My First Choker!

Really? My first choker? With all the beadweaving I've done in the past few years, I'm actually surprised myself that I haven't made a choker. I've made pendants that are on wire or chain chokers, but never a beadwoven one.

Until now.

I recently had a special request from a customer who wanted a choker to match the Rastafarian Topography cuff.

After we talked for a bit about size and color placement, I created a whole new design meant to coordinate with the original design, pulled out beads in the same colors as the cuff, and started beading.












In order to make sure the choker would fit properly, I made it slightly smaller than the customer's neck measurement and used a length of copper chain and a lobster clasp that will allow her to adjust it to a comfortable length. No one wants a choker that's too loose -- or worse yet, too tight!


And just to fill out the ensemble, I decided to make a little pair of earrings to go with the cuff and choker.




The customer has already received her matched Rasta set and says she loves them... a good thing, since she's planning to wear them for a very special occasion - her daughter's wedding!

:-)

Monday Monday

Do you ever have times when you forget what day of the week it is? I do. It never used to happen. When I was working, I always knew what day it was and even the date. Now? Nope. Sometimes I forget. Today, for some reason, feels like Saturday. As I typed the "when I was working" phrase, I realize that it's now been FIVE years since I had a real job. Do I miss working? NOT FOR A MINUTE!!!

I know today's Monday, but I had to think about it for a minute. I actually spent my Saturday filling in at the Art On Depot in Waynesville. The ceramic artist (Cathey Bolton-Moore) who owns the studio/gallery just had a baby girl, so I volunteered to work there on Saturdays for a few weeks.

For someone like me, who has no discernible schedule (because getting up and having two lattes every morning does NOT constitute a schedule), it was really strange to go somewhere to "work." I didn't want to be bored, so I took some projects with me. Knowing that the studio has pretty good lighting, I grabbed the box of jewelry I'd finished and never photographed so I could take some long-overdue pictures.

And look! I took pictures of this brand new bracelet, which I named Black and Old Brass. This is a simple design, but I love making these bracelets so I can play with my massive collection of old buttons. This one uses a cool looking antiqued brass four-hole button, so I used brassy-colored delicas and shiny black delicas for the bracelet.


I actually managed to take a few pictures at home, too! This bracelet, an olive and silver version of my Fabric design, was created for the Bead Art Originals color mosaic. You can visit the BAO blog to see past color mosaics, and the one that features dark and light olive will be posted later this week.


Time for my second latte of the day. What a schedule, eh? :-)

New Peyote Cuff Design #8

Wow. #8. I can hardly believe it.

I had a few designs in the works, and I was actually trying to do some sort of fish design for February. Something fitting for a Pisces. I fiddled with a couple of ideas, but they just weren't working out right. And then I started playing around and wound up with this new design, which I've named Staccato.


The colors for this version were inspired by the upcoming Bead Art Originals color mosaic. An uber-talented polymer clay artist on our team, Dee Wilder (Malodora), chose green and silver for the mosaic; and I can hardly wait to see how it's going to look when all the participants' pieces are together.

I've already beaded another version of Staccato, but I'm not going to post pictures of it just yet. Not because I'm keeping it a secret or anything... I just haven't gotten good pictures yet. So it will have to wait.

I did list one other thing in my Etsy shop today, another one of my funky chunky fringe bead clusters. I named this one Tumblewood because I used some fun little triangular shaped wooden beads for the fringes. Isn't this fun?


If you're looking for peyote patterns, my 3-for-2 pattern sale is still going on through the end of February... And just in case I have a design in my shop that you really really like, but I don't have the pattern listed yet, you can let me know. I'm working on getting all my designs turned into patterns (hard to believe I had so many of them), and I'll be glad to move one up the list.

And now it's time for a little beadweaving (I'm working on a new freeform piece) and watch a little hulu.

Happy Thursday!

Inspiration can come from anywhere. I've said that before, and I'll continue to say it. I must admit that I rarely have any problem coming up with new ideas. In fact, it's quite the opposite because I see inspiration just about everywhere I look. My problem is that there's never enough time to do everything!!!

It was Saturday afternoon, and my husband asked me to help him put our canoe up on the racks on top of our van. We don't drive the van very often, so it's a good place to store it. As I was standing there, I happened to notice the row of rivets around the top of the canoe. And I started to think how neat it would look if I could design a cuff that would look like it was riveted together.

You can't really see the rivets in the picture unless you zoom way in on it. Trust me, though. They're there.

And here's what they inspired: the newly-listed Rivets in Steel cuff.



If only I could be inspired by dirty dishes or laundry... :-)

Music has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. My Mom always sang to me, in her lovely alto voice, even though the songs weren't the traditional lullabies most children hear (you can read about that here). In my younger days I played violin, cello, and piano, and I sang in the church choir and in a concert choir. I gave up playing instruments a long time ago, but I've been known to belt out a tune every now and then while I'm in the shower or driving down the road (windows up, of course).

After I listed my Piano Man cuff, one of my fellow Etsy BeadWeavers (Carol, of ambrosianbeads and retrothreads, who plays and teaches violin) mentioned in a comment that she'd been trying to create a treble clef or a violin in peyote but hadn't had any luck. Well, being a music lover myself, I had created this stylized treble clef design awhile back but hadn't gotten around to making the cuff. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. Although I could have created this in any color combination (and I pondered creating one for "the blues"), I chose to really show off the treble clef by weaving it in bright luster red against a white background. Whaddya think? Isn't this perfect for a music lover? :-)

The other cuff I just listed is the Pink and Purple Bouquet. You saw the beginnings of it just a couple of days ago, so now you can check out the finished piece. I really love doing these freeform peyote cuffs. It's fun to see them develop as more and more beads are added.

One bracelet finished, another begun. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I don't suffer from creative block. If anything, it's just the opposite. I have more ideas than I think I could possibly execute in a lifetime. At times that can be a bad thing, because I wind up with projects that aren't quite finished when I race off to start a new one. I'm trying to get better at that, more disciplined about finishing one thing before starting another, but it's just so difficult!

The idea for Black and Blue came to me as soon as I noticed that the Delica beads I had just ordered from Fire Mountain Gems were the perfect match to some turquoise and black "spatter" beads I've had for a few years. After just a few minutes of moving the beads around on my beading mat to see what I could do with them, I was off and running... er... beadweaving.


Almost all of the freeform cuffs and bracelets I had listed in my Etsy shop have been sold, and I've been wanting to do another one. I normally gravitate toward clean lines and geometric pieces, particularly for myself, but after I created a couple of freeform pieces I found I was having a great time with them. It's also a good way to use up those partial tubes of beads I have lying around, left over from other projects.

It was finally time to start one (even though I have to admit to having a few of those unfinished projects sitting here staring at me and trying to make me feel guilty). It's all purples and pinks, and there's absolutely no pattern for it. There is a lot of arm exercise, though, as I keep having to hold it at arm's length to see which beads I should pick up next. So far, so good. It'll probably receive a few more embellishments on top, but it all depends on what the bracelet says.

Gimme a hand, will ya? Okay, okay, that's corny and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever UNLESS you know that I just received my order from Nile Corp of my new hands. I used to photograph all my jewelry against a flat surface or using a pretty bottle or drinking glass, but it's sooooooooo much nicer to have those little hands for the photos. Once again, Carol Dean (SandFibers) came to my rescue. I was emailing back and forth with her a few months ago, and she suggested that I use the little hands and then pointed me in the direction of Nile Corp. I started with a small white hand, a very stylized tall arm/hand, and a white leatherette bust (for necklaces).

Well, I dropped the little white hand and broke the little finger. Drat! I glued it back on, and it works okay, but I always have to remember to touch up the photos to remove the fracture line.

I don't have a particular photographic "style" for my jewelry. I'm bored easily (have I mentioned that I have the attention span of a gnat?), and I'm always experimenting. I decided that I wanted some new hands, so off I went to order more; and I really love them! I bought a black one that has a different shape than the white one I've been using, and I also bought a translucent one that is just beautiful! They're like little sculptures.

They also do great things for showcasing my beadweaving.

Here's a simple little bracelet, called Hip to be Square, that I listed in my Etsy shop just a couple of days ago. Doesn't it look wonderful against that translucent hand?

And here's my latest original pattern. This is The Foxxy Cleopatra Cuff, a bold and beautiful piece of beadweaving, even if I do say so myself! I created this design from a pen and ink drawing I did years ago, and although the drawing was just in black and white I think this looks really cool executed in two shades of pink/mauve, brown, and black. I'm trying to decide whether to enter this piece in the Etsy BeadWeavers June Challenge. I still have a couple of days to think about it, as the deadline for entries is June 5. Whether I enter or not, be sure to check the Etsy BeadWeavers blog on June 7 to cast your vote for your favorite entry!

Doesn't this look wonderful photographed on the black hand I bought? (I put that picture at the top of this post because it's one of my favorites.) :-)

Susan (aka ClinkscalesArts) assembled a beautiful Treasury yesterday, and I'm really thrilled that she included my Victorian Ruffle necklace in it. (That's it in the third row down on the left.)

I am constantly amazed at the variety produced by the members of the Etsy BeadWeavers group. We all start with these tiny little beads and some thread, but then we go in thousands of different directions. Anytime one of the members gets in a beading rut, all she has to do is to try to think of something for one of the monthly challenges. They're always fun, and even though I haven't participated in one in awhile, it's fun to see what everyone else creates.

I didn't have a chance to do any beadweaving at all today. :-(

In fact, I don't think I did any yesterday. :-(

We're trying to get ready to move, so I'm focusing on clearing "stuff" out of our house. It's slow going. Wednesday we had a big pile of boxes and bags picked up by the local Vietnam Vets chapter. I've been posting a few things on craigslist and on eBay. And still, it seems like it's barely making a dent. I'm sure it'll be different when I finally get around to listing some of the furniture and larger things we don't want to move.

One thing I've been doing is trying to eliminate some of my collection of arts and craft supplies. It's really hard to part with them because I know I could still use everything I have (well, okay, I'd have to live to be about 125 years old), but some of it just needs to be gone. I've done my own framing for a long time, and I have quite a stash of matboard. That's not something that's particularly easy to move, as the sheets are 32" x 40", so I've been cutting up all my matboard into ACEO size blanks and listing them on Etsy. That's keeping me pretty busy. Apparently there are lots of ACEO artists out there who just don't want to cut their own cards! It's great because the stack of matboard is dwindling, and I'm almost out of the stack of chipboard I had; but it's a LOT of cutting!!

When I'm not trying to eliminate "stuff," I'm packing it into boxes so it'll be ready when we finally move. I have to admit to being somewhat obsessed about the way I pack things. Every box is coded, and the contents of every box are recorded in a spreadsheet.

Is it wrong that I use spreadsheets for just about everything!??!? I think not. I've used the spreadsheet method before, and it worked wonderfully. (By the way, we don't move very often.) It makes a great household inventory, which will come in handy if we ever need to file an insurance claim for a fire or flood (fingers and toes crossed here that that never happens). It also makes it VERY easy to find things. No more trying to read the labels scribbled on the boxes. I can figure out ahead of time where every box will go in the house, and when I'm looking for something I just have to search in the spreadsheet and then go to the correct box.

See?

There's method in my madness.

:-)

My blog is now three columns! Yes, I know that's not the most exciting news on the planet, but it's pretty darned exciting for me. I've been wanting to do that for quite awhile, and yesterday I finally decided to tackle it. It was much easier than I expected, and now I can spread out some of the things I want to place on the sides.

I've been busy beadweaving away on my latest idea, but I don't have any pictures to post yet. It's raining and miserable outside, so it's not a good time to take photos.

I did put this cute little necklace into my Etsy shop yesterday, though. I started creating these little tubular pendants a few months ago, and I just love them. They're so simple and modern looking.

This one, the Squid in Striped Stockings, is a fun variation.

How to create a beautiful necklace...

Begin with a donut pendant created by a fellow Etsian (RedCrowArts),

add a spiral rope created from lots and lots and lots of seed beads, include some tiny fringes in a contrasting color (following the suggestion of Carol Dean, aka SandFibers),


and voila!



I ordered a few pieces from Red Crow Arts, and I love them all. I have such an affinity for black and white, though, that there wasn't much doubt which of the pieces I'd use first. The finish on this donut is beautiful, with the crackled look accentuated by the glossy finish. It's very lightweight, too, so the person wearing this necklace won't feel weighed down at all.

Soon to be added to my Etsy shop...

I was all set to take in-progress shots of the bracelet I intended to make with these new ceramic beads, but then I got carried away in the making and didn't do it!

Okay, so I've really only used one strand of the beads so far, those beautiful twisted ones in the neutral tones. I really love the way these look in the Oglala-style bracelet I just listed:

The Black and Khaki Caterpillar is finished! Sometimes I just can't stop beadweaving until a piece is finished. As soon as I had part of this little guy woven, I knew I was going to bead like crazy to get him finished.



Why, you may ask, am I calling this a "him"? Isn't it a bit weird to assign gender to a piece of jewelry? I suppose. But just look! Don't you think this LOOKS like a HIM?!?!?!

I haven't come up with just the right name for him yet, though. He's going to live with Carly, though, and I already know that she likes to give names to inanimate objects. I'm sure she'll think of just the right name as soon as she meets him in person.