My pearls

[KarinK]

I finally got around to photograhing the three bracelets I've made over the winter. The light is so bad here up North during the dark season. I may have to take better pictures, but at least there's a start here:

From the top I've got:

1) Tahitians from Sarah, Kojima Pearls ("disgarded" when I got the Kamokas) on a two stranded bracelet with some rather pale but translucent Columbian emeralds (a $80 strand I bought a few years ago), vermeil hook from Nina Design. I wear this a lot!

2) The tiny little akoya keshi interspaced with faceted morganite rondelles, ended up three stranded. The gimp is not tight enough, and I really ought to restring, but it ruined my neck muscles for several days the first time around working with such small pearls and trying to keep the thread tight. I did not knot between each pearl. There is only a single thread, in size 0! It is a wonder it hasn't broken yet - very delicate. Originally there was a toggle clasp but one part fell off and I added a 14K lobster clasp instead.

3) This is just a fun attempt at a really easy and fast bracelet. I used the large hole Tahitians I got from Sarah in the Tiara Stash. One pearl on each their waxed cotton thread.

- Karin

 

[pattye]

Karin,

Those are so pretty, and there on your wrist to admire all the time! Those Tahitians really glow!

 

[Amanda]

They are all really lovely. I'm sure it would drive you insane to knot between each of those pearls - and as they are so tiny, the bracelet would be more knot than pearl!

 

[Adeline Leigh]

2) The tiny little akoya keshi interspaced with faceted morganite rondelles, ended up three stranded. The gimp is not tight enough, and I really ought to restring, but it ruined my neck muscles for several days the first time around working with such small pearls and trying to keep the thread tight. I did not knot between each pearl. There is only a single thread, in size 0! It is a wonder it hasn't broken yet - very delicate. Originally there was a toggle clasp but one part fell off and I added a 14K lobster clasp instead.

- Karin

Oh I love them all. Emeralds and tahitians look very appealing, never thought of that wow. Do you stack them up like what all the hip chicks are doing? Delicate bracelets like yours unfortunately aren't for me as I snagged one before on one of my children's denim jacket's buttons (those sturdy darn things) when they were little-r and the rondelles emptied themselves into the grass. Gone.

I had to respond and commiserate with the 'ruined neck muscles' bit. When I was beading and wiring like a demon last year, it was cramped neck muscles that put me out of action for days (when my husband asked about the neck crick, I blamed computer work instead ) At times my eyes would blur over from all the 4-5 hour beading marathons and I'd see floating spots. Tail bone injuries flaring up from all that sitting; oh for the love of beading/ wiring/ pearling.

 

[GemGeek]

We're all addicts.

 

[Isabelle35]

Oh Karin! Really like your Tahitians on a waxed cotton thread. Lovely, good work! Can I dare ask to see them on your wrist?

 

[newberry]

Love the bracelets, especially the emeral and T one.

 

[KarinK]

Thank you all for the kind words. I'll try to do some wrist shots

I don't usually wear more than one bracelet at the time - not at the moment anyway. A while back I was wearing triple layers of gemstone bracelets that I'd strung. It looked really pretty but seems to have been a phaze.

- Karin

 

[Lindaphillipsbong]

Karin:
I have been enjoying your journey of creativity on this thread.
You have made some lovely pieces!
If you have time, it would be nice to see more wrist and neck shots.
Good job!
Linda.

 

[KarinK]

Okay, here are more picture - quite a few more in fact

First of all my absolute favorite - I really only wear two strands of pearls, the vintage akoya and the Kamoka, but will you look at them together! No wonder the akoya have been mistaken for babySSP. The luster is softer than normally, the shades of creme are delicious and after I restrung them they look round to the eye. The Kamoka Tahitinas need no further introduction:

I seem to recall having promised more shots of the Kamoka/ruby combination of the bracelet I made. The rubies are not great quality, dark red. But they do complement the pearls well, I think:

More shots of the emerald/Tahiti combo:

The waxed cotton thread (black/pink) with Tahitians could be controlled better if you knot around the pearls. As it is, they all end up in a jumble at the back of the wrist:

And finally a blurry one of the akoya keshi. They are so tiny it's very hard to see them, but they do appear quite elegant in real life (even if the french wire isn't tight ):

- Karin

 

[Lindaphillipsbong]

Wow Karin:
So much colour and lustre!
Each of your pieces are beautiful .... I really love the emerald and baroque bracelet. Those tahitians on there are gorgeous.
And the Kamoka strand looks really nice .... I'd love to see that in person.
You have been having too much fun this last while, haven't you? Stringing and designing and wearing some amazing pearls.
On that note, off I go to work to a dental office ..... with pearl earrings of course!
Linda.

 

[Adeline Leigh]

Kamoka's are looking lovely on you, perfectly sized, and yes, I can see you are redhead-ish

 

[Adeline Leigh]

http://www.karipearls.com/drilling-pearls.html

The fellow could. Small as .5mm apparently.

The pictures and vid are fabulous. Thanks for surfacing this. I love the cross-linking of such info

 

[KarinK]

Wow Karin:
So much colour and lustre!
Each of your pieces are beautiful .... I really love the emerald and baroque bracelet. Those tahitians on there are gorgeous.
And the Kamoka strand looks really nice .... I'd love to see that in person.
You have been having too much fun this last while, haven't you? Stringing and designing and wearing some amazing pearls.
On that note, off I go to work to a dental office ..... with pearl earrings of course!
Linda.

Thank you, Linda. Just come to the ruckus Or down to Portland, OR in June for our mini-ruckus. Last year Josh brought a whole bag of his pearls for us to fondle.

It is impossible for me to show in the picture but the Kamokas has a depth to them that makes the tahtians used for the emerald bracelet look like they've been dipped in two layers of paint as opposed to thirty layers of paint.

I used to try to make jewelry for resale, but these days I make only what i want to wear. What you see in the latest posts is my production since the fall - not a lot but I love that I can produce it myself, at a good price and with my own design

- Karin

 

[Amanda]

Those rubies and pearls together are absolutely gorgeous - in fact, all your pearls are lovely, and I really like your designs, too.

The hand wearing the pearls seems to have lost an argument with a thorn bush, though! Couple of painful scratches?

 

[Amanda]

Those rubies and pearls together are absolutely gorgeous - in fact, all your pearls are lovely, and I really like your designs, too.

The hand wearing the pearls seems to have lost an argument with a thorn bush, though! Couple of painful scratches?

 

[pattye]

Karin,

Your pearl necklaces are charming and stunning worn together! People must stare!

Linda and others, no date has been set as yet for the Portland Oregon mini-Ruckus, but it will be announced here in good time, and it is an open invitation for everyone in the area to gather!

 

[KarinK]

Those rubies and pearls together are absolutely gorgeous - in fact, all your pearls are lovely, and I really like your designs, too.

The hand wearing the pearls seems to have lost an argument with a thorn bush, though! Couple of painful scratches?

Thank you, Amanda. No, it was a lavender hedge Not half as painful as the "scratch" on my left hand that lost an argument with a screwdriver two days ago. Better stick to beading...

- Karin

 

[Caitlin]

I love to wear my Tahitians handpicked by Jeremy and my metallic white freshwaters together. Don't have a photo, but I love it that you do that too! In fact, I wore them to attend the Alvin Ailey Dance Company last Friday night. Spectacular! The dancers and the pearls!

 

[Amanda]

Pic, Caitlin!