Shop Talk: What Exactly is Boho?

I took the advice of several of you and added both a charm and a little bit of silver chain. This is the final version of the Boho Southwestern bracelet. I also made a second version with contrasting black jasper in a twist pattern and a longer slide clasp. I couldn't decide if this second bracelet was really Boho, and so I decided to check out the definition of Boho.


Got to love Wikipedia. I always get a lengthy explanation to my questions. The search for Boho led me to a definition of Bohemian and "people who live unconventional, usually artistic lives." Hmm, well that could mean a lot of things. Wikipedia calls the fashion trend inspired by Bohemian lifestyles as 'Boho Chic' where "ruffly floral skirts are worn in hopes of looking bohemian, nomadic or with a spirit of non-bourgeois." The definition goes on to say that inspiration comes from gypsy style, or girls who are "sexy precisely because they do not give a hoot for fashion." I love this last part. 
I thought I'd cross reference this definition with one from the Urban Dictionary. Here they call it vintage. I find the use of vintage all over the map, which I wrote about a few blogs back. This definition says Boho Chic combines "organic, colorful, detailed, folk-inspired pieces with simple, modern pieces." The example they give is one of "wearing a beaded peasant dress with a white tanktop." A very popular look, at least in my part of the world. They go on to say it was started by "Sienna Miller in 2005 who wore bohemian-style clothing to a movie premiere in London." My favorite part of this definition is that they claim the style will be dead by 2007. Really? So what do you guys think .... is it dead?

Shop Talk: Turquoise Quest

The turquoise beads that I've been pushing around my table are starting to take shape. This first installment is a twist bracelet with a slide clasp. The stones range from blues to greens in hue, and I mixed in a little dyed coral in a sky blue to balance it on the bluer side. I am not entirely happy with this one. It needs something ... perhaps a charm? 


I am actually in search of more contrast with the beads. So back to the bead store (I know --- can you believe it --- an excuse to shop) to pick up even more turquoise rounds and a contrasting black jasper. 


Fairly certain I will have several extra pieces of turquoise jewelry ending up on my Etsy site given the amount of turquoise I now have sitting in front of me. I'm hoping I have a few turquoise lovers out there.


I'll be back with the next installment and a revised bracelet pattern, along with a necklace and of course earrings. I'm probably going to have to create several pairs of earrings as I can't decide if I should go Southwestern, Boho, or use a touch of elegance with some pearls. Most likely I'll do all three and ask your advice! So check back ... and I'll have more for you to ponder with me in my turquoise quest.

Blog Hop: Linky

Quick Announcement: if you're looking to meet new bloggers out there, you might want to join this Linky Hop. You can find out the details over at New End Studio or contact Katherine at Katherine's Corner. Hope to see you there!

Beader's Block: Holiday Procrastination

Yesterday was a lazy day. I was suppose to be starting on a massive turquoise project, and I do mean massive. Someone has asked for the mother-load. Complete with multi-layered necklace, multi-strand bracelet and of course earrings. My only advice is, for god's sake please don't wear it all at once.


So while I pushed my beads around the table, and pulled out a focal or two to consider, I set it all aside and went off for some mommy-daughter time. All those beads were giving me a serious headache.


I let my 9-year-old pick the nail color, and pick she did! It seems to be the color of the season ... somewhere between Dior's waterlily and Essie's mojito. Just for fun, I checked out toes on my way in to the office this morning, and sure enough this minty sea green seems to be the color of choice. At least at this point for the summer.  

My youngest is a veteran nail salon patron. She wasn't shy about asking to add a few flowers to her nails. She has likely been to the salon as many times as I have in my life (almost). Frankly, I never went before I had girls. But I admit it, as much as I'm not girly ... my girls are. And so we go and get our nails done. Flanked with a daughter on either side of me, I confess, I do love my 'girl time' with them. 


I'll get back to the turquoise tomorrow. 

Do Overs: Upcycling Old Projects

Just finished reading a fun post from Crafty Hope on digging up some of those old projects. Got me thinking. 

Its been about 5 years now since I took a wire wrap class on a whim. I had never done anything other then simple bead strings. But my sister-in-law was visiting (along with my Brother) for Christmas and I decided it would be fun to take a class while she was here. She is a classically trained artist who specializes in encaustic painting, an ancient Egyptian technique, and so I knew I had to up the game a bit and pick a class that might challenge her.

Funny thing is, that class jump-started my beading after many, many years. I used to bead when I was a kid. Could not get enough of it, but I wouldn't go as far as to say I was any good. Just your simple bead strings. I lost interest when I hit my teen years and tucked the box of beads away in the attic. I did keep a few of the necklaces, and gave them to my girls without much of a thought. Only one survived all the dress up outfits and tea parties. A tad worse for wear, but I managed to save the beads. I keep it in a bead tube as the last artifact of my early work. This one I think I'll leave just as it is.

There is something soothing to me to just sit and string beads. I have a lot of people ask me why I make jewelry, and so much of it. I always answer "because I don't knit."

Anniversaries: Silver and Pearls

I remember my sister returning from her semester abroad like it was yesterday. That's us right after she came home. She was giddy when recounting the stories of her travels, the people she met, the countries she'd seen .... and the shopping. Man I wanted to have been there with her while she was drifting through the streets of Spain or Paris. I still have the Damascene bracelet she gave me; it's what piqued my interested in antique jewelry.  


After college, and I mean the week she graduated, she packed up and moved to New Zealand ... lock, stock and barrel. She had met a great guy from NZ while she was abroad and that was it. 25 years later, she's still there. Married, two beautiful, grown boys, and some 8,800+ miles away. Sigh. I miss my sister.

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks with her this past February. It was heaven. Lots of chit-chatting, shopping and just general 'sister stuff.' On one of those shopping excursions she pointed out a string of fresh water pearls she liked. I brought the pearls home with me to make something special for her. 
I later realized that what she wanted was similar to a necklace I had restrung last summer with my mom's pearls (above center). I added a sweet little marcasite and pearl charm that I pulled off another necklace from mom. I decided she should have them both. One from mom, and a new one just for her.  


The new one is a double strand necklace set with a large pearl clasp, and pearl coins. I used small onyx rounds to space the pearls in the necklaces. It's a classic Cartier style that I love with pearls. Sometimes just a simple, elegant stringing style is best. I hope she likes these and wears them often. Happy 25th Anniversary Sis!

BTW: My Turkish Designer

I've talked a lot about My Turkish friend that I ride the train with every day into Manhattan. She loves to take me shopping at the bead stores in the Garment District. We meet up for lunch and shop away! And well, what beader doesn't LOVE that? 





She has an eye for design, and pushes me to think differently about mine.  This project is not a combo I would have come up with, but well that is the fun of it all. She originally wanted lapis, but when I pointed out these pretty little midnight blue sandstone rounds she said YES! that's it.  But then she wanted a large charm attached. 

Button Swap-Blog Hop: Dreaming of the Aegean

    Cindy over at sweet bead studio is hosting a button swap extravaganza this weekend with over 90 people participating. When I saw her post I knew that this was just the hop for me! I have a large jar full of buttons (left) that people have tossed my way through the years. I have one or two of each button, and while that isn't enough for sewing it is perfect for a beader.  
     I have to thank Cindy for paring me with Julia at beautifully whimsical who sent me jewel tone buttons, which I love. But ooooh, then I saw the gorgeous blue one. Julia had stacked the deck with this amazing button. I knew that I could not do my usual 'button clasp bracelet' with this baby.
    

Oh no, this screamed ... put me up front. And so I did. Right up front in yet one more ribbon choker. For those of you who saw my piece from last weekend (blog post below), you might think this is my thing. But these are the only two ribbon chokers I've ever made - I swear! Thing is; once I finished the piece I felt like it would be better hanging all the beads vertically and giving a little room to the necklace. But, I'll let you guys be the judge. Let me know what your vote is .... choker or vertical?

Recently I signed up for Pinterest just to check it out. My first couple of times on the site I was thinking ... really, so people 'pin' pictures sort of like on a bulletin board? How, um, boring. Yeah, well 4 months in and I'm addicted. 4,600+ pins later, completely addicted. I create mood boards for my beading inspiration. This piece was inspired from my Mediterranean board. I also decided to throw in a couple of quick wire-wrap earrings in that same gorgeous color. I couldn't help it with pictures of all that blue water around Santorini; it's just so very dreamy.

BTW: Aegean Blue

    This is my first Bead Table Wednesday. I love to see what everyone is working on, and so I thought I'd join in. 

    My table has been a disaster lately with back-to-back blog hops! Each hop I've wanted to create more than one item, but I ran out of time and needed to move on to the next hop! And so, I have half finished projects pretty much everywhere, which is driving me nuts.

    This week's project is a focus on buttons for the upcoming button swap hosted by Cindy from sweet bead studio. I can't wait to see how everyone incorporated buttons into their projects. Not always an easy element! It can be tricky to get it to lay flat and show off its pattern or style. 

    I was lucky enough for my partner, Julia over at beautifully whimsical, to send me 5 buttons work with. I zeroed in pretty quickly on this over-sized, gorgeous sea blue one.  

    I pulled out all my various canisters of beads to see what color combinations were going to draw out the colors in the button.  I do (generally) organize the bead canisters by color, although I tend to mix them by tones, or colors that I like grouped together. It sometimes makes for a bit of hunt and peck, but it is always a jump start on pulling in color groupings for my projects. I'm still working on it, and I'll reveal the final piece this weekend, but expect a splash of blue ... the color of the Aegean Sea!

One Crayon Color Blog Hop: Green

    Sally at the studio sublime is hosting a blog hop this weekend encouraging a group of us to create with monochromatic colors by choosing one color and designing in shades & tones within that single color.

    I chose green.  Green has been my favorite color for as long as I can remember. Yes, that is me (right) in the 1970s. I've never wavered.  It's always been green.  And as I've gotten older it has spilled into my jewelry choices using stones like emeralds, jade, peridot, green amethyst and green chalcedony.

Yin Yang: Soggy Weather

    Just back from a lovely week in London and weekend in Brighton. It's a good thing that I like the rain.  I find it a guilt-free excuse to curl up by the fire with a book (or beads as is the case for me). 
    I managed to snap this gorgeous picture at the beach; however, it proved to be simply a moment in time. We had just tucked in to a little beach cubby to grab a bite, and to shelter our lunch from the vulturous seagulls that dive bomb at sandwiches up and down the boardwalk. We were there less than 30 minutes when I noticed my friend start to scamper: packing up, grabbing her coat.  My view was still blue skies ahead, but I turned behind me and saw the wall of grey that was coming our way. Right. Duck and cover.

Flap Your Wings Blog Hop: Double Rainbow

    A fellow blogger over at Moobie Grace Designs has organized this Blog Hop in honor of Judy who recently lost her battle with cancer. Many of us are planning to sell and donate our proceeds to charities. I will be donating the proceeds of this bracelet, and 4 more below, to breast cancer research.
    When I was trying to decide what to create for Judy, the first thing that came to mind was a double rainbow. I decided to use a double pattern with multi-color Swarovski for that sparkle rain has on a rainbow. A double rainbow is thought to be about transformation in your life: the material world is represented by the first rainbow while the second is the spiritual world. No matter your beliefs, I thought this was a perfect way to honor Judy.

Beader's Block: Double Connection

    One of my friends asked if she could bring someone over to meet me, and have a run through my jewelry designs. Apparently she had seen my work on Etsy and wanted to meet me. Wow. Sure! 
    Her friend had a string of watermelon tourmaline already strung with the stones grouped by color. 'This is how I want the colors' she informed me. Well ok then. I guess she knows what she wants! Tourmaline is one of my favorite stones. I love how it looks (right) like a real slice of watermelon.  She wanted a necklace with a connector large enough to hang her glasses from, but also a second connector she could use if she wanted to doubled it up. That was a new one for me, and I really wasn't sure how I was going to do that?    

Blog Hop: Postcard Giveaway

Janice over at Bikbik and Roro is having a spectacular give away.  She is giving away postcards that you can use for your blog, your business ... and I guess if you just like sending postcards! All it takes is to leave your name and a comment on her blog. 

The specifics include:
1. PrintRunner provides one lucky reader 100 5x7 postcards!
2. Just click here to check it out and your chance to win.

Superstition: Maori and Paua Shells

Maori are a superstitious bunch. A warrior culture, where losing in battle was pretty rough. For those that didn't run off in shame, they were usually killed by the enemy. Not hard to understand why winning was all important. Several rituals were performed before a battle including abstinence, eating certain foods and a haka (dance). The haka included waving weapons around, sticking out tongues, bulging out eyes and grunting. They were practicing scaring the enemy.  If the haka wasn't performed correctly it was seen as a bad omen... which clearly had consequences. The afterlife crowd also kept a close eye on them. Carvings around the village included paua shells as eyes (to represent the stars); symbolic for the eyes of their ancestors that gaze down from the night sky.

Shop Talk: Working with Polymer

For someone who says that they can't draw ... check out these designs! A friend and I started a dialogue many months back (someone I met on one of my many beading sites I regularly visit). I simply fell in love with the designs she creates.  They are whimsical but thoughtful, play with fantasy but have such a natural look to them ... I just love them. She uses polymer clay and mixed media to create these pendants. The results are so unique and simply beautiful.
 
I bought one of her pieces from her Singing Cat Studio off of Etsy a few weeks ago (above). I wanted to try my hand at creating around one of her pendants.

Beader's Block: Finding Inspiration

    Do you ever get beader's block? Where you have one element, but just can't think of how to design around it?
    I was having trouble trying to figure out how I was going to design a bracelet around this red fabric button. The color red was stumping me. I don't seem to use much red in my patterns, which I find strange since I really love the color. I went digging through my stash only to find that I did have a string of coral, but I wasn't sure the reds were going to work together. The coral is such a deep color that I worried it would completely overpower the focal button.   
    I stared at the pile of coral for awhile. Sorting it by size, matching it to various other beads .... then I realized I could look for inspiration from my recent New Zealand trip.

Discovering New Zealand: Wearing Greenstone on St. Patrick's Day

Recently I was in New Zealand and stumbled upon an amazing spot called Cathedral Cove along the Coromandal Coast (just South of Auckland). There are stunning views from the cliffs that curve along the coastline, and equally stunning views just walking along the beach.
New Zealand, like much of the pacific rim, was formed by volcanos and the landscape still reflects the cones left behind albeit now covered with giant ferns and native bush.

Discovering New Zealand: Bone, Stones and Shells

Several of you know that I've been traveling for a few weeks and have gone quiet on my blogging. All for good reason. I've been down in New Zealand visiting my sister who lives there. It's been 10 years since my last visit, so in some ways it was a whole new experience. 


I love exploring places, and nothing is better for me than starting at a local museum. It is a great way to ground youself in the culture, history and with any luck the jewelry. New Zealand is a jewelry jackpot. The native Maori are creative and prolific in their designs and use of symbols. The eternity twist design (pikorua) represents the lasting bond between two people in life. Even though people may move away, their paths will cross again --whether friendship, love or blood. I spent hours in the museum looking at the designs and various materials the Maori use to create jewelry. The large twist (above) is a natural New Zealand greenstone (similar to jade) and is simply stunning. It is scarce and expensive, so I didn't buy much of this stone. But I did pick up a few pieces. I couldn't help myself!

Do Overs: So What is Upcycling?

I have come across the term upcycling a number of times from my Etsy crowd. I see shops that sell upcycled products and blogs that talk about the things they make from upcycled materials.

So what exactly is upcycling? I set out to see how a product qualifies as being upcycled.

The concept was first talked about in 1994 by Reiner Pilz, a German who was upset that local demolition teams were not using reclaimed materials, but were instead smashing them for someone else to use in recycled products. He called recycling 'downcycling' because the materials are reprocessed, use a lot of energy to create and add to pollution. He noted that we should be 'upcycling' which reclaims existing materials in their current form - no manufacturing or process needed.

I went back through my items to see what I might classify as 'upcycling,' and found that I was upcycling some of my pieces.  I save earrings when I've lost one of the pair, I reuse charms from other pieces and I've recently starting including sea glass in settings.  One of my best tools is a silver polishing cloth.  Mine is black from use, but I have 'reclaimed' many a silver chain and pile of charms with this handy cloth.
Materials
1. Reclaimed silver chain, reclaimed silver cross in heart charm
2. Sea Glass with silver wire wrap on reclaimed silver chain
3. Reclaimed cat's eye earring, filigree, silver chain and clasp