Galveston Gumbo
I have to thank Matt again for another great name, this time for the bracelet posted here. “Galveston Gumbo” is made from jump ring chain that Rio started selling in its current catalog; we bought both small and large varieties and this is the large one seen here. The jumps are a combination of regular wire jump rings, then flat wire jumps. Not what I expected but I got used to it fast. I made a slew of shells, then picked graduated sizes and attached 7 of them. The pretty hook and eye clasp works fine, but as usual, the shells began slipping down and while the clasp is nice-looking, it’s not the centerpiece. So I started looking around the local shops for something interesting and found a very juicy strand of serpentine beads. They are flat and round and have an absolutely intoxicating color. I made a ball head pin from 18-gauge wire, slipped the bead on the bracelet, and that did the trick. Shells remain on top of the wrist–for the most part. All bracelets will slip unless you do something medieval like hook ’em to your fingers (I am not knocking that idea), but overall the weight of the new jade bead works.Lisa and I were talking about it and agreed that the color of the jade bead reminds us of the color of the Gulf waves, right off the beach. How many times have we peered through that color looking for intact shells and sand dollars, and shark’s teeth? The jump ring chain reminds me of seafoam–not the icky kind that gets stuck and dries up on the beach, but the kind that those shallow waves deposit on the shore, when it’s wet and starts popping and vanishing, revealing its cargo of new shells and fragments on the sand. Nice–so natually I planned the name “Seafoam” until Matt injected his sense of humor into it, and I couldn’t resist that!
One Comment
Shauna
Yay-hoo, Galveston Gumbo’s not on the site yet but we have sold one! It pays to wear your jewelry around town.