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.

SEAHAWKS DANGLIES AND A SPLASH OF A PENDANT.

My dear dear friend LuAnn lives in WA state and they are avid SeaHawks fans.  After all these years of making her birthday jewelry, it dawned on me this year I should make something she could wear on game day.  Duh!  Takes me awhile I guess.  I saw a wonderful bracelet/earring design by CzechMates Trendsetter Svetlana Einy -- using four hole quadratiles, size 11 and 15 sb, and 2mm fp.  I don't usually bead with silver beads, or use silver wire, ... but you have to get out of your comfort palette from time to time, and for this girl, it seemed perfect this year --  LOVE YOU LU!

Next up an incredible pendant design by Penny Dixon - it's supposed to be earrings, and as with many of Penny's creations, if I get one done... I'm feeling lucky.  This one took on a JDreams life of its own at the end, as I made a couple errors (imagine!), which sometimes takes me on a lovely side journey, and things turn out great.  So, on this journey, I ended up adding some little flowers to the bottom round on either side!!  I absolutely love this piece and will post once I have an idea of how I'll finish it.  I used 2-hole crescents, 3mm fp, size 11 and 8 sb, and for the flower add-ons I used pips, 2mm melon rounds and size 15 sb.  This pattern used RAW, and I worked very diligently to get it down.  It took some practice!

PENDANT OF SOME MAGNITUDE !

A beautiful pattern and a gorgeous piece. It's even more gorgeous because of the extreme effort it took me.  I attempted it twice, with beads breaking and the bezzling not going too well each time - scratch those!  Dang, one more time I'm gonna get it this time...third time was the charm, but not without difficulty - a 3mm fire polish bead broke as I was close to done.  Ah me -- oh my!  I was about ready to throw something... but of course refrained.  I retraced and inserted another 3mm so I couldn't see it, and finished the project.  It's a design by Vezsuzsi that made it to the cover of Bead & Button, June 2016 issue.  It truly is magnificent, but may be a tad bit harder than the three bicone difficulty rating the magazine gave it.  At least it was a challenge for me.  I ended with wrapping an 18 gauge wire bail, so as not to overpower the piece and added beautiful czech glass melons and rondelles to finish up.  Quite an eye catcher...

ANGLES DIVINE!

A design by Robijo Burzynski called Equilateral Earrings!  The project was for earrings, but the size was more conducive for a pendant - and it was kind of time consuming on my first go-round.  Love the way it turned out though and the angles of it all - the tubular peyote, along with the herringbone stitch, really makes this pattern unique.  Very different styling for me and well worth the effort!    I saw the design in the June/July 2016 BeadWork magazine and just had to try it.  These colors are perfect for my spring wardrobe.  In fact turquoise is kind of a staple with me - in all shades from light to dark. 

Some darling little beaded bead earrings to go with - I didn't make them to go with the pendant, but they sure do!  Love it when that happens.  Right now I'm definitely into this color combination can you tell?

RIVETING DESIGN!

Rivette Pendant, an incredible design by Patrick Duggan in the December 2015/January 2016 special issue of Beadwork's Holiday Gifts absolutely caught my eye.  It was so different than other designs and it truly is an eye catcher piece up close and personal-like!  And, bead size DOES matter in this design.  All beads need to be uniform, or the top will not lay as nicely - the fit just won't be there.  Luckily in this first version, I chose wisely.  However, on my second pendant, I didn't and it made a difference once I stitched my way to the top - the triangles did not lay as flat... it's still a great piece, don't get me wrong, but not worthy of selling or gift giving.  Darn, what a great excuse to keep for myself!  :)  Here's the first pendant, along with earrings I made to go with.  The earrings are taken from a design I saw on FusionBeads site.  I tweaked to my own liking of course.  Awesome set, if I don't say so myself!

This is the underside view of the pendant.  I think it's pretty great as well!  It gives a better picture of what the building block beads are for the structure.

A Challenging Earring Gone Pendant Design!

I do love a good challenge, and Beadwork Magazine Designer of the Year, Penny Dixon, does not disappoint.  She is an incredible jewelry designer.  I wanted to start a new project, and her "Pergola" earring design, just one of her many mathematical equations, called out to me from the pages of the magazine!  So, I gathered the beads that I needed and started... and I struggled, let me tell you.  But, onward I kept weaving each and every little stitch.  For this trial run earring (yes, I have made only one at this writing!!!) I used the colors I could put my hands on in my stash, so this might not be what I would have put together if I had had all colors (!), but I thought it worked and I really quite like the way it turned out.  Some red/green, but not too much.  I used a combination of metals for the Czech bars (I originally thought my Czech bricks were the Czech bars called for in the pattern, but they are too thick so I had to start once again with the proper bead to get the spacing just right) and Penny's pattern used the quadra lentils and I used quadra tiles, which seemed to work just fine.  I feel pretty dang thrilled with myself having finished this ONE earring.  On to the next one...

A LITTLE BLING... A LITTLE RETRO

A little bling, a little retro, a little repro!  I'm taken with these flower pendants right now.  I think they remind me of something my grandmother might have worn, which seems comforting in some way. A smaller version is hilited in my earlier blog "Ode to Spring Colors".This version is larger than previous projects--and making a necklace heavy enough to hold the pendant has presented a challenge.  Here, I made a two strand necklace, the first using RAW with beads in the center, and then a second strand of 11 sb's and 4mm rounds.  Still working on the weight issue, even with the two strands.  One more strand may do it.   The milky pair shaped 16x12 mm drops are so beautiful in the light, along with the tanzanite rivoli in the center and the green faceted drops and czech marbled teardrops.  What you can't see very well are the purple czech leaves on the bottom layer.  I'll need to take some additional side and back views to include in this post, to provide a better view of the multi-layers.