Amethyst and Moonstone

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Allegory Gallery, Classic Elements

Amethyst is so pretty.  I tend to always like a red stone – garnet, ruby – but every time I see the purple of amethyst I remember how much I love it. Especially a rough cut.  So I love this amethyst slice pendant I got from Classic Elements.

Look at all the gorgeous colors in there – purple, white, blue, grey!  I wanted to highlight not only the beautiful purple tips, but the gorgeous druzy-ish white crackle in the middle.  I paired it with some moonstone cubes and semi-rough amethyst nuggets.  As soon as I got the nuggets (from Allegory Gallery‘s recent gemstone haul) I knew they would be great with the pendant. I separated each bead with silver delicas and used a silver snap clasp.  I love this beautiful necklace and will enjoy wearing it often.

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August Art Bead Scene Challenge

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August Art Bead Scene, Creating Unkamen, Leah Kelly, MayaHoney

The August Art Bead Scene Challenge inspirtation is Twelve Princesses on the Way to the Dance, an illustration by Kay Nielsen.  

I really love so many things about this piece.  The colors are wonderful, the textures of the dresses, and the almost eerie, fantasy style of the trees.  I tried to capture some of that in my necklace. I used small lampwork beads by MayaHoney and a larger clear and gold lampwork bead by Leah Kelly. 

I also used some Vintaj patinas on a tulip bead cap with strands of sari silk (and one strand of rhinestones) for a tassel to echo the trees.  At the back I used a mix of metallic peanut beads that rounds out the colors in the art and a hand forged black iron hook clasp from Creating Unkamen. 

I feel like my necklace captures the colors and mood of the illustration. Art Bead Scene is updating its website and how people add their entries this month.  I’ll add a link when the site is up next week. 

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On the Bead Table

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Gaea, Patricia Healey, Tesori Trovati, TierraCast, Tracey Seder Donoughe

I was looking for a pendant to go with some beads I had chosen to make a design I sketched.  So of course I won’t be showing you anything made with those beads.  But I did come across a butterfly pendant by Tracey Seder Donoughe. The butterfly has some dark red spots, and I had some red beads on my table from a project I had just made. 

I also had a strand of light yellow beads on my table that I thought would look nice.  The pendant is a tile with no hole, so I needed some sort of bail.  Also on my table was a small, textured ring by Patricia Healey. I thought that would make a great bail, so I glued it on.  Perfect! I added a copper clasp by Gaea. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite clasps. 

I like the chunky way it turned out.

Then I went back to the original design I had in mind.  I had some London blue quartz and black tourmaline faceted beads on my table. I thought they would look good together and wanted a two hole pendant to use with them. I was looking through my stash (always fun) and found a couple of possibilities. But when I came across this tube bead by Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati, I knew I’d found the right thing. This bead, Night Landscape, is what Erin made based on the art for the January 2016 Art Bead Scene challenge. The necklace looks different than the knotted one I had in mind, but I really like how it turned out. There are gold accents in the bead, so I added some gold spacer beads and a gold toggle clasp from TierraCast. 

I like having all different style and lengths of necklaces so I have something to go with every outfit!

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Saturday Success

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SagaHus Components, Staci Louise Originals, Staci Louise Smith, WoolyWire

I’ve had the materials for this necklace sitting around for a short time and this morning I put it together.  I love these hand drawn pendants by Staci Louise Smith.  I also love pink, so I especially love this one.  Then I recently got some wire wrapped fabric components in a variety of pink and red (including one pair with tiny mirror elements!) from Anna of Sagahus Components and thought they would look good with the pendant. 

I used those components with some faceted red beads and large jump rings to create a chain.  I didn’t especially like my wire wrapping near the pendant, so I covered it up with some WoolyWire in a colorway that works with the necklace.

I’m pleased with how this turned out. Now to find time for some of the other hundreds of ideas in my head to come to fruition!

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Allegory Gallery Design Challenge – Evening Serenade

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Allegory Gallery Design Challenge, Andrew Thornton, Evening Serenade

Today is the reveal for Allegory Gallery‘s latest design challenge – Evening Serenade. I actually remembered to take pictures of the kit this time!

Above are the larger bits of the kit, including the gorgeous pendant made by Andrew Thornton. I was extra thrilled with those bead caps. I’m so focused on beads, I rarely have a lot of findings, spacers, clasps – more practical things. So it’s fun to get some in a kit. A picture of the bead mix is below. Lovely beads and spacers!

I love using the single and unique beads I find in the bead mix. In this first necklace I’ve made with Andrew’s lovely pendant, look at the little metal piece above the pendant. So cool – from the kit!

In the front of the necklace, all the beads are from the kit. I thought both of the larger beads I used with the bead caps were polymer (I’m guessing made by Andrew) but I believe only the larger one is. When I worked with it, the smaller blue one seemed more like ceramic. I added some colored glass beads from a mixed strand I had in my stash and used all the peanut beads dark and clear (those were fun!) to make the necklace long enough to fit over my head.

Next I wanted to use the gorgeous tube of seed beads for a tassel. The color and shine on these beads remind me the most of Andrew’s summer nights inspiration for this kit.  (You should read his description; it’s really beautiful and evocative.) I imagined the last streaks of pink, yellow and orange across the sky as the sun set, turning it hazy grey and then inky blue-black.  I chose a patina bullet casing from this shop as the tassel cap and thought the Venetian glass bead on my table looked great with the combination. I used a black crystal from the kit on top. I found a variety of Czech glass beads in my stash to complete my vision. I love it!

I had more ideas – for earrings, another necklace – but no more time. I’ll have to make those items another time. Visit the Allegory Gallery Design Challenge Facebook page to see what other participants made with their kits. Thanks to Andrew and William for another wonderful challenge!

 

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Pine Ridge Treasures’ Pearls Blog Hop

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Andrew Thornton, Green Girl Studios, Lisa Lodge, Pearls Blog Hop, Pine Ridge Treasures

Today is the reveal for Lisa Lodge‘s Pine Ridge Treasures’ Pearls Blog Hop! Participants chose from kits of lilac, montana blue or a green/blue mix.  I chose lilac and got a gorgeous kit chock full of glass pearls, some crystals, metal and a lovely clasp! Take a look.  Here are the strands.  (I bet you can guess which ones I’m using first.)

Here are the loose beads and components. 

Isn’t everything pretty? I love the colors and variety! If you guessed that I’d be using the grey pearls and clear crystals I’d already cut apart first, you’re right. I thought these would go perfectly with a Green Girl Studios fairy pendant. 

With five connection holes, I love the opportunity this pendant gave me for dangles. The fairy looks like she is dripping with jeweled dew drops, as every fairy should. All of the beads and the clasp I used are from the kit except the first two pearls in the strand. I used a couple of large hole pearls from my stash to cover the crimps.  I’m always looking for ways to cover my connection points. Here’s the full view.

Next up, I wanted to use the lavender pearls. I love the color and that there were two strands so I could make something long if I wanted. As it turns out, I didn’t make anything super long, but I love how the piece turned out.

I thought they would look great with this Andrew Thornton butterfly pendant. (I’m noticing a wing theme.) In looking for some cream colored seed beads to use, I came across this large hole, irregular bead mix. I love the contrast the earthy colors and feel made with the shiny spring vibe of the pearls and pendant.  I wanted to add in another element for some heft and texture. I really love how the simple cut beads (pineapple quartz?) brighten up the design.

I didn’t have time to make more pieces, but I certainly could have with all the materials.  I’ll have fun using those in the future.  Thanks to Lisa for another great challenge, and please visit the folks below to see what they made with their kits!

Your hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue

Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool Jewelry

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Gloria Allen, Gloria Allen Designs

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It’s a Beadiful Creation

Ann Schroeder, Bead Love  <– YOU ARE HERE

Kari Asbury, Hippie Chick Design

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ABS July 2017

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Art Bead Scene, Erin Prais-Hintz, Green Girl Studios, Pam Wynn

I haven’t participated in an Art Bead Scene Challenge for quite a while – I think since last year – and I miss it.  Limited creative time and energy get in the way. This month’s challenge art is Tiger in a Tropical Storm by Henri Rousseau.

When I saw the challenge art this month, I had an idea for beads right away, but hadn’t gotten around to doing anything about it. I might not have except for seeing this post by Erin Prais-Hintz about her beads inspired by the art this month. Seeing her beautiful work and the gorgeous color palette again inspired me to get to work!

I had in mind a pendant from Green Girl Studios with a tiger on it and some black and orange striped African glass. I did end up using those, but I was surprised how many other beads I was choosing from without even looking very hard.

I love this polymer piece by Pam Wynn with what appears to be a tiger’s tail amongst the greenery and stormy winds. How perfect is that? I also did use some of those African glass beads, a long African bauxite bead and simple cut stitchtite nuggets.

I was happy to be able to bring in a little more of the bright orange with a plastic donut and some of the darker green with waxed linen. I feel like I’ve captured a little bit of the chaos in the painting with the mixed materials. Visit the Art Bead Scene Pinterest jewelry page and bead page to see more interpretations of this month’s challenge.

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Kind of a Collaboration Again

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Andrew Thornton

I have posted a couple of times about lots I got from Andrew Thornton’s destash that I’ve kept together and made into a piece.  It feels like collaborating; Andrew curates materials, and I decide on a design. I’ve had another lot sitting on my bead table for over a year that I finally made into a necklace. When I got this kit, it closely echoed a piece I had saved onto my Pinterest board! Here is Andrew’s picture of the kit.

I had in mind the pinned necklace when I got the kit, and I only added waxed linen and a button for a clasp to make a this multi-strand necklace inspired by that one.

I love finishing up works in progress, especially when the beads have been taking up space on my bead table the whole time!

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Koi Necklace

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Bead and Button Show, Diane Hawkey

I bought a koi pendant by Diane Hawkey at Bead & Button in June. I was sure I would be hoarding the pendant a long time. But I saw this strand of citrine and thought it would be beautiful with the pendant. 

I like how the citrine beads aren’t perfectly clear. They look like maybe they’ve been battered by water sloshing them against rocks over time that also smoothed the shapes. I auditioned a number of things to dangle from the pendant’s three bottom loops. I decided on these pieces of dyed coral.  That is a testament to the idea that everything will eventually come in handy if you are patient. The last time I tried to use these coral beads was for an Art Bead Scene challenge three years ago.

You can’t really see the lovely metallic accents that frame the pedant and dot and wave inside. The coral is also dyed with a subtle gold shine. I really love how those blingy elements look together.

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Turquoise and Hot Pink – Classic Color Combination

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Nicole St. Laurent, Raven's Meadow

Back before I knew about art beads, I made a necklace I absolutely loved with hot pink rondelles and turquoise venetian glass rectangles.  It was really beautiful, but I took it apart in recent years because I stopped wearing the more delicate styles I used to make. I like a chunkier look now, but that doesn’t mean I stopped liking that color combination.

When I saw a feather pendant with those exact colors by new-to-me artist Nicole St. Laurent of Raven’s Meadow, I was thrilled! I found a great strand of irregular turquoise nuggets and paired that with some of those hot pink rondelles from my earlier necklace. 

I love how each color makes the other pop.  I also like all the texture created by the irregular nuggets and in the pendant.

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