custom jewelry Archives - Motley Mix Jewelry

Posted on August 5, 2021August 5, 2021 by Motley Mix — Leave a comment

Custom necklace with dark blue lapis

single string necklace with round dark blue lapis lapis, black seed beads, and various white metal beads

Delivered the latest custom order today, a short necklace with lapis. All metal beads are from customer’s original necklace that broke long ago. It had natural dark blue stones too, but those got lost. I’m sure there is a variation of Murphy’s law that states: “if a part of the whole can be lost, it will be the most valuable and hard to replace part.”

Luckily, on my recent bead hunt for something unrelated I met some irresistible lapis, and it went to good use here.

I was given full freedom to make whatever would look best from the bunch of loose beads that was given to me and whatever else might work, for which I’m really grateful.

Posted on July 31, 2019July 31, 2019 by Motley Mix — Leave a comment

Elegance in blue goldstone and gun metal

Elegant tall earrings with blue goldstones and gun metal - designed by Motley Mix Jewelry — Elegant tall earrings with blue goldstones and gun metal

Custom earrings with oval goldstones, black faceted vintage glass beads, and gun metal. Made them for my daughter whose Birthday is right around the corner, in October, and apparently they match her hair pretty well!

Goldstone is a doubly misleading name for a sparkling glass that is neither a stone, nor have anything to do with gold. It is often used as a substitute for more expensive sunstone, and its blue variation can also resemble dark lapis lazuli.

Posted on June 6, 2019August 5, 2021 by Motley Mix — Leave a comment

Jewelry repair that became a custom design

Photo of an unfinished custom necklace with vintage pearls and natural amazonite beads, work in progress — Work in progress – custom necklace with vintage freshwater pearls and natural amazonite beads

Either a few pearls got lost when the original necklace broke, or the neck measurement was not right, but now this jewelry repair has turned into a custom design. Once the problem of too few beads became apparent, it only took a few messages with photos of various bead combinations to finalize a new design. It still highlights these gorgeous white pearls but also has pale mat amazonite and pseudo-vintage metal niceties. Thank goodness for agreeable customers. Now, would not it be nice if amazonite beads were easier to pair by color!

My first design idea was quite different though. I went for a classical combination of pearls and rondelle beads with Swarovski crystals, but it turned out I had none and bead places close to me had none either. Now I think it’s for the better. A less predictable look is more interesting.

Updated June 7th, 2019

Photo of the finished custom necklace with vintage pearls and natural amazonite beads — Finished custom necklace with vintage freshwater pearls and natural mat amazonite beads

Aaand the customer loved the result when we met. Phew! Why is it always nerve-wracking to show your creation to the person who is paying for it, no matter how many times you did it before and with good outcome?

Posted on February 4, 2019February 21, 2019 by Motley Mix — Leave a comment

Custom set of bridesmaid earrings, with a special meaning

Bridesmaid earrings with Vintage glass pearls and sparkling clear glass

Vintage glass pearls for this set came from the Mother of the bride’s 3-strand necklace. The bride will wear two strands, and pearls from the third one went into earrings for her bridesmaids. They are all close friends of the family and no doubt will appreciate these thoughtful gifts.

The faceted glass rondelle beads are Vintage from my own bead hunting, but by now I forgot where I found them.

The maid of honor gets special earrings and necklace with chains created from remaining glass pearls, and this still requires some planning, but the above earrings have been approved and started their journey to the East Coast.

Updated February 21, 2019

Maid of honor earrings and necklace with vintage glass pearls, mother of pearl shell, and sparkling clear glass

And the set for the maid of honor is done too. I’ve added mixed glass seed beads and some mother of pearl shells to help it stand out a little more. Also, I have lots of respect for brides who make so many decisions about an upcoming wedding and still keep their sanity.