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| Hibiscus |
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| Elder Flower |
The Bahamas was in full bloom when we were there last week. Lots of flowering bushes, trees and vines like the colorful leaves of Bougainvillea.
I think what surprised me most was that I was expecting the Bahamas to be more year-round tropical temperatures. But apparently temps do vary quite a bit and even dip into the 40s (or so our cab driver told us), but we had beautiful 70 degree weather all week.
We had arrived just as so many trees were blooming, one of which is the national flower called the Elder Flower.
It looks like clusters of yellow trumpets. The flower has a number of medicinal uses ranging from digestion to high blood pressure or even catnip. I was surprised to learn that honey produced from these flowers can actually be poisonous to humans, and there must be quite a lot of it since the bees were very attracted to it. Perhaps think twice about buying Bahamian Honey!
I see a lot of tassel necklaces and I've been wanting to design with that in mind. So when I came across a brown leather tassel at a near by bead shop I heard it calling to me.
But I have been trying to use up my stash since I appear to have enough beads already to open my own shop. Shhhhh ... please don't tell my husband I said that. He'll put another ban on my bead shopping!
Ok, so brown. I wanted the beads to be the supporting cast, not over power the tassel as the focal. So I grabbed cream colored carnelian. Yes, those are carnelian. It isn't what you normally think of with its deep orange color, but if you look at the natural stone you'll see that indeed there are parts of it that are a cream color.
Next I went hunting for brass beads in my stash. I guess I don't have a lot of those, but I did manage to find a set of Asian bar beads. I included small brass beads from India, which were the last of my stash on those. A bit of leather for the back strap and there you have it. A long tassel necklace that will look great with sandals and a flowing top. Who else is ready for summer?
This year the hubby was determined to plan several escapes from the winter given how brutal winter was last year. And while it was much more mild this year, it has been nice to get some sun early in the season.
The second trip he planned was the Bahamas, and while I've been here before a few times, they were quick single day excursions from a ship. It is much different to stay locally just off the beach. Our place has its own pool and a quick walk up to shops, restaurants and local beaches. It is the perfect place to simply relax.
One thing that always strikes me about the Caribbean is the color of the water. It is just so blue. And when I recently saw this stone I just could not resist as it looks like the color of the water and seems to have the pattern of surf in it. The stone is called Larimar.
A bit of quick research revealed that it is a stone found only in the Caribbean, specifically the Dominican Republic. It was named after the daughter of the man who rediscovered it in 1974, Miguel Mendez. He combined his daughter's name (Larissa) with the Spanish word for sea (mar) to create the name. The Dominican Republic's Ministry of Mining show records that in 1916 Father Miguel Domingo Fuetes Loren asked for permission to mine for a certain blue rock he had discovered, but he was denied. Years later Miguel Mendez, a Peace Corps volunteer, rediscovered the stone walking along a local beach.
The stone is formed from a crystallization of blue pectolite when it is pushed into the 'tubes' or 'chimneys' of a volcano by the hot gases. Today there are networks of mines left behind from crews who have had to excavate deeper and deeper into the old volcanoes.
It really is a striking stone, and I didn't want to over complicate the setting. So I decided to stay with the blue theme and used a thick blue leather cord and set the focal with silver. I kept it short as a simple choker with a magnetic closure in back.
This necklace came together in pieces, and it all began with a beading lesson from my friend Christine. Each time we get together we try to share a technique with the other so that we're both learning something new. I do so love these little lessons.
I had seen a stitch over on her blog that I just had to try where she'd used a new variation on zig zag stitch using peanut beads. It creates amazing depth to this beaded chain (click on the link to see the beautiful piece she created). I picked out some metallic colors and got to work. I really just wanted to bead this new stitch to feel the rhythm of the pattern in my hands. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, and tucked it away.
Once I was back home it sat on the bead table for some time, like so many other stalled projects. But then I pulled out a focal bead that Christine had gifted me from that last trip to Fishkill in the shape of a scarab. I added a semicircle of braided leather to complete the necklace and it all came together. I love the symbolism of the scarab as amulet in Egyptian history. It is said to bring protection to the wearer. I turned the bead into a simple cab to attach to the leather, connected the beaded back strap, and voila. Another Christine-inspired design!
One of my favorite things to do is to meet up with my BBF Christine and go bead shopping. We've done this many times at this point and we're just in a rhythm.
We'll walk into the large room filled with tables, and tables of beads, rocks, fibers and all things that look like Christmas morning to a beader.
She'll walk one way, I'll walk the other. Then periodically meet up and compare purchases. It is a perfect rhythm for me.
Christine is an organized shopper. She likes to case the joint ... making a full circle through all the tables first before making a purchase. She needs to get an inventory of what's there and then decide what to buy based on what she's budgeted for our splurge. She is so disciplined! Yes, yes, I hear you. I could learn a few tricks from her.
But, I have a completely different way to shop. I actually don't shop all that often. My husband does most of the shopping for the household (lucky me). And when we do happen to go shopping together (a rare occasion) I am usually zooming through aisles, picking out things and rarely looking at prices. He on the other hand, will methodically go through the aisles, read each label, comparison shop, check off from a list. And he'll take a look at what I've put into the basket and quietly put things back ... O.M.G. it drives me bananas! It just takes all the fun out of it for me.
My bead shopping isn't much different. I love to stumble across a pendant that I instantly start to design around in my head. But the best part of bead shopping is that my husband NEVER comes with me. Yes, the best part. I can shop in peace. This pendant here is one of those pieces, but the lovely part of it is that Christine seems to know me well. She surprised me with this one (along with a few others) the last time we were at the Bead Expo in Fishkill, NY. Instantly I saw this looking Egyptian and I wanted it to have that Cleopatra-breastplate look to it. I love this pendant, loved creating with it, and love shopping with my BBF.
