The whole piece.

During the Middle Kingdom period of ancient Egypt (around 2000 BC), a popular member of their pantheon of gods was the crocodile headed deity Sobek.  He personified military strength and power as well as the fertility of the Nile and was, not very surprisingly, the patron god of crocodiles.  In some temples the priests of Sobek would keep crocodiles in pools, feeding them prime cuts of meat befitting Sobek’s earthly form.  I imagine the feeding and care of the temple crocodiles was a position of great honor, or so the elder priests probably told the initiates assigned to the duty.  One can at least dream that as a benefit to that office (in addition to being hissed at regularly by your wards) was this ceremonial necklace.  It is made with copper chains (a metal valued by the ancient Egyptians for its spiritual connections) and set with semi-precious green stones the color of the fertile Nile delta, the clasp perhaps suggesting the form of the sacred pools containing the crocodilian form of Sobek himself. Admittedly a small consolation for having your god occasionally try and eat you, but I suppose any faith inevitably requires some level of forbearance.

The lampwork clasp.

I used copper chain, copper seed beads, epidot, lemon jade, and swarovski crystals.

But just to give you something fun to look at, here is one of my latest piece that I put in my new 1000 Markets store. They are just starting out, and go live some time in May, but I have high hopes for their future. Only finished artwork is allowed to sell there. No supplies, nothing commercially made, just handmade. Woo hoo!

I made the beads for this piece out of gaffer glass. I can’t get any more of the brown glass, so this will be the only set like this. That is so sad because I really like it! I believe the stones are yellow jasper, but don’t quote me on it. All of the other components are sterling silver. Oh, and there are little brown swarovski crystals on the earrings to tie in the brown. The glass beads are each approximately 28mm long and 10mm wide. The necklace is 17 inches long and the bracelet is about 7.5 inches long. My wrist is on the large size, and it fits me perfect. I try not to make jewelry just for skinny people, since I am so not skinny. Hope you like it!

Oh, and I started a shop at 1000 Markets. They are still building up the site and plan to go full blown live soon. I like it because it doesn’t cost me anything to list an item, just a % of the selling price when it sells, which isn’t bad at all.

This time I am spotlighting Rose Works Jewelry. Ruth (Rose) made the amazing purple bracelet you see. In fact, it is for sale on her blog right now for only $23, and that includes shipping! Knowing how many hours goes into a piece like that, I think Ruth needs to be charging more for her work. But don’t tell her till after I have bought mine.

Ruth started making jewelry and beaded pieces in high school. In fact she made all of her own wedding jewelry! Now that is something I wouldn’t attempt… unless I had eloped and I was the only female there that is.

Now I happen to be in a purple mood this evening, so I also picked out this great purple necklace from Ruth’s etsy shop. I think it would be a great match for the bracelet. Along with the purple seed beads are black ones, and black agate chunks for the centerpiece. This piece could be work with a fancy party dress or a white t-shirt for a bit of sparkle. Too fun!

So congratz to Ruth of Rose Works Jewelry for her cool blog and fun etsy store!

I love seed bead work, both to do and to look at. But too often I see a piece of work that someone put days and weeks into, but who is charging about the price of the seed beads. I was tickled to find out that Tulip’s Treasure Box is our featured Etsyblogger this month. She does amazing work, and asks a realistic price for it! Her color combos are to die for too. I’m partial to the greens and blues, but Tulip works with a whole range of colors, including the deep pink that is so popular right now. I’m not a pink person myself, but this necklace is just too cool. Tulip has a fun blog too, in case you are looking for a good read. So congrats to Tulip for being the Etsyblogger featured artist!

I recently found a great blog with super nature pictures. Turns out AKeepersJackpot is an etsyblogger too! (she has a blog and sells on etsy) And she doesn’t have just pictures either… there are nature movies! Her etsy store is all jewelry, much of it inspired by the pictures she takes. For example the piece pictured here. To me it looks like little bits of shell, very dainty and elegant. But it is really very sturdy glass beads and wire. Too cool! What do you all use for inspiration?