MY LOVE FOR COLOR!

"Yummers" says it all for me on this piece.  I worked and worked and re-worked the colors to come up with a final combination on the 2-hole triangles that spoke to me.  This combination sang loudly - and I had my aha moment!  Love those times when you just know, cuz you feel it, see it and hear it!  A pattern designed by Agnieszka Watts, a Starman Trendsetter, from Bead and Button, with my own design for the closure, adding in some 3mm fire polish for adventure.  A fun new look for a button closure.

TURQUOISE AND BUTTERFLIES

A darlin' BUTTERFLY bracelet pattern by Vezsuzsi.  I had to remake this twice as the first time it was way too tight and wouldn't bend to go around my wrist.  I wasn't the only one in my beading group... several of us had the same difficulty.  I must say though, that the original pattern is for a bangle, and we were making ours for a clasp, which does change the bend requirements.  So after slightly altering the pattern and adding an extra 15/0 or an extra 11/0 here and there, it softened up and had more flex to go around my wrist.  I love the colors I used... bright and cheery for sure!  It's dainty, so caution will need to be taken when worn.

 

And, next this wonderful turquoise wrist eye catcher.  My beading sistah Judy had made one and I LOVED it, so I asked if I could copy her idea using the turquoise and make my own version.  I used a base of ladder stitch with 4mm cubes.  You could use any kind of chips ... or truly... anything else.  You are limited only by your own imagination.  I'm going to give it another whirl with something less expensive than turquoise.  But, isn't this fun?  I love my owl button too.  Kind of finished it off for me.

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.

"RIGHT IN LINE" PUBLISHED BRACELET DESIGN!

A beautiful new bracelet design (Right in Line) by my mentor, bead store owner, incredible designer, and MOST IMPORTANTLY good friend, Eileen Barker -- just published in the Bead & Button, February 2016 issue.  An ELEGANT design, and one that will take your breath away, both while you are making it, and once completed.  It's a substantial, weighty, gorgeous piece.  

We convened for a group beading day, and tried to follow the condensed instructions in the magazine.  It doesn't get any better than having the designer at the beading table with you!  I like to have a longer thread, which for this piece, I now know I need to reconsider.  My length of fireline kept catching on all the other beads, the further into the piece I got.  Yes, Eileen, I'm listening... I need shorter thread.  Thank you for this incredible design.  LOVE IT!

And, as you'll see below, I altered the design ever so slightly and added in two 4mm fire polish on my first row, when it was supposed to be one, so I went with that and alternated every fourth row with the two, plus used a different color.  

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.

PIECES COMBINE TO MAKE A WHOLE!

I love having a "project" on my beading table, so when I get a few minutes I can just start where I left off and not have to think about what beads or colors I want to combine for a project.  That early process takes me a bit of time... determining color, size, shape, 1-hole, 2-hole, now 4-hole.  So many options and where to begin?  So back to this project, which is already determined, I just need more time.  I'm still working on the individual X-spokes (using the new 4-hole quadratiles), and then combining each X-spoke, either with 2-hole tiles or just another X-spoke.  It's a 2-sided design by Kelly Wiese named X-Factor, taught by Sandy Taylor @ Bead Street.  In a couple of the pics below you can see the start of another X-spoke, which will give you a better idea of how small each one is by itself.  It's gonna be pretty! Stay tuned for the finished product. 

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!

REDIRECTION OF A PROJECT

This was a fun project, and the colors were just oh... so gorgeous, but alas, it was one of those projects where you spin your wheels, you learn (AFTER remaking it twice!) and then it's just time to put it down.  I had this bracelet all but complete, for the second time, as shown in these first two pics below, just needed to finish the peyote stitch on one side of the magnet to cover the silver - when I put it on to show my hubby how lovely it had turned out - and, splish splash... one of the tiles came loose (and the tiles are critical, since they make up the base of the pattern) and the rest came tumbling down thereafter.  Yes, I bead tight, and my tiles must have been sharp on the inside, because the fireline looked like it was cut, even though I had gone back through the entire bracelet two times. Oh me oh my... what a sad day for me.  A beautiful bangle bracelet pattern designed by Vezsuzsi and taught by the lovely Sandy at Bead Street.  So... nothing left to do but let my own creative juices flow.  I just started stitching with all the same beads, sans the tiles, to make my own pattern.  See below for that project.

My JDreams original below - not as fancy as the intricate pattern above, but I'm in love with it, and so far so good - it's wearing just fine...out of disappointment comes new light, or creativity ... or something like that! HA!