Kaplan Creations Jewelry and Glass Design

I love to find vintage beads and then incorporate them into a contemporary design. These vintage (1970s) frosted lucite beads are 13mm in size and have a black flower scroll design. These are new old beads, meaning that they are of old stock but have never been used in any other jewelry.

I’ve incorporated these unique beads along with onyx and sterling silver to create a lovely pair of post earrings. They are available in my Etsy shop.

These beads almost look good enough to eat. Cherry quartz comes in a variety of color intensities—and most of the time the beads that I see are lighter in color. I like to work with intense colors, and this new bracelet (featuring a sterling silver fish) is a good example. I wish I had bought several strands, but…oh well. Now I need to think about a matching necklace.

I actually fused these pieces together about a month ago, but didn’t get around to doing anything more with them until today. I used sterling silver to create a unique wire wrap for each one.  These are listed in Etsy and in my store.

I recently bought some gorgeous Suchow jade beads, and finally got around to making some new pieces. I’m not really sure what Suchow jade really is, but I got the idea (from googling around) that it might not be real jade. Well, whatever it is, it sure is pretty. Reminds me of raspberry ice and limeade…..

Suchow jade and ruby bracelet

Suchow jade necklace

Here is the wire wrapped pendant:

  These pieces are also in my store

Ruby Zoisite Earrings with Indian Rubies

This past weekend I worked on a lot of jewelry pieces. I’m trying to get ready for four upcoming shows and need to be sure I have enough inventory. These unique earrings were created with ruby zoisite stones, Indian rubies, Swarovski crystals, and sterling silver. See them here .

Green glass and copper bracelet

I found these Czech glass beads in a local bead store and wish I had bought more of them! The rectangular beads are transparent brown and green glass, with a stripe of opaque white. Several styles of copper beads and Swarovski crystals are incorporated into the design. Item # 554 $20.00. See it here

Blue Dichroic Bracelet

This bracelet has black glass beads with a blue dichroic pattern that shimmers in the light. Swarovski crystals, amethyst beads, laser cut sterling silver beads, and a small crystal dangle are also incorporated into the design.