Tis the season!

I LOVE the month of MAY. I love it because it has always been a month of beginnings and ends -- end of spring, end of school, end of non-baseball season, etc. It may also mean the end of my sanity this month, as we have my parents coming to visit for a month in a few weeks and also a trip to Baltimore to see my brother and then Chicago to visit the husband's brother. May is also the beginning of wedding season! I LOVE WEDDINGS and especially love making jewelry for them :) I am currently working on a wedding necklace for one of my own bridesmaid's, Kelly. Though her dress is still TBA, her bridesmaids will be wearing this "cornflower blue" dress. I am thinking of making the bridesmaids some Swarovski crystal necklaces in that blue, and also add some pearls since Kelly is also using a white color in her theme. I hope to use illusion cord and beading glue to have the crystals look like they are floating on the ladies' necks. I did a similar technique for my own wedding bracelet, but didn't like how the crimp beads got in the way of the simplicity I had hoped to attain. I think I am going to start with these crystal and pearl materials and see what happens. I also plan to make Kelly a similar, yet distinct, necklace to go with her own dress. I think I might wire wrap 3 layers of pearls and crystals (maybe in the blue or another kind depending on her dress) and made a layered, yet dainty, necklace for her. Or maybe go with this sketch I drew - hand wrapping a few dozen pearls to make a 35" lanyard to have her wrap around her neck and tie softly in the front. She literally told me to go with it and do whatever I wanted, which is both liberating yet a bit nerve wracking! Thankfully Kelly is much more easy going than I am, so I have a feeling that she will like whatever I make, even if I don't like it! Meanwhile, a gal from my church is going to her senior prom and has asked me to make her a "simple yet classy and bold" bracelet and "funky chunky" ring to match her Nordstrom's dress. To be honest, I have never made a ring before. Instead of buying a ring itself, I ordered some 16 gauge wire in hopes of making my own ring and then adding some crystals on top. Courtney and I talked though what kind of materials she liked and what would go with her dress. Though details on the halter (which warrant staying away from wearing a necklace) are clear beads, Courtney wanted to accessorize with mostly blacks and reds. Together we decided on a bunch of funky and random cuts of Swarovski crystals and seed beads. I plan to make a 2-3 string bracelet, wrapping the crystals in randomly in between some black roundelle and gray/white seed beads. I will also wrap a random number of these beads around the ring and hope it comes out the way I am picturing it! (I bought all the beads from ArtBeads.com) And to add to the fun, my maid of honor is appearing in a body building show in a few weeks and asked me to make her a set of earrings to wear during the bikini portion of the competition. She is wearing this bathing suit from Victoria's Secret, which features brown shell details and a turquoise bottom (I don't know how to tactfully "zoom in" on the detail work considering its location, as just posting the image makes me feel like I support playboy or something!). She agreed to let me make her jewelry with the following supplies, mocha and copper crystals along with reconstructed turquoise beads: Apparently I love crystals as much as I love the month of May! But I think they are appropriate for these three project as they demand attention and shine in the spotlight ;) More pictures to follow, of course! What do you think? How would you approach these projects?