I N C R E D I B L E PORTALEGRE' DESIGN!

The beautiful PORTALEGRE' design by Eileen Barker.  Need I say more?  I've made two colorways (and changed the second version to include 4-hole lentils instead of the 4-hole quadratiles) of her design and am absolutely in love with the size and stature of this bracelet.  It is a mathematical, architectural force in and of itself -- absolutely beautiful, Eileen.  I am blessed to learn from the Master herself!  Thank you for letting me share this design on my blog.

O BEAD DELIGHT!

Ahhh - so comforting and just plain wonderful time spent at Bead Street with all my beading sistahs -  Eileen, Sandy, Judy, Sharon, Sue and Virginia, and our newest classmate, Gail.  And I don't want to forget those sistahs in the metal class across the hall with Beth.  Wish I could be two places at once!  It was just a wonderful Saturday!  Felt so great to be back doing what we love to do together!  This pattern was a challenge to start, as the quadratiles want to kind of hang loose as you construct the base, and so they rotate if you aren't careful... which didn't click in until I had to remove my stitches a few too many times...  Ha.  My natural tendency is to bead tight, so it took me half way down the bracelet to get the hang of it.  But, I'm liking working with quadratiles and the Czech glass O beads are always fun to work with.  Love the color options, which are endless.  Class at Bead Street taught by Sandy Taylor, design by Adele Kimpell called "QT Bracelet". 

LIGHT, DELICATE EARRINGS

These earrings are SO light and flowing -- really easy to wear -- I don't even know I have them on.  The pattern is called "Duo Drop Earrings" designed by 2015 Designers of the Year for Beadwork Magazine: Barbara Falkowitz and Amy Haftkowycz.  This pattern is showcased in the June/July 2015 magazine and I was excited to try them because it incorporates both wire working and stitching.  What's better than that?  Color combos are endless, of course! The first pictures below are outside in bright afternoon light - the next two are also outside, but in the morning light, one with a flash.  Proof that lighting changes the way your colors reflect! P.S.  The pattern called for half-hard wire, which I didn't have, so I used soft, plus I used what I had in beads, which were not all as the pattern suggested.  But, truly, that's the fun part, isn't it?  Making it your own!

TRANSITIONAL PATTERN USING SUPERDUOS!

I love patterns that are flexible in their design so you can transition the pattern from a bracelet to a necklace or even earrings.  This pattern is just that - "Chainon" designed by Eileen Barker at Bead Street.  Here's my transition from the bracelet pattern to a necklace.  Love these fun colors OF COURSE!  Notice I interspersed some BRIGHTER peachy 11/0.  Some of my pics show that better than others.  This pattern uses superduos, lentils, and 11.0 sb.

MY OWN INTERPRETATIONS!

Summer gets so busy... and it's tough to stay on any kind of regular schedule, and expanding my beading brain has taken a back seat of late... but I have a few new completed projects that are my own creations and I'm quite proud of both!  One is stitched and one is wire wrapped.  And, I do have a couple other wonderful projects, which I hope to share on this blog very soon.  They are quite spectacular, designs by my mentor Eileen @ Bead Street. Stay tuned for those...

Making a button hole in peyote was a first for me on the bracelet.  It took me a minute to figure it out - as I started stitching the slit sideways instead of up and down with the flow of the beads.  Figured it out pretty quickly, and like how it turned out.  My button is a tagua nut round, with a magnesite disk that just fits inside, with a peanut bead and 15.0 on top.  I love the peanuts around the outer edge.  I tried several different things, but the peanuts seemed to mesh the best with the design of the bracelet.  I tried o rings too, and they were a neat look, but ultimately the peanuts won out.

 My other JDreams design is below.  I used mixed metals to make the heart and wire wrap the shell beads for part of the chain.  A special gift for Teri in my office.  She has been soooo helpful to me this past year and I wanted to do something special for her birthday.  She rides a darling covered scooter, and I found this charm with her in mind, and JUST kind of built it from there.  This necklace and earrings came together like it was meant to be!  Thank you, Teri!