25 Beads of Christmas

Tags

25 Beads of Christmas, Anna Pierson, Candie Cooper, Crows Cache Supplies, Eden Art Glass, Swarovski

Candie Cooper has a bead advent calendar, and I bought one this year. I thought it would be really cheerful during this time when many of the things I would normally do during the holidays aren’t available to me. It has been wonderful!

I love how it works. She sent a little kit with yarn and tiny clothes pins to display each day. Each bead is in a hand painted envelope with the number stamped on it. The days all in a row are a rainbow. All so fun. I’ve been delighted by each bead, and I love the selection. It has been a real mix – crystal, wood, metal, stone, vintage lucite, ceramic, and glass. Interestingly (maybe only to me) the two I’ve used so far are both Swarovski.

The first bead I used was the day one bead, an ombre blue Swarovski mesh bead. So gorgeous! I just wanted it to hang on a chain because it didn’t need anything else. I like what Anna Pierson has described as “industrial glam” so I added a vintage black dash dot chain. I used a verdigris bronze handmade paddle headpin by Eden Art Glass.

The second bead I used was day eleven, a Swarovski dragonfly bead. I immediately thought of some vintage glass pearls in a similar color. I got that same rustic/fancy vibe by using a Crows Cache Supplies garnet hoop headpin with patina and some frayed waxed linen.

I look forward to opening a bead each morning and seeing what treasure someone has picked out and packaged with such care. I hope your are finding things to make you smile. Stay safe!

Spring is on the Way

Tags

Eden Art Glass, Miss Fickle Media, Sondra's Estate Beads Destash Depot

It seems like spring today, although it is only 32° F. However, because there is so much winter here, Wisconsinites have kind of a low bar. There is some sun, some of the mountains of snow have melted, so it feels like spring is on the way. I love the progression of the seasons. Going into spring, I first am able to stop wearings multiple scarves and other cold weather accoutrements, then I can stop wearing boots (at least snow boots, rain boots are another story) then a coat. And it seems suddenly spring is here, and we’re moving towards summer.

In different ways, both of the things I made today say spring. First up are earrings that probably won’t read spring to many looking at them, but I have made them for the Artists for Animals Auction which will take place again sometime this spring. I have some ideas, so I thought I’d go ahead and get some things made ahead of time. 

I love these earrings. They are the kind of thing I would have purchased if I saw them back when I wore earrings The soot black patina chevron chain section are from Miss Fickle Media as are the lovely pearls. I love that shop; the beautiful materials make creating so easy!

The other thing I made looks more like spring. 

The soft colors and delicate nature of this necklace will be perfect with spring clothing. The gorgeous lampwork bead and beautiful tassel are both from Sondra’s Estate Beads Destash Depot. They are perfect together. The addition of some linked white glass rectangles and beautiful pink Czech glass with glints of other colors from the pendant finish it off nicely with a special flower and bunny bronze clasp from Eden Art Glass.

I want to make more, but I suppose I should get some things done around the house, a little spring cleaning perhaps?

Art Bead Scene Challenge – December 2016

Tags

America Windows, Art Bead Scene, Eden Art Glass, Fanciful Devices, Marc Chagall, Marian Rios, Staci Louise Smith

The Art Bead Scene Blog shares a piece of art for inspiration every month.  The challenge is for participants to make something based on that art that uses an art bead.

This month’s inspiration is America Windows, stained glass panels by Marc Chagall. The panels depict various scenes in vibrant colors against a bright blue background.  What caught my attention in an art bead way is that the pieced nature of this worked looked to me like a crackle treatment.  I immediately though of a couple of tiny crackle connectors I have by Marina Rios of Fanciful Devices.

In considering my design, I originally planned to use the two connectors together.  However, as I got started I decided to just use one to connect a Staci Louise Smith crackle pendant to the rest of the necklace.  I used a couple of different blue Czech glass beads and finished it with some chain.  I like how the chain ties into the metal of the connector and the brown in the pendant.  I also used a blue ball headpin from Eden Art Glass for a nice little pop of blue at the bottom of the pendant.

In the sixth panel of the work, there is “a dynamic swirling form of colors and shapes” that is echoed in the swirl of the pendant.  I’m pleased with all the tiny details that come together in this necklace to make it a very pretty piece.

Please visit the Art Bead Scene Pinterest page to see what other participants make based on this month’s inspiration.

Last Harvest/Gold Dust Challenge Reveals

Tags

Allegory Gallery Design Challenge, Andrew Thornton, Artwear Elements, Eden Art Glass, Gold Dust Challenge, Last Harvest, Lorelei Eurto, Marie-Noel Voyer, Skye Jewels, Tin Snippets

Today is a dual reveal for Andrew Thornton‘s Allegory Gallery Design Challenges – Last Harvest and Gold Dust.

Let’s start with Last Harvest. I absolutely love the colors in this kit.  It looks exactly like fall to me, my favorite season.  Here is Andrew’s picture of the gorgeous kit:

I don’t know what happened to my organization around this kit.  I didn’t take any pictures of it or of the Mystery Component, a handmade treat Andrew includes with the kits but doesn’t publicly reveal until a later date.  But I did use it right away, so you’ll get to see it.

Everything in this necklace is from the kit except the jump rings and the clasp! I used the gorgeous iridescent leafy pendant (the Mystery Component), a variety of beads including the full strand of carnelian chip and the waxed linen.  I love it; it looks like the sound of walking through a pile of leaves.

I made a second necklace with – guess what – a tassel!  I just find making beaded tassels so meditative.  It’s like relaxation therapy.  I used one of the craggy glass beads from the kit with a couple of orange and white Tin Snippets bead caps by Lorelei Eurto.  Perfect!

I strung it on a piece of the sari silk ribbon from the kit.  Look at all those gorgeous colors – it looks like an autumn sunset.  Sometimes I worry when I use ribbon because it is so light, but the glass bead and tassel are heavy enough to make it hang very nicely.

Now for Gold Dust, a special challenge in addition to the regular monthly challenge kits.

I rarely used gold before joining Andrew’s challenges, but just by including it, he taught me to like it.  By the time we got to this kit, I loved it. I think it can be so romantic, so that’s how I went with my first piece.

Endless Sky Challenge Reveal

Tags

Allegory Gallery, Allegory Gallery Design Challenges, Andrew Thornton, Eden Art Glass, Endless Sky Challenge, Helen Chalmers, Quisnam

It is time for another fun and fabulous Allegory Gallery Design Challenge reveal!

Artist Andrew Thornton is the host for these challenges as well as the curator of the kits.  In his post about this kit, he said lately his initial inspiration is a gemstone: in this case aquamarine, one of my favorites!  He built on that by drawing on the various shades of blue skies he has seen.  The result is this lovely kit, including his beautiful, handmade cloud pendant.

The first thing I wanted to use was the aquamarine chip.  I thought about what Andrew wrote on his blog regarding different skies.  I wanted to capture the varied colors the sky sometimes gets that makes you stop and take a long look.

With the aquamarine, I combined labradorite, amethyst, larimar, green hair quartz and aventurine.  I didn’t quite get the look I was going for, but I think it’s pretty!  I used one of the large quartz beads and some dangles I had put on chain that hadn’t gotten used in another project but were still sitting on my table looking perfect for this one.

Next I wanted to use the beautiful Mystery Component – Andrew’s handmade cloud pendant.  It has several blues with a gold rimmed cloud (not just a silver lining, but gold!) covered in resin.  Really detailed and lovely.

Simple wire wrapped chain is one of my favorite looks.  Because it allows me to use a variety of beads, it is a perfect technique for the challenge kits.  I combined mostly pearls and crystals from the kit and my stash to complement the pendant colors.  I added a flower toggle clasp.

Last up is the sari silk.  I am a total sucker for sari silk.  It’s just so pretty!  I decided to make a bracelet and did a search on Pinterest to look at different styles.  I was particularly inspired by this one from the shop Quisnam.  I added two other colors of silk to the blue from the kit to look like that preternatural combination of bright/dark the sky gets just before a storm.

I used a handmade etched copper hook and eye clasp from Eden Art Glass.  I added dangles in the middle including the blue flowers and some other beads from the kit, a rectangular white pearl (that isn’t photographing well) and a blue and gold ridged lampwork bead by Helen Chalmers.  I added more dangles near the clasp to balance the piece.  I love it!

Thank you to Andrew for another fabulous challenge!  Please visit the links below to see what the other participants created.

Dolores Raml https://craftydscreations.wordpress.com

Marybeth Rich http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/

Mona Arnott http://bijouxgemsjoy.blogspot.com/

Christina Hickman http://vintagetreasuresjewelry.blogspot.com/

Shaiha Williams http://www.shaihasramblings.com/

Kathy Lindemer http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com/

Ann Schroeder http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com

Tammy Bowman http://innermusejewelry.blogspot.com

Alison Herrington http://alisonadorns.blogspot.com/

Jeanne Steck http://gemsbyjeannemarie.blogspot.com/

Andrew Thornton, Melissa Wynne, and Laurel Ross http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

 

Frida Kahlo and Mary Harding

Tags

Art Bead Scene, Eden Art Glass, Frida Kahlo, Mary Harding, Shipwreck Dandy Supply, The Bead Chest

I love Frida Kahlo‘s art and also her personal style.  In April, Kahlo’s painting Self- Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird was the inspiration on the Art Bead Scene blog.  Artist Mary Harding, one of the Art Bead Scene blog editors, made beads inspired by Frida Kahlo.  I loved the flowers on first sight and snagged one.

On her blog post that featured these flowers, Mary Harding said when she thinks of Kahlo, she thinks of “big beads, big jewelry and flowers.”  I looked at some pictures of Kahlo wearing jewelry and knew the beads I had in mind would work well with Mary’s Frida Flower to create a Kahlo-inspired necklace of my own.

I got these beautiful Moroccan pottery beads from The Bead Chest.  I think they look perfect with the flower.  I’m so happy with this necklace.  It’s my modern, wearable-for-me take on Frida Kahlo’s beautiful jewelry with the help of Mary Harding.  I even found the perfect clasp in my stash – a rustic twisted wire piece I got in a mixed lot destash box from Shipwreck Dandy Supply along with a twisted jump ring in a patina just the green of the beads from Eden Art Glass.