Vintage Inspired

In addition to my clay hoard I just got, I am also working on my May Bead Journal Project piece.  I've got quite a ways to go on it yet, but I've been switching gears between 3 different things so it's getting worked on a little at a time.

The third project I have been working on is a themed piece.  Artbeads.com gave the assignment, and let me tell you...it was a challenge!!!  The theme is "What's Old is New Again."  In other words, take something vintage (or vintage inspired) and recreate it into a new, modern piece.  Have you ever seen me work in vintage, steampunk or anything like that?  No.  Why?  It's not my thing and I haven't a clue how to go about it.  Now I had to do something I just wasn't comfortable with.  Talk about stretching the creative muscles!  I think I have a sprain.

Let me start by showing you the things I got.  I started with 6 different antique brass chains in 1 foot pieces.

I had the idea of taking a bunch of old chains and reconstructing them into one new piece.  I really like the look of the antique brass.  It has a very nice finish, and all the chains are a very high quality.  They will not easily break or come apart!

I got two filigree links, also in antique brass.  They are so pretty!  I also got antique brass jump rings, and I had no idea they were such a thick gauge and so strong.  I was a little panicked at first because my idea was to put crystals on the jump rings and attach them to the chains.  But these jump rings were so thick there was no way on God's green earth that those crystals would fit on that wire.  I ordered 2mm Swarovski crystals in Dark Indigo.  Holy crow are they TINY!!!  I also got 5mm bicones in Mocca and 5mm round Swarovski pearls in Night Blue.  (Soooo pretty!!!  I couldn't capture the colors very well in the photos.  Sorry.)

But none of them would fit on those jump rings!  Uh oh!  What to do now???!!!  I had to make an emergency purchase at one of my local bead stores and pick up some alternate supplies.  I took the beads with me and I had to try the wires to see what gauge would fit through the beads.  For the 2mm, I had to go with a 24 gauge...not very sturdy. :(  For the other beads I could get by with a 20 gauge, which wasn't bad.  I then invested in a set of simple jump ring makers.

What a good buy!!!  I am now a pro at making jump rings, and I will never buy another jump ring ever.  Since the jump rings I got were too big for what I had originally intended, and I didn't want to not use them I decided to make a 7th chain from them.

For the pearls I made a simple head pin by making a bend in the bottom of the wire and pinching it completely up to make a little stop.  For the bicones I made a head pin with a spiral bottom and they both just had simple loops at the top.  For the tiny crystals I just made little jumprings and put them on.

I needed to also attach the chains together and to the filigrees, but I also had a problem with the jump ring sizes on those too because the holes were pretty small.  But I did manage.  Also, my snips are not a very good quality, so they didn't make nice, smooth cuts for the jump rings.  This made the edges where they close together not very tight.  To help prevent any from coming off, a lot of the time I doubled up the jump rings.  I figure one might come loose, but maybe not both.  In the end two of the chains did not make the cut.  I used 4 chains I ordered plus the one I made with the jump rings.  This is what I came up with.  I call it...

Links In Time

You can click for a larger view

With this project I have become a master jump ring maker, and I had more than my share of opening and closing the rings!  I've also become pretty proficient at simple loops and making those little spirals.   All in all, I'm pretty happy with what I came up with considering this is not my usual style.  The necklace is 17 3/4" and drops down from the top chain to the bottom the pearl dangles about 6".

Artbeads.com rocks.  I must have said it a gazillion times.  If you haven't yet visited them, you really need to because they have the supplies to make almost anything you want.

I hope everyone is having a nice Easter weekend!

FTC disclaimer:  Artbeads.com provided me with supplies at no charge.  I am not being compensated in any way for my true and honest opinions of their products.

Faeries, Dragonflies and Crystals, oh my!

I made a few little things yesterday.  I made two pairs of earrings and a ring.  I got charms and a square Swarovski crystal button from Artbeads.com...you know how much I love shopping there!  Here are a few pics.

It really sparkles in the light!

The dragonfly earrings I made with large blue beads and 2 smaller beads that change colors in the light...purple, green and blue.  Pretty!  :)

Just as much as I love dragonflies, I also love faeries!  They are made with purple beads.

Reader Beware!!!!  SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION AHEAD!!!  ;)


Please see my new items in my Shop Handmade store and in my Etsy shop.  (Not all items are listed in both shops.)  

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Purple On My Mind

Here's my newest bracelet I created today.  I really love it...there are so many great beads mixed in this one including Swarovski rondelle crystals, Swarovski pearls, freshwater pearls, amethyst and my most favorite rich, luscious purple cat's eyes.  I've posted it to my Etsy shop if you'd like to take a look at it there too.  Just click here to visit.

Do you like?

Same set, different pic

I really didn't mess up the bottom loop of my necklace.  I retook the photos and decided to post them so that everyone could see it is super pretty all the way around.  Thank you again to Artbeads.com for having such a great theme...Winter Enchantment.  To read full details and all the info on the products I used, please read the previous post.  Thank you!

I posted this to my Etsy site.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Inspired by Fall Colors (but not the ones you're thinking)

Hello, all!  I have to tell you that I am very excited to show you this piece of jewelry that I made.  Artbeads.com sent me a challenge to create something that is Fall inspired.  We could either use traditional fall colors or those from the Pantone Fall Color Report 2010.  I chose to go with those in the color report.  They are so pretty this year.  Take a look at the link, but I've given you a quick snapshot here...

I chose to work with colors representing Purple Orchid, Endive and Woodbine...with a hint of Chocoate Truffle.  I also added some copper.  I know.  It's not on the color report, but I liked the way it looked so it got added.  I had what I thought was a great idea on what i was going to do for my challenge project.  Guess what.  It was terrible!!!  I didn't even get half way done and I said to myself, "This is just not working!  Ick!"  I was originally going to do a brooch in bead embroidery, but man was it fugly!!!   Time for a different direction!!!  I dug into my bins of goodies and picked some other things and came up with a new idea.

I decided to try some more wire work.  I enjoyed my quick earrings, so I thought maybe I could try something a little more challenging.  I have been wanting to make a necklace for a long time, and that's what I chose to do.  I was so excited to get started. 

As I showed you in my last post, I got some really awesome things from Artbeads for this project.  But since I didn't do what I originally planned, I had to go into my stash and pick a few more things to make it work.  I used all the original beads I told you about, but I added a few more to go with it.  One of the things I added were these amazing Olive Jade Drops.  They are wonderful!!!!  I love them so much, I think I am going to have to buy more.  But I better get there before you do because they are on clearance.  At less than $3 a strand you better hurry! Just look at the variations of colors and patterns on the beauties!

I really wish I had some gold chain, but I only had silver on hand, and with my non-existant bead fund I couldn't buy something else.  Because then I would have had to also buy gold colored head pins.  Definitely no budget for that either.  (And, I really wish I had my own computer back with Photoshop in it, but I found a fun (and free) online photo editor that did a reasonably decent job.  Go check it out at Phixr.)

This necklace to me looked "Bountiful", a word we hear a lot during the Fall Season.  I thought of the growing season with a harvest to follow.  I know, it's not traditional pumpkin pie colors, but here in Arizona we don't have those kinds of colors in the trees and things, so I go with what I know.  Things are still green here.  I was really taken with the Porcelain Flat Oval Green Tree.  It made me think of a Tree of Life and all that it gives to us.  And then I thought the tree was set off nicely surrounded by the purple orchid colors in the Venetian Glass Luna Square and Round for the pendant drop.  (You have to check out the Lunas.  They are scrumptious.)

I used the headpins to string on Toho's in Raku Green Iris, Metallic Dark Copper and a few chocolate browns with some size 8/0's in copper.  I also put the Swarovski 4mm Faceted Roundelles and 3mm xilion Bicones on the strands.  They might be a little hard to see in the pics, but they are there.  I think you can enlarge the pics if you click on them.  There are also a few glass leaves in irridescent shades of purple on a few of the strands that I just loved.  I then bent some of the head pins in different directions to give it a little more movement.  I finished it off with a sterling silver 3 leaf toggle clasp.  I bought it not knowing what I was going to do with it, but it worked out so perfectly for this necklace of trees and leaves.

And this is what I came up with:

It looks so pretty on...I wish I had a model to show you or one of those fancy mannequin forms, but alas, you get it on a piece of paper on my back patio. lol  I was very pleased with the way it came out.  I hope you all like it too!  So that's it...my "Bountiful" fall neckace.  I am happy.

Disclaimer:  Artbeads.com sent me products free of charge.  I was not compensated in any way for my true and honest opinions of these products.

New Treasures!

I just love getting packages in the mail from Artbeads.com.  Have you ever ordered from them?  They wrap your beads up so nice and pretty like a package in purple tissue paper.  It's like getting a little gift in the mail instead of just an order.

I just have to show you the things I got...but I'm not going to tell you what I'm doing with them just yet.  A girl has to have some secrets, right?  Well, let me tell you...these beads are gorgeous!  My pics just don't do them justice.

First, I got seed beads.  The staple of any bead project, if you ask me.  These are Toho Matte Raku Green/Vine Iris and I just love the subtle changes in color in them.

And I got Toho Metallic Dark Copper...

3mm is very small.  Wow.  They are not much bigger than a size 11/0 seed bead.  I didn't realize just how small the were, but I'll make them work.  These are Swarovski Xilion Bicones in Purple Velvet.  Doesn't it just sound like a luscious color?

And then Swarovski 4mm Faceted Roundelles in Amethyst.  Sparkle, sparkle, shine, glitter.

This one was hard to photograph, but it is really pretty.  It's got gold foil on the front and back, so it gives it an added element of depth and dimension.  It is a Venetian Glass 20mm Luna Square.  It's very thick...a real substantial piece to work with.  You must click the link and check out the category of Luna...they are amazing!

This next one is sooo much prettier than even the pic on their website shows!  I was so excited when I saw it.  It is really beautiful.  This one is a Venetian Glass 14mm Luna Round in Amethyst.  (I put two pics so you could see the colors from different angles.)

And finally, the creme de la creme.  This one is an 18x36mm Porcelain Flat Oval Green Tree.  Something about it just spoke to me.  Maybe it's a little like fall...a tall, strong tree standing leafless in the fields.  Or maybe it's a Tree of Life, rejuvenating through the season.  Maybe it's both.  Yes, I think it is.  It's really gorgeous in person, and I haven't seen one like it before.  I highly recommend it.

lol  It started raining pretty good while I was taking pics.  See all the raindrops on my backdrop paper?  Since my hands have been hurting so much lately, I've decided not to go too terribly ambitious, but I still want to produce something beautiful for you all to see.  Hoping it doesn't take too long!  I'll keep you posted.  What do you think of my new treasures?

Disclaimer:  Artbeads.com has provided these beads free of charge.  I have not received any compensation for my true and honest opinion of these products.

Teen Trendy

I'm sure that this bracelet won't appeal to all of you. It's definitely far from the usual I've been doing!  I made it with the younger teenage group in mind. I see skulls everywhere...jewelry, clothing, backpacks, purses, countless other apparel and accessory places.  My daughter, Sami, is 14 and she thinks it's pretty cool.  The skull is made of magnesite, although I have to be honest and tell you I'm not sure what that is.  :/  I don't usually buy Swarovski crystals because of my tight budget, but this one just begged for a little sparkle.  So I added pretty pink bicone Swarovskis.  It is 1 1/4" wide.  So here it is, my attempt at being teen trendy.

Skull Bracelet