Cell Phone Charms

I don't usually make my beads into jewelry, but I had fun making some cell phone charms recently. The charms can also be used on zipper pulls, as rear-view mirror charms, etc. It's like having a fancy piece of jewelry for your accessories that makes them unique and stylish.

Generally I get frustrated making jewelry because it's so tedious, even though I used to make a lot of it. I really like making the beads now, and leaving the jewelry designing to the pros.

Still, when I make a bead or set of beads, I have to think ahead and become a jewelry designer for a moment. I try to visualize how my bead set could be used in a piece of jewelry. I try and think what jewelry designers need: eye-catching colors, unique designs, beads with good holes and beads that are weighted correctly. Still, I never know what creative ideas that a jewelry designer might come up with, and so I make beads that I love and hope they work for someone else, too!

Now I'm off on a tangent... I loved having the opportunity to make a small-scale piece of jewelry with these cell phone charms, and I realize how fun it can be to design jewelry with my beads even if they have a 'wonky' shape. The Kronos disc beads in the photo are lop-sided with an off-center hole, but they look great in a charm like this.

(I will be writing more on wonky/fugly beads in an upcoming post!)

I have a few charms up in my Etsy shop if you'd like to take a look.
Enjoy your day!