Showing posts with label fringed edge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fringed edge. Show all posts

2/28/2018

STITCHIN' EARRINGS!

It's a great time of year (especially since we seem to be experiencing more wintery weather now than we have all season!!) for bead stitching, which translates to fun/colorful earrings and dangles.  Peyote and brick stitch are a nice change of pace, and so versatile - large, small or somewhere inbetween, with just about any design.  Add some fringe to finish the project off, and oh my my... Well, give these a look see and let me know what you think.  A variety of color and size, and all very light on the lobes.

The next two earring designs are my own -- but there are so many variations out there on many different sites or in magazines, the ideas are only as narrow as your own imagination.  I'm especially proud of the first pair - the turquoise and copper.  I started stitching and came up with the design as I went, so it's a JDreams original!  The fringe really makes the design.  The purple color combination is hard to miss, a bit less dramatic design and smaller size, but still gives an incredible pop of bright.







A side by side shot to provide sizing perspective.


 And, below, I thought this view from the end of the fringe was a cool shot!  The turquoise earrings have Super Unos at end of fringe, and the purple earrings have small drops.  I love the change in look by altering one thing (or a few!).




Next, earrings using instruction and design from Jill Wiseman called Russian Leaf.  I struggled with this design at first - it called for 6 lb fireline, but the earrings would not hold any shape - very flimsy - so I ended up cutting up the first earring and redoing it using 10 lb fireline, which was much better and held the dome shape.   

I make all my own earring wires, mostly using copper wire.  Copper is my metal of choice.  And, the wires below are fun with a bead wrapped on top for a bit of extra, and to coordinate with the 6 mm fp in the earring design.




And, last, but certainly not least, this beautiful design from Robin Smith and Linda's Crafty Inspirations blog.  I didn't even notice there was a heart in the original design, but I added a few seed beads here and there to shore up the tension and there it was... one of my most favorite things - hearts!  These are so dang fun.  I added the raku looking rounds with the 4mm marbled fire polish and I think they truly make the combination stand out.





3/06/2017

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!







6/16/2014

TAGUA NUT ROUNDS FINISH OFF PEYOTE CUFF


Bright , playful summer cuff, complete from my last post!  It took me awhile to figure out which fringe looked best and what might go in the center.  It just needed some flair... I have these wonderful tagua nut rounds in differing colors (took me awhile to find the darn things in my stash...) but once I did... oh, I thought the bright pink was perfect, topped with a small lucite flower and 11.0 sb.  I think the three center pieces really brought the free-form project together.  This is a bright piece, not to be worn lightly-- a statement all in itself. I love this bracelet!