EMBELLISHED CABOCHON FOR FALL!

A fall creation for a birthday bestie...I'm a little behind in getting this posted to my blog.  Let's just say the local and national events of last week threw me for a loop and I've had to talk to myself a lot about it.  I think lots more beading may be in order to freshen my mind and my spirit. 

As I've mentioned in past blogs, my pieces really do come to me based on the person in my mind view.  This one is for Aimee who loves black and brown -- and, I've done that for her on at least one occasion !!! but, I cannot do it too often because color gives me the boost and the enthusiasm to create - that and the limitless possibilities of beads and pendants and shapes and wire and leather -- did I mention beads?  So, here goes... this is a fun, unusual necklace creation for me, starting with the Golem cabochon.  I was so happy with my embellishment and the colors I used for the bezel in 11.0 and 15.0.  I kept thinking I needed to do more, but this really was quite perfect.  (I do tend to want to overdo it... so I had to hold my mind and my fingers still!!)  I also incorporated a bit of leather as part of the strap, painted and sanded the button to pull in the colors of the pendant, and put in three Czech glass leaves for pop.  Love the look and how the smaller leaves move out slightly. 

The earrings are my design - although I have seen other artists do something similar.  18 and 24 gauge copper patinaed wire wrappings to give a cage effect.  Love how the beads are always in movement -- free to go back and forth on the wire.  This ensemble and these colors look beautiful on you Aimee! 

SOMETIMES WRONG IS RIGHT!

This zig zaggy "Zipper" bracelet pattern is from TrendSetter designer Anna Lindell taught by Sue (thanks Sue!) at Bead Street.  Of course, I got to stitching, and one thing led to another -- I wasn't paying close enough attention to the placement of my 2-hole triangles, which are supposed to be offset, like a zipper, not across from each other...  But,  I love my mistake!  So, just sayin... wrong isn't always wrong, and sometimes it becomes a new favorite design -- for me anyhoo!  The correct pattern is shown down the page in the purple version.  It is a wonderful design and these are both beautiful in their own right (I think!)

Here's the designer's version, stitched properly according to her instructions!  The base uses 1.5 cube beads and is stitched in RAW.  The back is really quite lovely as well!

SPICE BRACELET DESIGN

A Saturday bead class at Bead Street was just the medicine needed for my swirling emotions these days.  Still in the midst of our 2-yr old grandson's short-term health prognosis, I needed to just sit and bead and try to get my "diversion" groove back... it worked!  Thanks so much Sandy Taylor!  This bracelet is a lovely design by Linda Roberts, taught by Sandy.  Time consuming because every RAW unit needs to be reinforced twice (and the RAW portion of this pattern was a challenge at first!), to cinch it up a bit, but well worth the time and effort.  I think my version looks very southwestern.  Love the matte finish blue/gold multi colored SuperDuos I chose, along with the brighter purple, mixed with the SuperUnos I interchanged on the outer edge - every other one. See what you think.

 

LIFE, FAMILY AND MISC. BEADING

Life happens... and our priorities change for a time... mine sure have.  Unfortunately, our little 2 year old grandson, has been ill, so my beading has taken a very very back seat for a few weeks.  I just didn't feel much like beading... but I have been trying to finish a project here and there, and I had a leather wrap special order, so that one was done before all the stress began.   There have been many miles driven between Idaho and Montana, lots of calls and texts, and lots of concern, love, prayer and tears shed.  But, we are hopeful and full of very positive energy this afternoon - his platelets have headed back up and I just feel all those prayers and love have helped. Thanks everyone! Not sure what I would ever do without my peeps. 

Another version of the Crystal Windows pattern, but with only three windows instead of five from my previous post.  I thought "less might be more" so to speak, plus fewer to bang on a desktop or wherever during wear.  Tnis is a special version for my sister, Susan, who turned 61 last week. Hope she likes it!  The colors in this version turned out so great together! 

This is the special order wrap bracelet - I used "pleather".  It was awesome to work with and unlike the leather, it doesn't crack and look worn before you even put it on.  I had another bracelet completed, except for the thread tie off, and I can't really even describe what happened.  As I started to knot the end, the thread got all pulled and bunched up and I could not get it to straighten back out.  I was a little stressed by the time I cut that one apart and then finished this one!  I do love these bracelets, but the start and the finish give me a slight kick in the butt.  Can you spell a-n-a-l?

 

And, here's our sweet red headed boy, Noah.  WE LOVE YOU!

 

 

BEADED BEAD AND VERSATILE BRACELET DESIGN

My last post included the copperish/turquoise bracelet called Crystal Windows with peyote and RAW. I reworked it slightly and used larger beads (8.0) and AB crystals instead of the montees. Really a different look -- plus a bit more flash on the wrist.  These deep red AB bicones really show up in the picture, but they are much more subtle in person.  But, the contrast is lovely.

 

 

 

Here are the bracelets side by side -- a nice difference using small/larger seed beads.

 

 

These are my newest project - lovely beaded puff beads by SashaSi.  A fun class at Bead Street taught by Sandy Taylor.  I'll have a necklace to post in the near future using a few, different colored beads.  Beaded beads are so versatile and each one definitely has it's own look.  This pattern uses two-hole super duos.  And, love the new FP beads at Bead Street.  They just added the needed subtle glow to the drop.

 

 



 



2-HOLE TRIANGLE AND LENTIL BRACELETS

Here are a couple new pieces I learned at  Bead Street recently, using the two-hole triangles, which are the newest addition to my bead stash.  There are many new patterns being tested right now, and several are still in the testing phase as I mentioned in my last blog - those I won't be able to post for awhile.  But, these two patterns are out of the testing phase.  They use these awesome CzechMate beads, wich are so fun to work with!  The first design is "Cupids Crown", taught by Sue, adapted from a pattern designed by Nicole Starman and it uses 2 different colors of 2-hole  triangles, along with lentils, FP and 11.0 sb.  The class was to make a bracelet, but I thought it would be fun as a necklace... so I intermingled and reversed the colors in the crowns , using the same FP on each as the constant.  As with all these designs, the color combinations are only limited by the colors of the two-hole beads available.

Next, a design by Adele Kimpell perfectly named "Crystal Windows", taught by Sandy Taylor.  This pattern uses 11.0 seed beads, and is embellished with small crystal montees.  It's peyote stitch with RAW and picots for the centerpieces.  I'm trying the same pattern with 8.0 seed beads, and it's looking great so far.  Haven't decided what I'll put in the middle of the RAW--it'll be something other than the montees.