The official day celebrating romantic love is rich in symbolism that you can incorporate in your jewelry design. First, you have a range of gorgeous colors with which to work such as deep red, flaming red, purple, dusky pink, coral pink, pearl white, antique gold, and silver among others. Second, you have images such as roses, hearts, cupids, lace, and other flowers to depict in charm bracelets, pendants, and other jewelry. You can go formal and romantic or informal and cute. Best of all, Valentine's Day is a perfect occasion for a jewelry maker to sell his or her creations to all the consumers who search for a gift for that special someone, a friend, or a female family member such as a daughter or a mother or a sister.(COPYRIGHT: I'm so sorry to have to put this here, but I've had trouble with online content theft. Readers are welcome to print my articles for their personal use, but I do not allow my text or photos to be copied to anyone's online site. No one may use my content without written permission from me.)
The most traditional of the Valentine's Day colors are red, pink, and white. However, your red beads or gemstones can range into the reddish purple range with garnets, true red with rubies, orange red with carnelian or coral, pink with rose quartz, and white with white onyx or mother-of-pearl or pearl. In the first photo, the large round orange-red beads are carnelian, the small bright red beads are coral, and the small purplish beads are garnet. All of them pair well with gold or antique-gold tone metals.
In addition, both the coral depicted in the photo and the garnets are on the cool bluish side of the red spectrum (as opposed to the carnelian that is on the warm, orange side of the red spectrum) and could be paired with silver for less-traditional, but still harmonious, look. Pink minerals such as rose quartz have a delicate appearance that pairs well with silver as does pure white onyx. Pearls with their golden undertone work well with gold, but the gray-toned freshwater pearls can also work with silver.As for Valentine's Day symbolism, the images available in beads and charms are numerous. Look for cherubs, angels, hearts of red or pink, hearts with Cupid's arrow piercing them, and winged hearts. Look for images or shapes of roses, daisies (as in "he loves me, he loves me not"),and little plastic hearts with cute or romantic messages or foil-wrapped chocolate kisses, both of which mimic the traditional candy. Look for heart-shaped locks and heart-shaped keys (as in "the key to my heart"). Look for images of doves in flight or cuddling together and look for images of lipstick kisses.
As you assemble your jewelry making supplies, the final thing to decide is how formal or informal you want your creation to be. An expensive creation using pricey materials such as precious metals and gemstones will have to be priced accordingly and will need a more formal look. An informal, cute creation can be put together using inexpensive materials and can rack up volume sales as impulse purchases for friends and relatives. For example, an informal bracelet or pair of earrings could spell out a seasonal message with alphabet beads as in the second photo. A zany pendant or charm could be made with real heart-shaped message candy preserved in resin, which is hardened in a mold.
