SHADES OF TEAL AND TURQUOISE and some other stuff...

As I took the pictures for this post, it's uncanny how I seem to be in a mindset of turqoise and teals with everything!  I know I am drawn to different colors throughout the year, but right now, you'll see what I'm talking about in the posts below.  

I started this necklace with this adorable ceramic house, made by Bo Hulley Ceramics.  I have kept many of her ceramic creations in my stash as she only makes a few at a time, and there's lots of time inbetween the firings of her kiln.  My first thought for an add-on was the czech glass heart.  How perfect is that?  And, yes, my heart is totally in my home.  From there, I wanted some depth so I painted a brass flower to add underneath (Vintaj paints) and then kept on adding, wire wrapping some farfalle beads with daisy spacers, and this gorgeous glass hanging flower bead from Stars Beads.  I cannot remember the artist, but this is a hefty piece of beautiful glass.  I wanted to draw the eye to that glass, so added a Vintaj bead cap and some lentils around the edge for some sparkle. The necklace is check glass, some funky stacking bones and brass chain.  A very whimsical piece of creation!  

Since it proved challenging to take a picture of the beautiful glass flower, I did some unique arranging!! 

Earrings to match

My next creation began with a beautiful Gaea heart, one of her many incredible resin art pendants, encased in copper.  I wire wrapped the southwestern style copper button to the top of her heart and then used czech glass flowers in a beautiful opalesque color with fire polish/chain to finish the necklace.  So pretty and easy to wear.

Next some colorful earrings!!  I wanted to use the 2-hole chevron duo beads, so I experimented using 24 gauge wire adding different types of beads and different colors with the purple pip beads at the bottom.  These came out better than I could have imagined.  They are very light, a great source of color for sure - they go with anything in my closet. 

Next, another incredible heart by Gaea!  This time ceramic with a beautiful dragonfly hovering over the top.  I cannot go wrong when I begin my own creations with one of Gaea's art pieces.  I also used one of her ceramic round beads in a salmony pink color as a connector, with a funky bead cap sitting on top.  The bead cap took me longer than the entire piece to complete!  The beads were small and the pattern involved (designed by Amy Johnson [amyjohnsondesigns.com], but well worth it as it absolutely fits this piece.  I did some wire wrapping, used some large farfalle peanut beads and then czech glass bead caps to get up to the necklace, which is also czech glass - some puff squares, daisies and translucent square towards the back.   

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED...

Starting with something borrowed... my friend Aimee, who opened my eyes to this creative life-line called beading so many years ago... has gotten back into her own creative jive again by making some incredible adjustable bracelets using macrame... and I love what she is doing (imagine!) So, here's my hand at that "borrowed" thing... following Aimee's lead and absolutely copying her idea with a teeeeeny tiny twist. I reached far back into my stash and found this beautiful ceramic bracelet connector from Bo Hulley Ceramics.  It looks so awesome with the macrame.  Love reaching back into my stash of special pieces to find the perfect one to showcase.  Thank you Aimee, and Bo!!!

Now to the "something old" part of this post... actually something my brain just opened up to -- Dream Catchers  designed way back in the 19th Century, which I have always loved.  Heck, I have Dream Catchers on my nails right now!  So, here's my first attempt, far from perfect, but a good start I think.  It was a bit challenging for me using a small ring and 1.5 mm cord, but I do love the look, so lots of practice and more Dream Catcher variations will be in my future.  

And now, last but not least, the "something new".  My latest brick stitched lovelies... I love doing brick stitch around a component.  You can make it all up as you stitch.  I added some loose wire wrapping at the top of the earring wires for some added design and hung some tiny little metal flowers in the middle.  These are adorable in person.

BALLOONS AND OTHER PURDIES!

The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic, and this darlin' friend of mine who kept encouraging me to start attending that celebration with our grandson, is the inspiration behind this wonderful creation.  Aimee has always loved the balloons, and she finally got me hooked.  So, a few years ago when I saw that Bo Hulley was making these incredible balloon pendants, I immediately knew I had to have one.  Bo is not making beads now, so this balloon took on a very "secure" life thereafter - mostly staying securely in my bead room :) Ha!    It has also taken me a few years to "feel the creativity" of properly accentuating the pendant with beads that make it stand out.  A light bulb went off while watching a Heather Powers Bead Table Wednesday video on how to make this wire component.  I really love the hammering of metal and the process of creating your own form.  No one makes one the same way, so "original" still applies to the finished product.  Happy Birthday Aimee!!!  I hope you enjoy it and feel the balloons soaring above every time you wear it.  

The earrings are the modified St. Petersburg stitch, and I originally posted a Halloween set on October 24.  I love that the earrings are light on the ear lobe and also the way they drape so nicely.  

ANOTHER FALL COMBINATION!

The variation in color in these beautiful Indian Agate beads is pretty incredible.  I saw the strand and loved it immediately, especially the shape of the beads!  And, then when complimented with the wine-ish variegated czech glass round druks, antique bronze 8 sbs and the adorable bee pendant from Bo Hulley, oh so fun.  The one of a kind pieces I make really do speak to me as I gather my particular beads and components and come up with a design, and this one was no exception.  This set was made from the heart for my dear girl, Lonette!  Hope she loves it as much as I do.