Necklaces

Well, right now it's just going to be one necklace.  But, I've been trying to finish projects that have been sitting on my table for a while.  For some reason most of them are necklaces and some of them, like the one in this post, only needed a clasp!  But, time flies and my best efforts at finishing things get pushed aside by new projects, and this time of year, the garden! 

Anyway, here is the first of the finished necklaces.

It's a Russian spiral that uses bugles.  My friend Kathy, owner of Bead Soup, came up with it.  Her's was not assymetrical, this one is.  It uses 3mm bugles and 5mm bugles and it has 3mm and 4mm crystals randomly placed in the larger area.  I love that!  It was a fun necklace to make, and like all Russian spiral pieces, it worked up quickly.  Unless I'm the one making it, in which case it sat for a month or more needing the last inch or two stitched and then sat another month waiting for it's clasp!!  But, it's finished now and I've worn it, and I love it!

There are more "finally finished" necklaces, but that will be for another post.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for visiting.  Enjoy your day!



A Harvest Combination

This is a detail of a cuff bracelet I made using some of the beads from the October Beads in the Mail collection that come every month from The Beadin Path in Freeport, Maine.  I love finding my collection of beads and other coordinated goodies in the mail box the beginning of every month.  I don't always use them in one piece.  But, this collection for the Fall was too great not to use together. 

I had been wanting to make a cuff that used ruched velvet for a base with beads embroidered on it.  As it turned out, I combined bead embroidery with freeform bead weaving and I like the results.  The velvet was a small piece of hand dyed velvet I've had for a long time.  I don't remember  where it came from but I've loved the butterscotch color.  It's very rich looking and it's very soft.  It worked well for the base of the cuff.  I ruched it lightly and tacked it to stiff stuff, then I beaded it.  I backed it with brown ultra-suede and used snaps as a closure. 

I used a small copper spacer bead in the embroidery and I like how it looks very much.  I don't usually use metal beads in my bead embroidery or bead weaving.  But, this worked out so well I think I'll be using metal again. 

The color isn't very good in this picture, but that is a copper spacer.  The leaves are from The Beadin Path, but they were in my stash. 

Here's the entire cuff. 

I've decided I like combining embroidery and freeform weaving.  It provides a lot of space for improvising in a piece.  And, I love this collection of beads.  The colors are all my favorite fall shades. 

I've been  absent from the blog for a while.  This time of year is always busy, but I've managed to squeeze in some time to bead, knit and do some mixed media.  And, best of all this weekend I took two classes with the very talented and lovely Sylvie Elise Landsdowne at Bead Soup.  Sylvie is a lampwork artist who creates the most wonderfully whimsical beads and faces!  She began bead work to feature her glass and her designs are just so colorful and fun that you can't help but smile.  I'll be showing you some of what I did in the classes as I move along with the patterns. 

Well, time to get on to preparations for Thursday!  I hope to find some time to create this week, I hope you do to.  Thanks so much for stopping by!





Another seasonal wardrobe adjustment



This post is sort of a follow-up to the last.  In that post, prompted by Michelle Ward's crusade on seasonal color changes in our art, I mentioned that turquoise/aqua are often my palette of choice.  I use different values and hues depending on the season, but they are colors that often show up.  I usually use lime green, lavendar, or black, sometimes bright blue, as "go with" colors.  But, this season I find myself using a lot of beachy colors with the turquoise. 

It started at our monthly Friday beading session at Bead Soup.  Every month some of us get together and pick a project from a bead magazine that we all want to try, and we work on it, helping each other decide on colors and, when someone gets stuck, on the directions.  It's really fun and it's a great way to try some of the magazine patterns.  In May we decided to work on the components of the "Starlight" bracelet in the June 2010 issue of Bead and Button magazine.  When I chose my colors for crystals and seed beads I ended up with turquoise and aqua crystals with sandy colored seeds.  As I worked, I, along with those sitting next to me noticed, how "beachy" it looked.  I really liked the change.  Looking at the little star component when I got home I decided to dig out all differnt beachy colors of crystals and seeds and use all of them in the bracelet, a different combination for each "star".  This is the result.

I used water colors, sand colors, shell colors, and I love them all!  I even used a pure blue, which doesn't appear much in my palette.  It was such a fun bracelet to make and it's fun to wear.  I have another design that is still in progress that uses these same beachy colors, and once again I chose them instinctively.  So, I guess this is the summer of beach colors for me.  I'm having a great time with it! 

A new spiral necklace



There have been many things going on in the family this winter which have cut into the time I spent in my studio.  Winter is usually a very productive time for me.  The cold weather and the inability to work in the garden gives me lots of studio time.  But, this year I haven't accomplished much.  Our lives are settling down now and so I had the time to finish a necklace that I started in January.  My friend Kathy, who owns Bead Soup in Savage Mill, showed me how to do this variation on the Dutch spiral stitch.  It's a fun stitch to work, requiring just enough concentration to keep it interesting!

The colors I chose were frosty, wintery colors reflecting both the weather we were having at the time and, to a certain extent, my mood.  Gray, white, black and cool sage green spoke of what I was seeing out my window.  Many of you know that I'm a lover of bright colors, but sometimes the softness of a winter palette is soothing.  The next time I make one of these necklaces I'll be using my beloved brights! 

I'll leave you with a close up of the necklace.  Enjoy your day, do something creative and thanks for visiting!