Sterling, Garnet and faceted fiery Labradorite Dragonfly

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May I present to you -- the latest of my Muse's inspirations! A dragonfly made of 20ga, 28ga and 30ga sterling silver that has been cut, bent, balled, soldered and FINALLY woven...This was a fun exploration of new techniques and tools.

The initial intent was for it to be a necklace pendant but I believe this one will be more suited as a pin and one of heavier gauge wire for the body be fashioned as a pendant. This is nice and lightweight and would work perfectly as a pin...How to attach the pin finding (without glue of course!) will be the next challenge. :) *see update below!*

Dimensions: 2" from top to bottom x 3" wingspan

Click here to see more information on this piece.

Oh! By the way, I also made the flower the dragonfly is sitting on. It is made from shells I collected from our beach. :) If you would like one of your own, I have them for sale in my mom's store in Claremore, OK. It comes complete with a poem I wrote -- the roses symbolizing our walk with Christ and our lives as broken shells.

UPDATE! I am very pleased to say that the dragonfly is now a PIN! I sat down this evening with wire and tools and was able to fashion a pin back and successfully wrap it onto the back side of the body. Nice and tidy! PERFECTO!!!

Beading Storage Dilemma

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I had recently been involved in a thread/conversation of a wire wrap jewelry Yahoo group regarding the dilemma of storage and organization of beads, tools and materials. I shared my roll around beading station with them and several thought it was a great idea so I thought I'd share it with you all here!

It all started with my sister showing me her roll around cart. It was a simple project that morphed into what you are about to see. I just can't leave well enough alone.

I took a trip to the local Target and picked up a nice heavy duty Rubbermaid type 4 drawer roll around cart style cabinet...after I loaded it up with all my stuff I quickly realized that rolling it on the tile with all that weight the wheels literally came off...so off to Harbor Freight we went and picked up a light duty furniture dolly to set the cart on. I had a couple of sheets of pegboard that was just behind a door that held strands of beads, findings, etc. for a few months. I screwed one of the pieces of pegboard to the back of the cart (not only had the wheels fallen off but it became "rickety" from rolling across the tile) which gave it immediate stability! Since the pegboard was taller than the cart I also had storage on the back side of the pegboard (seen standing in front of the cart) for more storage. I then drilled holes on both sides to hang my bead bins (aka hardware storage bins usually found in a garage for screws and such) and hung one on each side of the cart using pegboard hooks. To make it easier to roll around, since the furniture dolly is slightly wider than the cart, I screwed a cup hook on each end of the furniture dolly exposed top and one into the end of a stick long enough to use as a handle... :)

TA DAAAAAAAAA!!! Works perfectly as a roll around cart that can be stashed away in a corner (note...clean out corner to store cart in. LOL).

I have another one for my soldering/fusing and miscellaneous out in the Florida room - pool side! :)

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More goodies!

Kambaba Jasper

I tell you what, I don't know when I have been so pleased with a bead order as I have with the last order I received from Magpie Gemstones! I have had the most fun just going through the beads over and over and riding the resulting wave of inspiration! I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my next order!

I have added a couple of new bracelets to the website. This design is proving to be quite comfortable as well as attractive. My husband, David, says that the Kambaba Jasper bracelet is his favorite! The patterns in the Kambaba Jasper is absolutely breathtaking. It's a shame that I can't seem to capture the patterns effectively with the camera. I am in constant awe that these beads originated from the earth! What amazing and precious gifts they are to us. And to be able to adorn our bodies with them is all the more exciting!

I hope you enjoy the fruits of my favorite past-time...gazing deep into a tray of beads!

Silver Needle Agate
Apricot, rich taupe and white

Silver Needle Agate Sterling Wire Wrapped Bracelet

This bracelet is the latest creation of my newest bead shipment...I just LOVE this stone - Silver Needle Agate. It has so many beautiful colors and patterns in the same strand. The two different size barrels gave inspiration for this bracelet. It is so beautiful on! And coordinating a ring with it - soooooooo pretty! Even if I do say so myself! LOL If you work in an office, this bracelet with a coordinating ring would brighten your day just getting to look at them all day while you type!

If you are interested in purchasing this bracelet it can be found on my website (click here) as well as the coordinating ring selection (click here).

Rings, rings and more rings!

Rust Web and Brecciated Jasper
I have been making product detail pages for the new rings the past few days! Some of the rings shown on the New Rings gallery page are sneak preview photos but about half of them have their product detail pages set up. I have also added a few more rings! I still can't believe how beautiful these are turning out! I am going to be making multiple configurations to accommodate a wider range of ring sizes (which is why some of the detail pages are not finished, YET...) this weekend. It is like I've found a hidden treasure and my imagination is just going wild with ideas for it all! I just seem to be stuck in ring mode right now...Which is perfectly alright with me! I needed some fresh new styles! :)

Seems like any time I get close enough to the tray of beads, wire and my tools I am cutting more wire to wrap up more rings! TOOOOOOO FUN!!!!

Botswana Agate Rondelles

Oh boy, oh boy, OH BOY!

Can you tell that I am sooooooooooooooooo excited?! I received another yummy bag of goodies from Magpie Gemstones today! I do believe my muse is rolling around giggling in a pile of beads tonight!!! I am in full on ring mode!

Brown Opal

Silver Leaf Jasper

Rust Web jasper

Kambaba Jasper

Mica

Brown Opal

African Turquoise Jasper

Silver Needle Agate

YouTube Début!

Believe it or not, I have been pretty busy over here lately! We have had family in town - it has been quite a lot of fun getting to bead and hang out with my sister and her family. I have been wanting to put some pieces on YouTube to expand my base but didn't know how to go about it. So, while my sister and her family was in town my niece, Kurstin, taught me how to make a video of my jewelry photos. Kids are so smart now-a-days!

Kat's Custom Kreations - YouTube Jewelry Video Presentation

Feel free to check it out if you have a chance! I hope to be putting together more to post so subscribe if you'd like. :)

Fun little afternoon project...

OK...so I've been eyeballing a bin of what was labeled at the bead shop as"Crab Fire Agate" (some call it "Spiderweb Carnelian") for a while now...Trying to conjure up a design for them. I spotted a herringbone focal bead bracelet yesterday and thought -- THAT'S IT! The beads are a smooth nugget but none of them are uniform or drilled in a fashion that would lend itself to how I normally construct a piece...so these made me have to think a little deeper than I normally would...It is a good thing!

The photos below are the outcome of my contemplation. I showed it to some ladies I meet with at the beach on Tuesday evenings and they all loved it! What do you think??


Crab Fire Agate (Spiderweb Carnelian) nuggets wire wrapped with a herringbone weave in sterling silver
Handcrafted double linked chain made of handcrafted sterling silver jump rings
Handcrafted clasp to complete the design

Measures approximately 9" (chunky nuggets call for longer length) but can be adjusted to fit

If you wish to purchase this item, please click here to be taken to the listing.

This afternoon's muse visit...

The muse popped her head in this afternoon...She's been hiding out lately, but today's visit was quite fun! I never know what she has in store for me! It seems she was standing on her head when she came up with this one...I tell ya, she is a twisted soul! LOL

Focal bead is wire wrapped with a wire wrapped pendant below.
What is normally used as a wire wrapped pendant's bale is used as the pendants bale below.
I told ya she was twisted!
:)

Focal bead is wire wrapped with a wire wrapped pendant below.
What is normally used as a wire wrapped pendant's bale is used as the pendants bale below.
I told ya she was twisted!
:)

33mm Scene Jasper focal bead wire wrapped in 20ga dead soft square Sterling Silver
Freshwater Pearl Pendant wire wrapped in Sterling Silver.

Necklace strand:
Sterling Silver spacer beads
Scene Jasper puff coins
6mm Swarovski Crystal Pearls strung on SoftFlex Premium Flex Wire

Handcrafted Sterling clasp

Necklace measures 20" from clasp to catch.

If you are interested in purchasing this necklace, please click here.

Look what my twisted Muse came up with this time! Double Bail Lace Agate Pendant...

I just LOVE Lace Agate! Don't you?? We picked up several a couple of weeks ago. We are having fun wrapping them!
This is something I dreamed up yesterday...It was quite an adventure trying to figure out how to make the design in my head become reality. LOL It took a couple of tries but I finally got it. I hadn't ever seen a double bail wrapped pendant before -- till now! Whew! I will come up with a necklace for it...I'm thinking something strung. hmmmmmmmm :)