Knot Afraid

Irish Waxed Linen

I have been collecting small quantities of Irish waxed linen in assorted colors from White Clover Kiln, in the hopes of one day having some ideas for using it, but I've been chicken to try any new techniques. I liked that I could buy small quantities of this, to experiment, before committing to yards and yards (they come in 5- and 10-yard cards). My knotted pieces in the past have been very basic, with only overhand knots between the beads--I find this difficult to do well! Getting the knots right up against the beads is a challenge and my fingers get very sore (I use a sewing needle to push the knot up against the bead). I have also been less than thrilled with the results, since the cording itself is nearly invisible in such pieces, as the knots tend to be rather small. (The bracelet below was done with brown cording, using overhand knots--but you can barely see it!) I do love how it drapes, though.

I've been a great fan of both Erin Siegel's and Lorelei Eurto's knotted pieces, especially since the cording itself plays such a prominent role in the design. I've enjoyed looking at Erin's work on Flickr, and was greatly inspired by the many pieces using cording in their book collaboration, "Bohemian Inspired Jewelry." I was tickled to see how many macrame knots were used--my Mom and and I were macrame-ing fools in the70s, and in my elementary school years I could have done macrame in my sleep! Our plants never lacked a jute hanger. After procrastinating for way too long, I thought I could probably dredge up that muscle-memory and use macrame in my designs. I thought I would give square knots a try first, with my little collection of Indonesian glass beads from Happy Mango Beads. I was thrilled to discover how easy it was!

This one features a stoneware button from Kara Nina, Indonesian glass in mauve from Happy Mango Beads, and assorted seed beads from Fusion Beads and bought locally.

Grape and Melon

I built this one around a cute wooden flower button from Shop4Craft, and paired it with crow beads in an "oil slick" finish from Fire Mountain Gems, glass seed beads in rose, textured brass "cocoon" beads (based on a tutorial by Kharisma Sommers), and one of my textured brass charms.

Briar Rose

For this one, I really wanted to use these red beads from Happy Mango. I combined them with cording in teal, and silver and gunmetal accents. I was thrilled that one of my little stoneware charms from Karen Totten worked into it so nicely! Little pewter sun beads from Happy Mango, and silver and gunmetal buttons from Lyanwood.

Cherries and Blueberries

This was the very first one I tried--I used brown waxed linen since I had a lot of it, because I thought there was a good chance I'd be cutting it up! I tried half knots on the loop closure between the seed beads--that took a couple tries to get it right. The striped beads are, of course, Indonesian beads from Happy Mango, and the little flower charm is too. Metal button from Lyanwood. In each of these, I covered the knot at the neck of the beaded loop with one of my rolled tube beads--I kind of have an obsession with covering the mechanics of things. ("Don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain!!!")

Gypsy Girl

These are a perfect project to do in the car on my lunch hour--I'm looking forward to using more of my Happy Mango stash--these Indonesian beads have just the right size holes for two strands of waxed linen--and more colors from my mini-stash of Irish waxed linen. I have tons of buttons still, and linen colors I haven't tried yet.

And, once you feel confident with your Irish waxed linen and want to really commit to a color, you can get whole spools in selected colors from Jewelry Accord, or you can try a palette of four colors for inspiration!

New Life for Old Coins

I mentioned in my last post that I had just bought some coins from Joel Anderson Interesting World Coins and Paper Money--I got a whole pound of them! They're from pretty much everywhere. I pulled out the ones with the nicest textures to use on my metal, and left the rest in the bag. What to do with them...?

About five of them were very worn down and blackened with oxidation, so I decided to use them for patina experiments. I didn't even know what kind of metal they were! Well, they all took the verdigris to some extent (the coins in this post were treated with traditional verdigris solution from Shannon LeVart (MissFickleMedia), and then sealed with Vintaj/Ranger sealant and Renaissance Wax). I used one of the smaller ones in a pendant (see my last post), and saved out four for use as bracelet clasps (I REALLY need to make some bracelets for the shop). I had an idea for possibly stacking them to make a toggle clasp:

I used my little hole punch from Fire Mountain to make holes in the smaller coins, and my drill to make holes in the larger (they're too big for the punch). Then I turned them into toggle clasps with a rivet and copper sheet and wire.

I decided on a Southwest kind of color palette, because I just can't stay away from that when I have something turquoise! I had just gotten some FABULOUS Czech beads from CraftAnne and BeadsAndBabble on Etsy, and they seemed just perfect.

This was how it came together:

More Hong Kong-Santa Fe Fusion

I also included poppy jasper in an interesting shape, Indonesian glass beads from Happy Mango Beads, and some "cocoon" beads (based on a tutorial by Kharisma Ryantori) I had made from copper and antiqued with Shannon's verdigris solution. I am in LOVE with the multicolor Czech picasso beads (I might have to clean out CraftAnne's shop of these!)--they're the larger ones with the beadcaps on them.

When it was mostly completed I added few tchochkes: a Czech glass wheel bead in turquoise, one of my new round charms (textured on one side with a 1963 Hong Kong fifty-cent piece and on the other side with a Thai coin I can't identify-- I'm guessing it's from the 50s or 60s too), and a couple of textured copper bowls to sort of camouflage where the strands join the toggle loops (this is beaded with SoftFlex beading wire).

Here's a view of the other side of my round charm:

I'm digging these Asian coin textures.

This item is sold, and on its way to the East Coast today!

Interview with Lorelei Eurto (for Mostly Self-Serving, Opportunistic Reasons)

I was recently feeling some artistic growing pains, and feeling a little overwhelmed by the unfavorable free time:inspiration ratio in my life (too many ideas, not enough time). Jewelry designing seems to have awoken some latent ADHD in me, and focusing enough to actually create something had seemed beyond me for some weeks. So I decided to pick the brain of one of my favorite designers, Lorelei Eurto—she is constantly offering up new jewelry pieces on a pretty regular basis, they are all very unique and each obviously involve a lot of contemplation, and she also works a full time job. The first I aspired to, and the second two I felt we had in common, so I thought some input from her would probably be pretty relevant to my dilemma. She was kind enough to respond to my questions, and her answers were really helpful, mainly in sort of giving myself permission to let up on myself a little. With her permission, I’ve shared her insights below (my questions are in italics) into her own creative process, along with photos of some of her recent pieces. (To see more visit her Etsy shop, or her new Artfire shop; for information on the artists who make the art beads she uses, visit her blog). Hope you find it helpful too (especially those of you with the keeper day job and the jewelry gig on the side)!

What is your creative process? Do you plan somehow, what you create? Do you have production goals? (Like make X bracelets, or make X items using X beads you just got)? Or is it totally organic?
There is no science behind my motivation. You say you've been feeling really overwhelmed with too many ideas and not enough time to put them out there. What's the rush? I have the same issues. There are days when I cannot keep up with my fingers and I bead my heart out for hours on end and still don't complete everything I set out to do. But I don't put any pressure on myself ... I don't have a quota where I want to make so many bracelets, so many necklaces. 95% of the time, I sit down in my studio and I have no idea what I'll come up with.

This past year I have really gotten my name out there and have promoted myself in publications. But I have never been in this to make a ton of money. Beading is like therapy for me. It's my one creative outlet that helps me relax at the end of a long day. And if I can make something that will sell quickly so that I can buy more beads to make something else, then my goal has been reached. I have always just wanted to keep beading.



Do you complete a design in your head/on paper first, and then put it together? Or do the beads just talk to you?
A lot of my work revolves around art beads. Handmade beads and components make it easy to design around. I don't make a whole lot of jewelry that doesn't incorporate some sort of art bead in it. I have a very large collection of art beads. I hoard them. I think when I buy certain things from people, their hope is that I create something around their beads right away. But sometimes I sit on them for a while before creating anything because the ideas have to build up over time.

It's rare that I come up with an idea ahead of time. This happens occasionally but more with my art jewelry type of pieces. Like the necklace I did with the Alice in Wonderland theme. That piece happened slowly.



Do you work 40 hours/week? How do you balance studio time/time with your husband/other personal time?
I work 40 hours a week at the Museum. I work on jewelry in the evenings after dinner for a few hours. We go to bed fairly early so I'd say I don't bead past 9:30 pm generally. Sometimes I like to have stuff to list in my Etsy shop every day. If I take an evening off, sometimes I whip something up in the morning before I go to work. I get up at 6:00 am, and this is when a lot of business stuff happens. Packaging orders. Printing labels. Taking pictures of jewelry made the night before. Editing photos. Listing pieces on Etsy. Putting pics on Flickr and Facebook. I'm out the door to work by 8:45 am.

I do spend time with my husband during the week, when I take evenings off from beading. And on the weekends. I do create a lot on the weekends but Joe usually works on the weekends too so that gives me a lot of time during the day to get stuff made. We don't have a lot of plans generally.



My technique toolbox is pretty petite still, and I'm relatively new to the creative process, but I'm afraid I'm going to burn out from lack of direction. Any words of wisdom?
I'd say my technique toolbox is also petite. I find that I don't have to do a whole lot of fancy beadwork and wire work for my jewelry to sell well. Once you get into a routine, and a niche with your designs, you'll create what sells best.



Do you ever suffer from a lack of focus, and how did you deal with it? Any organizational aides you've developed that help you bring to life what's in your head?
There have definitely been times when the creative process falters. Where I feel overwhelmed and can't focus. When this happens, I walk away for a while. It doesn't take long, away from the studio, to get inspired again. My advice for you is to not put so much pressure on yourself. Put pressure on yourself after you've quit your job and are creating jewelry for a living...I am lucky in that I've got my dream job, and my dream hobby all wrapped up in one. I have no intentions right now to do jewelry full-time. That would feel too much like work and I'm not into making my hobby feel like work. It's supposed to be fun and relaxing and it's nice because there is no pressure. So take advantage of the fact that you have another job that pays the bills and treat the jewelry thing like your hobby.

Don't worry so much about techniques. Find your niche and continue with the designs that sell well. Get comfortable with this and then if time permits, try something new.