Today’s output: wrap bracelets made of semi-precious stones on olive green leather cord.
A gallery of all of them can be viewed here.
To work with wire is to fall in love. It’s so magically strong yet flexible, thin yet amassable into an impenetrable ball. Hey, there’s an idea. A wire ball into which I could ensconce gems…
The February issue of InStyle magazine announces the return of ID bracelets. Kinda reminds me of the periodic proclamations that “Pretty is back!” by fashion magazines. ID bracelets, like Chanel No 5 and vintage cars, are never not cool. The mag recommends a sterling silver one by Ann Dexter-Jones for $3,200. At the risk of letting out a trade secret, sterling silver is not really all that expensive. Why, this Hexagon ID bracelet, turned into a velvet-accented choker, costs a mere $45.
I spent hours and hours making a bracelet for my friend Jen. I stayed up til dawn making a clasp that would connect and cover the ends of a braided strand of leather and grosgrain ribbon. When Jen, who is a jewelry designer herself, came to dinner, I had some questions for her. What were these little silver geegaws that were in a stash of supplies she had recently sold to me? Oh, those, she said. Your use those to cover up little knots of thread or other things that don’t look good.
Oh.
That is exactly what I’d needed the night before.
Jen didn’t know the technical name for these beautifying clamps. I dubbed them “cache-misères,” after the French term for anything that hides a mess underneath. The two words literally mean “misery-hiders.”