Jewelry and Gems

Hello!  I've explained that I have tendinitis and I still do, but this is the first time in my life that I've ever had a brace.  I've never had a cast or a sling or anything.  The wearing of a brace seems to have made me very aware of the appearance of my hands.  So I started painting my nails again and for the first time, became interested in some finger jewelry (I hear this type of jewelry is commonly referred to as rings).

The first thing I normally do is go online and look at all the great stuff I could buy.  After that, I remember that I have a child and a small income and also that I like to make things.  Then I start thinking of all the jewelry I could make and that's when I realize I don't actually have the skill set needed to produce the things that I'm thinking of.  So yeah, then I either compromise to reach my vision or I start learning.

 This is the result of my recent finger decorating excitement; an assortment of purchased and DIY sparkly goods.

 

 

I've been saving my daughter's teeth ever since they started falling out because, what do you do with them?  You pull them out from under the pillow, stuff a few dollars in their place and stick them in a drawer, right?  Okay, but then what?  She got braces recently, but had to have 6 teeth removed before they could go on.  Not all of these were baby teeth.  Suddenly I had a wonderful selection of natural items to work with. Woo hoo!  Of course, I have no idea how to make a ring setting and teeth can be hard to work with.  Um, I tried.  I have not been successful yet.  So the ring above represents a compromise.  I found someone who makes ring setting that I like and I asked her to do a custom ring.  It's amazing.  Thank you Sarustar.

What else did I get??  Knuckle rings from Ollie Jays.  They don't appear to have more in stock right now, but these are nice and were very affordable.  They're really comfortable and that was a nice surprise

The other rings in the first photo are my DIY experiments.  I made a few rings using a tutorial from A Pair and A Spare and a few by cutting up clay. --More on all that later.

xoxo,
B