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... :)

COLORFUL DAY OF THE DEAD!

My blog postings seem to continue on a sporadic schedule.  I just haven't felt like there's been enough time for beading, let alone posting... I'll just have to keep plugging along and do the best I can to keep sane!!  :)  A few projects of late, reflecting the yummy colors of this season.

This fantastic Day of the Dead (and so much more) pendant from Gaea is so wonderful.  Hard not to make this an eye catcher statement piece.  It can absolutely stand alone, with some added chain, but I decided to string some agate rounds in varying degrees of color with a czech glass flower on one side.  Simple, yet colorful.  I also added some little howlite skull charms below the Gaea off-white large ceramic bead and capped that bead w/copper caps... can't have enough skulls at this time of year, right?  And, these fibers just add so much to help pop and soften.  Thank you Lashell!

The skeleton charms on the earrings below are also Gaea.  Aren't her designs just so fantastic and whimsical?  I wire wrapped around some copper chain pieces and included 8.0 seed beads, czech glass flowers, flower caps and o rings. And, some fibers.  Adorbs!

Some more darlin fall wire wrapped skeletons.  Gaea charms and my wire wrapping of czech leaves, 11.0 seed beads, some turquoise and a crystal rondelle in the center bottom.

And a couple of macrame bracelets.  These are so fun to make, to personalize, and I can add any kind of middle charm or connector to a multitude of macrame color combos.

CREATION AS IT COMES...

A mix of projects.  First, this beautiful "Solange" pendant designed  by Anna Bawden and showcased on the cover of the April/May 2019 Beadwork.  It took me awhile to figure out how each of the 3-hole copper BowTrios fit together.  Yes... it took me a couple of tries cuz I was having severe brain failure that day... :(  They were a bit cumbersome for me at the beginning, but then they fit right in with the right and left ZoliDuos.  Those need attention as well, for proper placement.  There definitely is a right and wrong way to string them.  And, I had this beautiful Golem cabochon in my stash, which I substituted for the pressed-glass cabochon called for in the pattern.   This is a much richer look I think, although it does add a bit more weight.  The turquoise necklace was part of my stash, so that's what's working right now.  I also made a siri silk version for a softer drape.  

Below, a wonderful project  from a class taught by The Moods of Eve jewelry designer, metal worker and creator Beth Routhier.  This bracelet is aptly named "Slick Slider".  Beth is a wonderfully patient instructor, and so kind to assist when I'm struggling with sheet metal, or using my fingers, instead of the tools!!!  Ha!  This pattern started out with a flat piece of copper sheet metal and after hammering and punching holes, and rolling and forming forming into these tubes, several strands of 1" or 1.5" leather were added (I used a variety of colors in the copper/silver/grey/brown range), and then the metal was carefully closed.  The clasp included some wire wrapping for a finished look and rondelles for some bling.  Thanks Beth!  Always enjoy you and your classes.

  

A JDreams earring design below.  I used already made and hammered brass loops, and then wire wrapped 4mm fire polish, 8.0 seed beads and 4mm swarovski crystals around it.  The colors were incredible!  

Some Easter earrings I made at the last minute.  Life has been so full lately, I hadn't made anything for that Holiday, so found a perfect pattern at Fusion Beads.  Brick stitchin' some eggs just in time for the Easter bunny!  

and, another pattern from Fusion Beads' Inspiration page called "living coral".  These are fantastic.  Lots of time invested in these little rows back and forth I must say, but so fun to wear.  15.0 round seed beads and 11.0 delicas in galvanized gold. I changed pattern ever so slightly and used delicas on the ends instead of rounds.

CHAINON Addiction and some added bling!

Hi, my name is Janet and I'm an Eileen Barker "Chainon" pattern addict! HA HA! True story!  It's an awfully fun stitch!  Here's another of my latest versions and really, my camera just doesn't seem to be picking up the beautiful beads to show how awesome the shades are together, but I guess this will have to do.  I added 8.0 sb in between the super duos for a slight alteration of the pattern, and added a 6mm bead inside the center bump to provide a little more stability for long-term wear.  The earrings were kind of an afterthought, but aren't they pretty with the bracelet?

PEYOTE STITCHIN...

I go through stages . . . I'm sure everyone does . . . when I like one stitch or method of making jewelry more than another.  Right now I'm on a peyote kick, and while it sometimes seems like a slow stitch, the results are always pretty fun and wonderful.  Peyote and herringbone are my two favorite stitches, but I do also really enjoy brick stitch, and crochet, and ... and ... and ... So, back to peyote - here are a couple of my latest projects.  The first one is bright and in primary 11/0 delicas, started with a Fusion Beads bracelet design, and about 1/4 of the way through I quit looking at their pattern and went with my own. I decided at some point to close it with an E-clasp, but a bit too late - I had already stitched most of one of the end pieces too wide, so had to tear that all out.  Live and learn... I was not even thinking of how I would finish the bracelet, so thought it would magically work out.  Alas, it did not... that's when you start cursing and then just start cutting!  

The second design is more muted spring colors of my own design using 11/0 delicas and 11/0 rounds.  It was fun inserting the slightly larger rounds with the delicas, which made it a less even design, and certainly fit with the free-form look I was going for.  I actually started the project with a bracelet in mind, but then decided I wasn't up to that long a project and that earrings would be better.  And, I haven't done fringe in awhile so thought that would be fun.  It was totally a free flowing project and I had no idea where it would end up. See what you think!

CRESCENTS SUBSTITUTE FOR SUPERDUOS

Changing from one shaped bead to another, well, it can change the entire look of a piece!  This pendant is no exception, and since I've been loving the star-shaped pendant design by Deb Roberti, and had made each one as designed with superduos, I was antsy to experiment with the crescent beads.  It was SO FUN to see it materialize!  Working with the crescents was a tad bit tricky, as they don't sit next to each other as easily as the super duos,  but it was worth the effort.  And, because I needed a wedding set, I added earrings (another design by Deb Roberti) and a bracelet (designed by Trendsetter Kathy Simonds).  The colors of this ensemble are not my usual, as I usually go more towards bright.  But, I do love these darker shades together, and the pop of the copper mix 11.0 seed beads helped give some pizazz...  :)  Who knew?

 

 

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.

CORAL IN SPRING!

The color coral is G L O R I O U S!  And this shade is truly amazing in person -- at least in this red head's opinion!  Another of my square stitch bracelets learned from my beading sistah Judy, this time using non-precious coral gemstone chips for the top layer, plus 11.0 in bright copper.   Necklace and earrings to make a set below.

The long coral pendant piece I've had for many years, but never had just the right piece to incorporate it, but this double necklace was calling for something, and this pendant worked!  Just needed a little copper wire wrapping to include a heart and a little messy wrapping (the messy part I really have to work at because it doesn't come naturally to me).   :)

And some adorable JDreams earrings, with coral heart charms in silver as the dangle.  Another of my beading sistahs, Sharon (thank you!), gifted me this wonderful heart set and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.  The round beads are a paper mache and ever so light, so they work well with the heavier silver weight -- less drag on the earlobes!  And I mixed copper wire with the silver for contrast, of course!

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.

DESERT DIAMONDS!

A FUN design by Shae Wilhite, which she appropriately named Desert Diamonds.  In a group with my beading sistahs, as I like to call our close beading ensemble - we tackled this lovely pattern, which was published in Beadwork back in October/November 2014.  I do not remember seeing this wonderful pattern.  Sharon used some beautiful colors in her version of the design, which we all fell in love with.  I used very similar shades, but changed it up just ever so slightly.  The colors are hard to describe, but probably more to the pinky/peachy side of coral with a darker shade of rose/coral, and some turquoise.  The 11s that attach the triangles around the outer edge truly make this pattern flow wonderfully.  The only thing I didn't love is that the thread shows around the diamonds and the superduos, and there doesn't seem to be any way around that.  But, I'll be making more of this design.  I did also love that my Indian chief button fit the design perfectly, as it's one of my favorites...