Palm Springs Jewels!

The weekend before Christmas my family (husband, daughter, son and his fiance) spent a couple of days in Palm Springs, CA. Part of the time was spent shopping in Downtown Palm Springs and I came across some elasticized bracelets that were made with beautiful crystals. The colors were amazing and they sparkled like crazy!

The shop owner was making some incredible deals and I bought several bracelets with the intention of breaking them down to use the crystals in my own creations. I enjoyed cutting the elastic stretchy thread that held these together because I've never liked stretch bracelets, they always seem to be of inferior quality to me (just my opinion, I know some people love them!)

I could hardly wait to get started, but since it was only a few days before Christmas and we were having the Evans' family at our house on Christmas day, there were more urgent things to take care of. Making jewelry would have to be put on a back burner.

However - Christmas eve was a quiet day because the rest of the family was off visiting friends and other family members. So, while food preparations were on the front burners, I took the crystals off the back burner and started a necklace.

I named it for my friend Chris because she has a way of lighting up the room, just like these crystals. The crystals are amazing because they're shaped like a traditional diamond with a hole drilled in the top. When strung on wire they overlap to give an unusual shape and the facets pick up the light and sparkle like crazy! The crystals used in this necklace are purple (my favorite color by the way), dark green and a lovely amber.

Now that the holidays are offically behind us, I started creating again. Using more of what I call my Palm Spring Crystals, I created a few more pieces.

Denise I's Pink & Lavendar Bracelet uses the Palm Springs round crystals with some Swarovski white pearls. This feminine bracelet reminded me of Denise.

Debbie J's Bracelet & Earrings use pink Palm Springs Crystals in much the same way as Chris's necklace. I added Swarovski white pearls and sterling silver beads to give it a unique look. I like the look of pearls and crystals together. Debbie J has several pieces of my jewelry and I'm so glad she likes my style.

I still have more Palm Springs Crystals and will be working with them soon. But for now I have to take care of other items that are on the front burner!

Happy New Year Everyone!