An Ocean of Inspiration

Since I grew up in Florida and continue to live here has an adult, I have spent a lot of time at the beach and  have drawn lot of inspiration from the beach and ocean in my jewelry design work.

I enjoy working with color and studied color theory in grad school, so the array of colors in neutral tones, greens and blues intrigued me and inspired this design.

I translated the colors of the golden sand, turquoise blue waters, and mossy green grass in to Swarovski crystal and Czech glass beads using pacific opal Swarovski crystal bicones, copper luster Czech glass drop beads, champagne czech glass drop beads and luster green Czech glass drop beads. I like using Czech glass drop beads in my designs because they add a playful touch but keep the style elegant. The Bali sterling silver beads add texture and are beautiful beads on their own.

Helpful Hint: When making a 2 strand bracelet that features smaller beads (no larger than 6mm), a single strand clasp will work fine. Simply crimp each strand one at a time to the clasp. If your design is features larger beads, a two strand clasp may be better because the larger beads tend to push against each other and the two strands will tend to splay apart more than smaller beads would. You can also  use multi-strand spacers to manage multiple strands, however, this will add more structure to the design and it will not be as playful as separate strands.