Weekend Makes

Tags

Allegory Gallery, Artists for Animals Auction, Bronwen Heilman, CB&Co, Gaea Handmade, Handmade by JGL, Kimberly Rogers, My Elements, Numinosity Beads, pipe chain, Silver Silk, Supply Your Soul, Vintaj

My muse has returned! It feels so good. I had some ceramic cat beads from Allegory Gallery and connectors from My Elements on my bead table for quite a while. I thought they looked great together for earrings, but I wasn’t sure about the design. It suddenly came together. I love these.

I made those for the next Artists for Animals Auction coming up in the fall.

Next, I was also very happy with this remake. If you read this blog, you know I hate to do a remake and have many lovely items I can’t wear because they need a remake. I’m determined to do remakes, take apart things to repurpose materials or give them away so I don’t have so many things just sitting around. So, first, a remake. Very simple, but perfect.

Semi-recently I put a fabulous Bronwen Heilman pendant on some equally fabulous vintage chain. I liked the look, but when wearing it, the way the pendant flippity-flopped was not good. Heilman shows the pendants on black rubber tubing. Then SilverSilk debuted a new product called pipe chain. It’s perfect for this necklace, and a little fancier than the rubber tubing.

It’s now absolutely stable and perfect!

Next is a very simple make; I just put this pendant on chain and added a clasp, but it was years in the making because I bought the CB&CO pendant at, I think, my first Bead & Button show, so that was some years ago for sure! I happened to see the pendant in a box this morning when I was looking for something, and I had the perfect chain on my table that hadn’t worked with something else.

The pendant has mixed metals and all of the different discs move. I love the stamped phrase “I can only imagine.” It could mean anything from “I can only imagine the BS that goes on in your mind” about an annoying person to “I can only imagine the great things in store” about the future. I have long been a fan of Gaea‘s beads, and I usually buy one or more of her copper clasps when I place an order because I love those as well. She had offered them in different finishes at one point, and I’m glad I got some in the dark finish. It is perfect for this necklace.

I’m still working on some other things. I got a lampwork hand bead from Kimberly Rogers of numinosity. I am so in love with it. I really think I just want it on chain or maybe leather. It is heavy enough to flippy-flop, so I think it is best to have a design that has two connection points. I tried to create a form that would accommodate the hand with a couple of other loved items, but it wasn’t right. I might end up trying again. Then I took part of a repurposed earring (that I think I also got from Kimberly in a destash). I was trying to focus on grungy to look right with the top of the hand. But it didn’t quite work.

Then I thought what if I go in my other favorite direction from grunge, kitsch. The hand has a pink cast to it, and I was so in love with this bubblegum pink vintage chain when I saw it. I do like it, but I’ve also ordered some ball chain in a patina called Cimarron Rose (grey, cinnamon and rose gold) from Supply Your Soul. I love the patina items from this shop. The color combinations are so great and the application makes things look perfectly grungy. I went looking for chain with the Urban Decay patina, but there was none. This one might be even better with some tones from the pink family. If I like it, I’ll have to think the best way to connect the pendant to avoid flippy-flop. I might go with leather.

The other necklace in this picture shows the earring part I was working with. It is meant to go vertically, and I had it that way with the hand at the bottom and the bead on that middle loop. It is a nice brass, and I used hematite and marble Vintaj patina to make it look old and worn. I didn’t like it with the hand, so I decided to turn it horizontally and just leave the bead dangle on there. I used a handmade headpin from Handmade by JGL. We’ll see if I leave either of these. The length of them makes them layer well together.

I got pretty long-winded on this post, so thanks for sticking with me if you are still reading!

Pine Ridge Treasures – Bead Treasure Blog Hop

Tags

Diane Hawkey, Jeni Houser Alasad, Lisa Lodge, Pine Ridge Treasures, Stitch Whimsy Market, Supply Your Soul

Today is the reveal for another blog hop hosted by the lovely Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures. We had color choices for the kits, and I chose green.

As usual, the kit was very generous! There were lots of possibilities here. Interestingly, although I’m really a green person, I was drawn to the more neutral beads.

I used the grey crystal rondelles and brown bicones from the kit with my own grey pearls and gold spacers. For a pendant, I used a Jeni Houser Alasad connector and added a gold dangle from a vintage chain extender. I finished the piece with the toggle clasp from Lisa’s kit.

After I made that, I had a bit of a creative block. I had the beads on my table, but I just wasn’t coming up with an idea that suited me. Then, a breakthrough! I started considering using one of the large crystals. After contemplating how to use it for a while, I remembered how much I enjoy using different fibers for tassels and thought it would look great with a mostly white tassel using the white pearls from the kit as well!

The idea did not disappoint. I love how it turned out. It has a great balance of rustic and elegant. I searched for the best bead cap to use for the top of the tassel. I had been thinking about using a floral one that I would paint with white patina, but when I saw this more rustic black and white one (from this shop) I decided it was the way to go. I used a variety of fibers from Stitch Whimsy Market for the tassel and included a white beaded chain you can just see peeking out.

I used patina metal spacers between the kit’s white pearls. They are from Supply Your Soul with the Ancient Relic patina. I thought the rustic nature went well with the tassel cap. At the back to make it the correct length, I added a piece of pearl rosary chain. I finished it off a vintage pearl box clasp.

I was putting away some beads, and I came across this cute Diane Hawkey beastie. I was looking for some chain to put it on, thinking perhaps that’s all I’d want. I found this great vintage chain with various blue glass beads, but I only had a short section. Then I thought the blue-green stripes on the beastie also would go well with the green aventurine beads. From the kit, I used 4 green aventurine pillows and 6 Czech glass beads. I think the one on their head looks like a little chapeau. I added a few cacoxenite star cut beads to bring out the purple in the beastie’s face. I added various green, blue, beaded and metal chain for a tassel because I love a chain tassel! I think this turned out so cute.

Thank you to Lisa Lodge for hosting another fun blog hop and providing such a generous kit! Please visit Lisa and the other blogs below to see what other people made with their kits.

Your hostess: Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue

Heather Canepa, Desert Jewelry Designs

Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool Jewelry

Ann Schroeder, Bead Love (You are here)

Marde Lowe, FanciMar Designs

Gloria Allen, Wings and Beads

Renee Edbrooke – Cianci Blue (sharing a post with Kim Dworak)

Three Necklaces

Tags

Anne Gardanne, Diane Hawkey, Famous Vintage Bead Hoard Liquidation Destash, Jenny Davies-Reazor, Supply Your Soul, The Lost Apothecary

I love these word pendants Jenny Davies-Reazor makes. I recently read The Lost Apothecary and really enjoyed it, so this “apothecary” pendant resonated with me. (I also now follow some mudlarkers on Instagram!) I had gotten a mixed lot of Czech glass beads from Famous Vintage Bead Hoard Liquidation Destash in the colors of the pendant. I thought they would make a good match.

I used a blue enamel floral piece by Anne Gardanne on one side and an irregular ceramic bead by Diane Hawkey on the other with a little green-blue ceramic floral bead cap. I find the colors soothing and invigorating at the same time.

I got some cool large enamel rings, also from Famous Vintage Bead Hoard Liquidation Destash. I looked through my Diane Hawkey stash because she often uses such nice bright colors. I made a chain out of the enamel rings and some large oval black jump rings.

I used two fun buttons where the pendant ring attaches to the necklace chain. The green and red one on the left in this photo came from a trip my sister and her girlfriend took to the Netherlands. I used a small section of lightweight black chain at the back because I knew it would be more comfortable.

I had some beautiful grey rosary chain (also from the Famous Vintage Bead Hoard) out for a project it didn’t end up going with, but I thought it would be good for another project I had in mind. I had some grungy silver metal hearts from Shipwreck Dandy Supply. I love grunge! I sealed them with Renaissance Wax. I needed a chain in the front I could attach them to, and I found the absolute perfect leftover section of chain from Supply Your Soul with ancient relic patina. I used one vintage Swarovski crystal to heighten the glam factor of the glam-grunge look.

It has been fun to have some creative time this weekend. I have more projects, but I have to get some other things done around the house, so they will have to wait. I hope your upcoming week goes well!

Gemstones and Maku

Tags

Dakota Stones, MAKU Studio, Supply Your Soul

I have had a fabulous ceramic heart pendant by Maku Studio for several years. I have long considered it one of my most precious art beads. I couldn’t imagine what beads I would use with it. But I have gotten some great gemstones lately. I enjoy the Dakota Stones live sale on Monday evenings. I bought some large nugget sapphires and thought they would go great with the pendant. I was right.

I wanted to add metal accents just like the pendant has metal accents. I thought of round beads I had in the Ancient Relic patina from Supply Your Soul. Perfect. I also used tiny brass ox spacers. I knotted the necklace on grey waxed linen.

This turned out just as I had hoped.

Artists for Animals Auction 2019 – #2

Tags

Andrew Thornton, Heather Powers, Madison Cat Project, Miss Fickle Media, Patty Way, Sondra's Estate Beads Destash Depot, Supply Your Soul, Vintaj

I haven’t been feeling as inspired as usual lately, so I was a little worried I wouldn’t have much for the Artists for Animals Auction. But this weekend I have been feeling really inspired and have made quite a number of things. I feel good about what I have now, and I think I will have a few more! Here are more things I made since my last post (yesterday!)

Fun, arty earrings with “shards” by Patty Way. (I can’t find a link for a shop or site for her. If you have one, let me know.)

Elegant bugs! Cute beetle charms from Miss Fickle Media with gold dagger dangles from Sondra’s Estate Beads Destash Depot. 

I love whimsical, so I couldn’t pass up these metalized plastic pineapple charms. So cute! I paired them with some polymer beads Andrew Thornton made in a class Heather Powers taught about her technique. 

These might be my favorite. Textured boho Vintaj rounds that started out bright silver. I used two colors of Vintaj patina and their reliefing block to get this weathered look and paired them with metal beads with ancient relic patina from Supply Your Soul.

Please visit the Artists for Animals page to bid starting April 29th. There will be many artists with a variety of items participating. Each artist supports their chosen charity. My proceeds will be donated to Madison Cat Project.

King Kitty in the House

Tags

Allegory Gallery, Sondra's Estate Beads Destash Depot, Supply Your Soul

During January of this year, which you will already know if you read this blog, Allegory Gallery had a daily prompt challenge. One of the challenges was to use an Allegory Gallery wooden pendant in a piece. My original idea was to use their King Kitty pendant, but I wanted to incorporate some Czech glass fish I had, and I couldn’t find them. I’m happy because I ended up making a wonderful necklace with a different pendant. But now I found the Czech glass fish, so King Kitty can take his rightful place dreaming of dinner. 

I love this wooden pendant. It’s so whimsical. I backed it with a hammered copper piece to give it more heft. My mom got it from Supply Your Soul. It’s such a great layering piece! 

My original idea for the necklace involved maybe linking a bunch of the fish together because I thought they were smaller and that I had a whole bag. They are at least double the size I remembered, and I only have four. I decided just to use two as an accent. I got them from Sondra’s Estate Beads Destash Depot. They have a wonderful lustre. I used two colors of jasper nuggets. I think they provide just the right look. King Kitty looks like he’s ready to go out into the wild in search of his seafood dinner. But It’s just a dream; he’s really sleeping on a pillow on the couch.

 

 

Winter Wonderland

Tags

Humblebeads, Supply Your Soul

Well, it’s not really a winter wonderland as the title of this post suggests.  It’s kind of a winter ugly, slushy mess.  It keeps swinging from cold and snow to rain and warmer, and we’re left with dirty snow and slush here in Wisconsin.  So, I thought it would be fun and cheerful to make a pretty winter necklace, and what better bead than a cute little Humblebeads snowman?

I added a bunch of charm dangles – all different like snowflakes!  I put it all on beautiful lightweight aluminum ball chain with sea glass patina from Supply Your Soul. This is a sweet little necklace that I’ll have fun wearing all winter long.  In addition to her Humblebeads website and Esty store, Heather Powers has a Humblebeads VIP Party Facebook page where she often sells new designs and things not available in her shops.  She also does giveaways and a Bead Table Wednesday video with tutorials and tips.  Come visit!

Humblebeads Stacked Fall Necklace

Tags

Allegory Gallery, Andrew Thornton, Gaea, Heather Powers, Helen Backhouse, Helen's Bat Cave, Humblebeads, Karen Totten, Majoyoal, Mari Carmen Rodriguez Martinez, Starry Road Studio, Supply Your Soul, Vintaj

Heather Powers of Humblebeads makes great polymer clay beads. She also makes beautiful jewelry, and recently shared some tips and design ideas on a Work Table Wednesday video on her Humblebeads VIP Party Facebook page. She has made a colorful innovation to her classic bird beads.  In the video, she shows that she has also used the technique to make owls and offers some cute ideas to use each in pretty necklaces. I was inspired to use the bird I have.

I had so many ideas; this shows just a few of the beads I considered using. Heather showed a variety of leaves and birds together.  I thought about using this beautiful black round by Karen Totten of Starry Road Studio because I love the black with the grey bird.  But I couldn’t resist using a leaf. I don’t actually have a lot of leaves in my stash, but this one by Helen Backhouse of Helen’s Bat Cave went so well with the gold in the bird.  I loved the idea of using a Vintaj acorn bead cap. I also loved this mottled brown ceramic bead by Mari Carmen Rodriguez Martinez of Majoyoal. But I decided I wanted a pop of the pink/purple in the bird.  Some choices included dark and light purple ceramic beads by Gaea and a plastic bead. In the end, I used a polymer clay nugget by Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery. I used some beautiful patina ball chain in the Steampunk color from Supply Your Soul.

I couldn’t resist also using Heather’s idea to put a flower bead in a bead cap to make a little “crown” on top of the bird. This project was a lot of fun. It’s simple and easily customized to the beads you have available.

Various Styles

Tags

Allegory Gallery, Supply Your Soul

I like so many styles.  It shows in these two pieces I made recently.  I bought some Azalea Vintage Plastic Bead Blend from Allegory Gallery. I love the color mix, and plastic beads are so nice and light.  Vintage plastic seems to have a nicer quality than modern plastic.  I love how the mix looks, so I decided to make a memory wire bracelet to show it off.  There are a few other things in there.  I was thinking of making something else, and I dumped it together on my bead board with another complementary color mix I had.

I love pink. Wouldn’t this look fabulous with white linen?

Then I wanted to make a necklace with some Hebron glass beads I’d gotten. I love their rustic look. I had thought I would simply hang them off some cool chain with jump rings. When I was looking through my chain, I saw this great patina ball chain from Supply Your Soul.  I love the patina choices in this shop. This chain color is called wabi-sabi.  I swooned over it for some time and finally got some.  This is a great use of it because it really lets both the chain and the beads stand out, and the beads can slip right on the chain.

This necklace is so quiet compared to the happy cheerfulness of the bracelet.  I like both styles (and many more).  The variety is why making jewelry is so fun.

Inspired by Reading – The Swan Thieves

Tags

Allegory Gallery, Elizabeth Kostova, Inspired by Reading Book Club, Miss Fickle Media, Staci Louise Originals, Supply Your Soul, The Swan Thieves

Allegory Gallery hosts the Inspired by Reading Book Club for which participants read a book and make something inspired by it. The March book, The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, was a bit over-written for me.  I prefer more plot, less description, and if I hadn’t been reading this for book club, I probably would have given it up.  So, I’m glad I was reading it for book club because it was a really interesting story. I enjoyed the back and forth between Andrew’s story, Robert’s story and Beatrice’s story.

There were parts of the book that made me uncomfortable, like Andrew, the main character, getting a little over-involved with people in his patient’s life. As a doctor, he has such a serious trust with a patient. When he started lying to people, I worried he was headed toward some terrible mistake.  I also got fed up with the women in Robert’s life being so head-over-heels with him when he didn’t treat them well.

My favorite part was Andrew visiting his father, though one could call it a minor part of the book. The push/pull of Andrew’s relationship with his aging father was wonderful. The character of the father seemed so wise and thoughtful. He tells Andrew to find the right person to spend his life with and tell her, “Madame, I observe that your heart is broken.  Allow me to repair it for you.”  They discussed how his own wife wouldn’t have needed that kind of talk and would have told him to pull himself together and take out the garbage while kissing him on the forehead.  I found both of those sentiments so sweet. I started to like the book a lot more after this chapter.

Since the above quote was my favorite line in the book, I decided to make something with a heart bead of some kind.  I sketched out several ideas…and then didn’t use any of them! I tend to let the beads tell me what to do, and often I’ll open a box to get something out for a sketched design, and something else will present itself to me for consideration. I ended up with a very simple necklace that I absolutely love.

I wish my picture showed these components to their best advantage because they are all gorgeous, but I won’t have time to re-take it in better light before this post. I used a Staci Louise Originals rustic rune’d heart pendant. After trying several other things with it, I decided it looked best just on its own. I love the fabulous, crusty look (and feel) of it. I used two different pieces of chain – one from Supply Your Soul in the dark rainbow patina, and one from Miss Fickle Media in black magic patina. They are separated with a swirl clasp in russet red, also from Miss Fickle Media. These beautiful patinas made me think of the painting theme in the book.

I love how this necklace came out. I can tell it is going to be one of those go-to necklace I wear often. Thank you to Andrew and William of Allegory Gallery for hosting the Inspired by Reading Book Club.  I enjoy reading things I wouldn’t otherwise read and being challenged to make something in response.  To see what other participants made, visit the Inspired by Reading Facebook page.