back and buy more because I fell in love with this necklace. And thank the Gods, she had more.

This one I made about the same time as the Circle Challenge one. I had bought a choker when I had gone to Disney way the Hades back in 86. I added a pair of sterling turtles, and a carved shell turtle. It's lovely actually.
My most recent piece is glass and more glass in Amber and Silver.

Another project sponsored by Luna Essence.

Right now I'm waiting on some items from Aneurythm and from Blue Rose Beads and another one from Ebay...I've been trying to match some Gold and Cobalt/Navy blue Window beads that i got from Luna Essence and have not been having an easy time of it.

This little tiki guy from BlueRose and the little shells from Aneurythm will make up part of my Metaphysical Team Summer Challenge piece.

This is for the blue glass windows.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360196150496&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_1510wt_922

I couldn't get the picture to come up, but at least you have the idea...I THINK I do...hehe

Trying to be a good doobie.

I'm helping a friend out with a hand up. I met her on a Cowboys Prayer, an EZBoard/YUKU site I've been on since forever...I'm the resident Pagan and there's an Atheist too...but we all have fun, get along and try and help each other out.

Her husband died in May of last year. And since I allegedly sell on Etsy, she asked if I could try and sell some of her husband's chokers. I said sure. I only have 20 cents to lose.

My Gods. John did beautiful work.

I got a bit of information about him so that I could better understand him and his work. He was 1/4 Choctaw Indian. His grandmother was 1/2. But all the papers were lost in a fire. Dang. Way back when interbreeding was frowned upon. But still!

He was a Swabbie. He was sent off to the lovely jungle playground called Viet Nam where he got to play with that wonderfully carcinogenic delight Agent Orange. He died from diabetes probably caught from that silly chemical...pfft.
He managed 3 years over there without getting his ass shot off. Hoorah!

Came home and became a smoke eater at Fort Hood. When he retired, the family moved to Macon Georgia. I did a bit of snooping to get some of this information. I had his first name, last name from FB, and address from his wife's package. But I wanted a bit more...so I did a google search. And I came across this...

http://marinemajorone.blogspot.com/2010/05/john-julius-irwin-iii-us-navy-veteran.html

By the end of it I was bawling. I am proud of all of our fighting men and women.

These are his goodies that I want to share with folks:

All of them:

Turquoise and Bone Hair Pipes with Silver

Unakite Chips with Bone Hair Pipes

Faceted Garnet, Black Jasper and Tea Dyed Bone Hair Pipe

Rose Quartz, Silver, Black Buffalo Hair Pipe

Carnelian, Brass Beads, Black Buffalo Hair Pipe

Turquoise, Silver, Black Buffalo Hair Pipe
Carnelian, Brass, Dyed Blue Bone Hair Pipe

Turquoise, Carnelian, Bone Hair Pipe and Black Buffalo Hair Pipe
My fave. Lapis Lazuli and Silver:
According to Tradition, the amount of strands the choker each had meaning also:
1=One God
2=Affirmation
3=Completeness
4=Earthly Situations/Seasons/The Four Directions.
5=God On Top
6=Human Accomplishment
7=Spiritual Perfection
8=New Beginning

George Catlin, the Painter famous for his Native American portraits did one of a chief way back in the 1840's who was wearing a 4 strand hair pipe choker.

Hair pipes were supposedly originally made from bird bones because they're hollow. Ewww. I know some tribes used to make flutes out of bird leg bones so what can I say...

Hair pipe beads can be found in coastal shell middens. And were made of bone or shell, now you can find them in the crafts stores made of plastic, or resin.

Chokers were supposed to protect the warrior's throat from knives and arrows and also if worn during a meeting, it was to show that the person would speak truly...

These days they're made from lots of different materials and styles like these by a couple of my Tsunali: Sweet Grass Valley, Dream Weaver Spirit, Lakota Witko, and Sirocco.

Lakota Witko
Lakota Witko
Sweet Grass Valley
Sirocco
Dream Weaver Spirit
Sweet Grass Valley Dream Weaver Spirit
Sirocco
If you do an Etsy Search for HairPipe Choker you come up with 3 pages...

Enjoy your looking.

Some new goodies.

It's been a sorta jewelry trend for me...

I listed some vintage goodies in the Kiwi shop...

Yes, I DID actually wear these...except for the teeny buddha. I don't recall where I got him. The purple heart choker was a gift, both my sister and I got one.


I didn't use a fancy shmancy clasp. I used THIS instead:
Necessity and all that...


This is just so pretty and interesting....
I don't know how they made the beads, with all the carving and scrolls and cut outs...

But I've also been MAKING some jewelry...

I introduced you to this one last blog post, but I love him too much not to show him off again. This is one of my fave pieces that I've made because it has so much meaning to me personally...

This one here was just a half formed idea I got while roving through my friend SageHealer's shop. She was going to use it, but it didn't quite fit, so I snagged it myself. Glad I did too because this necklace just came together so well. I also bought the Blue Laced Agate beads from her at the same time... The wood beads came from my stash and the turquoise-looking ones are dyed Howlite.

This last one I finished last week, but didn't list it...I hate listing on Etsy...it's so danged long to do and with the new picture thingee it's even more of an aggravation. But my friend Beadlady helped me out there. She called all the way from the West Coast to help me out...Thanks so much. It actually worked. W00t!!

It's part of KickingBear's Circle Challenge. This challenge has been going on since September, but we sorta put it off a bit because of the holidays.
I bought the focal from my friend, Aneurythm. She has a section called her orphans and I raid that alot. As soon as KB announced this challenge and I saw it, I had to use it. The black beads are from my stash too. As are the sterling pieces.

The focal reminds me of the phases of the moon for some reason. It starts out light then goes dark just like the moon phases. It came out really well and Ernie thought that I BOUGHT it!! And another person saw that THEY liked it and they're a jewelry maker. So I did good...

This one isn't finished yet. I had the idea and some of the supplies, but when I went to string the beads, I found out I needed headpins...guess who doesn't HAVE headpins? The beads are carved black bears. They're resin of some sort, I think. The chain is black enamelled, I think, diamond cut to show the silver underneath. So it's gonna be a black and silver anklet or bracelet. I think it'll be nice. I hope...

That's about it for now...don't forget to check out my shops. You never know what I might scrounge up from the cellar or my stash.
www.howlingcaterpillars.etsy.com
www.akiwisilkie.etsy.com