Newly Listed: Avogadro's Number Chemistry Bracelet with Freshwater Pearls and Variscite

My love affair with variscite (also known as aqua terra jasper, impression jasper, or snakeskin jasper) hasn't really ended, though I admit I haven't used it in a while. That's how ridiculous my jewelry backlog has gotten; this Avogadro bracelet has been sitting around, unphotographed, for years now.

Chemistry bracelet by Kokoba Jewelry

You can tell that this one was one of the last ones I photographed in the photography binge I went on a couple of weeks ago because I just took three pictures and left it at that. 

I love the look of variscite with copper. Yes, I know it turns sensitive skin green, but I love the coloring. Sometimes silver is just a little too bland, but gold is a little too flashy. Copper is nice. It's in between. It's a happy medium. It's lagom. (Truly, I have become Swedish.)

Still, I'm always willing to change out base metal or copper findings for sterling. Sometimes it's necessary. I get it.

This bracelet features Avogadro's number in freshwater pearls, with small teal variscite beads acting as spacers in between digits. This is another way you can tell how old the bracelet is: which value of Avogadro it features.

Physical constants can be tricky to measure precisely, which is why the CODATA values are updated every couple of years. In an ideal world, I would sell out pieces as while their values were still current; in a real world, I have older stock that's technically incorrect. It bugs me a little, but the truth is that you don't need to be as precise as the CODATA values are to do good science. (I think with Avogadro's number, people just use 6.022 and call it a day? The same is true with pi; you don't need that many digits for accurate calculations.) 

The current CODATA value for Avogadro's number is 6.022140857 x 10^23, as per the updated values that went into effect in 2015.  But this bracelet predates those changes, and so features the version from 2010: 6.02214129 x 10^23.

Newly Listed: Fuschia Chemistry Bracelet

Hey guys, remember when I used this space to talk about my jewelry and stuff? Yeah, me too. Now that the sun is making a comeback here in Stockholm, I can engage in my favorite hobby* again: item photography! And with new photos come new listings!

Avogadro bracelet by Kokoba Jewelry

So I don't really know what color this is? The glass beads are a really fun and funky iridescent so it's hard to say what color they "really" are.

From a distance they look mostly pink or fuschia or magenta or something, so I guess choose one of those.

I realized too late, also, that I forgot to edit out or crop out that little bit of cupboard label in the bottom left there. It says "RICE IN HERE!" and surprise, that's where the rice lives! It's also where my international tea collection lives. Enjoy that peak behind the curtain!

Continuing in that "funky" theme, the spacer beads in this bracelet are aluminum cubes. (I'm guessing they're aluminum based on how lightweight they are, anyway.) I love, love, love cube as a bead shape and I want more of that in my bead box and in my life. It's such a simple shape (visually, at least), and yet it's so eye-catching.

Alas I couldn't continue the cube/square theme in the toggle, but a toggle is never not the perfect bracelet clasp so I don't really mind. The base metal toggles I have are understated and simple enough that it still works.

The number in this one, if you didn't figure it out by now, is Avogadro's number. It's Pi Day this week, but let's not forget that Mol Day (10/23) will be upon us before we know it!

*Not actually my favorite hobby.

Newly Listed: Red Creek Jasper Pi Necklace

This is straight-up one of my favorites in the shop right now, and I don't understand why it hasn't sold yet—or at least why it doesn't have more hearts/views/etc.

Pi Red Creek Jasper and Gold Necklace by Kokoba

Red Creek jasper is one of my favorite stones these days. I love the warm, earthy colors and the marble-like striping and variegation in almost every piece. It's the kind of stone where you don't need to do much with it; you can just Mother Nature do all the talking.

The spacer beads in this piece are carnelian and gold-filled beads. The clasp is also gold-filled. I usually prefer base metal, but once in a while you want to make something a little nicer. And I think this humble little jasper is nonetheless gorgeous enough to deserve a treat.

 I think now's a good time to remind blog readers that the code BLOGGETTE will get you a 15% discount on any purchase in the store, including this beauty.

I just love this necklace so much! I might make another version for my own personal consumption. Such cozy fall colors!

#TBT Pi Chain Necklace

Sometimes you just want to look punk. Or metal? Or bling-y? I don't know. My point is, sometimes you don't want beads. And that's where chain comes in!

Most of the bulk chain in here is aluminum, meaning despite the look it's actually incredibly lightweight.

Each section of chain is a different style, and has a number of strands corresponding to a digit of pi.

This would be a great piece to add a simple pendant to. if that's more your style.

#TBT Yellow and Red Planck Bracelet

I'm categorizing this piece under the Throwback Thursday label because, while the bracelet itself is relatively new, it's a destash attempt to use up some very old stock in the ol' bead box.

Yellow and Red Planck Constant Bracelet by Kokoba

The reds turned out very weird when trying to photograph this one. I don't know if it's the combination of weak, pale daylight (#WinterIsComing) with the overhead "warm white" LED and  fluorescent bulb in my office/the itchen, or if there's something about cherry red that's hard to capture or if I did something funny to my settings, but the first round of pictures of this bracelet came out looking hot pink.

All the beads involved are Czech glass. The yellow ones have a cool stripeyness to them that doesn't show up well in the pictures.

It's the yellow beads that "spell" out h (Planck's constant), as per the latest CODATA value. The red round beads are the spaceholders in between digits.

#TBT Amber Pi Necklace

This is another Kokoba beta release, so probably from around 2010 or 2011. First it was stuck in storage in the US, then I brought it to Sweden and it languished in different storage for nearly a year before I got around to photographing it. And then it took another month to list it, and a couple extra weeks to finally write up this blog post.

Amber Pi Necklace by Kokoba

Well, better late than never, right?

I like the look of this necklace a lot. I don't usually work with bulk chain, and I don't know why, because every time I do I like how things turn out.

This necklace features glass beads in the bulk chain, and then carnelian, red aventurine, and genuine amber chips in the dangles. Which "spell" out the digits of pi, but you knew that already from the name.

Fall is almost over but you still have time to enjoy these cozy oranges while you sip your PSL (or enjoy the One True Fall Beverage, apple cider). TREAT YO' SELF!

Newly Listed: Faux Pearl and Green Marbled Clay Pi Bracelet

Big ups to friend and former coworker Kelly, who dropped a whole load of old jewelry off with me with the explicit instructions to salvage them for parts and make something new out of them. This is one of the lovely Frankensteins that resulted from those parts.

Faux Pearl and Green Marbled Clay Pi Bracelet by Kokoba

I should note that I normally stage my pieces so that you can read the numbers from left to right. This one got flipped and I don't have time to take new photos when these are otherwise serviceable, so it stays, but it bugs me a little bit!

I'm not 100% on the provenance of the green marbled beads, but they are light to the touch the same way that polymer clay beads are, so I expect that they're made out of something similar. The faux pearls are plastic with a coating for that faux pearl shine.

The clasp and all of the metal beads are your standard base metal alloy (copper/nickel/zinc) and come from my own stash rather than anything repurposed. 

#TBT Neon Fibonacci Necklace

As it turns out, when you have three jobs, it's hard to do all of them really well simultaneously! I listed this neon Fibonacci necklace in the shop weeks ago? probably? but am only posting about it now.

Neon Fibonacci necklace by Kokoba

This is a Kokoba beta release. I'd date it as around 2010 or so? Hence this post going up on the Throwback Thursday tag. It's definitely not to my usual style now (so busy! much bright! very color!) but I appreciate the sentiment it's coming from, especially with the drab, dark days of winter in Stockholm staring me down yet again. 

And I'm not trying to throw shade on you if this is is your style. If I thought this was genuinely hideous, I would have cannibalized this necklace for parts and never spoken of it again. Even if I wouldn't make it today, it still has a certain charm to it.

Like, I can't deny that it has a funky Miss Frizzle vibe to it, and quite frankly I think the world needs more Miss Frizzles. Be the Miss Frizzle you want to see in the world!

Newly Relisted: Black and Red Fibonacci Necklace

This is a Kokoba alpha release that I've always been pretty happy with. All credit for this design idea goes to my longtime Internet buddy (and occasional real-life hang-out buddy) Melissa. I was still thinking in series on strands when she suggested this idea with dangles instead.

Fibonacci statement necklace by Kokoba

This is one of the first ones I made after she tossed that idea out on a blog post or in a chat, and I still love it. A lot. Looking at it now, it also has a very Harley Quinn vibe to it (more like The Animated Series Harley Quinn than Suicide Squad, of course) and that was definitely unintentional when I made it but now I can't unsee it? All the more reason to love it! It's been in Etsy limbo for a while because I didn't like the photos I had originally taken; these aren't prefect but they're a step in the right direction, at least!

Chain and clasp detail

That chain looks large, maybe even oversized, but it's aluminum, so it has virtually no weight to it. The lobster claw and jump rings are a zinc/nickel/copper alloy, so they have a little heft to them, but the whole thing is pretty lightweight and comfortable.

This is a longer piece. Each section of chain is 10 inches long, and the focal point is probably another 2 inches, so it it hangs like a longer piece. Just the kind of thing to layer over a t-shirt or, though it pains me to say it, a bulky sweater? (#WinterIsComing)

Newly Relisted: Yellow Flower Speed of Light Physics Sciart Bracelet

We are in the middle of summer and I am JUST. LOVING. IT. I'm a night owl but also a sun worshiper. (Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes.) I should absolutely write up about how I spent summer solstice, but that's another post. Today I want to share this cheerful summertime bracelet with you:

Speed of Light Bracelet by Kokoba

These are some old, old beads from what could easily be ten years ago, now? Have I really been at this for that long? Yikes! I'm pretty sure I gutted a Kokoba alpha release for this one, and I like how it turned out.

I'm always disappointed when a memory wire bracelet turns out on the short side—it's like, "Well, I should just make it a regular bracelet with a clasp, then!" And I like the multistrand look of chunkier memory wire bracelets that make it through multiple wraps. This one passes the test!

The yellow beads spell out the digits of c (in meters per second), while the floral beads act as spacers between each digit.

Bracelet available for sale here! You can also pick up other STEM-inspired bracelets or browse other physics-related wares.

Newly Relisted: Peridot Bloodstone Rhodonite and Shell Root 2 Necklace

This is another Kokoba beta release, so to speak. It's not among some of the very first sciart jewelry I ever made, but it's still been sitting in storage for a while—probably six or seven years, I'd say.

Root 2 necklace featuring peridot, rhodonite, bloodstone, and seashells by Kokoba

Pi is usually the darling of the "math-for-the-masses" world, and it's easy to see why. It has a cool and instantly recognizable Greek letter for a symbol; it's a concept you touch on relatively early in your math career (at least in the US, I was in 6th grade when we learned about pi); you can make puns about pies and pirates.

Somewhere in my calculus notes there's a doodle of a pi symbol with a tail, some paws, and a rat face in pirate costume and the caption "pi-rat." It's probably been lost to time (and by "lost to time," I mean "thrown out with the rest of my calculus notes"). I don't think anyone was celebrating Root 2 Day on January 4, 2014 (or on April 1 2014, if you're in Europe). But pi gets a day every year!

So this is my tribute to poor, neglected root 2. I admit, I've played some part in neglecting it. Did you know, for example, that root 2 is the first number proven to be irrational? The Ancient Greeks actually cooked up an elegant proof on the topic. 

There's a lot going on in this necklace: there's chips, there's cubes, there's regular round beads, and there's shells. But it still feels fairly balanced, rather than haphazard or chaotic.

If you want to show some love for an overlooked irrational, this root 2 necklace is available in my Etsy shop. I'm thinking I should sit down and whip up some more root 2 bling. Just for variety's sake.

Newly Listed: Rhodonite and Mookaite Speed of Light Bracelet

And the fourth Adventure Zone bracelet is now up! Again, this bracelet features the speed of light (in meters per second).

Rhodonite and Mookaite Speed of Light Bracelet by Kokoba

This time it's "spelled" out in pink rhodonite chips, with round mookaite beads acting as spacers in between digits.

Rhodonite and mookaite are both stones I've had in my supplies for a long time, almost since I started making jewelry, but I think this is the first time I've combined them.

I'm pleasantly surprised at how this combination turned out. I don't know why I didn't think mix these stones before, but I'll be sure to revisit it in the future.

Newly Listed: Pink Quartz Speed of Light Bracelet

The third entry in my podcast bracelet series!

Pink Quartz and Rhodonite Speed of Light Bracelet by Kokoba

These are some more chips reclaimed pieces from Kokoba alpha releases: rhodonite, rose quartz, and cherry quartz.

I love the blend of pinks in this one. It's like a little bit of strawberry and cream to wear on your wrist!

The chips spell out the digits of the speed of light (in meters per second). The round rhodonite beads are the spacers between each digit. Most of the ones I made during the podcast binge-crafting session ended up featuring the speed of light. I tend to default to pi, so I have to consciously try to branch out into other fields/numbers.

Newly Listed: Peridot and Jasper Avogadro Bracelet

This is another one of my podcasting bracelets. I was working on this while JV and I listened to an episode of The Adventure Zone's "The Suffering Games" arc. Who ever thought that a D&D podcast would hit you right in the feels?

Peridot and Jasper Avogadro Bracelet by Kokoba

This bracelet features Avogadro's number in peridot chips, with jasper (pretty sure it's poppy jasper, but I'm not 100% on that, to be honest). It's a little longer than I like to make, but it's good to have a variety of lengths. Everyone's wrists and tastes are different.

Whatever kind of jasper this is, it has a lot of rich texture and details.

I like using toggles for bracelets (when I'm not just making memory wire bracelets). They're so much easier to manipulate when you're trying to get something on or off with only one hand. This one is base metal, but a sterling version can be switched if needed/wanted.

Newly Listed: Rhodonite Speed of Light Bracelet

Well, I'm back to the land of the living! Jewelry-wise, anyway. A few nights ago I pulled out the ol' bead box and put together a few bracelets while JV and I listened to some podcasts.

There are so many interesting podcasts out there, both amateur and professional, that I want to listen to more often, but I find that I need something to do with my hands while I listen. Otherwise I alternate between spacing out and feeling guilty for not making better use of my time. The net result is that I'm trying to use listening to podcasts to put out more jewelry. (Even though I still have some alpha and beta release backlog to work through and list...)

Rhodonite Speed of Light Bracelet by Kokoba Jewelry

This is the first in a couple new pieces. I'm trying to tilt things towards science, since there's more math than science in the shop right now. This bracelet features the speed of light (in meters per second).

The rhodonite chips are some that I reclaimed from an alpha release, and same with the round beads.

I don't usually work with just one stone in an entire piece, but I figured since I had rhodonite in both round beads and chips, it might be a nice, subtle look to go with. The grays in rhodonite still give it a little bit of visual interest., I think. And the random variation in the size and shape of the chips.

This is a memory wire cuff, which is my favorite to make (it doesn't require a lot of fussing with crimp beads and wire and jump rings) and my favorite to wear (one size fits all, no clasp to fiddle with yet incredibly secure). I try to branch out into other styles, but I keep coming back to memory wire again and again.

Speaking of podcasts, I'm also trying to have them on in the background while I write these up, just to work through the backlog of episodes. So right now I'm writing this up while I listen to The Dirt Nap.

Be on the lookout for more items going up in the following days!