Finished a bracelet

Remember the Wrapped in Red netted collar necklace I did just recently?  I finished the bracelet to go with it.  I had it done except for the clasp for about a week, but I was procrastinating putting the clasp on.  I don't know.  I guess there's just not a lot of fun in putting on a simple clasp.  Had the netting part of the bracelet done in two days.  lol.  Oh well.  It's finally done and here it is... (and btw, if you are interested in the patterns to make my netted necklace or my hematite bracelet, I have them listed in my Artfire shop.)

Last chance to enter my giveaway!

WIN ME!!!

I'm excited about the giveaway.  Remember, if you want to get in on the fun and have a chance to win my Drops of Honey embroidered cuff, deadline is tonight.  So hurry and get your name in the hat.  Go to the previous post for all the details!

I'm also excited about the new things I will be creating soon.  I have decided to jump head first into the pool of polymer clay.  I've seen such amazing things come from polyclay that I wanted to give it a go and see what I can do.  I am in no way, shape, or form talented in the area of painting, so making amazingly painted face cabs like Beth over at Bellesanbeaus is definitely out...but, I think I can mix clays and techniques to make some pretty cool polyclay beads and focals.  I'm hoping the birthday fairie (my daddy) comes this month.  I have on my wish list a pasta machine that I saw at Hobby Lobby, an extruder, some little cookie cutters and, of course, lots of colors of clay.  I bought a few blocks of clay about 2 weeks ago along with some tools and a bead roller.  I learned one important lesson already.  Don't use Fimo Classic!  It is soooooo hard and is nearly impossible to get soft enough to work with.  Fortunately I only bought one of those.

I have 2 books about polyclay beads on order at the library.  One of them came in and I'm going to try to get hubby to take me to the library to pick it up.  I can't drive myself....had a scare yesterday morning.  I got up early and went to the corner store.  I have no a/c so I was driving with the windows down.  I heard a swoosh-swoosh-swoosh sound coming from my tire as I was driving along.  I thought that maybe i need some air in the tire.  They sometimes make that sound if the air is too low.  Went home, got Sami ready for school and was headed out the door to take her to school.  I decided to take another look at my tire.  I bent over, put my hand on the tire as I started looking at it, and OUCH!!!!  Something cut me!!!  Holy crow...my tire is almost shredded!  The wires are coming through and the tire is all cracked around the side wall!!!!  I am sooooo lucky my tire hasn't exploded and come off already!  Especially on the freeway or something.  How dangerous is that?!  So, to make a long story short, I will not be driving my car until we can afford some new tires and I will be depending on my DH to take me where I need to go (I don't drive his van).  Sooooo I am excited about picking up the one book that came in and drooling over the pretties and learning whatever I can.  I will keep you all posted.

Also, I have learned how to make PDF patterns for beadwoven pieces.  I have made a pattern of my Wrapped in Red netted collar necklace and a pattern for my hematite flat spiral bracelet.  If you'd like to take a look, they are in my Artfire shop here.  And, I had some pros review my first patterns.  They were gracious enough to take the time to guide me along, give some critiques and suggestions, etc. to make sure that my patterns are as professional as possible.  Thank you Nicole from Beadwright and Kathy from England!!!  You two were my angels these past few days, helping me with something new.

Ok, kids.  I'm going to head off for now.  I have been rambling today, haven't I? :)  Don't forget...go to the previous post and enter the giveaway if you haven't already!

Can you please help me? I need votes!

I have entered my very first beading contest!  I am not a "bead diva" and I am not in the "in crowd", so I need all the help I can get from those of you who read my blog, because we're all friends, right?  YES!!!  I have entered a contest by Ecuadorian Hands.  They run a monthly contest to promote tagua beads.  Have you heard of tagua?  I'll give you a little info, because they really a great item to know about and use.  Tagua comes from the ivory palm.  When the tagua is dried out it can be used just as elephant ivory.  It is very hard, can be carved just like ivory to make things like figurines, and of course...beads.  Tagua is also dyed with some really gorgeous, vibrant colors.

They have just opened up the contest to include all materials, not just tagua, in an effort to more widely promote the use of tagua and TO SAVE ELEPHANTS!  And, if I remember correctly from when I bought some of these types of beads, some of the money from the sale of tagua is also used to help save rain forests.  Are these good causes, or what???!!! 

I am really hoping that you will take the time to go to my entry and leave a comment to vote for my hard work in making my netted collar.

To vote for me, please click HERE.

Thank you so much!!!

I Conquered Netting!!!

Yea for me!  I am a very stubborn person when I set my mind to it.  Thank you to all of you who responded so helpfully to my last post.  What I ended up doing was finding a very very basic netting pattern, and I studied the thread paths and how the rows went together.  From there I designed my own pattern.  Now I don't know if my pattern is "correct", if there is such a thing for "technically sound" netting, but it is what it is and I am over the moon for it.  This is going to be my April installment for my 2011 Bead Journal Project.  I am actually ahead of schedule a little bit.  Well, not really.  I still have the earrings and bracelet to make to go with it, but I ran out of seed beads and the store where I got them is fresh out (I took the last two tubes to finish my collar).  I put some more on order so I can finish up the bracelet and earrings. 

I bought these wonderful red daggers from Fusion Beads, and there weren't very many left.  I got most of what they had in at the time.  I do get lucky sometimes!  I bought the Swarovski Pearls in Bordeaux from Artbeads.  I had intended to use my reds and whites to make something for a Valentine's Day contest.  I have never entered a contest.  However, at the time my muse was on hiatus and I couldn't come up with a single thing.  Too bad I didn't come up with this collar at the time because I would have been proud to put it on display.

The collar is just about 22" long by 4 1/2" wide.  It is quite substantial and a little weighty.  That's good, though, because it doesn't slide around too much.  I used A TON of 11/0 seed beads, size 8/0 seed beads, bugle beads, 4mm cubes, 5mm Swarovski Pearls and the red daggers on the ends.  I couldn't believe how many seed beads this thing ate up!!!  I used about 3 tubes!

Ok, everyone.  Here it is!  I call it...

Wrapped in Red

What do you think?  Was I successful in defeating the netting stitch, or did I make technical errors?  I can't wait to do the bracelet to match.  As soon as the beads come in to my local stomping grounds and I pick them up I will get going on it.  Obviously a bracelet won't take nearly as many hours as I have invested into this collar, so I should hopefully have it up soon.  I also see so many possibilities with this stitch.  Color combinations, patterns, etc.  I think I will do more of this!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!  Don't have too much green beer! 

A Thanks and a Reminder

Wow!  I sure did get a lot of support in my frustration over netting!  You ladies really rallied around for me.  I appreciate it so much!  I have managed to figure out the basics of netting!  woohoo for me!!!  It's not such a monster once you get the hang of it.  In my quest for instructions I have seen netting worked two different ways...I have seen it done horizontally, and I don't like that way at all.  I much prefer to work vertically.  It is much easier for me to grasp for some reason.  I drew up my own pattern :0) and I was able to make it a little fancier than just a basic netting stitch.  I had no idea that it would take up so many seed beads!!!  I had 3/4 of a tube left from a long time ago, and that got sucked up so fast!  I am going to the bead store today to buy more so I can finish this project, and I estimate that I will need at least 3 more tubes!!!  holy cow!!!  I hope you will all stay tuned to see what I accomplish with my netting and my pattern.

Click here to enter!

Now, on to WINNING!  You don't even have to be Charlie Sheen to be a winner.  bwahahaha!  Nope!  All you need to do is go to where?  Artbeads.com of course!!!  Your time is running out to enter the sweeptstakes for a trip for two to next year's bead and gem show in sunny Tucson, Arizona.  You know why I should win?  Because I am right here in Phoenix and they wouldn't even have to buy me a plane ticket!  Not only do you get airfare, but you get accommodations and classes, too.  What would be more fun than to spend a few days around new and exciting beady things with your best bead buddy?  Just click here to get to the right spot to enter your name.  And tell your friends too, because if one of them wins, you might be the person they take with them!  Good luck!!!!

Until next time, my friends!  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Netting

Netting is kicking my butt.  I have in my mind what I want to create, but A) I can't find a pattern that's even similar and B) I don't know how to create it myself.  Frustration has definitely set in.  I have some beautiful beads that I want to use, and I think what I have in my mind could be really cool....*sigh*...if only.  I found a free beginning netting pattern.  I think I will start with that and then modify from there.  I just need to remember where I put that pad of graph paper. (hmmmm.  If I were graph paper, where would I be hiding?)  Wish me luck with this one, kids.

What's on your tables these days?

Making a Trade and Some Other Things

Warning...long post ahead!!! :)  It has been a busy beading week for me.  Yea!  Beads, oh glorious beads.  :)  I can't say they were anything too complicated or extravagant, but you know what?  I like them anyways!

First up though I recently went into a trade with my very dear friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus.  She does the most amazing face cabs, and I'm getting another one.  woohoo for me!  I'm working on a project that I want to use one of her amazing faces for as the focal point.  Being a little tight on funds I asked her if she would be willing to do a trade.  A pretty for a pretty.  She was game so I started wracking my brain on what I was going to make for her.  Her favorite colors are the same as mine...blues and purples...and luckily that's what I have the most of in my stash.  I picked out some of my most coveted beads that I haven't used before and set about making her a bracelet.  Had a few false starts, but what I decided on first was a Russian Spiral.  I just couldn't get the beautiful shades captured in a pic the way I wanted to, but you can get the idea.  I used my favorite bugle beads with varied shades of blue and purple along with some seed beads I found last year.  Until now they have been unopened.  Have you ever looked for a true purple purple shade of seed bead?  It's really hard to find the perfect purple!  When I saw these I knew I had to have them, and they were perfect for Beth's bracelet.  Here's some pics of the Russian Spiral:

I love the way it twists around.  Reminds me of DNA.  I was nervous that maybe she wouldn't like this one, and I really wanted to make sure she was happy so I made her a 2nd one.  This one uses a 4mm (I think) round that was actually called Indigo.  Hey!  They named it after me!  :)  Ok, maybe it was the other way around, but these are another of my coveted beads.  They are a super dark blue, not black.  I also used a triangle seed bead and a sparkly blue for the picot tips to finish out this netting bracelet.  Here are some pics:

Her package came in the mail today and she told me emphatically that she loves loves loves BOTH of them, so I am oh so very happy!  She also told me that my cab is looking pretty marvelous, and I am waiting on pins and needles to get it.  I will show it to you all as soon as it comes in.  She does the most amazing work!

A couple weeks ago my mother-in-law was telling me that I need to get some stuff together for her to take to work to sell there.  She works at a high school, and the teachers just love things like what I make she says.  I have my two higher end sets (the crystal and the dragonfly sets), and I also wanted to give some lower priced things too.  Again, I just used this and that from my stash and set about to see what I could put together with what I already have.  I was pretty pleased with what I came up with.  The first one I think is super pretty.  It's all purples with gold.  Can't go wrong with that, right?  It's made on memory wire, and I just love the way it wraps around.  Here are some pics:

I also did another one like this but using some wood beads that I had no idea when or if I would ever use them.  Surprise!  They worked out great with the combination of natural stones and Czech glass in earthy colors.

Then I did some even simpler ones, but they are using some really great things so I like them.  The next one is made using Stretch Magic, one of my new favorite stringing materials (now that I know how to keep the knots secure).  It's all about lusterous beads.

And then there's this next one.  I picked up this really unusual 3 sided piece of shell quite some time ago.  It's really interesting and has great shades of pinks and browns running through it.

And finally I did one that is using very simple blue beads.  It's dainty, but very sturdy.

Sometime in the next few days I am getting an order in from Artbeads.com, so I'll be showing some more things soon.  I posted these new things in two places.  One is in my Etsy shop here and the other is in my Shop Hand Made shop here if you would like to go take a look.

I probably won't be writing more posts for a few days, so I hope you all have a great weekend!  Bead happy!