Sunday Update

 I know I promised you an update yesterday, but I just didn't have the time, so I'm bringing it all to you today....

First up is a new bead embroidered bracelet which I created to trade with a friend of mine who does knitting. She made me the most gorgeous scarf in the brightest purple colors and this is her bracelet for all her hard work.

Okay, the next thing is technically my Margie and Me challenge piece, but I am in love with it. I just finished it yesterday, and now I want to wear it everywhere.
I've wanted to create a brooch for a while, but I like things that multi-task, so it's also a pendant.

As a pendant it hangs vertically....

but, if you remove the cord, you can pin it on vertically or....

...horizontally. I love options, and Rusty Autumn Brooch Pendant is in my shop. I really like this design, and I can see more of these coming.

I also listed some new bobby pins. These are called Aqua Blue Stars...

 and I also put my Bird's Egg Bobby Pins in the shop.

I also put Heather's Ring in the shop. I've been wearing it all week to test it for durability and just plain gorgeousness, and she's held up nicely.

 I also added one of my long-chain medallion necklace that I'm calling Golden Fall. It's just a tad smaller than...

my Mosaic Turquoise Medallion necklace which has been in the shop for a while, but I updated the length of the chain to give it a more modern feel.

Last two things...it's time to vote on the Etsy Beadweaver's challenge for the month, and if you haven't, you need to read this, it will make you smile. It made me very proud to be American.

Margie and Me - Winged Lions of the Ishtar Gate Part #2

I've had this ring in my mind for a long time. I've wanted to do this really epic ring stretching from knuckle to knuckle with some really sharp angles and arresting colors.
So this week's Margie and Me was perfect, this is the Ishtar Ring and it's epic.

The colors from the gate were perfect, and I enjoyed layering them to create the look that I wanted. The version you see here was actually my 2nd attempt, the first didn't have enough color variety, so I added some blue here and there and edited a little bit of the creamy white. I really wanted it to reflect the painting.

I've put it in my store as custom order, so it can be made to fit the buyer.

Okay, I know I promised the big reveal of my Fall Collection, but it's not done yet....it's just not ready, but I'm really not sweating it, it just means you'll have to wait a little longer. :)
In the meantime, I thought I'd give you a sneek peek, just so you know I've not been slackin'.
The first is a necklace I call Nesting Necklace. It reminds me of three little birds' nests all lined up in a row.

It's made with picasso jasper and seed beads, and has such a gorgeous drape.

The next is a bracelet made with the same little beaded components. I call it the Nesting Bracelet. It's also made with Picasso Jasper rounds and seed beads.

This time I've used copper to highlight the intense reds and bright purples in the stones with a monochromatic nest so that the stones really pop out. I'ma lovin' the picasso jasper and this design really shows off the beauty of the stone.

Okay, last but not least, is a Carnaval Pendant in some really intense fall colors. This would look gorgeous with a black V-neck sweater. Just a punch of color on your neck.

I'm gonna keep working with the bird's nests this week and see what I can come up with. Weaving them together in different shapes and at different angles.
Meanwhile I've put the Nesting Necklace and Carnaval Pendant in the shop along with the Ishtar Ring.

Thanks for your time this morning and if you played along, drop me a note and I'll update this post with your link!
Enjoy your Saturday!

UPDATE!

This week Elisabeth of Beads for Busy Gals challenged herself with Margie's color palette that I picked out! She's lucky enough to have actually spent time in the part of the world where the challenge palette came from. Check out her blog and her necklace, it's perfect for the challenge. Thanks Elisabeth!

I'll pick a new challenge palette tomorrow...ya' know, in case anybody else wants to play along....

In a Bead Stouper

Here's my sneak peek from my amazing Bead Soup paaatnuh (I have to say that word like I'm in a Clint Eastwood flick). Lois Moon gave me the most amazing group of beads in the most amazing color palette! I can only hope that I can do her beads justice. These kinds of beads are all new territory for me, mostly because they are large enough to be seen with the naked eye!

What's more, my partner's a Spanish teacher! How much of a cool pairing was that! You can see what I sent her here. I'm looking forward to what we're gonna work up.

Also, do you remember the story that I wrote to go with my Home is Where the Heart Is Pendant. Well, someone bought the pendant yesterday! I was so excited. Way more so for that person. I really, really like these pendants. They are so much fun to make, and so unique. I hope she likes it, it's going into the mail today, with copy of the story just for good measure.

Alright, today, someone very special in my life is having a birthday so I'm off to celebrate!

The Resinator

My sister came up with the term yesterday while we were cuttin' and pastin' and gluin' and beadin' and huntin' up things to put in these brand new bezels which arrived two days ago. (A special thanks to the United States Postal Service!) Okay, here's the goods in no particular order....
First up, a cut out of scrapbook paper with a clear bezeled top. (They accidently shipped us one that fit perfectly in the pendant so we decided to use it. )
Secondly, a little round pendant with a tiny turquoise round which I did up with seed beads to match the pattern of the scrapbook paper. This was Emily's design, I just did the brick stitch for her.

Then a little seashell planted on top of some complimentary origami paper from an origami kit we received years ago. (Emily's design)

Next up, more scrapbook paper with a tiny little "flower" made from seed beads and more glittery scrapbook paper. (This one was my design).

Then, a tiny seed bead leaf embellishing more glittery scrapbook paper! (I learned a valuable lesson here. The dark thread becomes doubly obvious under resin. Note to self: Use white thread or fireline.)

And then, finally, I did two rings. The first has no embellishment whatsoever. It's just a perfect cut-out of scrapbook paper. I originally thought that it was going to be boring, but now that it's dry. I really like it.

This last one is a tiny little bird flying over a Monet-esque naturescape.

I must say that I think the experiment was pretty successful and I can't wait to get home today and cut and paste some more. Here are some tips that I found while using the resin.
First of all, I used ICE resin and the instructions suggest pouring a full ounce which ends up being a lot, so get together a good pile of stuff that you want to resinate (I know, I made that up too) before you start so you won't waste the resin.
Secondly, glue down everything that you want so that you have a lot less problems with bubbles, and the resin doesn't get under the paper. I think the resin seeped under some of the scrapbook papers and dulled the colors a little.

Last, I didn't add anything to the resin, but I liked the look of glitter which I acheived using glittered scrapbook paper. It also has the cool effect of making the glitter look like it was placed in certain spots.

Hope y'all have a good day and that you enjoyed my resin experiment!

It's all about the tease...

Sorry, I've been so absent lately! I've been out of town...it's been snowing...yadda, yadda...I've been busy. However, I've still found time to do my obsessive compulsive, mindless, looking-for-things-I-can't-buy Etsy hunting and I've come to a conclusion....when it comes to jewelry photographs it's all about the tease. Here are some examples:

The first is a pendant of mine I call River Rock, the above picture is super up-close and you can see all the detail, but you don't get an idea of what the pendant would look like on the wearer until you see the next picture which is a little farther back.

Same thing here with my Ferris Wheel Bracelet only to the extreme. In this pic, you wouldn't even know how to wear it, until....

you get to this pic where you can see the clasp and the full profile of the bracelet.

Here's another example, in Beadsforever's shop the first photo you see is an up-close of her Golden Rose Netted necklace.

It's not until you keep clicking that you get the full shot of the necklace.

The Beaded Lily also does this with her equestrianne necklace. Super up-close shot with stunning detail of the beads.

Keep clicking, and you're rewarded with a great picture of what the necklace would look like if it were yours.

I tell ya' what....I am learning so much about taking pictures just by shop hoppin'. It's really helped me to understand what makes a great pic, and I'm enjoying it to boot. I hope this helps you a little or maybe just inspires you to go shop hoppin'. Either way, if you own a shop, the next time you visit one that you like think not only about their product, but also how they present it, there are so many people who have been doing this a lot longer than me and they are really good at it. Who knows, you may pick up some great tips?

Bead Soup Par-tay

I have already been blog-hoppin' a bit this morning before I got my post up. (Sshhh....don't tell anyone!) And already I'm blown away by some of the things that have been created. Great stuff. I'm honored to be a part of the group, and Lori Anderson did such a great job organizing everything. To see the full list of participants (and trust me, you'll want to) visit her blog.

Okay, and now for the good stuff!! My partner was Michelle Mach. Now, I must say when I found out, I was just a little intimidated, I mean, come on, this girl was Beading Daily's editor!!! But, on the flip side, I knew that that meant that whatever she sent me was destined to be awesome, and of course, it was. Here's another snapshot of the goods. Now I must confess that I racked my brain for days to come up with a necklace design that I liked and well.....

I call it XYZ. It's very geometric and because of all the wire loops, just a little outside my norm!

I started by creating the Y shape with the focal. I added one of the porcelain beads that Michelle sent me along with a beaded bead that I made. I made two more sets of beaded beads and strung them together with the other two porcelain disks and two more porcelain beads that I had on hand. Some size 11 and size 8 seed beads round finish out the necklace and the sterling silver clasp is a perfect compliment to the geometric feel of the focal. Thanks Michelle!!!

Here's a close-up of the focal.

Here's a close-up of the beaded beads. I've been making these beads like crazy lately and I love them. I even have some for sale in my Etsy shop, they make the perfect addition to stringing projects.


I hope you enjoyed this stop on the Bead Soup Party. Please be sure to keep hoppin' around. There are plenty more incredible creations to see and I know you'll love them. A big thanks again to Lori Anderson for pulling the whole thing together and here's the link again to her blog so that you can see all the participants. Have fun partying!

Oops, I forgot.

These were all Christmas presents: For my mom, a necklace with an interchangeable focal, the first is a beaded bead and the second is a locket.

For my sister, a spiral peyote bangle. (It's the first bangle she's ever owned. Looks very grown-up!)

For my other sister a bracelet made from brass rings and peyote strips as connectors. Kind of eclectic, but definitely one-of-a-kind.

I've been working on some ring designs, I'll try to get them photographed and put up tomorrow. Hopefully!

Made something. Sold something!

First of all, I sold my Sand and Sea Cuff that I posted in the previous blog post! Wow! I am so excited!
Okay, coming off the high of that, I made this:

I call it Butterfly Moss. It's made using a clasp and bead from Green Girl Studios, and then I strung it with large aventurine beads and little handwoven beads that I created using agate and seed beads. It's in my Etsy shop if you'd like to check it out.
Also, for those of you who don't know about Mellisa of Chinook Jewelry, you should definitely check out her shop. She does some incredibly beautiful work. Awhile back she sent me some cabs, and I created some pieces with her cabs. I've already shown you Morrocan Pendant, well, here is the second necklace that I created for her. Ya' know, I'm just now realizing, I haven't given it a name! Any suggestions?

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway on my blog and my facebook page. I assigned everyone a number, used the trusty random number generator and Candace Miller, who signed up on my Facebook page won the bracelet! Congrats to Candace!

Okay, I wanted to show you two things that I've been working on this weekend. The first is a pendant made with size 11 seed beads and blue goldstone rounds. I'm trying to come up with a good name for it. Maybe something like Medieval Shield, or the Sword Maiden's Shield. I dunno, I'm kinda stuck on the idea of a shield, but I'm open to suggestions if anybody sees it as something different?
This second one is a very simple herringbone necklace. It is made with bugle beads and size 11 seeds. I made one in this style for a friend, and loved it enough that I wanted to make a second. The rope is only two beads wide, so it's very feminine and easy to wear. I'll be listing this one in my Etsy shop if you'd like to check it out.