Through the Eyes of An Amazon Goddess

 This jewelry was created in two Jewel School Friends challenges, and as part of a tutorial for Beads, Baubles, and Jewels. The first challenge produced the red jasper bezel focal bead. The second produced the byzantine earrings and necklace. 

Knowing absolutely nothing of the Half-Persian 3-1 weave, I was able to create the chain maille weave, close it, and set the red jasper focal into the chain bezel. The tutorial I 'beta tested' with this project is by Christiane Ross and will be shared on Beads Baubles and Jewels  when she presents the project to Katie Hacker this upcoming season 16. For those who can't wait like me, I've posted the video of Ross' guest appearance on BBJ below! :)

  
Looking Through the Eyes of An Amazon Goddess honors Christiane Ross, who taught me how to create her chain maille bezel. She is The Amazon Goddess, and looking through her eyes (her instruction) I was able to create the Half-Persian 3-1 and make a beautiful chain bezel for the red jasper focal. In addition, the HP 3-1 chainmaille weave often has a "trick" of weaving through the "eye" formed by rings -- thus the name of this jewelry is also a play on words for chain maille techniques.

After creating the focal, I created at least twenty Byzantine brass chain sections. If you would like to learn how to create Byzantine chains, Lauren Anderson offers a terrific free tutorial at the Jewel School VOD (videos on demand).

Red jasper, lemon quartz, Swarovski  and Mexican fire opal cubes filled my working beading tray, and I decided to combine two chain maille designs for the necklace, half a  "Bird's Nest" from Fire mountain Beads and Gems' Gallery of Designs  and part "Zig Zagged" by Rebeca Mojica.

 

I enjoyed creating this jewelry set immensely, and have since fallen in love with the HP 3-1 bezel for gem cabs. It's a great way to design with non-drilled focals, and the many ways to use the bezel are numerous!

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Sneak Peek at Upcoming Season 16 on Beads, Baubles, and Jewels: Christian Ross on the Half-Persian 3-1 Bezel.



Big Hugs, TJ

 

Toltec Jewels is an author by day and jewelry artist by night. Her literary work is housed by the San Fransisco MOMA in a permanent collection of mixed media art and is published internationally in popular magazines, literary quarterlies, and university publications. A gemstone collector and jewelry lover, her store offers gemstone beads and she is happiest when creating handcrafted jewelry with her entire family. She has won a number of awards for both her literary and jewelry art. She is also the creator of Jewel School Friends, a community of expert and emerging jewelry artisans taking inspiration from each other, Jewel School, and jewelry art culture by featuring jewelry designers and bead artists and supporting entrepreneurship for independent artisans. Join her at Jewel School Friends on Facebook for tutorials, community events, challenges, and fundraisers.