As I mentioned before in Part 1 of the Crafty Field Trip Hawaii series, I often have a junior partner in crafty crime- my nine-year old daughter Bailey. We had scoured the Kona Coffee Festival booths that were loaded with locally-made jewelry, and she really wanted to buy some pieces for her friends.
As you can imagine, though, the *good* stuff was out of her price range, and what was left was pretty tacky and touristy. So I promised her a trip to the local bead shop so that we could MAKE her souvenirs.
We were lucky to find da Bead Shop right next to Quilting Passions. (So much goodness in one place, but that’s for Part 3.)
Now, as I mentioned, we saw some really cool things at the festival…. especially pieces of jewelry made with these soft, fuzzy seeds! They look like pussy willow catkins, or velvet-flocked beads, but no- they are Mgambo seeds.
They are so soft and fuzzy! Really unique to Hawaii, too. After careful consideration, Bailey decided that she wanted some things that made her think of Hawaii. Lava stone beads (affiliate link) were certainly at the top of that list- and don’t you know I had already purchased lava beads over a YEAR ago on a crafty field trip to the Potomac Bead Shop. What are the odds??
The other “must-have” was some Peridot. I learned that the Big Island in Hawaii as one of the only TWO green-sand beaches in the world- green, because they are made up of Olivine. Now, when Olivine is gem quality… it’s guess what? PERIDOT.
And yup, I already have stash of (affiliate link) Green Peridot Gem Chips on hand.
So after our shopping was done, Bailey decided on the Mgambo seeds, some acrylic beach charms, and Zebra shells. I opted for the carved mother-of-pearl components.
As soon as we got back home, that girl got to work. She designed this bracelet for all of the girls in her class. (Don’t panic; there are only 10 kids total!)
What I love is that she thought it through; peridot for the beaches, lava beads to represent the lava fields we saw, grey and blue pearls to denote the sea. Lovely, right?
While I have done all of the crimping, she’s made them all.
PS- by the way, I finally cracked open my (affiliate link) Bead Buddy 1 Step Crimper Tool that I bought on that same trip to Medina. WOW. That little sucker really works and has saved me a bunch of time and aggravation!
I’m working on my own design too…. but I’m not quite done yet. Here’s the component I have done…
….and my idea is to use the peridot to create the side band and attach a clasp. I’m just looking for **just** the right clasp, though- you know? But I like the rough lava beads and the pearls together.
Now, I know I’m her mother…but Bailey just might have a career in jewelry design ahead of her. I wonder what other “Hawaii- inspired” designs she could come up with? And she hasn’t dug into those zebra shells yet, either. We’ll have to see!
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Kimberly Perkins says
Love the beads and great job Bailey on yours. Very pretty.