OH MY STARS!

Can't get enough of making these wonderful pendants right now from my last post ... pattern by Deb Roberti.  They are fun to make... and just the right size.  FUN!

 

 

THE STARS ARE OUT!

I was looking for a pattern using czechmates 2-hole superduos and found this star by Deb Roberti - Deb is so generous in periodically providing free patterns.  And, her patterns are very detailed and easy for this ol' gal to follow.  Thanks, Deb!  I have several people in my life who are true stars in my eyes... so this pattern spoke to me.  I'm on a roll now, so you'll see more of these as I try different color combinations.  Here's my first one.  

POLYMER CLAY MEETS PEYOTE!

An unlikely pairing you might think!  Peyote stitch around a wonderful polymer clay Day of the Dead pendant?  I think the contrast works great, but getting to just the right contrast was a challenge.  It took me two very long attempts to get it right.  I spent several hours on the first version, which just wasn't coming together - hate it when that happens.  But, finally, my "aha" moment - also love that reverse side of things when it happens!  The polymer pendant is from one of my go to favs, Staci Louise Originals, and it has an incredible reverse side as well.  Staci makes her pendants wearable on either side, which I love, and this set, for the fall, Halloween and the Day of the Dead celebration, is just plain fun!  The earrings came first, and were in my last post, with the hope that a necklace would follow and be a compliment.  I think I accomplished that...

 

 

EARRINGS - FROM FORMAL TO FREE-FORM WIRE WRAP

I wanted to make a formal pair of "wedding" earrings for a friend, so found this pattern "Diamonds in the Rough" by artist Cassie Donien. They are so light and elegant in person - perfect for any wedding fare!  I had a tiny bit of difficulty photographing them in the best light -- I wanted the camera to highlight the AB superduos in the center, as they sparkle ever so beautifully when held up to natural light.  But, alas, that is sometimes the difficult part -- bringing artistry to the eyes of others through a photograph.  I love the overall photo with the tree greenery in the background though... ha ha! 

  

 

The earrings below are my free-forms - I sometimes get in specific moods... and right now, that includes some wire wrapping.  In the pair below, I truly did try to be free-forming, so the wire is not wrapped as exact and tight as I normally would.  The wire has a little air if you will. The green to blue shades of seed beads are lovely together, and I think the 8mm round Swarovski crystal at the bottom, along with the Czech glass milky opal flower cap, pull it all together.  The facets of the crystal are awesome in person. 

 

LOVE how this funky pair below turned out!  I started by making my own wire rounds, using 18 gauge patinaed copper, and then wrapped with 26 gauge.  Once I got started, the colors kept coming!  When I first finished, I felt they needed one more something, so I added the outside wire with add'l beads for some spunk!  Again, love the colors together -- these will be my prototype for future designs.

 

 

 

MIX N MATCH OF SUMMER!

My creative inner beader has suffered this summer.  Seems like being outdoors, in our garden, sitting in a chair sipping a lovely cold beverage, or a variety of other nice weather activities have all taken priority for my available time.  I do miss my "creative self" right now, but I guess not enough to get back to my routine.  Soon enough I keep saying... so for now, here are my very few projects completed since my last post. 

Some adorable little Cubic Cuties, as the stitch designer, Anna Elizabeth Draeger, calls them.  They truly are adorbs in my earring design!  It did take one of my beading sistahs and myself a little time to get the cube thing down, making it fit together evenly.  Unfortunately, you can't see the Swarovski crystals in the peachy/turquoise pair - they are hidden in the center of the cube, but they are the same color as just above the drops.  Thanks one more time Sharon for the wonderful idea of the 6mm bugles, and for sharing some with me.  They pretty much put the finishing touch on the cube in my opinion!

This darling necklace is my design, using one of Tracee Dock's (Classic Bead) adorable ceramic pendants, along with some free form wire wrapping and bead stringing.  I have many many of Tracee's hand crafted artisan pendants and beads, and I keep them safe -- until I am ready to let go of one.  They are all unique and wonderful.  This one is no exception.  A posie in greens and yellows.  So cute! 

And below, one of my works in progress... Nope, it's not quite done -- close -- but not done.  It's a very fun bracelet, but peyote takes some time, and getting the right 8.0 sb to "puff" for the diamonds, around the 11.0 sb base, took a bit.  I love the bright colors... big surprise! Yep, I'm almost done.  One more row of blue/turquoise transparent drops down one side and it'll be ready for wrist viewing.  Ha ha!

MY FIRST COLLAR...

Stitching a collar design and having it lay flatly around the neck (without buckling) ... hmmm... a quandry for a tight beader like myself!  This is really a fun pattern (a design by TrendSetter Yasmin Sarfati) and has so many color combination possibilities - it's like a rainbow of color around my neck.  This was my first attempt at a collar, and I feel like I need to try it again - right away - so I can try to bead softer with less pull.  The problem I noticed as I was beading was the thread showing in-between.  Not a look I love.  On the very top row of RAW, I went back through, adding 8 sb in-between the 3mm fp.  That seemed to work, but the subsequent rows buckle slightly.  So, if someone knows the secret, please share! 

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...

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.

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?

LIGHT AS A FEATHER DANGLES

I'm striving to make lighter earrings, as my own earlobes need a rest once in awhile.  As my hair has gotten longer, my earring tastes seem to be moving towards longer... so the art of my creations can still be seen through the hair!  The trick is trying to perfect "light" and artistry at the same time.  I'm always on the look out.  Here are my latest "lights".  So adorbs... both of 'em for different reasons.  Beaded beads linked together from an Emi Yamada pattern - they hang so nicely and lightly flow with movement.  Or, butterflies in flight from Vezsuzsi .  I posted the bracelet of this same pattern on April 8.  Now, this makes a darling combo!