SOME SMILES VIA COLOR!

"Spring is sprung"... and while the weather is warming slightly, so many of us are at home full or part-time to help curb this very serious virus.  My husband and I went on a walk in our neighborhood and experienced all the beauty of spring -- rain and sun and clouds and then a mixture.  It was lovely to get out of the house for some really fresh air.  My poor tulips are as confused as I am!  The greenery is way tall and the buds just waiting to see more sun.  Wait ... I keep telling them... please wait a bit longer as we have several more nights of freezing temps coming.  

For this project, I was dabbling.  I  grabbed some bright magenta 6mm fire polish and started stitching with 8 and 6 sb, adding in more brights as I went.  I didn't want these to get too weighted, so I stopped after three rounds.  See if you agree about the fun colors..they remind me of  bright Easter eggs. 

A fun macrame bracelet project and gift for one of my grandsons, who loves Harry Potter.

Here come de sun and bees... oh how we NEED and love bees.  Wood beauties by Ashley Bonney of Summer Wind Art.  I did some wire wrapping, used czech glass bead cap flowers and large yellow glass table cut flowers.  Absolutely love these colors.  So bright and Springy...

The necklace below includes a beehive bead, also by Ashley, some fibers from LaShell @ Design Talented One and chain with flowers, czech glass rondelles, and heart glass beads.  Hard to see, but there's a crystal butterfly dangling on the top of the bee.

Next... these absolutely adorbs metal earring charms by Gaea.   I really cannot get enough of these because they are so light on the ears.  I added some chain for the backdrop, wire wrapped the leather flowers with some pink lucite stars from a craft store, and some czech flower caps and swarovski crystal center to the chain, which is hidden. 

My most recent necklace creation - starting with a rainbow heart and bird from Gaea, and a wonderful idea for a wire birds nest from Heather Powers from Humblebeads (her Bead Table Wednesday series).  I added my own "twist" (ha) to the nest, and put lots of bends in the wire, and then added some Vintaj paint to give it some oomph.  I love using Lashell's fibers and sari silk in my projects.  Kind of a new staple for me.  The necklace I created with czech glass pieces and parts - leaves, bead caps large and small, daggers, table cut flowers and some peanut beads.  I supplemented with some chain and sari ribbon.

REMINDER OF FALL AND ON TO SPRING!

 I finished this beautiful color combination of a set last fall, and then of course time sped up and I never did get it posted.  The colors are so perfectly fall -- "falling" -- the beautiful heart pendant is unusual with the leaves carved and sitting atop, and the adorable charms -- well, what's better than pumpkins and leaves, since my favorite season is fall!  Pendant and charms are from Dana George, New Moon Design.  I simply added some beautiful sari silk ribbon from LaShell for the necklace and did a bit of wire wrapping, added some czech glass leaves and rondelles, cube turquoise and swarovski bicones for the earrings and away I went...   

Some earrings below I just completed from a Fusion Beads inspiration.  The colors of these Czech pearls and round crystals are so incredible together.  I embellished the pattern (of course!) and added some chain, Czech leaf caps and swarovski crystal in this incredible AB peach color.  Oh my gosh... colors like this make me sing and smile... :)

INSPIRATION FROM THE HOLLY DAZE!

Happy New Year 2020 everyone!!!  I am working hard at not writing 2019 on everything... updating my blog has steadily been moving up my catch-up list. I haven't posted any of my projects from about Halloween through Christmas because it always feels like such a whirlwind.  Today, those few months all seem like a blur of magic dust!  But, onward I march into 2020 with a smile on my face and peace in my heart... most days!  Here are some of my wonderful projects that kept my mind and soul busy during the Holly-Daze.

I'm starting with beautiful original art metal by Gaea - the colors are so "me".  A perfect piece for fall, or anytime really.  The branch is from another wonderful artist, Dana George, New Moon Design (that was also in my stash), and it fit perfectly with this piece.  I wire wrapped farfalle beads as the connector to the branch and embellished the piece overall until I was happy with the look.  More farfalle beads, fire polish, czech glass leaves and coins, flower caps and pips.  It's just a happy piece.  My elderly mother looked at it around my neck and said "is that a picture of you"?  Why yes... yes it is!  Ha.  A likeness in coloring for sure.  Thank you Gaea. 

An adorable pendant from my stash... not sure where I purchased it, maybe Artbeads a very long time ago.  My 5 year old granddaughter Lily loves unicorns and sparkles, so this was a special piece for her December birthday!! 

Two original artist pieces were integral to this next project.   I feel so very fortunate to have several wonderful artists to follow and learn from.  They all take turns in my creations, and my own creations are so much better because of them.  I am grateful to have their inspiration!  Tracee Dock Classic Bead created the ceramic donut, which was in my stash and was just what I needed to work as a connection between the Eagle Zuni Bear pendant by Nicole St. Laurent (Ravens Meadow) and the necklace.  I wire wrapped each piece together and then added some of LaShell's (Design Talented One) beautiful fibers to soften the connection.  I love that look!  The necklace has many different beads -- some wood, some czech rondelles, czech leaves and metal spacers.  So fun!  The earrings are 11.0 delicas in brick stitch - my own design coordinating the many colors in the necklace. 

The next piece includes a Heather (Humblebeads) polymer clay bird.  Her birds are always beautiful and unique and just plain fun.  I have to reteach myself on the wire nest wrapping each time, and sometimes that's more of a challenge than I expect... but always fun!  The polymer square in the earrings are Heather's as well, which match so nicely with the necklace.  I added some czech glass and farfalle bead dangles, plus some painted little bird egg charms.  All very light and chirpy!!! :)  

more projects yet to be posted.  Stay tuned... 

OWLS FOR FALL!

As fall waits right around the corner, I am beginning to feel the transition coming.  That crispness in the air... the end of the garden, the slow change of color in the leaves.  SO, I need to get moving on lots of fall projects.  This piece started with the colorful cellini spiral stitch using 11.0, 8.0 and 6.0 seed beads.  It's so fun and a nice change, but takes time, so I did a small piece and knew it would be the first piece of my next puzzle. I started looking through my stash to find all the next pieces to add and there it was... this wonderful owl pendant by Nicole St. Laurent.  ( I do so love owls).  I wire wrapped some 18 gauge copper wire around the cellini piece to incorporate the pendant and then found these wonderful ceramic beads by Gaea (notice the star in Gaea's blue bead - so perfect!) and wire wrapped those inbetween the silk ribbon and chain.  My first version of this necklace did not have all the wonderful added color of the siri silk ribbon and yarn from Lashell Lundskow-Wyskochil, but I just felt it needed to be bold, so started playing.  The first version is at the very bottom of this post, around my neck -- see what you think!  I also added Nicole's intricate owl charms for my earrings.  It's a perfect set!!

Below is the first version of the necklace with the earrings before I added all the additional ribbon and color for some real POP!

CONTINUING ON THE CATCH UP TRAIN...

Each of my creations truly does begin with a tiny flicker of a vision, and many come from pieces or parts I have purchased from other creators.  If you follow this blog, I'm repeating myself here, but I have my favorite artists - those who never disappoint.  Their work provides me with so much positive energy, and joy through the process.  The necklace below started with an incredible pendant from Staci Louise originals, which I then wire wrapped so I could layer on one of her incredible bronze pieces.  I also painted a metal leaf to dangle off the bottom, with a Czech glass flower, rondelle and round.  This piece feels like it has a lot to say... if I listen carefully.  LaShell Wyskochil sari silk for a soft drape of a necklace.

I also wire wrapped around the ribbon just above the pendant to keep it close to the focus.  I really liked the dimension it added without being too much.

And, below, some earrings I put together to go with.  The beads all jumped out at me as I was piecing together the design.  The light purple color of each is hard to see in this photo, but you get the idea -- they are truly yummy!  Czech glass and some swarovski crystals with some enameled C-Koop heart locks I'd been saving for just the right project.  Ahhhhhh, really beautiful together with the copper.

And then... one more raku pendant shot below with the gorgeous earrings, making it a set.  These are a design by Michelle McEn, from a 2015 Beadwork magazine.  Good thing I keep ALL these magazines chalk full of inspiration.  I was thumbing back through my stack... and came upon this pattern using pellet beads.  So many fun shapes of beads anymore... I can't keep up, but always love trying new beads and designs.