I Promise To...

A great big thanks goes out to a talented friend in TX for her vote! That lady is craaazy, so somehow must be related. I just got back from reading her blog/website and had to pick myself off the floor and dry my eyes from laughing so hard. Yes, you know who you are. Let me know if I can post your website to share with the bazillions of other people that follow my blog. Okay, 2 other people. And they're related. And I owe them money. Oh hey, the polls are still open for a few more days. Pay your friends to vote for #96!


I have photos! Aren't you excited?

This necklace is Night Storm and is made up of labradorite nuggets and pendant, Swarovsky crystals, and sterling silver. Taking the picture in direct sun was the only way to get the pendant to "light up." I love that blue flash in the gray stone--like lightning.



This next one is October and it's pretty obvious why. The orange stones are red aventurine, the black beads are stained wood beads (that can NOT get wet), and the pendant and rounds are picture jasper. It started out by falling in love with the pendant and then trying to find beads to coordinate. It's got a great autumnal feel to it without necessarily being just Halloween-y. I used mostly--but not all--sterling silver in this set. The earwires are sterling. I'm not too impressed with them. They're too soft and earwires take a lot of abuse, especially when used with earnuts. I think I'll stick to nickel-free and just use sterling upon request. Does anyone have any suggestions on this? Oh, all the rest of the pictures are in direct sun also because I was too lazy and cold to get up and find a new locale.


Next up is Tea Rose. The pendant is wood (its water-tolerance has not yet been tested) and the rest of the necklace is made up of copper-colored glass seed beads and faceted Czech glass. I decided to try some memory wire to make a ring, but it came out too huge for me. I bought a ring-sizer last weekend and found out that it is a size 9.5 (I wear a 5.5). I haven't played with the wire enough yet to figure out how to make smaller sizes. Something else to add to the to-do list, I guess.



Caliope (kuh-LIE-oh-pee) is a wear-with-anything set. The short necklace uses very brightly-colored Czech glass beads, but remains surprisingly capable of going with most outfits. The long necklace works well with just about any short necklace.



And we finally get to my recent favorite, Davy Jones's Locker. I made this in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, but I didn't want it to be super-obvious that it was all about pirates. I chose stormy-colored glass pearls interspersed with gold dagger pearls and aventurine. The three large gold "coins" are foiled, frosted glass. I chose an interesting array of charms to complete the Davy Jones feel: fish and fish bones, an octopus, coins, a lock and key, and skulls. I love it!




I have to mention that my aunt and I went on a bead hajj (as my aunt put it) last weekend. That's when I got that ring sizer/mandrel. Anyway, I found a lovely pendant of carved bone and some carved bone beads to go with it. I also got the most beautiful, yet small, piece of ocean jasper. It was a loner in its beauty, so now I need to work out a way to make it really stand out on its own as a focal piece. I also bought some really cool yarn--oh, excuse me--FIBERS to add to some jewelry pieces down the road.

I'm hoping that the economy (gasp! I said the E-word) doesn't get much worse by the time I plan to open my internet store. I guess that January and February are notoriously bad months to start a business in any economic setting, but I still plan to be up and running in February (it's my birthday).

Project Palettes

I was recently asked if I was going to have a hard time parting with all the jewelry I've made once it comes time to start selling. Not too long ago, I would have answered, "YES!" Now, the process of creating something new is more exciting to me than wearing something new. I love all my finished pieces. If I don't absolutely love an outcome, then it's just simply not finished yet and I rework it until I do love it! So, to keep the creative juices flowing, I have just increased my bead supply. Not exactly something I really needed to do. I'm addicted to beads, I guess, and I can't say that it's a miserable addiction to live with. I hope you enjoy my addiction too--at least the side effects of it...jewelry!!

I've sorted out my latest additions into piles that someday will become a necklace, bracelet, and/or earrings. I've even got names picked out already. This first lot is made up of yellow tiger eye, rainforest jasper, jade, and aventurine. I couldn't help but call this "Jungle Love."


This next one was the bead shop's and my daughter's fault. Really. The bead strands were all organized by color and my little one was grabbing handfuls of the strands. When she started playing with the creams and clears, it hit me just how lovely they look together. For several reasons--all of which are just too hard to put into words at this time--I'll go with "Baby's Breath" for this one. There are several different pearl varieties here along with moonstone and crystal.


This one I call "Time Traveller" since it conjured up images of a primordial world with enormous dragonflies and other now-forgotten inhabitants. The beads are glass, pearl, Australian jasper, and something new to me called Phoenix stone. The dragonfly and fossil fish charms are detailed front and back, a detail that I love.


I have another palette photo, but have decided to hold it back for a while. That particular collection of beads did make it into a two-strand necklace, of which I also have a picture. However, I am going to submit this design to Stringing magazine for their Winter edition's design challenge which is "Black and White." If you want to check it out, voting for submissions is held between September 15th and October 15th at http://stringingmagazine.com. All I will tell you is that my necklace has a lot to say. Heh, heh, heh. I'll post a picture here for you when voting closes.

I will wrap things up with a final photo. I made a pair of earrings for my Grandma to go with the bracelet I showed you in the previous post. Grandma never pierced her ears (and was not at all thrilled when I pierced mine), so this is a pair of clip-ons. The beads are all Swarovsky crystal. I was going to hold onto her gifts until her birthday, but we have an out-of-town family reunion (Grandma's side) this coming Sunday. I think she'll really enjoy the chance to sparkle at a special event like that. Happy early birthday, Grandma!

Playtime

Today, my daughters had a play date with a couple of friends while the friends' mom and I got some time to bead together. It's really nice to sit down with a fellow beader and work on a project or two. The kids were screaming and shouting and behaving, well, like kids. With beads in my hands, and a friend across the table, it's so much easier to stay calm and collected. Things changed when I finished my project. I went upstairs to find lemonade spilled on the floor, the sugar bowl raided, and the lid missing to the canister of hot chocolate mix. Momma wasn't as calm and collected at that point. I got a lot of the "I didn't do it" responses, so I guess the Ida Know ghost had struck again.


Anyway, the project I finished used the fabulous, stone, fish pendant that I mentioned long time ago. I'm really happy with it! I call it "From the Deep." The main materials I used were various pearl formations, shell, jade, and aventurine.