PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

This gorgeous wire wrapped earring design by Penny Dixon, who has been featured on the cover of beading magazines, and on the inside pages too many times to mention, is a wonderfully intricate and challenging designer and artist.  This particular design was featured back in August 2013 in Bead&Button.  I actually took the class from Penny way back when and I just struggled and couldn't get the hang of all the very delicate wire wrapping (4 rounds of 28 gauge wire) around the 20 gauge wire base, so the pattern has been in my "too challenging for me" box. However, I had always hoped I would try it again, as they are so delicate and intricate and beautiful.  And, I can happily say, I DONE DID IT!!!  I've learned a few things over my years of beading, and yes... practice practice practice, plus age, plus ability, plus patience... and if you look closely at this first completed pair you will see they are far from perfect... but I am truly proud of myself.  Give this a try.  You will love how light and gorgeous they are!  Thank you Penny for always challenging me!

COLORING, PAINTING AND MORE HAMMERING...

Love everything about this finished piece - truly!  Love the fun of making it by assembling from different creative inspirations.  The lovely therapeutic hammering of wire  (yes, again and still...) from Heather Powers and the coloring / painting prowess (one of her many talents)  of a metal piece, in this case Vintaj, by Beth Routhier.  We started out using colored pencils... yes, exactly!  So fun - and the blending was so awesome.  Unfortunately for me, as I was a newbie at this coloring on metal, I spent much time getting it just so right and then rubbed too hard for the next step and a lot came off, so it was back to square one.  Learning these lessons... an ongoing thing for me.  But oh so much fun.  I did end up adding some Vintaj paint at the end to try and make it pop, which I think I accomplished, and I wrapped some 16 gauge wire around the hammered 12 gauge for fun.  I love it and think that's my signature for hammered pieces going forward.  It just softens it slightly and provides bit more interest to my eye. Also added a few dangles and loosely wrapped the larger blue/green leaf, which is something new for me and something I'll be doing a lot more of.  Isn't it pretty?  And, then too, some fire polish dangles on the chain to pull it all together.  Love it.  Oh, did I say that already?  Thank you to Heather and Beth for providing me the inspirational tools for this creation.

 Some darlin, simple little earrings added as the last pic to wear with...

 

SEA HORSE HAPPY!

Best laid plans for showcasing this darling seahorse necklace ... reminder to self - proper lighting is so important for photographing any creation.  When done properly, it highlights the colors and beauty of any finished project.  On the other hand, if the light isn't great, the piece ends up looking to be less than it is.  Unfortunately, this post was not taken at an optimum time of day and the natural light was way too bright.  I can't retake the shots as the piece has gone to a new home, but luckily I was able to reshoot the earrings (last shot).  Love my paint choice on the little Vintaj moons and over the large Czech pear drops they really pop and mesh with the shell chip colors in the necklace.  And, about that necklace... even though the lighting isn't perfect, it is an adorable piece, so well worth showing.  It began with a J-Lynn burnished wood tile pendant.  These tiles from Janice are so light, they truly can make any piece weightless, making it easier to add adornments of different weights from there.  Seems like most of my pieces start out with a heavier centerpiece or pendant, which limits what I can add to it.  On this piece, I kept the whole necklace light by adding a dangle with a painted Vintaj leaf, some 3mm fire polish, and a Czech glass star and flower and "o" rings to finish it off.  Then some colored shell chips and jasper tubes to complete the necklace.   A very fun, colorful summer piece that rests easily on the neck...

SUNFLOWERS OF A DIFFERENT HUE!

A piece incorporating both Tracee Dock [Classic Bead] and Gaea Cannaday in this one wonderful necklace.  I have a stash of both artist's creations and I truly need to quit hoarding them.  So, I chose this incredible, and so unusual, stoneware blue/green/yellow sunflower button from my Tracee stash and started wire wrapping with 18 gauge copper wire I had patinaed.  While it took me a couple of different wraps and subsequent removals of all the wire (#$%^&) plus a few choice words along the way... the resulting necklace is pretty unique and wonderful.  I added one of Gaea's larger round beads in green, with a dangling copper heart, and some 3mm fire polish to both the chain and the dangle.  See what you think -- I think it's pretty fun!  

And, I added some darlin earrings to this set below. Before I finished them I found some small lapis hearts to add to the top.  Love this set -- and, it is now SOLD!

LIFE...a fly...AND A BEAUTIFUL TREE!

I've been looking at this Inspiration project on Fusion Beads' site for awhile - I even printed it off a few times, thinking I would get to it, but didn't, until finally...over a few evenings last week and a bit over the mother's day weekend, found myself with some extra luxury time... so decided to start cutting pieces of wire to see if I couldn't get my own "Tree of Life" pendant put together.  It's a project that's difficult to put down once you start, as there are multiple wires sticking up in a small space ready to be individually wound.  But, I can honestly say I LOVED THIS PROJECT.  It is creative and challenging.  [As an aside, I made my own wire frame on this version, which created a few challenges along the way - I used 20 gauge wire (hindsight says 16 or 18 would have been better).  Sturdiness did become a small issue as I got further along in the wrapping process, as it kept changing shape, even though I had hammered for strength - note to self for next one.] Once I got the trunk wires all wound and was happy with the way it looked, it was just a matter of placing the fire polish bead branches and continuing to wrap.  What about that "fly" you say?  Well... Funny story!  As I was taking the photos, I didn't notice a fly had come to perch right on one of the branches of the Tree - see if you can spot him in one of the shots below.  So so F U N N Y what you can't see right in front of you until it is enlarged!  :)

COLORFUL SWEETNESS!

Making earrings using a component of any kind, whether I make it with wire, or it comes pre-made... I just love the process and the concept.   It's kind of freeing for me as I just start adding beads and where it goes nobody knows... especially me.  Here's (truly) one of my most adorbs creations in earrings.  The color combinations were fun and ultimately worked PERFECTLY together.  I do have to say that I thought of cutting the first earring apart, as it didn't seem like it was working, but again, I just kept on stringing...  Don't you love these?  I know someone who does!  ME and one other!  xo

Next, a fun and easy project with an incredible African Chevron Trade Bead from Tracee Dock at Classic Bead/Classic Elements.  I loosely braided some ribbon for the necklace and I'm off to the races... need to make some earrings now to go with.  But, this was a fun, easy way for me to dangle a gorgeous bead, and because the bead is already heavy, adding more just didn't seem like the thing to do for this project. 

WRESTLING AN ARMADILLA!

Man oh man!  To say this was a time consuming piece is an understatement!!  But, in the end, I must say, worth all the effort!  It's a bracelet design by Carole Ohl named Armadilla.  Since this is my blog, I can whine about the time I allotted to the individual pieces of this Armadilla... which I think look totally like "rolly pollies".  Unfortunately, for a few of the rollies... I wasn't paying close enough attention, and had to dismantle them since they weren't right.  And, as I neared my last rolly pollie, one of the bars broke as I threaded my needle back through it, which caused me to place all the pieces into a sack for a few days.  But, alas, I finished it, and it does feel oh so heavenly on my wrist.  It's a fun pattern - which I can say now that I've completed it.  But, to make more?  Probably not in my near future!  The pattern calls for 2-hole crescents, 2-hole bars, 2-hole tiles and 3mm fire polish.

DAINTY LITTLE BIRD NECKLACE

A dainty little bird necklace using a darlin' Humblebeads  bird pendant.  The chain was a Czechmates pattern, designed by Starman TrendSetter Lisa Jordan,  I ordered from Fusion Beads (called "Pinch of Elegance")  using, aptly enough, pinch beads, FP and 11.0 sb.  I altered the pattern slightly and then made into two separate necklace pieces and linked with some cool chain.  This was the  p e r f e c t  birthday gift for my friend Sherrie who loves browns!  Added some very small earrings in the same stitch as the chain.  

SUMMER EARRINGS!

One really can never have too many earrings, right?  Here are a few of my latest creations!  

These darlins are earrings, made from the same pattern in my last post, which was a bracelet pattern taught by Sandy at Bead Street.  Isn't this great chain too?  These came together so nicely - the colors, the chain and the great twisted wire all  compliment.  

A great flower pattern from Fusion Beads using the new pellets, O rings and Super Duos.  I added some splash with color on the birds with some leaves over head.  These colors seem to be everywhere this year.

Another color variation of the pattern above.  These pellet glass beads are a fun new choice.

And, my newest triumph in wire wrapping!  Doing the free flowing thing... not always easy for me - I like my wraps close together and tight, but in this version I wrapped loose and free.  LOVE how these turned out, and the process took me out of my comfort zone.  They go with my pea pod metal smithing necklace from previous post.  The round deep purple beads are the druzy quartz.  They are incredible up close and personal!

SHADES OF BLUE!

Blue and turquoise - I seem to repeat this color combo, but love turquoise with anything, really.  It's a versatile color and so gorgeous with this bright blue.   A pattern by Deb Roberti, taught in a class by Sandy at Bead Street.  The flair around each segment of this bracelet is lovely, and truly, there are so many color combos, my head's all aflutter with what I can do next with this pattern!  I have trouble doing the same thing too many times, so I varied this slightly, to give it a different look, and used 3 different colors of seed beads, along with the two colors of pearls.  See my next post for earrings made from the same pattern.

KHEOPS WEAVE OOH LA LA!

Had a lovely class on Saturday, and then another on Monday, so it was a fun couple days, spending some quality time with my beading buddies!  We do have a great time playing with our beads.  Thank you Sandy for teaching this pattern @ Bead Street - designed by Ella Des aptly named Kheops Weave.  The sheen and color combination on these silky angled beads I chose (purchased at Bead Street of course!) is so incredible.  They are so versatile, and take on a different color dependent on the lighting, and the other beads surrounding them.

MORE CHRISTMAS BLING!

The last week project learned at Bead Street, in class taught by Sandy!  Beeeeuuuuuttteeeeful!  This is a shiny one, perfect for the Holidays.  It's a design by Vezsuzsi named the Kolo pendant.  I love my choice of purple coupled with the translucent, flashy pink/red.  I added a blingy necklace with a couple of gold fire polish, and one red crystal, thrown in to spruce it up.  I'm working on earrings now.  I'm willing to sell this piece if there is interest... as it is worthy of blinding people during the HollyDaze! Let me know if interest!

ODE TO FALL...

My newest dangles for the season, which work for one more week, thank you very much!  Thank you to Penny Dixon, Trendsetters designer at Starman, Inc., for this wonderful earring pattern. It's on the COVER of Beadwork's October/November issue.  It's an intricate, beautifully put together design using netting and picot stitching, and as you can see, the color combos are endless.  I wanted to do something for Thanksgiving, and these beads I had in my stash, so kind of jumbled them together.  These brown/translucent pear shaped drops are hard to photo to highlight the beauty of the markings, but you get the idea.  My friends and I think these look a bit like turkeys!  All the better!