Shell Game

I'm totally into shell beads lately--silver, slate blue, cinnamon, creamy white, tropical blues and greens:

Sold

Cinnamon and Cream

Slate Blue Skies

Fan Club

Butterfly Wings

A Little New Stuff

Hello everybody! I took a little break from jewelry (the Muse was apparently doing other things!) but I'm slowly working my way back into it. I thought I'd start with some earrings--baby steps! I thought I would use my small supply of enamel elements as inspiration:

Here is a pair with some lime-hued sand dollars from Anne Gardanne:

Raspberry Lemonade

The little glass beads right above the sand dollars are lampwork spacers in "jonquil" by Michelle at The Spacer Bead Shop on Etsy (she took a break for a few years, so glad she's back! Crazy-huge assortment of colors and sizes). The little berry-colored beads are itty bitty pearls. I used a mixture of copper and argentium silver (a low tarnish type of sterling) here--the earwires are argentium silver.

This pair is built around a couple of enameled keyhole elements in pretty powder blue and mauve, also by Anne Gardanne:

Blue Jeans and Rosy Cheeks

I used copper and silver again, leaving the rosy coloration on the headpins from the torch. (If I pickle them in salt and vinegar after torching them, it takes off the black, but not the pink--yay!). The other beads are lampwork (above the keyholes), moukaite jasper, and etched glass seed beads.

Here is my other set of sand dollars, in sky blue and rusty red, again with copper and silver, lampwork glass spacers in baby blue, and pretty Indonesian glass beads in shades of deep red.

Blue Sky Sand Dollars

The little silver beadcaps are the ones I make with my hand punch from silver sheet.

Lastly, this pair is lampwork glass and Czech "Picasso" glass flowers, with just argentium silver. I liked the different glass beads together so much I couldn't resist, and I've never used these little flower beads before!

Farewell to Summer

I guess I was feeling nostalgic for summer...It's pretty cold here in the Rockies!

OK, that's all for now, I wish you a peaceful evening!

Southwest Heart Necklaces Are Back!

I have finally bowed to public pressure and have created another batch of my "Southwest Heart" pendants. (For a while after my first batch, I never wanted to see them again but I guess I got that out of my system. Plus I'm a little less tired now that my work load at the day job has evened out some, so I have some energy for creating.) I tweaked the design just a bit, but overall it is essentially the same:

Southwest Hearts 2018

I varied them slightly to keep myself entertained.

I have also created a small selection of coordinating bracelets:

As well as earrings:

If Southwest is your bag, stop by and check it out!

Buttons

What is it with me and anything shaped like a coin? (Except for actual coins?) Buttons activate some kind of primal gluttony in me for small, disc-shaped items. And then this happens:

And this:

Gray Skies

And even this:

Mother of Pearl

And then I just bought some more...I guess a button addiction is more economically sustainable than, say, a Faberge egg addiction.

Y's, Happy Fish and White Clover

Spring in the Rockies
(SOLD)

Hello there, adoring fans. In case you were wondering, I'm still working my way through my artisan ceramic stash, most recently using some fab stoneware tubes in sea green glazes by Jana Bližňáková of Happy Fish Things. I'm intrigued by Y necklaces (I think they're sexy and I'm all about that) so I thought I would do really elongated shapes with these. For the necklace above, I topped Jana's stoneware tube with an icy tablet of recycled glass from Happy Mango Beads (clear, with just the barest hint of a fluorite-type green), and dangled a few carved amethyst tulips underneath. It says SPRING to me!! I was playing with some dragonfly-wing shapes with copper wire, and initially thought it was going to form one side of the necklace, but then I liked it so much as part of the pendant section I left it there. I added some more clear glass nuggets to the necklace portion, and two long strands of gorgeous little seed beads in pearly lavender. (I'm really into stringing seed beads lately, I love the look).

Glacial Lakes
(SOLD)

For this one, I hit the turquoise hard. (I love these variegated nuggets I got from a local bead store several years ago--I will be beside myself when I run out.) I kept it simple, with leather and copper. Recycled glass tablet in azure from Happy Mango Beads.

Caribbean Adventure

I went all cool greens with this one, with recycled glass rounds and discs (the latter from Happy Mango Beads) in sea green, little rectangular nuggets of pale amazonite in iceberg hues, and a dollop of green dragon blood jasper (the rondelles at the end). I kept it earthy with leather and chubby seed beads in deep cocoa brown.

I'm Going to Sandals

For this one, I was inspired by some ombre-shaded seed beads I found at Michael's, so I decided to do three strands of them (when I love something, I REALLY love it), with a pair of my hand-formed tulip ends. I stacked up some recycled glass discs from Happy Mango Beads in sea green, "Capri blue" and powder blue under the stoneware tube, and then completed the pendant section with a large tablet of faux sea glass in a light azure from Stinky Dog Beads. The wrapped loop I made for the sea glass pendant seemed to need something, so I wrapped it in a bunch of waxed linen cording and more seed beads. Always remember, more is more.

Morning Alpenglow
(SOLD)

And lastly, having used up my set of four Happy Fish tubes, I grabbed a gorgeous little porcelain pendant by Mary Hubbard of White Clover Kiln from my stash--I'd been wanting to use this little gem forever but just didn't have any ideas that seemed worthy of it. It fit right inside this wrapped ring I had made a long time ago for I-don't-know-what. Just futzing, I guess. I didn't want it to get too frothy with the pink, so I used Botswana agate (LOVE that stone) to draw out the gray and slatey violet tones in the swirls of the pendant, and added dark cocoa leather to ground it. I added some 3mm round beads at the ends--I think most of these are also Botswana agate, but I mixed in some rhodochrosite for a little extra pink. A dash of silver seemed right too.

Well that's all I got. I have another set of three tubes from Jana, that are a more vivid green--they remind me of bamboo. I think I'm going to use those horizontally...stay tuned!

Pendants with Happy Fish Things!

I have embarked on a mission to use up my two bins (ahem) of ceramic artist components--first up, Jana Bližňáková of Happy Fish Things and Happy Fish with Heart! I decided to knot them--I find knotting so meditative! Needed a little of that.

This was the first one I made, with one of a pair of Jana's feather/wing-like elements (with their size and lightness, you could use them for fabulous earrings too, but I wanted to make them go farther, and I thought they'd be great in a more petite necklace). I just love the fine black tracery in the glaze. Sublime! I combined it with a pewter heart connector from Happy Mango Beads, Indonesian glass beads in variegated turquoise (also from Happy Mango--aren't they fabulous? I love how obviously handmade they are), blackstone nuggets, transparent straw-hued Delicas, sterling silver, black Greek leather and waxed linen cording.

Heart Takes Flight

Here is the second one--I had these wonderful Czech glass leaves in autumn tones hanging out in my workspace (where did I get those???...) and when I saw them together, I had to do it! I went back to my Happy Mango turquoise seed beads for a splash of matchy-matchy, added a little Red Creek jasper and a couple of carved black horn feathers, and finished the stringing with glossy black 1 mm leather cord and 11/0 matte black seed beads. I anchored the ends to a pair of my hand-textured silver connector rings, adding some nut brown 2 mm Greek leather with my coil ends, and a short length of sterling silver connector chain terminating in one of my hand-forged sterling hook and eye clasps. Sterling silver accent beads.

Autumn on the Wing
(sold)

I also had two of these fantastically delicate cherry-blossom-style pieces of Jana's left in my ceramics bin (I had only used one so far). The glaze on this one was a bit lighter than the other--a soft teal fading into a diaphanous sea green. It reminded me so much of the sea, I thought some recycled glass rounds with their sea-glass feel would be a nice addition, and I had some in a lovely celadon that went nicely with the glaze. I decided to stay with lighter colors, knotting it all together with Irish waxed linen cording in ivory, and adding Czech Picasso 3-cut glass seed beads in sea green and cobalt blue from Stinky Dog Beads. For a second it was a tossup between teal Greek leather and this lovely mint -- the mint seemed to make the whole thing pop more so I went with that. It's finished the same as the pieces above, with connector rings, coil ends, and extender chain. (That's a dollop of kyanite on the clasp ring.)

Serenity Now! Right Here Under My Beach Umbrella

The other cherry blossom was in slightly more saturated, vivid hues of turquoise and teal, so I used bolder colors. I'm obsessed with these Czech "wampum" beads from Stinky Dog Beads (they make the most wonderfully mellow clacking sound as they move together). I love the Southwest palette! I added black accents to ground it--black Indonesian glass nuggets from Happy Mango (I love the soft sheen on them), more of my 11/0 matte black Japanese seed beads from Fusion Beads, black Irish waxed linen cording, and black Greek leather--and of course sterling silver (I love that little star jasmine charm--it makes me think of a marshal's badge!). The sweet little Czech glass bird bead is also from Stinky Dog Beads.

Marshal Miss Kitty

I had two of these lovely crackle-glaze medallions in teal and turquoise tones--I love Jana's muted flower pattern, it makes me think of a batik. I thought the vibrant glaze could hold its own against some genuine turquoise, so I went to my favorite blocky turquoise heishi and paired them with garnets--I adore turquoise and garnets together! It's sort of a twist on the traditional Southwest palette, I guess. I love the juxtaposition of the opaque, matte turquoise with the translucent glossy garnets. To bring in some lightness, I teamed them up with vintage Ghanaian glass seed beads in ivory from Afrobeadia, sterling silver, matte black 11/0 seed beads, black waxed linen cord and black Greek leather.

Star Power

This is the other medallion. I wanted to go warm with it, so I pawed through my enormous bin of Indonesian glass beads from Happy Mango until I found my favorite ones, in cocoa brown with stripes of pumpkin, saffron and ivory. To echo the teal in the medallion, I added large and small Indonesian glass beads in translucent teal (from Happy Mango Beads) and 11/0 Japanese seed beads in a similar color; and riffing off the colors in the brown striped beads I added more 11/0 seed beads in a warm maize color, Ghanaian seed beads in ivory, a few 8/10 seeds in root beer brown here and there, and deertan lace in a golden buff color. I added a pewter Celtic knot bead from Happy Mango, and finished it off as I did the others, with sterling silver rings, coils, chain and hook-and-eye clasp. (That little Czech glass flower in teal on the clasp is from Stinky Dog Beads.)

The Warm and Cool of It

I have more awesome stuff of Jana's left--this is what's on my worktable now:

The Glory of Summer

Summer
(sold)

I designed this necklace--believe it or not--around the little blue multi-striped beads around the bail. I had made a bracelet with them, and loved using them so much, I wanted to use them again in a necklace. Aren't they darling? (And of course they are from Happy Mango Beads, my go-to bead store--and they have more!! Just click the link above, or below the picture below.)

Indonesian Glass

So off I went to excavate all my blue, yellow and orange beads to find the elements for my necklace. I knew it was meant to be when I found this spectacular enamel butterfly in my stash, from Gardanne Beads.

The lady has a way with enamel, no?

I went with copper, because I love the warm/cool contrast, and chose a little of this and that to go with my beads and my butterfly--a cultured sea glass nugget from Stinky Dog Beads in cornflower blue, a spotted, etched lampwork spacer in a similar shade (it worked great as part of my bail!) from Julie Miller Glass, blue kyanite ovals from Lima Beads, recycled glass tulips in vivid yellow from Afrobeadia, seed beads from here and there, and tiny copper torpedo beads from Monsterslayer.

I wanted to really make a statement with that butterfly, so rather than simply using the holes for stringing, I created a couple of yoke type contraptions from heavy copper wire, and attached them to the butterfly with copper headpins. I attached my beaded necklace portion (strung on Softflex) through a lampwork spacer--they have nice big holes, and the beading wire goes right through there. I was thrilled that it worked! I wanted to echo the yokes a bit in the chain portion, so I made some bar chain links, just by hammering more heavy copper wire, and making holes with my trusty Beadsmith hole punch pliers. I added a simple second strand of delicate copper chain, with another kyanite oval.

(I don't mean to brag, but the blue in that butterfly is the color of the clear skies up here in Montana--shocking, nearly cobalt blue overhead when you're out hiking.)

I don't usually use these colors--bright blue or bright yellow--but it was fun!

Happy rest-of-the-Summer to you!

Red Planet 2.0

Red Planet 2.0
(sold)

I liked a good friend's suggestion to add some turquoise to my "Red Planet" bracelet (see previous post), and so tossed some in--love it! I loved it so much, I couldn't help but create a necklace with the same feel and most of the same materials.

For the focal, I used a ring of copper I made several months ago as an experiment, and a heart-shaped raku bead from Spinning Star Studio. The raku bead has a hole in the upper left, but I felt when it was hanging sideways that way, it didn't resemble a heart so much as a mystery polygon. I decided to fill the hole with some turquoise on a headpin, and then created a bail for it with some wire. I like it this way much better!

Here is the revised "Red Planet" bracelet with a dash of turquoise added in:

I liked it before, but I think I like it better now.

Ta for now! Off to the gym. Yuck.

A Picasso Bender

Yes, I've been binge beading. Look:

Mad. MAD, I say, for that Czech Glass

I have the most fabulous stash of Czech Picasso finish glass beads from Stinky Dog Beads. They look like stone. A stone formed in heaven. By Czech angels. And wouldn't you know, they go with all the other Picasso finish glass beads? It all works together, regardless of color. (Those cursed Czechs and their infernal bead sorcery!!! I am enslaved.) This bracelet is formed almost entirely of Czech glass beads, and a whole whack of those are from Stinky Dog Beads--the dangling lentils (LOVE those), the big faceted turquoise rondelles, the seed beads, the little aqua three-cut rondelles, the funky little dark red baroque bicones, and the little turquoise birdie. The fat little copper spacers are from Afrobeadia on Etsy, and the toggle clasp is one of my own hand-forged elements.

I decided to make a coordinating necklace from some tiny Czech Picasso bugle beads I'd had for a while--the pendant is green magnesite and the little oval stone at the end is red creek jasper. Peaceful, no?

Serenity Now

And some earrings with a tassel technique I just learned (the beadcaps are mine, and the lampwork is from one of my favorite Etsy stores, which is now closed--BOOOO!!!!!!):

Shake Your Rustic Groove Thang

I also made these (also on a secondary bracelet binge, which I think I'm over). The first one is designed around some happy and fun striped Indonesian glass beads from Happy Mango Beads, seed beads and kyanite ovals from I don't know where, a sea glass nugget from Stinky Dog Beads, and a little yellow tulip from Afrobeadia (and one of my clasps again):

Summer Fun

This one has a gypsy flair to me. Again I started with Indonesian striped glass (these ones are very earthy and subdued) from Happy Mango, fashioned them into a rolo-type chain, and riffed off the colors in the beads for the remainder of my elements:

Gypsy

This one began with dark brick red Indonesian glass (yes, from Happy Mango), and I built off of those adding some translucent amber Czech glass, smoked glass seed beads, brown lip shell, and bronze and red pearls (my clasp again):

Red Planet
(sold)

(I'm actually thinking of adding a tiny dollop of turquoise to it--a good friend suggested that and I thought it would be spectacular.)

I also made another bracelet but I have grown to hate it so much (I only hated it a little when I first made it so I decided to take the high road and let it live), I think I am going to take it apart. It is an abomination of the Strawberry Shortcake variety (the worst kind). I can't even bear to show you.

Sun

Sun

I designed this piece around a pewter sun totem from Happy Mango Beads. These are my favorite totems at HMB! They make me happy. I made another bead frame for it (think I'm done with the bead frames for a while, just wanted to experiment a little), and ended up going with a kind of classic Southwest palette. (I originally was going to try a kind of autumn palette--olive green, goldenrod and brick red--combined with turquoise but it just wasn't working for me.)

I combined the turquoise with a wonderful etched red agate cylinder from a local bead store, some little yellow jasper rice-shaped beads, and a twisted oval of red agate. I added some wrapped silver bars, lacing I cut from a big swatch of saffron-colored, luxuriously-napped suede, and some burly sterling silver rolo chain.

I guess there's a reason this color scheme is a classic--it plays very nicely together! It feels good to use some of my silver, and break into new beads and other supplies. I am LOVING my Gentec mixed fuel (MAPP and oxygen) torch (now that I'm no longer afraid of it and have gotten all the connections together without leaks). What a difference having the right flame makes! (I am also excited to have gotten a fume extractor--my fan-aimed-toward-the-open-door approach wasn't working very well.)

Turkey and mashed potatoes are calling my name so I have to go (no, you didn't miss Thanksgiving.)