OK, So It's Been a While!

Yes, life happens and blogs get put at the bottom of the list.  But I'm still here and am going to try to keep up with blogging a little better in 2015.  It's a New Year with new goals.

Mainly I want to share about my jewelry business which continues to be a big part of my life.  For the past year I've been concentrating on designing bracelets and took a good part of 2014 learning Adobe Illustrator so that I could write tutorials using diagrams to explain the process.  I'm happy with my progress and plan to continue on this pathway, expanding into necklace and earring tutorials.

I'm a member of the Beadsmith Inspiration Squad which keeps me learning about and designing with some of the new beads being manufactured.  So I'll be sharing some posts on all of these new beads and what I'm creating with them.  Here are a few things I've designed over the past few months.

Bezel and Chain using Half Tilas

Hex Pyramid Beads

New Duracoat Silverlined Delicas

African Turquoise SuperDuo Mix and Matubo 8/0 Seed Beads

African Turquoise SuperDuo Mix and O Beads

I have not yet written tutorials for any of the designs shown above, but I did just finish writing a tutorial for my "Night Out on the Town" necklace that uses the new Silver and Gold SuperDuo Mix.  I used beadweaving and stringing techniques in creating this necklace.

The tutorial can be purchased on either my Etsy site or my Artfire site.

Here's to a good 2015 for you all!

Happy Mother's Day to Moms Everywhere!

Mom turned 100 years old last January and is still enjoying life.  She walks a little slower and her eyes are growing dimmer, but her mind and wit are still pretty quick. Here she is with all four of her kids, from youngest (on the left) to oldest.  Yes, we are still kids at heart!  My younger brother claims to be Mom's favorite but I'm not so sure about that.

Each year I make Mom a necklace for Mother's Day.  She's wearing one in the picture above, but it's hidden by the flowers.  This year is no different.  I created a beaded bead from Cindy Holsclaw's Fiberoptic Dodecahedron pattern and then hung it from a Russian Spiral beaded rope. 

I hope I will get to see her wear it in person at her next birthday!

Give your Mom some love for Mother's Day!

Metal Beads, Super Duos and Rizos

The challenge was to use three of my favorite bead shapes in one design, Super Duos, Rizos, and Metal Seed Beads.

I've been using metal seed beads for some time and love them for their consistent shape and size.  They work so well with right angle weave and I've used them in several different bracelet styles.  Here's my Trinity Bracelet using size 11 metal seed beads.

The super duo beads have two holes and have an unusual shape.  Here's a bracelet I made using super duo's.  I called this one Cinnabar because of the unique picasso finish on the beads.

 

 

The third bead is called Rizo and it is pretty new on the market.  It is shaped like a tiny grain of rice and has one hole in one end of the bead.  Here is a pair of earrings combining super duos with rizos.  The rizo's are used at the tips of the bottom triangles.

 

 

The design using all three types of beads with their own unique shapes and sizes was an exciting challenge.  My Luxury Squared bracelet is the result of the challenge.  Of course, I also had to add a bit of Swarovski crystal bling to the mix!

 

 

The moral of the story?  Don't be afraid of challenges.  They can inspire and bring out your creative muse in some very interesting ways.

 

 

Fun with Super Duos

Just a quick post to share some fun things I've been making with the new Super Duo beads.   I created these earrings for a fun earring exchange this Christmas.  These are the earrings I sent.  I'm still waiting to receive mine from an unknown Santa.

 

I also made a necklace for my Mom for Christmas.  She's told me at least 35 times how much she likes it which makes me very happy.  Mom will be 100 years old Jan 11 2013 so I called this necklace Centennial.

 

I love the Super Duos.  They have two holes (one in each end) and are very uniform in shape so they are easy to use in many different ways.  There are lots of new colors to play with too.

 

Happy Beading!

How a Customer Used one of my Dichroic Glass Cabs

Just a quick post to show off how a customer used one of my dichroic glass cabs to create a custom ordered necklace.  The creator is Joan Fine of JFine Design on Etsy.

I love how she picks up the flashes of color in the dichroic glass cab with the Swarovski crystals around the chain.

Special thanks to Joan for allowing me to use her picture.

Metal Bead Blessings

Yesterday I received the exciting news that The Beadsmith will be placing a full page ad in the award winning German beading magazine Perlen Poesie.  The advertisement (shown below) will be promoting their heavy metal seed beads and they are using my Metal Bead Sampler Bracelet as the picture.

I absolutely love my bracelet.  I wear it all the time.  It seems to go with almost every outfit I have.  I also enjoy making this bracelet.  It works up very quickly and I can easily complete one in a day.  The beads are very uniform in size and shape.  It's almost like they were made for the Right Angle Weave stitch.

Metal seed beads come in size 15 (tiniest), size 11, size 8 and size 6 (largest) and are more expensive than glass seed beads, but the size 6 metal beads are the least expensive of all the available sizes. 

The beads are solid metal.  They start out with a brass base, and then are heavily plated in the various finishes. They all have a seam.  On the smaller beads the seam is barely noticeable.  On the larger beads the seam can be seen and on a very few beads (1 out of approx. 50) the seam may not be closed properly.  These beads should be discarded, but as will all glass beads, this culling process is normal and to be expected.

Almost all metals will tarnish and most plated metals will wear with time.  Oil on our skin, humidity and exposure to the elements, or excessive rubbing will speed up this process.  To slow down or prevent the plated finish from changing color or rubbing off, some suggest using a sealant such as Permalac Sealer, Renaissance Wax, Future Floor Was or another protectant/sealer.  I have not tried any of these sealants yet, so I cannot speak to their effectiveness.

I sell a pattern for this bracelet in both my ArtFire and my Etsy shops.  For the pattern only you need to purchase the size 6 metal beads and Elegant Elements clasp from your local bead store.  Both the metal beads and the clasps are distributed by The Beadsmith.

I also sell a kit in both my Artfire and Etsy shops which includes the pattern and all supplies needed to make the bracelet.

Life is good, and metal beads make it even better.  Have fun with beading and be adventurous with your beads.  You never know what blessings await you.

 

ArtFire Beadweavers Guild EARTHY Beadweaving Collection

ArtFire Beadweavers Guild EARTHY Collect...

Curated By: KraftyMax

ArtFire.com

Unique Gifts

Elegant Elements Clasps - Part II

Meeting Steven Weiss from The Beadsmith has been one of the most memorable and fun events in my life.  He organized a wonderful group of beaders to receive two of the Elegant Elements Clasps which The Beadsmith distributes to beading stores throughout the world.  What was created with the clasps was totally up to each beader.  The creations are beginning to be collected in a wonderful album on facebook which you can view HERE. 

I previously blogged about the freeform bracelet (Enticement) I created with one of the gold plated Elegant Elements clasps, but I'm just now getting around to blogging about the second one.  Here is a picture of the beautiful clasp.  It is rhodium plated with Swarovski crystals - pure bling!

And here are some pictures of the necklace I created.  I used the beautiful clasp as the focal.  The beaded beads were created with crystal, silver and black seed beads using Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW).  I call it Destiny, a very fitting name I believe!

Because it has such special meaning to me, this one will not be for sale.

There are more exciting creations being added to the facebook album by some incredible beaders, so don't forget to check back often.  And if you are interested in the Elegant Elements clasps, you can contact The Beadsmith to find a store near you that carries them.

Around the Next Corner

You just never know what lies around the next corner. 

One day you send in some pictures to a Beadsmith Kumihimo challenge on Facebook and the next day you are speaking on the phone to Steven who is a sales rep for Beadsmith.  Never in a million years would I have expected to find that around a "Kumihimo corner."  What a pleasant surprise it was!

Not only did I meet an interesting person in the beading industry, but I was given the opportunity to receive two gorgeous Elegant Elements clasps!  My first introduction to these clasps was from one of my German beading friends a few years ago who said they were Helby clasps. I have lusted after them ever since.  

Steven sent me a link to a pdf file containing their beautiful clasps.  The first clasp I chose is a slender 5 strand gold clasp that I planned to use on a freeform bracelet.

Before the clasp arrived, I had almost completed the freeform bracelet.  Since the clasp was 30mm long, I created a bracelet to fit that size and I think the simple but elegant clasp suits it perfectly.

I used 24k gold and silver plated Delicas, seed beads and fire polished beads, bronze colored beads, and miscellaneous accent beads in those same colors.



I call my bracelet "Enticement" and it will soon be for sale in my Etsy shop.

The 2nd clasp I chose is a dazzling 2 strand silver and crystal clasp which I plan to use on a necklace.  It's a beautiful clasp and I hope I will do it justice with my beadwork.

I am very thankful to Beadsmith for this opportunity to work with their beautiful clasps.  Click this link to visit their website and find out more about the products they offer.  Their products can be found in a local beadstore near you.

Finally! I made Etsy's Front Page!

I was very delighted to find out last night that my Going Green bracelet had made the front page of Etsy.  This was a FIRST for me and I had almost given up hope it would ever happen.  Many thanks to LaBellaJoya for her beautiful treasury!

I searched for green by LaBellaJoya - this is what she said:

"in my list of favorite shops. (Did you know you could do that?) I came up with these beauties while simultaneously realizing that my favorite shops are embarrasingly skewed towards jewelry...enjoy!"

Last Strand---AAAA-... norah62 $44.99	Forest Floor Sterli... ThirtySixTen $76.00	Sukan / Turquoise-G... sukanart $52.95	Dress, Plaid, Forma... Makool $875.00
Genia - street bag ... EllaOsix $42.50	Arrowhead Pendant celiefago $200.00	Small Molded Leathe... karenkell $140.00	Going Green Bracele... beadsforever $225.00
Forest Green Silk ... digforvictory $125.00	Medium DSLR camera ... mariforssell $159.00	Steam Punk Metal Ro... alleymaranto $235.00	ACEO Art - Harmony ... JessicaDoyle $65.00
Ruffled Ring - Gree... MariannMonika $210.00	Jamn Silk Greens Th... Jamnglass $49.75	The Lady of Shalott... JezebelCharms $40.00	Chrysoprase Dangle ... ashleyjewelry $50.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.