RUSSIAN LACE

I went to a training seminar in Baltimore, MD and to make good use of some of that "plane" time, I beaded.  You can't get there from here . . . so I spent many hours in the air - one leg alone was five hours... so, it gave me time to stitch a russian lace rope necklace, until I ran out of beads.  Dang, I hate it when that happens.  So, when I got home, I finished the rope (thanks, Eileen @ Bead Street for having more of the 8's I needed!) and then embellished the ends with 2 drop peyote stitch.  Added some 3mm glass, czech drops, 15 sb's, and my metal of choice -- COPPER!

 

The lime green with the purple 11 sb is really a nice combo, coupled with copper findings.  And, I wear the clasp in front for a different look.

 

 



 

Simple copper hammered heart earrings to match.
 

Another darlin' pair of earrings  for a friend... who subsequently (over a year ago) lost one... oh my!  I knew she loved them, so offered to make another one.  It was a slight challenge because of the oval shape of the wire - I couldn't remember what I had used to shape the first pair.  But, I got 'er done.  I used 18 gauge for the oval, and wrapped the flower and leaf on each w/24 or 26 gauge.  Very Spring-like...love the pansies!





TURQUOISE AND COPPER

Turquoise and cooper are meant to be together! A summer necklace with lots of fun ingredients.  The pendant started free-form with 18 gauge wire and I linked it at the top with a criss-cross and hammered it a bit for texture.  Then I wire wrapped 26 gauge wire w/turquoise chips, czech glass, crystals, seed beads, lentels, copper 3 and 4mm etc. The sun charm dangles on top of a shell donut round.  This necklace SOLD itself while I was wearing it!  Thanks Kriss!  I think the "sun" caught her eye... She's truly one of my most avid supporters, which I appreciate so much!  See the earrings below that I whipped up for her to go with.

 

 A button closure - copper button glued to a shell round and it clasps on the side, which shows it off!

EARRINGS to match.  These turned out so lovely.  Very light and airy... I again did a little bit of wire wrapping - across the front of the copper pieces w/28 gauge copper wire.  Added top spacer, bead cap, turquoise chips, czech drops and voila!  A really nice combo. 



A different necklace . . . simpler version w/gemstones, turquoise, bronze, copper with a leaf and a bee dangle on the front.

A LITTLE BLING... A LITTLE RETRO

A little bling, a little retro, a little repro!  I'm taken with these flower pendants right now.  I think they remind me of something my grandmother might have worn, which seems comforting in some way. A smaller version is hilited in my earlier blog "Ode to Spring Colors".This version is larger than previous projects--and making a necklace heavy enough to hold the pendant has presented a challenge.  Here, I made a two strand necklace, the first using RAW with beads in the center, and then a second strand of 11 sb's and 4mm rounds.  Still working on the weight issue, even with the two strands.  One more strand may do it.   The milky pair shaped 16x12 mm drops are so beautiful in the light, along with the tanzanite rivoli in the center and the green faceted drops and czech marbled teardrops.  What you can't see very well are the purple czech leaves on the bottom layer.  I'll need to take some additional side and back views to include in this post, to provide a better view of the multi-layers.

 

 

BEFORE AND AFTER -- OOMPH ADDED

I added some "oomph" to this heart necklace as mentioned in my last post.  Which do you prefer?  I added lucite and czech flowers/leaves/drops/etc.  I think it'll do for my taste, but would love some feedback... 

"BEFORE"



 

"AFTER"