Thursday, June 30, 2016

Springtime Cabochon Fairy Necklace is done!



Teaser - Springtime Cabochon Necklace!

I've had a good time creating this lovely springtime cabochon necklace.


She is born....
This little springtime cabby girl wanted me to choose a lovely hand-carved bone face, which I tea-stained, and for her belly, a gorgeous mixed gemstone teardrop cabochon in greens (my very favorite color,) and soft browns and creams. She is the Earth sleeping just before everything comes into blossom. She is the promise, always kept, season to season.


Serenity itself.
I used a bit of copper next to her head for balance, and along the way she let me know she wanted fairy wings, so I added the beautiful little leaf bead to represent her wings. The background is made up of many stop-stitch beads in greens, creams, copper, with a bit of gold, and she has tiny flowers woven into the background - see if you can spot them.

Her halo is made of beautiful bright green glass bugle beads, which I love.



She has a lovely necklace strap!
Her necklace strap is made of copper beads with some gorgeous glass floral beads, smoooooth tiny bugle beads, and seed beads. I love how it twines upon itself. (This is not easy to make happen, the twining.)


No fasteners to fuss with.
She slips over your head easily, and sits upon your chest, about sternum level. The sternum is the chestbone - which sits right about the level of the heart chakra (energy center) - the chakra of LOVE, the heart center. According to Chakra Anatomy, "Green is the color of growth, life, and balance. Through balance you find this center from which you can love, form healthy relationships, and give and receive love."


Soft ultrasuede backing.

The backing on this piece is soft tan ultrasuede. Wonderful to run your fingers across when you're in a boring meeting....lol.



There she is!
Here you can see her altogether. Beautiful face, gorgeous cab, great background, and lovely necklace strap.

Total Length - 15 inches


Length of springtime fairy is 3 and 3/4 inches


Width is about 1 and 3/4 inches


Many hours of good, sweet work available to you at Dreamkeeper Creations. Come and take a peek.


Namaste,

Jen





Monday, June 13, 2016

A New Madonna for Racing2Cure!

The Madonna and Child
It's fundraising time again for Racing2Cure and my friend Brenda Milliken asked me if I'd like to donate some Dreamkeeper Creations jewelry. They do an auction on racing night - July 16th. It's a great cause, so I said YES! And because there are so many prayers going up for loved ones struggling with cancer I especially like to include a Madonna necklace. 

I love the madonna because, as I mentioned in the first Racing2Cure post, "Mary is to me, the calm amidst the storm. The quintessential woman who bears the very worst, yet never does her heart grow cold, and never does she lose the ability to love, not only her son, but also those who would do him harm. She has abiding faith in our larger Source of Creation. She has abiding faith in Life itself. She is an example for us to aspire to in cultivating serenity amidst the challenges of our lives."



She comes with a soft maroon pouch for safekeeping.
This madonna necklace incorporates blues, golds, and reds, with Swarovski and glass crystals to decorate the fringe. Czech glass dagger beads weight the bottom of the fringe strands. You can click on the image to see it larger.


The ever popular cloisonné bracelets.
I also like to include the most popular item I make for Dreamkeeper Creations, which is a set of five cloisonné bracelets. (3 sets available at auction.) The tubular cloisonné beads have a floral design on them and each bracelet is multicolored, so they match with everything. One reason these are so popular is that they don't mess with the keyboard when you're typing. They also are easy-on, easy-off since they're stretch bracelets that just pop over your hand and onto your wrist. 

Cloisonné Necklace!
AND I've had a lot of people ask for a necklace to go with the bracelets, so I made 47 inches of gorgeousness that can be worn a bunch of different ways. I have one and sometimes I wear it doubled up, other times I triple it up for blouses or dresses where I want something closer up on my neck. And sometimes I wind it around my ankle for some surprise bling.


Blue quartz wire-wrapped necklace
Sometimes I love to wear a simple gemstone sparkle, so I included a blue quartz, sterling silver wire-wrapped crystal on a delicate silver chain. I love the energies of this stone, which has properties that help to calm the mind, assuage fears, and inspire hope, according to Judy Hall in her book, The Crystal Bible (Godsfield Press, 2004).


Citrine with Swarovski crystals
Citrine is also a favorite, bringing powerful cleansing and regenerating energies.


Handmade glass lampwork bead with hematite and onyx.
I love handmade glass beads because no two are alike (like us!). The one on this necklace incorporates blues with a bit of elegant black, and swirling landscape colors that remind me of the ocean at night. Hematite "boosts self-esteem and survivability, enhances willpower, and imparts confidence." Judy Hall's information on the energy properties of gemstones helps us to choose what we want to enhance about ourselves. I like that.


Happy little floofy earrings!
I made some floofy, fluffy, fun dangle earrings for days when you're feelin' the love. These incorporate agate with a little bit of jade. Agate is a wonderful grounding stone, keeping us connected to beautiful Earth, and jade helps us keep wisdom up front. I have a couple pairs of this style in different gemstones and love to wear them.


Handmade glass with agate accent beads.
I love green, and I love agate, so I combined them in this pair of earrings. I really like that there are no others quite like this - the glass beads are handmade, hence, one-of-a-kind.


More one-of-a-kind earrings.
These elegant, understated earrings are also one-of-a-kind. The focal beads are handmade, beautiful glass beads with swirly designs in soft purples, blues, and creamy beiges with agate accent beads.

All made with lots of love.

Bid high, peeps, and wear the ones you win with good cheer, knowing you're helping to make a difference where making a difference really counts. And holler real loud when CJ, Brenda's son races - he drives to bring in a win for us all! GO CJ!

Racing 2 Cure's (R2C) mission is to help families that are currently fighting cancer. R2C wants to treat the "Human Side" of cancer. R2C donates a portion of the funds raised to cancer organizations that do amazing work in research, treatment, and raising awareness for this horrible disease. Additionally, funds are used by Racing 2 Cure to directly help families with everyday needs such as: 

  • Travel expenses 
  • Temporary housing expenses 
  • Utility bills 
  • Car payments 
  • Transportation/Gas 
  • Rent 
  • Insurance premiums 
  • Medical equipment 
  • After school activities for kids (with transportation) 
  • Day care (during treatments) 
  • Tutoring for students 
  • House cleaning / yard services 

Namaste,
Jen