I think this might be my favorite piece from my bead weaving extravaganza. The Sultan (as I've taken to calling this bracelet) has got some flare of it's own!
When I was making the Cellini spiral I could see that it was going to be a pretty generous tube shape, and it just seemed to be calling out for something to be pulled through it. Then I remembered the sari silk that Christine so generously shared with me. I am really loving this sari silk from Darn Good Yarn. And, I knew the silk was going to be perfect to try these new end caps, which did prove to be very easy to use. Just hook a little wire for wrapping at the end and pull through the top of the cap. Easy peasy.
The thing is, that as I looked at the bracelet I knew I wasn't yet finished with this design. The silk was taking me some place else, and I went in search of inspiration. I had a little bit of fun with mood boards, one from a Turkish wedding, the other Indian. Either could work. So to complete the look I had in mind I needed a little bling ... Sultan style. I found these metal sequins, yes folks I said sequins. I know how much I swore and yelled at the sequins for the Sequintastic challenge last year. But I'm embracing my inner bling; especially these metal ones that give just a little jingle when you wear it. I bought extra, so these fun little sequins will be showing up again.
This is part of a beadweaving series that I'm running this week for the upcoming A Time to Stitch Challenge by Christine of One Kiss Creations & Therese of Therese's Treasures. The Blog Hop reveal is next Wednesday, May 15.
What is it about the Harlequin pattern that draws me right in? Christine had a few pieces with her the last time we met up. She wanted to show me some examples for our little tutorial, and I was immediately sucked in drawn to the this wonderful pattern she created. I couldn't help myself, and I had to try it!
I'm not much for clowns generally, but something about a Harlequin evokes a timeless, court character to me. The oldest Harlequins date back to the 15th century and were known for their agility. Their performance was full of acrobatics. I find Cirque du Soleil to have similar qualities. But maybe that's just me. I do love to see their show, and my favorite part is always the acrobatics in the show.
But I digress. Making jewelry does that to me. It has a way of transcending me to another place and time. So for my practice piece with Christine's pattern I chose dark colors as I like the richness of it. The base is ladder straight through the middle with brick creating the diamonds, and a small tear drop bead to complete the pattern. I love this one! The bracelet slips on easily and wears so comfortably. Thanks Christine!
This is part of a beadweaving series that I'm running this week for the upcoming A Time to Stitch Challenge by Christine of One Kiss Creations & Therese of Therese's Treasures. The Blog Hop reveal is next Wednesday, May 15.
I think ladder has officially become my 'go to' stitch. Who knew? I have tried to do ladder stitch in the past, so many times with zero luck in getting it to look right. But this time it stuck. I get it!
I really wanted to try a stacked ladder with larger seed beads to get some width to the band. I also wanted fringe on the sides, so I started with a little picot edging. This gave me the base I was looking for, and so I moved on to the fringe! I added wire wrapped large grey freshwater pearls looped through the small seed beads at the tip of the fringe, and alternated with small hematite rounds. I've never wire wrapped through beads like this before but it seemed to really work. It isn't stiff, and the beads have plenty of room to move around.
This bracelet has a luxurious feel to it, and the sound pearls make when strands glide over one another. This pattern will be a 'keeper' in my repertoire.
This is part of a beadweaving series that I'm running this week for the upcoming A Time to Stitch Challenge by Christine of One Kiss Creations & Therese of Therese's Treasures. The Blog Hop reveal is next Wednesday, May 15.
Several weeks ago I showed you a bracelet that was on my bead table (below). At the time it was not quite finished, but I wanted to make sure to come back and post it once I was done.
With this one, I was practicing a new pattern that Christine showed me that she calls "Something Fine." This is her pattern, and she named it after the Jackson Brown song because it reminds her of sheet music. You can see the darker green rounds do look like notes on sheet music!
It is such a sweet, delicate pattern with ladder bands in between simple stringing. I loved the pattern right away and wanted her to show me. This bracelet gave me my first successful piece with ladder stitch, and I've been using it non-stop ever since!
This is part of a beadweaving series that I'm running this week for the upcoming A Time to Stitch Challenge by Christine of One Kiss Creations & Therese of Therese's Treasures. The Blog Hop reveal is next Wednesday, May 15.
I love this lampwork bead that Christine found on our last excursion to a local area bead show. My friend is just drawn to the lampwork tables like a moth to a flame! She will oogle over the beads for sometime ... to the point where I start to wonder what beautiful patterns are dancing around in her mind as she goes from one gorgeous bead to the next.
Lucky for me, she gifted me one of her lampwork beauties! And this one didn't sit on the bead table long. I went right to work on a pattern. Yesterday you saw the bead table tease with a Russian spiral rope using small coral rounds. I wanted to use the coral rounds to echo the red in the lampwork. But I didn't want to connect the lampwork to the beading because I thought it might look too 'chunky' ... I wanted to elongate it and have some fun with the pops of red in the pattern. I also used repeated oval shapes between the silver pieces, the coral and the lampwork focal. It is a fun, playful necklace. Thanks Christine!
This is part of a beadweaving series that I'm running this week for the upcoming A Time to Stitch Challenge by Christine of One Kiss Creations & Therese of Therese's Treasures. The Blog Hop reveal is next Wednesday, May 15.
The Time to Stitch challenge 3 is going to be dominating my blog for the next week, just to warn you! I have been practicing like a crazy person, and now it is time to start revealing some of the work.
I'm going to start with the bead table: and that means spirals. The first spiral I learned was a Russian Spiral, which has become my go-to pattern when thinking about spirals. The one here is using coral rounds. You can see I'm mid-pattern, and you'll have to come back tomorrow for the reveal of this one.
The second one is a Cellini Spiral. A stitch that has stopped me in my tracks historically. But I was determined to figure this baby out. I pulled out every bead pattern book I own and worked on this stitch with all of them (and I mean all of them) open as I attempted to figure this one out. Then I decided I was just going to have to break down and watch a YouTube video on the matter. I started it, then stopped it. Then started again, and back up the video. Then ripped out the pattern and started again. After 3 hours of this, most of my family had had enough of this wacky lady listening to a repeating video on beading ... that they all headed to bed. It was slow going, but by midnight I had finally figured it out. I know I need practice, but this is a big jump in my learning curve. Stop by next week to see the reveal on my Cellini Spiral.
This is the kick off to my beadweaving series that I'm running this week for the upcoming A Time to Stitch Challenge by Christine of One Kiss Creations & Therese of Therese's Treasures. The Blog Hop reveal is next Wednesday, May 15.
I just love Audrey's sense of style and man did she like to wear hats! Check out this great Middle-Eastern looking hat she's sporting here. It is one of my favorites of all the hats she wore. Seriously, who could make tassels look that elegant but Audrey? It is wonderful inspiration for me, and for my Hat's Off project for Bobbie's challenge. I'm going to attempt to make a few pieces to match Audrey's style without using any of those pearls she is so famous for.
I just happened to have a tassel sitting on the bead table. It is one of the tassels that come with stones when you buy them one, or two at a time. I did a simple beaded band around the top of the tassel and then connected it to a long basic spiral patterned necklace. But it still needed something? I pulled out some grey sari silk that my friend Christine gifted me from Darn Good Yarn. And that was it! The fiber was just what this piece needed. I thread it through the grey beads in the pattern so it really brings out the color of the sari silk.
I just love Audrey's style, and she had so many hats to match up with that I wanted to try at least one (maybe two) more. Next up is this cute Southwestern style outfit. Problem is that with the shirt she's got on the pattern is too much for a necklace. Ok, so earrings it is! These are etched silver that I got from my mom. I didn't like the original setting, so I pulled them apart (as I always do), and "upcylced" them with a touch of bamboo coral. With Audrey's hair up like that, these earrings would look fantastic with that outfit.
One last piece. Christine also gifted me this very cool wood focal. And it was screaming at me to figure out how to use it in a pattern. I started with a ladder stitch, and then a stringing pattern with a mix of red seed beads. But it still needed something? When I saw this picture of Audrey, same hat but different shirt I realized this was what I was looking for. Look at the thin black in the hat and how that brings a richness to the red. I added just a thin layer of black matte beads along with daggers at the end of the stringing. I finished with black suede to keep the necklace itself simple. It has a tribal feel to it somehow. And the little something extra in this piece are 5 faceted red beads mixed in to the red stringing. These are a beads from Christine's Gram. It gives it just a little bit of attitude, kinda of like that look on Audrey's face!
My take on Sally's prompt this week for Focusing on Life is using a large painting that my now teenager painted in Kindergarten. She was asked to paint someone in her life for a school project, so she painted me.
I love the large green eyes (yes my eyes are green). And lips that seem to consume my face. Or perhaps the 'jug' ear off to one side. I call it her Picasso phase: complete with side view of the nose.
But I have to say my favorite part is me wearing what appears to be an evening dress with pearls. I don't 'do' dresses, at least not much. So why she painted me this way is fascinating!
Sally said to focus on the abstract; a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Check. This is one of my favorite pictures in the house. It makes me smile and giggle all at the same time. I love that about this painting.
I recently order several copper component pieces from Melinda of Orrtec. I have been working with Melinda for the past many months on Artisan Whimsy and loving every minute of it. But I realized that I'm creating with components from many designers, but have yet to with Melinda's work. I needed to rectify that pronto! So I put in an order, and wouldn't you know it she spoiled me! She was so sweet and sent me all kinds of extra pieces!
I love these red beads she included, which she tells me are dyed howlite. They are fantastic! I paired them up with copper components and beads from Melinda. The colors blend beautifully, and they have a nice weight to them.
Copper has not been a regular material in my repertoire, but it is making it's appearance! There are quite a few more projects in mid-stream with Melinda's components which will be making their appearance here. I do really love the copper that she sent me. And I am simply in love with this color combo of deep, deep red with copper! Now I am digging through my stash to see what else I can create with this style.
Did you know that quartz is the single most abundant mineral on earth? Or that it makes up 12% of the earth's crust? I didn't until I went looking for the causes of Rutilated Quartz, which is the stone in these earrings.
Rutile are inclusions that form in long thin needles "frozen' inside stone such as quartz, but also known to cause the 'star' in sapphires and rubies. Huh, who knew? It is formed when rocks start to cool after being heated by high temperatures and pressure. The pressure eases and the stone separates creating rutile crystals trapped inside the quartz.
These rutile quartz earrings have a black inclusion, but I've seen others with deep green. Both black and green are tourmaline deposits within the crystal. I just love the patterns they make in the stones. That's what's on the bead table this week.
Sally's prompt this week was to focus on color. It is hard not to think about color when it comes to food. The deeper the color, the richer the flavor, the brighter the color the fresher the flavor. Or at least in my opinion.
One of my favorite salads is Caprese. Nothing tastes more like summer to me than fresh flavors. And what an amazing combination with fresh picked basil and tomatoes with locally made buffalo mozzarella. We have a local dairy that makes their own mozzarella, and it is wonderful. I slice up the tomato and cheese and break off fresh leaves of basil. You can smell the salad from across the room.
Last year I bought basil and made it through about half the bunch. And put the left over in a glass with water for about 2 weeks. Those stocks sprouted roots and I planted them in the backyard and had fresh basil from that one batch for the rest of the summer! YUM!
I've been meaning to show you all a set of custom glasses I asked Edi over at Memories for Life to make for me. My girls love pretty much anything mustache related, and if it is a joke; well then all the better. They are just silly that way.
I asked Edi to make me a set of 4 for my girls to giggle over with their favorite beverages.
Edi and I spent a few days trying to find our favorite 4 mustache jokes and decided on:
1. I "mustache" ask you a question
2. I'd love to stay and chat, but I really "mustache"
3. If you really "mustache" ... I'm thirsty
4. Let's shave it for later
Yes the girls giggled over each one. As you can see, mustache-related anything is a constant source of laughter with my girls. It is hard to choose between pointed ears and round ears being more silly.
Check out Edi's Etsy. She makes such fun wood and etched glass pieces, including a whole line of wood cards for anniversaries, weddings, birthdays ... and well, whatever else you can think up. Every piece is custom just for you.
Nothing says the renewal of spring quite like the tender green colors of the shoots coming up around the yard, or the leaves just starting to bud. And well, for me it is this color of light, spring green everywhere that gets me excited about what is about to burst open with color! My piece for this month's BBA Challenge is using a tone on tone color of pale, delicate green; in multiple sizes and shapes.
I've been having lots of fun lately with bead weaving. Practicing my two new favorites stitches over, and over again! You'll see ladder and brick in this piece, which my beady, bloggy friend Christine so generously (and might I add --- patiently) taught me. And it is showing up in all kinds of places! I finished off the closure with these two stitches along with a lotus green button.
The main portion of the bracelet is actually peyote (my go-to stitch), but I mixed it up a little by adding Czech tear-drop beads. I love the effect! It looks like bubbles across the surface of the bracelet. I was at a bead show in March and I noticed that spike beads are showing up in a lot of patterns. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to use something so pointy in my work, but these seem like a more feminine biker play on the pattern.
When Marlene and Shelley suggested a hop swap using the colors from your birthstone, no matter what time of year your birthday actually is ... I thought, well now this is an interesting one. And as luck would have it, I was paired up with a September birthday, mine being March, which means we were both creating with blues!
Marlene also suggested that we not get too crazy and try to use the actual birthstones given the cost of that! But I found trying to find the deep blue of sapphires pretty easy using apatite and topaz. Good thing I'd just been to a bead show because I had the chance to look for those beautiful blue stones in the earrings for a very reasonable price.
My partner, Sherry Baun, sent me the loveliest earrings in pale blues to match my birthday stones of aquamarine. I love these long sparkly dangles, and check out the polymer charms with lighthouses! How cool is that?! How did she know how much I LOVE lighthouses?
For me, there is nothing like a walk on the beach. I'm not your typical beachcomber. When is hot and sticky, I'm not going to be that person sitting in a beach chair. But when the wind is blowing sideways, I'll throw on a sweater and head for the beach. I love the smell of the saltwater and the fresh air whipping around my ears.
So when Sally asked us to talk a walk for inspiration this week, I knew I'd just head down to the beach; rain or shine. As you can see, there's a storm brewing. But made no difference to me.
I enjoyed watching this little boy and his grandfather. The grandfather very close behind to keep an eye on his little explorer. The boy so wanted his feet in the water. And each time the tide came up around his shoes, he giggled with an ear-to-ear grin. We should all be that carefree and able to laugh with life's simple pleasures.
My youngest absolutely loves to collect shells. She picked up as many as her hands could hold, and then recruited her sister to help out. When we got home I asked where she put all her new shells and with a proud smile she said she had already washed them and put them in her shell box. I of course asked the obvious question, "did you dry them?" The look on her face told me she didn't. Sigh.
I love the look of Art Deco whether that is in architecture or fashion (my Deco Pinterest board). And with the release of the Great Gatsby there has been renewed interest in the style of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. I would be remiss to not call out that it really is inspired by the book by Scott Fitzgerald
I stumbled across a fashion spread inspired by the movie release (left), and I noticed all those great hats! And it reminded me of a challenge coming up hosted by Bobbie over at Beadsong. I started a pinterest board for inspiration, and of course added a lot of examples from this time period. Click over to Bobbie's and sign up.
I recently had one of my pieces featured in Stringing magazine that was also inspired by this time period. You can see my design below, and all the others here.
I don't talk about my day job much on my blog, but one thing I do really love is that my office window looks out to the Chrysler Building. An amazing example of Art Deco style. And recently I've been noticing all the hood ornaments on the building. Yes you read that correctly. They really were designed to look like the designs used to adorn cars during the era.
Specifically I can see the wings, which is what my bracelet design is inspired by. It is that classic chevron pattern. You can also see the chevrons on the side of the building which are done in white and grey brickwork. I could just stare at this building all day long, but alas I'd get no work done!
Click over to the Chrysler Building history site and see the lobby details. Especially the elevator doors with the Egyptian Revival influence, which was the birth of Art Deco. The geometric shapes in design coincides with by the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922 which heavily influenced the styles of the era.
A couple months back, Karen and Mandi challenged a few of us to a free form peyote hop. I think this is one of the stitches that I've been most scared to try, but glad I finally did. For so many reasons.
Not only is it fun (can you believe I'm saying that about a stitch I was so frightened of?) but it has opened a door for me.
I've been experimenting with all kinds of new stitches. And not getting so worked up if it isn't perfect, or the tension is a little off. Doesn't mean I don't need practice, but sometimes being too much of a perfectionist gets in the way of learning new things. So for that, I want to thank Karen and Mandi for getting me outside my comfort zone!
So take 2 of this bracelet was more of what I had in mind when I started this project. I wanted something that had the flow of water to it, that felt like tide pools and surf with the treasures you find when you go hunting for shells. It is by no means perfect, but then I'm not sure that freeform peyote is meant to be?
This week's challenge for Focusing on Life was to look for aged beauty in our lives and something that holds a deeper meaning.
Lots of things in the house could be called 'aged,' myself included. But few hold as much meaning as the hours spent at my piano. It is a loved piece, and something that feels like home to me.
I started playing the piano at age 5. I am by no means a concert pianist, but I can play. And it is less about my mastery of the piano and more about what it has taught me.
It is the same things I want to teach my children. First and foremost there is a love of music. Nothing soothes the soul quite like music. We play a lot of music in the house. It has a way of bringing us together.
Learning to play an instrument also gave me a love of many types of music. I studied classical piano, but then begged to play ragtime, then contemporary. Nothing like a 10 year old banging out the music of star wars on the piano. My kids now have an appreciation not only for what is popular with all their friends, but of rock, jazz, blues, classical... we play it all at our house.
There are other things that learning an instrument teaches. It teaches discipline. And that you can't expect to always be able to pick up a task on the first try. Practice is an important part of learning, and something that has been a more difficult thing for my kids to learn. But both have decided to play instruments, and both have grown to understand this notion of practice and a bit of 'stick-to-it-iveness' that I think helps in life.
My piano isn't a fancy one. But then neither am I. It's got a few dings here and there, but then I've had it since my childhood. It has been with me on a long journey. It has been with me in Oregon, California and now Connecticut. It is like an old friend that has aged beautifully. When I sit down to play, it just all comes back to me. It is the comfort of home.
Sometimes there is a pattern that just fits like an old shoe. One that is your fall back; that you can bead up effortlessly. This is that pattern for me. It's called Crystal Helix by Barbara Falkowitz.
I've made it in half a dozen colors, varying sizes of beads, and each giving it its own unique look and style. I've featured it in several posts (with amethyst, African opal and aventurine) in the past.
Lately I've been loving the look of matte beads, especially these hematite and onyx rounds. And so I pulled out my favorite pattern to see just how these might bead up. I even got the chance to show a bloggy friend, Christine, how to make my favorite 'go-to' bracelet.
This week's prompt from Sally for Focusing on Life is on getting in there on the macro shot. I've been shopping for a new camera, but haven't yet bought one. And as I've been doing that, I tried out a cool gadget for my iphone called a Macro Lens Band that you can buy for $20. Check out a site called Photojojo for all kinds of fun little camera gadgets.
Pretty cool. I was able to get right in there on flowers and take some decent macro pics. Perhaps not as close as I might with a 'real' camera, but not too bad. These are pictures from our trip to San Francisco a few weeks back, and the flowers were in bloom all over the place. I love that Spring comes so early there and I was soaking it up!
So as I continue to explore what camera I might want to buy (I've got it narrowed down to either Canon T series, or Nikon D series); do any of you have suggestions? A camera that can take a great macro of jewelry?
Just for a little fun, I'm including a little video that my youngest daughter made. I was showing her how when you pinch the back of a snap dragon it looks like a mouth opening and closing. The voice over is my daughter making the snap dragon talk.
When I signed up for the AJE Earring Challenge to make a pair of earrings a week (for 3 months) I thought it would be easy since I can sit down and make five or six pair in an afternoon.
But I was so excited to be working with artisan's beads and components that I wanted to try to find the best way to bring out it's color and texture. I wanted to make each one the star. So some of these sat on my bead table for weeks while I paired them up this way, and that way looking for the right fibers and beads to add to each one.
This is my gallery and you can find these all in my Etsy Shop. I've also listed each artist and their shop, blog or website:
1. Three Drops :: Lampworks Beads :: Patricia Dugmore of pj Beads (Website, Etsy)
2. Peacock Swing :: Lampworks Beads :: Patricia Dugmore of pj Beads (Website, Etsy)
3. Sea Urchins :: Polymer Clay Beads :: Patricia Dugmore of pj Beads (Website, Etsy)
4. The Talisman :: Bronze Headpins :: Lesley Watt of THEAtoo (Blog, Etsy)
5. Sea Grass :: Bronze Charms :: Lesley Watt of THEAtoo (Blog, Etsy)
6. Hint of Spring :: Polymer Clay Beads :: Pippa of Pips Jewellery (Blog, Etsy)
7. Four Seasons (Summer) :: Porcelain Charms :: Marsha Neil's Studio (Website, Blog, Etsy)
8. Four Seasons (Fall) :: Porcelain Charms :: Marsha Neil's Studio (Website, Blog, Etsy)
9. Four Seasons (Winter) :: Porcelain Charms :: Marsha Neil's Studio (Website, Blog, Etsy)
10. Four Seasons (Spring) :: Porcelain Charms :: Marsha Neil's Studio (Website, Blog, Etsy)
11. Waiting for Spring :: Porcelain Charms :: Diana of Suburban Girl Studio (Blog, Etsy)
12. A Day at the Beach :: Porcelain Charms :: Diana of Suburban Girl Studio (Blog, Etsy)
My final pair of artisan earrings use a pretty little polymer clay bead from Patricia Dugmore of pjBeads. I found Patricia's work at a bead show and spent quite a long time there just sifting through all the little bowls of beads. I was particularly taken with her polymer clay and their likeness to sea shells. These beads are her sea urchins, that I just love.
I also decided to make my own earwires. I have made one or two before, but not many. But I realized as I was making these that it really is pretty easy. And wonder why I don't make earwires more often? These earrings are available in my Etsy store.
I've really enjoyed the challenge put out by AJE this quarter, but it is time to pass the torch to a new set of participants. The team over there asked for 4 groups (one a quarter) to make a pair of earrings a week and post to their pinterest board. So if you're interested, hop over and sign up!
The thing is, that as I looked at the bracelet I knew I wasn't yet finished with this design. The silk was taking me some place else, and I went in search of inspiration. I had a little bit of fun with mood boards, one from a Turkish wedding, the other Indian. Either could work. So to complete the look I had in mind I needed a little bling ... Sultan style. I found these metal sequins, yes folks I said sequins. I know how much I swore and yelled at the sequins for the Sequintastic challenge last year. But I'm embracing my inner bling; especially these metal ones that give just a little jingle when you wear it. I bought extra, so these fun little sequins will be showing up again.
