LIZ BRIGGS DESIGNS

One of the best times to explore Australia’s Kings Canyon National Park is during the month of April as cooler temperatures offset the sun’s penetrating rays.

With a landscape filled with plenty of deep red colored cliffs, canyons and gorges the park is great for walking and hiking. Australia is also home to featured jewelry designer Liz Briggs.


Who says that jewelry can’t be pretty with a quirky sense of fun?

Briggs’ fanciful and colorful designer jewelry fashioned from an assortment of African Kazuri beads, and lampwork and glass beads bears a lip-smacking resemblance to gum balls, Christmas candy, Spree, and Jolly Ranchers.

She also creates these adorable teapot earrings made from either porcelain or lampwork beads. Though Briggs does not reference on her Etsy page whether these deigns are influenced by the tea party scene from Alice in Wonderland, these vivid designs certainly allude to this longstanding tale.

With spring and summer coming shortly her bangle bracelets of high quality memory wire and circle bead necklaces offer a great palette of color choices to help accentuate your wardrobe.

“Color is one of my passions and I love every piece I make. I also include gemstones like pink quartz, white onyx, and pink opal into my designs,” she says. “The teapot earrings are so much fun to make with pink flower buds and a tiny dash of gold.”

“The Kazuri beads are handmade and hand painted by women in Kenya who are employed by an ethically run Kazuri Bead business. Their goods are sold under the Fair Trade Agreement and allows for them to care for their families.”

Self-employed since 1981, Briggs has worked in a number of creative channels including “mosaicking surf boards as garden art, doing school workshops, making craft kits for kids and now making jewelry and quirky art pieces.”

While full of vibrant color, the actual jewelry designs are quite streamlined and are somewhat reminiscent of the hippie jewelry of the seventies. At the other end of the spectrum, Briggs plays with the subtle tones of black and white Kazuri beads allowing the hand painted designs to take center stage.

An added bonus is that bead bracelets and bead necklaces are timeless fashion staples; they can easily complement formal or casual attire as their proportions are not too chunky or bulky.

However, the key to perfectly accentuating your wardrobe with bead jewelry is to match the color of clothing to the color of a particular bead which in turn introduces a level of fun by keeping your clothing choices fresh.
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Photo 1 (top right): Blue Turquoise Teapot Earrings with Pink and White Flowers
Photo 2 (center): Black and White Kazuri Bead 18-inch Necklace
Photo 3 (bottom left): Blue and Turquoise Lampwork and Glass Beads Memory Wire Bangle Bracelet