Some Catching Up

Here are some photos showing the herringbone rope necklace and bracelet that I made for my Aunt Dorothy. The necklace was a commission and the bracelet was a birthday gift and a small attempt at letting her know how much she is appreciated.

We both are extremely happy with them.

Herringbone is one of my favourite stitches; it's right up there with peyote. I will have to post some links to some designers and their work that I admire. 

Sorry for neglecting you, Blog.

I haven't had the productive summer that I was hoping for, but I have been working on some new designs and adding to my project list. Sometimes it hard to focus on what I need to be doing with so much on the go.

Beading Projects:

• simple rings and bracelets for Grenada's Independence Day
• more intricate projects using Grenada colours (red, green, golden yellow)
• bracelet promised to owner of craft store in Grenada
• continue to add to my inventory
• commission items
• repairs
• keep track of consignment items
• Christmas gifts
• jewelry for bartering photo services (thanks Christina!)
• jewelry I absolutely need for my wardrobe
• coordinating green ring
• completed brown swirly ring!
• bright pink watch band
• eye glass "leash"
• necklace with tree agate pendant
• necklace with jasper links
• herringbone lariat
• etc.!

I'm hoping that with my next post I can provide some photos for you. I was hoping to post them sooner, but you can "blame it on Vegas"!

New concept for my blog: a Survey

Please take part in my easy-peesy survey. No brain strain with this one. Once I see how it works, perhaps I can challenge you with one that has a little more depth. Thank you!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Sterling Silver wire does not like me.

I'm in a wire wrapped ring phase. Dilemma: I take pride in the fact that I use quality components in my jewelry, but I am finding craft wire so much easier to work with. The sterling silver is just too springy and I can't control it. I've been using Artistic non-tarnish wire and I really like it. I needed to order some more, but found a good deal on Parawire, which I assume is the same. I shall soon find out.

Here's what I've been working on:

I'm really disappointed in the light grey Swarovski  pearls. You can see patches where the finish has scraped off. I got some darker grey ones from a different supplier (Northern Beads) and they seem ok. I hate to dis Beads & Plenty More, 'cause they've been able to help me many times when I needed something last minute . I wonder if maybe they were in storage for too long. Or maybe they weren't really Swarovski. I should really take them back. I'll have more ring pics later next week.

New Artfire Tool

As you know, I have my creations for sale on Artfire.com. They now offer users the opportunity to put together a "Collection" of products, theirs or otherwise. Mine won't appear on the front page because I am only a "basic" member, but it's still fun.  I can do the same in photoshop, and in fact spent most of a day working on it.  I was designing a new business card. I still needs more work. A business card ends up really, really small. The way it is now, I'd have to give out jeweller's loups with each card!

Wouldn't it be great to have enough time to have a fabulous website and make jewellery?!

The FranMade Bead Weaving Collection

   Curated By: FranMade

ArtFire.com

Vintage Fashion

Beads from Nature: The Tagua Nut

 I just bought a large tagua nut bead to use as a necklace pendant. I really like this "sustainable" bead source idea and wanted to share.
 
The Tagua Nut

Da Ring is Da Ting

Rings are fun. As I mentioned in the previous post, they are great for those of us who need instant gratification. All of these rings are now posted for sale in my Artfire Studio.

I found a pattern that I really wanted to try: Flirty Flower Rings. I think I found the pattern at auntiesbeads.com, but I do know that the designer is Shanna Steele. Her ring looks like this:

I really liked the look of the ring and it looked easy to make, but I didn't like the 4 crystals on the outside of the six-petal flower. I ended up giving to a friend.

The day started as a designated "Grenada Collection" research day. I wondered if I could make the Flirty Flower using Grenada's national colours, red, green and yellow. Not a keeper, but one to keep in mind if I ever have a "Christmas Collection":

Now I wanted to try my version of this thing. I knew I could do better. So here is the FranMade Power Flower. (It didn't seem so "flirty" to me...) I like this look better, if I do say so myself.

I had some other crystals on hand so did some more experimenting and ended up with this:

It ended up with this really cool dome shape. A keeper!

Then I remembered that I needed to remake a ring that I had made in Grenada so that I would have a sample to display. I wanted to make a some jewelry as a "thank you" for one of my Grenada friends, Joan. (Jewelry makes great currency, especially in Grenada!) She doesn't wear a lot of jewelry, but admired one of my more simple crystal rings. Here is a version of what I made for her and is now christened "The Joan Ring":

We now have a good example of how obsessive this beading thing can be. I don't know why, but I just had to finish this next one that same day. Yes, my fifth ring of the day.

Whew. I have another ring to show off, but I definitely didn't work on it that day. This isn't a project that I can do in one sitting, but was very, very satisfying. I love doing the peyote stitch and just getting into the "zone". The square ring is a Swarovski crystal which they call "Bermuda Blue" in colour. The seed beads are made in Japan, but I think they had the same image in mind when they named them "Tropical Teal". I wish that we had a decent bead store in London because it's really hard to match colours from online images. The first teal colour that I tried just didn't work.

How else to end, but with a pun...

The Irish lass was disappointed with the engagement ring from her fiance because it was a sham rock.