No Thanks for the Drama

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Andrew Thornton, Miss Fickle Media

The first time I heard the saying, “Not my circus, not my monkeys” I liked it right away. It perfectly described my desire to stay out of messy situations not of my making that I have little hope of solving. So when artist Andrew Thornton made a beautiful metal pendant with the saying, I snapped one up!

Although the saying is funny and kind of sassy, the piece is beautiful and elegant, so I wanted to use beads with it that were in keeping with that look. I had recently thought about using these long pearl with the holes lengthwise (I don’t see that often) with another metal pendant, but I liked it with this one better.

I used a stardust gold filled bead on either side of the pendant to keep it in place and faceted gold fire polished Czech glass beads as spacers.  I finished it off with a small swirl clasp by Miss Fickle Media. I love it!

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Charm Bracelets

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Andrew Thornton

At different times in the past, charm bracelets have been all the rage. I think they are kind of timeless, but they do go in and out of fashion as far as popularity. Recently, artist Andrew Thornton was commissioned to make a charm bracelet that turned out great and also made another beautiful charm(ing) bracelet that got me to remembering my charm bracelets. I hadn’t looked at them in a while, so they were fun to revisit.

This is my first one. It was actually my mom’s to start with. I can see she had some traditional things like a marriage certificate, a baby shoe and baby carriage, a house. She also had things from visits to Florida and perhaps California. The Illinois charm was probably hers. Both she and my father grew up in Illinois and both my older sister and I were born there.  After my mom gave it to me, I started adding my own charms. I suspect the Wisconsin charm is mine, as I grew up here.  I added the shoe and purse. I love charms that add color, and that was my shoe and purse fashion phase. I always loved those split charms, and I got one where one side was “mother” and one was “daughter”.  I wonder if my mom knows where hers is.  I added things I thought were pretty like the encased flower; I love that one!  My parents got the articulated jogger and jester for me on a trip to New York as I remember. That’s a big part of the fun of charm bracelets – the memories!

My pre-etsy shopping site for beads and the like was ebay. I believe that is where I purchased this one. I don’t think I added any charms; they all came with it. It looks like this person was a traveler, or wanted to be. Again, I love the ones with color – the rooster, the eye on the whale, the streetlight and the orange crate.  It’s fun to think of where each charm might have come from and the adventures the person had.

Then I decided to start a new one that was just mine. I got a couple of my colorful charms in there with the grapes (I see I really liked grapes because I have a silver one too) and the garnet dragonfly.  Garnets were my first gemstone crush, and I still love them now. Again, I love the traditional charms, and someone gave me a round “happy birthday,” The tea set is very me. For many years my family in Wisconsin would go for tea each December (my birthday month) at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. It was lots of fun. My sister who lives in New York has treated me to birthday tea at a couple of tea rooms, including this past year. I love a good English tea. The computer mouse symbolized my career shift. I had been a sign language interpreter and was in school for computer networking.

The chakra symbol is a bit of transition to my “new” bead life. I had gotten into yoga during this period to help me deal with chronic migraines at their worst. This was also my introduction to art beads. I remember bidding on the set of these handmade chakra symbols on ebay. I loved that there was so much attention to detail in handmade such as the artist kept the charms unpolished as a sign of humility. I ended up buying a second set of those charms because I couldn’t stand the thought of using one and no longer having a “full” set. I still do things like that!

Thanks for coming along on this trip down memory lane!

 

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WIPs

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Andrew Thornton, Cynthia Thornton, Dot Winchell, Joan Miller Porcelain, Nancy Adams, Nikki Thornburg, Round Rabbit, Winchell Clayworks

I’m very pleased with how occupational therapy is going for my thumb, but I’m still not to the point of being able to bead. I got a new exercise yesterday, and in doing it this morning I could only hack one set instead of two. But I can feel that I’m getting better all the time.

So, in the absence of new makes, I will show some old works in progress (WIPs).  These are materials I’ve had gathered for a project for quite a while but have never actually put the piece together. These things may or may not work out in the end. It will be interesting to see whether they come together or I end up releasing the beads back into the wilds of my stash.

The first grouping started with beads by Joan Miller Porcelain.

This heart, and steampunk elements are by Joan Miller. I’m pretty sure I got the chain with these beads in mind. I know I bought the red and gray/silver pair by Nikki Thornburg with this project in mind.

Next up is an idea for a necklace with a hand painted pendant by Dot Winchell of Winchell Clayworks. 

I think these pink melon Czech glass beads will be wonderful with it. I have a Swarovski shank button I got at Mood that could be a good closure. I love this little floral/filigree button. I took a picture of the wrong side; the other side looks like mother-of-pearl. I’m not sure how I’d use it, but it’s worth trying in the design. 

This pendant is by Nancy Adams of Round Rabbit. She doesn’t make beads any more (that’s how long I’ve been hoarding this) but she does still make beautiful handmade items, so still check out her shop. Czech glass and amethyst are perfect for the pendant; the actual design of how the beads will fit together remains to be seen.

Here is a bronze coin by handcrafted by Andrew Thornton (and designed by Cynthia Thornton) with some lovely carnelian calla lillies.

One last project is actually going to be a remake of a vintage necklace my mom bought and then gave to me. 

Look at those gorgeous beads and clasp! I really like it just the way it is, but it needs to be restrung and is just a little short for me. I’ll try separating the beads with some seed beads my mom also gave me to match or add a chain extender in back.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to show you some of these in finished form in the future.

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What’s New?

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Allegory Gallery, Andrew Thornton, Diane Hawkey, Earthenwood Studio, Tinkersphere, Tracey Ann Finley Art

I was recently on vacation in New York City to visit my sister and her girlfriend. It’s always fun to go, and I had such a wonderful time. I’ve always loved everywhere my sister has lived in NY, and she’s always had great apartments. But recently she and her girlfriend, Lisa, won the housing lottery and got this fab affordable housing in Manhattan with my favorite view evah! I’m a city girl and could just sit in this living room with all the blinds up day and night. (In fact, I slept in the living room with the blinds up.  That couch folds down into a comfy bed.) 

Lisa is crafty herself and thoughtful as well. She’s often given me ideas for things to use in jewelry making. This visit she presented me with a gift to go to a place called Tinkersphere, complete with handmade card and tag! Look at that sweet little blue eyelet!

So one morning after having a delicious breakfast at The Organic Grill, which thrilled my little vegetarian heart, we ambled over to Tinkersphere in search of jewelry-making supplies and other cool things.

Just as an aside, I love all the wonderful public art available in NY.  We passed this on the way, part of a mural on the side of a building.

One of the fun things I got that I don’t have a picture of is a metal model of a Dalek (from Dr. Who) for my sister and brother-in-law to put together. They have a collection of Daleks, and I was thrilled that this one was new to them. Anywho, on with the rest of the show!

Cute robot necklace! This will probably find itself on a fancier beaded necklace in future. 

I really want to learn to solder, but until I do, I know there are some projects with copper tape that can be made to look soldered without the scary heat factor.

Various useful components.  The perfboard on the left reminded me of this Lori Anderson project. I love the pieces by Curio Jewelry using an assemblage of pieces, and I see this red bit in a piece like that. The last piece is, of course, a charm holder!

These striped blue “beads” come ready to wire wrap as connectors! And I’m so glad Lisa pointed out this magnetic bowl they are in. I am constantly searching for my ends – I don’t know what they are called, but they are metal things you put on the ends of your stringing material when working on a necklace so the beads don’t fall off. Now I can corral them in this magnetic bowl!

This shop was really fun. Thank you, Lisa!

I also wanted to show a few new beads because, well, beads. I love a rabbit motif, and the hare and moon is a favorite of this genre. Here is one from Earthenwood that I got from Allegory Gallery.  That cool background is by my brother-in-law. It’s a card he drew for my birthday. I was going to frame it. I might have to put it in something I can take it out of frequently because it’s a really great photo background!

Here are couple of beads by a favorite artist, Diane Hawkey. This Mad Cat bead reminds me of my Junkyard Dog from Tracey Ann Finley Art.

And last but not least, two “ancient” eye beads by Andrew Thornton. I’m going to admit I already have one or two of these, but when a couple more became available, I had to have them. I love them so much that I want to have some to just keep as beads and that will allow me to use the others in jewelry. I know it’s weird, but I also know some of you reading understand because you have the same weirdness!

Thanks for visiting with me. It’s always fun to talk beads and making.

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Art Bead Scene Challenge – November 2017

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Andrew Thornton, Art Bead Scene

The inspiration for this month’s Art Bead Scene challenge is a 1906 oil painting –Crozant, the Bouchardon Mill by Armand Guillaumin.

When I look at inspiration, I often first look at colors. In this painting, the color that presents itself to me first is purple. But the other colors and subject matter reminded me of a polymer clay autumn scene bead by Andrew Thornton. Looking at the inspiration color palette, Andrew’s bead has it (almost) all – brown branches, green leaves, a gorgeous blue background that could be the sheen of the sky at dusk or a body of water turning colder. There is also a pop of bright red, just like in the painting. Perfect.

I chose some dark green manik-manik glass beads that are a real favorite and Czech glass the same blue as in the art bead. The polymer has a subtle sparkle as do the Czech glass facets. I’ve also used some small red white heart beads as spacers to brighten up the look and bring in more pops of red.

There is a slight asymmetrical element to the spacing of the beads, and the necklace is meant to hang asymmetrically as well with the larger art bead a bit up on the side. Also, remember that purple was the color that stood out to me? I didn’t feel that it fit in with my design with beads, but I chose purple waxed linen as the stringing material. Although the color doesn’t show, I know it’s there. I do that often to make a design feel more complete to me.

As soon as I saw it, I knew Andrew Thornton‘s autumn bead was meant for something special. I haven’t made anything for the Art Bead Scene for several months; I’m glad I was so inspired this month.

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Allegory Gallery Design Challenge – Yearning

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Allegory Gallery Design Challenge, Andrew Thornton, Christi Friesen, William Jones, Yearning

Today is the reveal for the Allegory Gallery Design Challenge – Yearning. The inspiration for the kit is a piece by artist Christi Friesen. The kit colors are beige, gold, red, pink, and green. I love the color mix – so fresh! I had my first necklace idea almost immediately based on the beige. Generally, I love bright colors. But there is a certain type of beige bead – vintage German and Czech glass –  that I just love. Opaque, often with etched designs or facets in a variety of shapes and sizes. The kit included some spacers in this color.

Originally, I thought it would be fun to make a long necklace. When it was finished, it was pretty but not quite right. I wrapped it in two when I put it down to think about it and saw it would be much better as a double strand necklace.I strung it on waxed linen from the kit and also used two sizes of opaque beige spacers, beige crystals, and gold spacers from the kit. I used several shapes of the beige glass beads from my stash. I also brought in some other colors from the kit with Czech glass from my stash – tiny beige/green spacers, and red/pink flowers, crystals and ice pearls. At the back of the necklace, I used some tiny versions of the ice pearls that were in the kit. I love how these colors pop against each other. 

I have had this vintage clasp for a long, long time. I’m thrilled that I found the perfect use for it. I feel like the clasp and the necklace have a 1950s vibe, and gold fits right in with the kit.

This challenge snuck up on me a bit, and I only got this one necklace done. I still had fun! Thanks William, Andrew and Allegory Gallery for another wonderful kit and challenge! Visit the Allegory Gallery Design Challenges Facebook page to see what other participants created.

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#Makeover Monday – Gummy Fish

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#makeovermonday, Allegory Gallery, Andrew Thornton, William Jones

In my past, I often had good ideas that I wasn’t able to execute as well as I would have liked.  I didn’t have a lot of design knowledge, but mostly I didn’t know where to get the best beads (or even what they were.) There are pieces from that time that I don’t wear (and didn’t wear much then) but that I didn’t take apart because I really loved the idea of them. One such necklace is the gummy fish necklace. 

That is the necklace there on the right made many, many years ago – like maybe 15 or 20. I have no idea where I got the Czech glass fish; I didn’t even know the term Czech glass at that time. I’m not surprised I bought them; I like beads that look like candy. Also, I can see that I often loved just the strand of beads as it was, as I still do, and tried to change it as little as possible. Back in the day, that usually involved just separating things with seed beads. That can look a little skimpy, as with these larger fish beads. My designs are still often simple, which I like, but they are more balanced and pleasing.

When I got the chance to get these gorgeous vintage Czech glass light blue rondelles from Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery on his destash page, I jumped at it. I just love the shape and, like my previous set of blue rondelles, I loved that it was a long strand. I know I mention Andrew and William and their shop and the destash often, but I’m so thrilled with the variety and quality of beads I can get. When I saw these and thought what to do with them, my gummy fish necklace came to mind. I could finally make it something I would like to wear.  

It’s not really that different. It just has a bit more heft and a quality, finished look. It is true to the original concept – my lovely gummy fish swimming through a bead sea of blue water. I’m so thrilled with the makeover and can’t wait to wear it.

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Foxy

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Allegory Gallery, Andrew Thornton

I got this gorgeous resin fox pendant by Andrew Thornton from Allegory Gallery. I loved it on sight.

I knew I would use some agate or jasper with it. I ended up using both! I used Botswana agate and red creek jasper with dark red seed beads as spacers. I strung it all on waxed linen.

I love being able to use special pieces of art to make jewelry so I can wear them. It adds a bright spot to every day.

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Blue

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Allegory Gallery, Andrew Thornton

I’m a pretty equal opportunity bead lover, especially colors. I do really like pretty much all colors. I will say that I think blue is my least favorite color, though. However, sometimes the perfect beads come along and a least favorite shape or color or size doesn’t matter.

Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery has a Facebook destash page where I am able to get some really fabulous beads. Recently he had some vintage Czech glass beads in extra long strands. I’m always thrilled when I can get a really long strand because I love the look of a long necklace made primarily of one fabulous bead. When I saw these beads, they were the perfect shape, size and color – yes, blue! Cobalt blue. I love everything about them. So this is one of the many times when I wanted to keep the original strand of beads mostly as I saw it and fell in love with it.

I strung the beads, that have a wonderful weight, on waxed linen with tiny dark red seed beads in between. These have become some of my favorite spacers. I added a lampwork bead for interest. (I got it in a different destash and don’t know the artist.) I think it kind of looks like an owl!

I really love how this necklace looks with these beautiful, luminous blue beads.

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Allegory Gallery Design Challenge Reveal – Kaleidoscope

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Allegory Gallery Design Challenge, Andrew Thornton, David Christensen, Green Girl Studios, Kaleidoscope, Ragged Robyn, William Jones

Today is the reveal for the Allegory Gallery Design Challenge – Kaleidoscope edition.  This kit is gorgeous and rich with materials.  Here are the pictures.Here are some of the bigger beads in the kit, a couple tubes of seed beads, handmade beads, a gorgeous multi-color strand of chip beads and some colored floss.

Here is a close up of the pendant, handmade by Andrew.  Below is the luxury bead blend. 

I first wanted to use some of the handmade components, including the pendant Andrew made. I’m assuming he also made the two kaleidoscope looking polymer beads. I love all three of these beads. They are so rich in color and pattern. I used two together in my first necklace. 

For the pendant, in addition to those two polymer beads, I used a tiny ceramic bead in the same colorway by Ragged Robyn and the carved rose colored bead from the kit.

I have been collecting furnace glass (a.k.a. art glass, a.k.a cane glass) for a while to make a necklace, and I thought this could be the necklace to do it. Each piece of glass is like a little kaleidoscope. There were also a few pieces of furnace glass in the kit’s luxury bead blend.  

I’ve already decided to restring this!  I want to add seed beads in the rose color to make the piece more cohesive and give the space between the furnace glass beads a little more heft.  I just haven’t had time to do it yet.

Next I started a necklace using the green kaleidoscope-esque bead from the kit. This went through a variety of iterations. I had planned to include a tassel, but in the end I separated those ideas. In looking for more beads to use in the necklace, I came across a set of green hollow lampwork beads I got in a destash.  I’m sorry; I don’t know the artist. I combined those with the clear beads and some of the larger seed beads from the kit. I like how this picture shows the AB effect on some of the clear beads. Very kaleidsocope-y.  

I love the chunky fabulousness of this necklace.  This piece seems the most kaleidoscope-y to me. I was actually looking through a kaleidoscope the other day, and what I saw wasn’t a bunch of different colors but a bunch of the same thing, each one slightly different, all clustered together.  That’s what I see in this necklace. I finished it with a Green Girl Studios swirl hook.

Lastly, I made a bracelet. As I had the furnace glass out, I used a large rainbow piece by David Christensen.  I added a clear plastic bicone bead from the kit, one strand of chip beads from the kit, a strand of various beads from the luxury blend and a strand of my own mauve seed beads with some of the kit large seed beads. 

I enjoyed this kit very much. This challenge is also a competition!  See what others have made by visiting the Allegory Gallery Design Challenge Facebook page. Thank you Andrew and William!

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