As Promised, The Contest Necklace

At last, (drum roll, please) here is Tequila Sunrise!

I took these pictures after a day at The Day Job so they’re obviously not the photos I’ll send for the contest. But they show the color pretty well.

The category I’m entering is Glass and I’d say this is 99% glass. I think a couple of plastic beads snuck in in my passion for orange. But the majority has to be glass, so I think I’m safe.

It's pretty amazing how heavy this piece is. And I love the sound it makes, like little windchimes.

I originally wanted a toggle in the shape of a sun but when I couldn’t find that, I went to a local bead shop and lucked into a brick red enameled toggle, that matched my color scheme. I was very happy to find it. C Koop is the designer.

Hopefully I’ll have the time this weekend to take some really good photos and get the entry in. I’m getting ready to meet my mom in Vegas for a week, so there’s a lot going on right now.

I also want to make an entry for the Heart category and after that, there’s a necklace I’m designing for the Orange County Fair…

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My Favorite Clasps

Here's a quick rundown of the types of clasps I use and why I use certain ones on certain pieces.

Toggle

Toggle clasps are my favorite favorite, because they're so easy to use and they're made in endless variations of design. A lot of my older personal jewelry had those boxes you needed to line up the thinner piece with and slide it in till it clicked and connected. I spent many frustrating mornings trying to get those to work. When I started making jewelry, I fell in love with toggles. It's generally not difficult to find the hole in the design of the larger piece, send the bar piece through and then settle it on the surface. Of course, I'm partial to heart shapes, but I also like flower themes, stars and anything with a pattern to it. Using the toggle as part of the overall design makes for an interesting piece. I use them for all my necklaces and a lot of my bracelets.

Magnetic

Lately, I've been using magnetic clasps more and more for bracelets since it's so hard to put on a bracelet by yourself. With the magnetic clasps, you just have to get them close enough together, usually by hanging both ends down from the wrist and, woosh, they attract each other easily. But remember when using them you need to slide them apart, not pull them apart. Pulling will dislodge the actual magnet. Learned that the hard way, although I was able to slide the magnet back in and all was well.

Lobster Claw

I use the lobster claw clasps primarily on anklets. Most of my anklets are self-adjusting, which means you can pick the length you want by attaching the clasp where it feels comfortable. You can't do that with the toggle or magnetic clasps because they're basically finite. They're relatively easy to use since you can see what you're doing with an anklet, which isn't always true when you're trying to work a lobster claw on a necklace. They also fit well into the design of most anklets since they're relatively flat and make a pretty statement wherever they're clipped.

If you see a piece of mine that you like but would rather have a different type of clasp, let me know. There's always a way to create what you want!

www.bearchick.etsy.com
www.bearchickart.etsy.com
www.bearchick.artfire.com