A quick post before the holiday weekend

Hi all and thanks for stopping by.  I just have a quick post today to show you a pendant I made a few weeks ago. 

I love caged beads.  I especially love Janice Berkebile's work and her caged beads.   I decided to try one from her book, finally. 

 

 

 

I used copper and bronze wire for the cage and I captured some very small dichroic glass buttons inside.  It's a pod and I love the way the wires from the supports become tendrils. 

 

 

It was a fun project and fun to wear.  I know I'll do more of them and other styles, too. 

 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!  Summer is finally here!!!



A Time to Stitch 3

Today is the reveal for Therese's and Christine's blog hop, A Time to Stitch 3.  This time around the girls chose flat stitches and spiral stitches.  I love spirals, I don't like flat stitches!  I keep trying to like them, but I only use them if I have to.  So, this was a good opportunity to show off the one bracelet I made with square stitch.  Yes, it's not a brand new bracelet, but I have to say that I enjoyed making it. 

 

 

This is it.  It was in a magazine a few years ago and I can't remember which one.  But, I decided to create a bead soup out of size 8 Hex beads in the matte metallic colors that I love!  I had gotten several colors to use in the bead knitted cuffs I like to make and I had left overs.  So, I decided to make this bracelet. The fact that it's a zigzag pattern didn't bother me.  It actually made it interesting to stitch.  This picture doesn't do the colors justice.  It really is much richer in color than it looks here.  

 

 

So, while I didn't make a new bracelet using the flat stitches, I did take the opportunity to do something I 've wanted to do for a long time with the spiral stitches.  I love spiral rope best of all the spirals and I've wanted to combine variations of spiral rope in one necklace.  So, this was my chance to try it.  Here's a picture of the necklace.

 



 

 

I started with the section on the bottom of the picture.  It's from Jill Wiseman's book Beautiful Beaded Ropes.  You start with a plain spiral rope and then you peyote back along the beads that create the spiral.  I did 7 inches of that and then moved on to double spiral rope for 7 inches.  I finished the necklace with 7 inches of a variation of one of Carol Wilcox Wells variations on spiral rope in her book The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving.  I'm very happy with the way it turned out and I think I'll try this idea again with different variations. 

 

I'll leave you with a couple of close up pictures of the different spiral variations.

 

Double spiral and Wells variation

 

Double spiral and Wiseman variation

 

 

Thanks to Therese and Christine for coming up with this idea and hosting the hop.  Enjoy checking out all the other participants' creations. 

 

Here's the list, so have a good time looking at all of them! 

 

 

Therese Frank

Christine Altmiller

Maryanne Gross
Cynthia Machata

Bobbie Rafferty

Katherine Gale

Sally Russick

Niky

Alenka

Kim Hora

Karin Slaton

Shirley Moore

Tami Norris

Amy Severino

Alicia Marinache

Lola Surwillo

Mandy Duffy

Kristen Stevens



 





The very late blog hop post

Well, I'm finally getting to my post for Amy's Spring Fling Blog Hop.  As I mentioned yesterday, I've had major computer problems and I emailed Amy to let her know that my post would be late, very late!  So, without further ado, here is what I did with the beautiful components we used.

 

 

 

Because I'm always thinking of how I can use metal with beads and cabs I once again tried my hand at cold connecting a cab to a piece of metal.  This time I cut a piece of copper sheet into a flower-like shape after running it through the Vagabond with an embossing folder.  I love embossing metal that way.  It's easy and it changes the appearance completely.  I used Melissa Cable's technique for cutting metal into a flower shape leaving prongs as part of the shaping.  You can find her techniques in her new book Metal Jewelry in Bloom.  I love the book because it gives me lots of ideas for using my favorite motif, flowers, in metal jewelry. You'll be seeing more things made using her techniques as the summer goes on.

 

After creating the flower I cut a strip of copper to make the bail and ran that through the machine with a leaf embossing folder and attached the flower with a micro fastener. I dipped the entire thing in LOS and polished the raised parts.   I then made some dangles with the beads that came with the kit and attached them to a chain.  In looking through the extensive stash of ribbon I have I found this sheer ribbon that had the dark blue, purple and copper in the components.  I had to use it because it was so perfect!  I wove it through the chain and tied the ends.  Here's a close up of the chain, bail and dangles.

 

 

 

 

So, there you have it.  Late, I know, but I hope you like it.  I was fortunate enough to visit with Amy last week and was able to show it to her in person.  It was great visiting with her here in Maryland.

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful day!





I'm back...sort of...

I've had major computer problems, but they've been resolved and I think I'm back.  While all that was going on I was learning about Instagram.  I've had fun with it and I've been taking pictures around the garden now that warmer weather has finally arrived. 

Here is one from today.

 

These are right outside my back door. 

 

I'm sure you'll be seeing more Instagram photos now that I'm hooked on it.  I haven't forgotten about Amy's Spring Fling blog hop.  As soon as can, I'll post a picture of what I did with her kit. 

 

For now, I hope you're all having a wonderful spring and that the weather has finally turned to spring where you are.  I'll be back soon.  Thanks for stopping by.



My Spring Necklace

 

 

 

You remember these?  They are the enameled beads and things that I made in the torch-fired enamel class I  took a few weeks ago.  Well, now that I had all these great components I had to do something with them.  It wasn't hard to decide on a project because I had always loved Barbara Lewis' Floral Cascade Necklace.  And, as anyone who knows me knows, it's always all about the flowers with me!

 

Here is my version of her design.

 

 

 

It was fun to put all the beads and filigree bead caps together, along with glass beads and other pieces of filigree, to make flowers.  I was able to use all the enameled headpins I made in the class and I also used some wire to make tendrils.  I took a cue from Barbara and used some of the ribbon from my very large ribbon stash to tie little knots of ribbon between the "flowers".  All of the components are attached to copper chain.  It turned into my favorite spring necklace.  Spring has been slow in coming this year and I've enjoyed wearing this to remind me of the beauty that's to come! 

 

This picture shows more of the individual "flowers", the ribbons and the tendrils.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful day with lots of sunshine and time to create!

 







Spinner

Interesting title?  Well, it's because I love jewelry that has parts that move!  Spinner rings, one of which I don't have but want, spinner pendants made with metal or bead weaving, charm bracelets or bangles made like spinner rings.  I love them all.  I'm also a big fan of Mary Hettsmansperger.  I have all of her books and I love all the projects in them.  One of her projects is a spinner pendant.  I've wanted to make one, but like many of the things I want to make or do it gets buried among other things.  She classifies it as a beginner project and it really is easy to do.  With lots of variations, I might add!  Great for future projects.

A few weeks ago I decided that I was just going to make one.  I had scraps of metal on my table and so I cut some up and textured it and went to work.  Here is what I ended up with.

 

 

I cut a disk out of silver sheet and I rounded the ends of a rectangle of brass.  I textured both of them with a hammer.  The copper I cut and shaped and then decided to try embossing it.  I love embossing paper, and recently Vintaj has put embossing folders and a machine on the market.  If you have a die cut machine you don't need the one Vintaj sells, any of them will work.  I had gotten one of their embossing folders and so I decided this was the time to use it.  Well, I love the way it turned out.  I lightly oxidized all the metal but I love the way the embossed piece looks.  I followed Mary's directions for putting the pendant together and I love the results.  Here you can see the embossed copper better.

 

 



 

 

These pendants are really fun to make.  Anything goes so you can use any scraps on your work table.  Putting the spacer beads between the sheet metal pieces allows them to move and spin.  I think it's so much fun!  It's become one of my favorite necklaces!!

 

 

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!

 

 

 





Happy St. Patrick's Day

 

 

Had to use those Graphic45 papers to make a St. Patrick's Day tag!



Have a great St. Patrick's Day even if you're not Irish!!