crafty friday

I used to be a jewelry 'ho. I loved earrings, necklaces and bracelets. The majority of my money in highschool was used to buy accessories. There used to be a place near our home that sold nothing but earrings for $1, $3 and $5. They also had bracelets and necklaces....my sister and I would visit the store every weekend; we'd spend $10 each and come out with bags of jelly bracelets, big plastic button earrings and banana clips.

Somewhere between highschool and now, I picked up a nickel allergy. It's mostly contained to my ear piercings- if I wear anything except sterling silver/14kt gold, I get an immediate rash and headache. I can wear nickel elsewhere on my body, but not for more than a day or so. The nickel allergy has really cut down on the amount of jewelry I buy. Plus the fact that I am constantly being climbed on by two very active children means that jewelry needs to be poke-free and sturdy. Right now the only piece that I wear every day is my wedding ring.

But just because I don't buy a lot of jewelry doesn't mean that I don't like looking at it. And recently I decided that I needed to spruce up my 'look' a little with some fun accessories. I had a bunch of beading stuff and some beads left over from the last time I made stitch markers, so I made this:

(the small tag says 'inspire' and is worn at the back)

Now, I *know* I saw something like this around the 'net someplace. I just can't place where I saw it....or maybe it was in one of my beading magazines. At any rate, I love how it turned out and I've already made another one with square beads. That one isn't complete yet- I ran out of jump rings and need another clasp so I have to run down to the craft store later and pick some up.