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.  

FALL COLORS AND FUN!

So many wondrous things happening during this awesome time of year -- my favorite fall season!  Woo Hoo!  It's also a time of year when I'm preparing for birthdays and other celebrations, so I cannot post all my in-process little pretties, but soon, very soon!  Here are a few of late, that I can post.  The first is this adorable bracelet made in perfectly Halloweenie colors, of course!!! A pattern design by Eileen Barker at Bead Street (you can also follow her on Pinterest or view some patterns on Starman) using quadratiles, tiles, drops, 11.0 and 15.0 seed beads, and 6mm rounds, but of course I used 4mm pumpkin rounds (melons) with 11.0 seed beads on either side to fill in that gap.  I love this bracelet.  It flows with your wrist, and it lends itself to lots of color - the drops I used are so awesome.  Green/orange/clear.  One way they look green, another way they look orange.  A fun twist.

 

 Next, some witcheeee earrings.  So fun to wear.  They get noticed, I'll say that, even in all my hair!  I found a pattern on the Fusion Bead website (they do a great job in their Inspiration section!), and did my own thing from there.  I used some of what I had in my stash (another unbelievable thing... I know!) black onyx and lucite, including the darlin' melons for "her" head - they are fun to use on lots of different pieces.

 Another lovely fall colored bracelet below, that is wonderfully lacy on the wrist.  Sometimes it takes me a few minutes to warm to a new pattern, and this one was just that.  However, it didn't take long, and as I started assembling each of the parts, it began to talk to me!  A pattern by Lisa Jordan, a Starman TrendSetter, in a class taught by Sandy Taylor at Bead Street. We used super duos, mini duos, 4mm fp, 11.0 and 15.0 seed beads.

 These earrings are my design (JDreams) - I love leaves in all colors, but mostly in fall colors, surprise!  So I just started stitching and this is what I ended up with. Czech glass leaves, a 4mm bicone for added sparkle, a little bit of leaf chain, and a stitched flower of leaves with a 6mm fp in the middle, using copper 11.0's for the center.  I could have gone on and on stitching with these, but I just had to stop right where they are because they are lovely enough! 

The earrings above and the bracelet below are more of my JDreams designs - love these white bone melons, coupled with the green Czech glass spacers and the effervescent orange rounds.  Below a peyote stitched bracelet using a Bo Hulley ceramic heart button.  The button just finished off the wrap bracelet, don't you think?

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.

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!

DRAGONFLY DESIGN

If you love fall colors, you'll love the combo I chose for this "Dragonfly" pattern taught by Sandy Taylor @ Bead Street designed by Eridhan Creations.  You've heard it before, but I LOVE THIS ONE! The colors speak to me L O U D L Y (imagine!) with oranges, rusts, metallic, purples and greens.  This is a time consuming project, but well worth it.  By the time I finished it I don't think I could have passed through any of the beads one more time -- they were FULL of 6 wt fireline!  I also bought one of the new fold over magnet clasps from Eileen and really LOVE it.  It attaches easily and seems to really hold.  I don't normally like magnets, as I've lost several anklets going through magnetized doors, but this is protected by the outer shell.

SHERBET COLORED LENTIL BRACELET +

It's been awhile (2011!) since I've stitched this lentil pattern, so when I heard it was going to be offered again (thx Sue!) at Bead Street, I jumped at it. Why not?  I love seeing Bead Street owner and beading guru extraordinaire Eileen, love her store, and all my beading friends... It's an awesome place to be on a Saturday afternoon!  So, I was ready to make something in a mixture of orange, pink, turquoise, and metallics, so this bracelet worked into my plan perfectly.  I started with a base using 8.0 seed beads, and from there used a mixture of 8.0 and 11.0 seed beads, lentils, 3mm rounds, drops and orange shell rounds for my "sherbet" lentil bracelet!  I stitched through the bracelet twice to get my desired fullness - I love this color combination.  Dang, but I could not get a picture to show the "true" colors no matter what lighting I used, so unfortunately, these shots do not show the absolute yumminess of this bracelet.  Have to see it to appreciate it, but you get the idea.  See what you think...

PLUS, I do love to alternate the types of projects I'm working on, so here's my previous project.  A pattern I found on Fusion Beads website,  using two-hole lentils with beading wire instead of fireline.  Fun change and very versatile. 

BEFORE AND AFTER -- OOMPH ADDED

I added some "oomph" to this heart necklace as mentioned in my last post.  Which do you prefer?  I added lucite and czech flowers/leaves/drops/etc.  I think it'll do for my taste, but would love some feedback... 

"BEFORE"



 

"AFTER"