Sugarbeads, Round 2!

Patty and I brought back quite a stash for ourselves from Sugarbeads earlier this month. Here I'm just finally getting around to sharing it. XD

Pretty pink opaline glass beads and seed beads

Although I am really not a "pink" person, something about these interesting beads kept drawing me back to them. Probably part of it is that I really love opaline glass. Patty got some of these seed beads as well; the price was just too great to pass up and look how lovely they are! They've also got a nice lining and are consistent in size and shape in a way I've never had seed beads before. I am so looking forward to using these in projects.

I love these bunches of grapes and brass leaves

I plan to pair these glass grapes with Lucite grape leaves. They will look lovely, I think. :3 And those brass leaves, just gorgeous.

Pretty Czech glass flowers

Ignore my poor choice of backgrounds on this one. XD Patty found these adorable violets and we both fell in love with them. I also like the pink flowers (pink again, what the freak?!?!) because they are center drilled. You don't see that a whole lot.

These little acorns are darling!

I fell in love with these tiny acorn charms. Again, I think they would look rather splendid with some Lucite oak leaf beads. I got a slice of amber for layering, and then these two gorgeous Czech glass nautiluses. I have some in light green and brown already, but these were darker and earthier and I just love that grungy finish. :3

Sugarbeads also carries my favorite enameled copper wire, so I stocked up on that, too. So far I've already started a pair of earrings with those pink opaline glass beads and some antiqued brass filigree. They are so lovely and remind me of vintage turn-of-the-20th-century jewelry.

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Unfortunately, due to the craziness and misfortune going on here, I am going to go dark for a little while longer. It would be nice if I could get blogging again next week; we'll see. I know I just got back, but some more misfortune has visited us and I need to deal with that and come back refreshed. I haven't been able to make any jewelry, aside from the above-mentioned earrings---even those are unfinished---so there's not really a whole lot to update with. I'm hoping things are going to start improving. Fingers crossed! I will miss you all again. :( I may still read your blogs and comment, I just won't be updating mine until further notice. Again, very sorry. <3

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Tickle Me Tuesday: Recaps, oh my!

What's tickling me this Tuesday? I'm still so happy I got to meet up with Patty in Connecticut at the beginning of July. :3 We went to Sugarbeads again (really, I could just live there among all those pretties...), but Patty brought out a huge surprise for me. A package!

For those of you who don't know, Patty is an extremely talented lady---not just with beads, but with paper, decorating, and quilting, too. She's been sharing a bunch of her beautiful paper crafts on her blog (here and here, for example). Never in a million years, though, could I have imagined such a beautifully decorated parcel. Here's a sneak peek:

An owly! And an Emerson quotation, too!

 

What treasures awaited inside?

Just look how beautiful!

Wrapping in book pages, so clever!

Do you see the owlies?! It was all I could do to keep from going SQUEEEEEE!!!

AND she added some of her beautiful etchings and these gorgeous pearls. <3

You can imagine how truly honored and happy I was to receive all of these magnificent lovelies. ^__^

We did both forget our cameras when we met at the shop (what a pair we were!), but I'll be sharing my stash tomorrow. (After I clean my bead table, of course... haven't worked on anything in so long, and so the space has a habit of collecting odds and ends.) Patty already shared her beautiful new stash here. She found some fabulous little Czech glass violet beads that I think we both ended up getting. :3

Ah, shopping for beads... so much fun, 

especially, but especially, with good company. :)

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Bead Table Wednesday - Vintage on the Brain

It's Bead Table Wednesday again! This week, I've sure got some pretties for you. For the last week and a half, my bead table has been covered with vintage treasures just waiting to be repurposed into new treasures.

You know we moved recently. You may also remember from this post that the nearest city---though it's not very big---is full of old, old money. A lot of lovely pieces make their way into local antique stores and flea markets here. So you can probably imagine that I've been running around like a kid in a candy shop since we got here, gathering pretties to use! I love the vintage look and, when I can get my little grubbies on the real stuff, boy, I take it.

Lately, I've been particularly drawn to early- and mid-twentieth century faux ivory. Do you remember my faux scrimshaw tutorial? Yeah... it's sorta been a lifelong obsession... Hahaha! Anyway, below are my most recent finds: two carved Bakelite flower pendants, one with its necklace still intact; and a molded floral celluloid dress clip.

They are just so delicate and so beautiful; I love them. Now I've never had these kinds of materials before and had to do quite a bit of research to discover what they are. They're made out of very early plastics, some of the first ever made for the market. How awesome is that? Apparently Bakelite has become very valuable and sought after in recent years, too; not bad for a plastic! (I've just added some links with information on Bakelite and celluloid to my resource page, if you've got a hankering for a closer look.)

At the same antique store, I also found these lovelies: a small box of vintage beads/buttons and a grand piano key. The pendant on the right is a piece that was given to me by the owner of a gallery where I show my work. It is a glass and brass cabochon piece,  probably made in the transitional period sometime between the art nouveau and art deco periods in the early part of the twentieth century, although the snake was a very popular symbol in Victorian jewelry as well. I don't know too much about it but it caught her eye and she bought it and gave it to me to make something with. She's the person who first got me into working with repurposed vintage jewelry and components. I consider myself extremely lucky because she basically gave me a shoebox full of stuff and told me to go to town. :D

 

Again, at the same antique store, I found these vintage Avon lovelies. Meet my new friend, OwlFish!

I don't know what I'm going to do with him yet, but whatever it is, it's going to be fun!

It's been difficult working up my courage to actually work with some of these beauties, but I've finally overcome some of my fears. When I got the celluloid clip in the first picture, I bought another dress clip, too. It was a French brass filigree clip from the art nouveau period. I'm sorry I didn't get before and after pics, but here is the finished piece I made with it.

 

 I removed the clip back and folded the prongs down for balance, then used wire to fashion connectors to the back. After a TON of deliberation, I chose the turquoise bead to add because I love the look of brass and blue. :3 Then I used a color technique that I'll talk more about later this week and some antiqued brass chain to build the necklace around the piece. I really, really love the way it turned out.

Anyway! Phew... this post was longer than I thought it was going to be. XD

Please be sure to check out the awesome stuff that everyone else is sharing

for Bead Table Wednesday!

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New pieces, new pics

I'm not going to be around this weekend because of shows (so excited!), but I do have a book review coming up for you folks. (That is, if Blogger behaves itself...) I've been working up a storm to get ready, finishing pieces up and organizing things.

These are going to be displayed on my table, so the pictures are really more for documentation than anything. I've been so lazy with jewelry photographs lately... shame on me!

Anyway, there's going to be an army brass band at the market we're heading to tomorrow, and a pretty park on an island, so I'm really looking forward to it! I hope I don't get stuck at my table all day; while I love socializing and telling people about my work, I like to have the freedom of roaming around a little. Same goes for the show on Saturday, which is at the edge of a beautiful bay on Lake Ontario.

We're going to take lots of pictures! :3 So expect to hear all about it sometime early next week.

Have you all been having a productive few days? What are you up to this weekend?


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Been a Busy Bee

I've got shows coming up this weekend and next, and we're still in the process of moving. Ugh! So I've been working around the clock. There's still so much to get done, though.

Some projects are finished now. You'll recognize bits of these from my Bead Table Wednesday post a couple of weeks ago.

 

 I don't usually go in for the New Age stuff too often, but once in a while a piece just comes together so beautifully, you can't ignore the urge to make that vision a reality. And this piece came together like a dream.

And sometimes a piece comes together like a pain in the (*&)()^%$&%$##@#.

I had to remake that bracelet six times before it sat right on the wrist, and it still has a couple of issues. It's a commissioned piece, so there's not much I can do in terms of tweaking the design or choosing the materials. It was a necklace a friend wanted me to change into a bracelet. All I can say is that it wasn't too pleased about being taken apart and reformed, that's for sure.

Anyway, since I got off my lazy butt to actually do pictures and such, I'll have some more stuff to share this week. What have you all been up to? What are your plans and goals for the next five days?

I hope you all had a great weekend. :)

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Bead Table Wednesday (And a little Tickle Me)

Eep! I'm late getting my post up this week, and completely missed 'Tickle Me Tuesday" yesterday. XD What's tickling me this week is baby birds.

It's sad but, unfortunately, not all the babies make it. :( Josh Pyke wrote a beautiful song about this:

My bead table is a mess of partly finished projects, some in better state than others. You'll see bits of my electro-chemical etching supplies, all of my Tim Holtz keys and keyholes and clock gears/wheels, stamps, pirate stuff, antique keys, wire, my new translucent Sculpey (which I haven't tried out yet, but am really excited about!), my first polymer clay cabochons, some stones and beads I bought Monday on our trip to Sacket's Harbor, and so on.

(And more at the Bead Table Wednesday Flickr group)

It's a mess at the moment because I haven't had a chance to work or clean in several days because of the holiday and my sister's birthday, which we celebrated in Sacket's Harbor. I'll have pictures from that trip tomorrow. Lately, we've been doing so much stuff, I have too much to share on my blog! While I like to keep busy, I hope things calm down a little sometime soon.

How was your holiday weekend? Are you having a productive week, too?

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Things!

Because of a silly negligence on my part, the Mid-Monthly Themed Challenge Hop reveal date is postponed until Saturday, June 11th! Sorry about that, folks. This is definitely a learning experience for me! XD I'll post another reminder when there's a week to go. You folks are so nice and understanding!

The other thing I wanted to share with you concerns a cryptic email I received yesterday. It seems that Michaels craft stores have decided to join us in the 21st century and have just launched their own rewards card! ;D While I love to shop online for art beads and at small, ma-and-pa stores, I do also love Michaels. Heck, whoever sells beads has earned my love. Hahaha!.... Wait, does that make me a bead whore? D:

At any rate, looks like very exciting things---discounts, coupons, and special offers. I'm a dork and went right out yesterday to get my card. No purchase necessary, or you can apply online at the Michaels's Web site and have the card sent to you.*

 *This blogger was not compensated for this blurb, although she kind of wishes she was... in beads, of course.

I've been experimenting with electro-chemical etching and plating, and will have some stuff to show for it early next week. I don't know how much I like the process; it's messy and somewhat unpredictable (out of about thirty test pieces, only nine of them turned out), so I don't think I'll be sharing a how-to. At least, not until/unless I discover a better process. The pieces that turned out, though, are rather nice; they'll be posted sometime this week, along with some pirate-y things already promised.

AGAIN, don't forget! Memorial Day in the States means 21-gun salutes; be on the look-out for empty brass bullet casings---they can be used to make unique jewelry pieces! I've already promised my little brother a dollar for each one he brings me. ;) Ahhh, it's great when you can put the little ones to work for you, eh? Hahaha!

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!!! <3 <3 <3

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Massive Art Bead Scene Giveaway!!

Art Bead Scene is offering the biggest giveaway I've ever seen, and it's chock full of AMAZING things. Whoever wins is going to be the luckiest person in the world... at least for a while. XD

 

This is just one sampling out of DOZENS. I'm not even joking.

At any rate, there are three ways you can enter the giveaway. To participate and claim your chances to win, just visit their blog post here. And good luck!!

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Playdate and New Stash!

Yesterday's meet-up with Patty from My Life Under the Bus was so much fun!! She got all the fun pictures, but I have some sparklies and a new stash to share from the day out. ;)

We both arrived fashionably late and made our bleary-eyed way over to Starbucks for some lattes. She talked me into getting the most delicious cinnamon bun. It was yummmmm. Then we went all starry-eyed into a bright, beautiful bead store that contained so many pretties, it kept us enthralled for over an hour.

The shop of which I speak is called Sugarbeads and there are actually two locations in Connecticut. The ladies were super nice and the selection of stone beads, seed beads, beading materials, and Czech glass was phenomenal!

Apparently, I haven't mastered the art of holding the camera level. XD

I was so happy that they had the enameled wire I love; I've been looking for some of this stuff for months!

There were all kinds of filigree in all kinds of metals, so many different kinds of findings. I was definitely experiencing sensory overload.

*Drool!*

Still haven't mastered holding the camera level... I'ma blame in on my heavy purse!

When we were finally able to tear ourselves away from the bead store (our poor pocketbooks!), we had a lovely Bento Box lunch at a delightful little Chinese/Japanese restaurant tucked in a corner. It was delicious!

Now for the good part.... the stash!

 

Four different kinds of brass stampings,

pewter clasp that looks like ocean waves,

tiny stamped metal rectangles with floral embossments,

large copper flower bead caps,

blue AB-finished Czech glass grape leaves,

some pretty sand-and-water-colored swirly lampwork beads,

green frosted glass leaf beads,

three strands of tiny Czech glass faceted beads (frosted green and two kinds of violet),

dyed jade faceted rondelles in olive green (gorgeous!),

large carved dark magenta rounds,

four cloisonne owl beads,

a silvertone crab charm (for my fiancé),

two vintage-style brass fairy charms,

two spools of my favorite wire in different gauges and slightly different colors,

a spool of dark brown waxed linen (beautiful!),

and, last but not least,

a small set of multi-colored Czech glass that Patty and I thought were so pretty, we both had to get some!

We're each going to make something with these beads and

share them in our next Bead Table Wednesday post.

Stay tuned!

Did you all have a nice weekend?

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*We were not in any way compensated by the store for this feature, 

though I was tempted to bring a sign that says "Will blog for beads!"

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Bead Table Wednesday

Oh gosh, another week gone by. Snap!

This past weekend I engorged myself with beads and beady things. Michael's and JoAnn Fabric are both having huge and fabulous sales, so um... Yeah... I tried not to go too crazy! I really did!

I've also still been scrambling to get things done for my show Saturday. This means I will miss the big bead fest in King of Prussia this time around. :( Ah, well. There's always next time, right? And I do plan to attend at some point! It would be fabulous to meet people I admire in person! Anyway, the show also means I'm scrambling to take pictures of things before they're potentially gone. Why am I so lazy when it comes to taking pictures? Some of these are new, and some are very old that I just never got pictures of. They've been sitting out on my bead tray, so I figured I'd post them, too.

New stuff for the stash:

This is my first pendant made with annealed steel wire:

I went over it lightly with a wire brush, but it will probably need to be sealed before I do anything else with it. Anyone have any suggestions about this? I've heard Renaissance Wax is good, but have never tried it myself.

"Cross My Heart" bracelet, made with the last beads I bought at my favorite hometown bead store that just went out of business. :(

"El Dorado"; this is made with matte-finish goldtone connectors and sun stones! I love sun stones. They have such an exotic color and an understated sparkle.

"Rain Dancer," made with Marsha Neal Studio silk cording and some beautiful apatite rondelles and fluorite briolettes (this is a favorite!):

"Earth Bear":

I'm looking forward to having all these projects done and photographed! What are you all up to this week?


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Bead Table Wednesday

Is it Wednesday again already? Time comes and goes; sometimes I'm only vaguely aware of its passing because I'm too much involved with various things. But we all feel like that, don't we?

Not this weekend, but the next I will be in a show. It's the first of the year for me and very exciting because it is a jewelry-exclusive one and I'm just flattered to have been accepted into such fine company. I'm hoping it will be a great chance to meet other jewelry makers from my area and network. Maybe I'll even meet someone to bead with! That would be so fantastic. :)

Anyway, so my "bead table" has been a bit strained as of late while I try to scramble a bunch of stuff together. I didn't realize I had so many half-finished projects tucked into all my bags and boxes. At some point you have to tell yourself, "NO! You cannot start something new until you finish at least three of these already-started ones." So that's what I've been up to.

I found these old Scrabble tiles in a box inside my parents' garage last time I was home. We have a beautiful Scrabble set, so I'm not really sure where these came from, nor do I know what I want to do with them, yet. I also recovered that beautiful shell, which is used in Native American smudging rituals. We tuck bound sprigs of white sage in there to burn for cleansing. From the left: "Dream Walker" (was experimenting with different ways to wire-wrap tumbled stones; this is quartz and amethyst with an agate thrown in), "Slave Charm III" (inspired by amulets that pre-Civil War domestic slaves would carry to ward off evil spirits and later pray for freedom), and "Auberon" (I'm loving those little branch focals; this time with coral, green fire agate rounds, vintage filigree beads, and Vintaj bead caps).

These are the Pollyanna prisms (read: chandelier crystals) and antique key I mentioned in my Victorian inspiration post last week. I just took the old, nasty, rusted wire off the prisms and am looking forward to using these for something.

And now for something entirely different...

You could probably tell from my last giveaway that I've got ocean on the brain. The one on the right began with a complete accident. I was trying to make one of those wire cuff bracelets with the woven beads, but something went wrong with my design and I couldn't get the wire to work out properly. In exasperation, I set it down and stared at it for a few moments. To my surprise, a fish was staring back! So I took some of the Marsha Neal Studio silk and made some wavy, fin-like flowy loops and then found some suitable oceany-colored beads, and then a sorta-kinda-almost a fish-hook-like hook (does that even make sense?), and voila! It's artsy and chunky and I love it. :3 This is also the first time I've ever fashioned a clasp of my own! Yeah, I'm a bit late to the party...

The middle one is a focal that I don't know what to do with, yet. (Yes, another half-finished project...) It was made with a huge blue stone bead that I bought at a bead store back in my college town before we moved away (*sniffle*), so I've had it for a while. Don't you think it is the perfect match with that beautiful pewter Green Girl Studio pendant, though? It's like the mermaid is peacefully drifting in the depths of the sea. The one on the far left was made with (believe it or not!) leftover beads.

This one is the most recent finished piece. It fits in with Andrew Thornton's theme this week: "Flight."

This one is special. It takes me right back to childhood, when we would sit out on our porch at dusk on muggy summer nights. The fireflies would be just starting to twinkle their little green lights in the meadow at the edge of our yard. All the moonflowers would unfurl their white petals, gently fragrant in the moonlight. And, across the road where an old school house stood dilapidated for ages, hundreds of birds (mostly swallows and sparrows and pigeons) would make a nightly dance. They would circle and swoop and flitter around, sometimes swinging so low, they'd touch the tall grasses with their wingtips. Then, all at once, they would descend upon the school house and disappear into all the cracks and nooks and broken windows until dawn would find them again the next day. That is what this necklace is about---that unfettered night joy, after a long beautiful sunny day, of coming home again to rest.


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Creating Worlds: Giveaway 2!

It is hard to believe that, even a week ago, there was a thick sheet of ice over all the waterways around here. All the snow is melting now, birds and bunnies have reemerged. Growing things are turning green again.

I had promised a second giveaway, and here it is! This time, it is a sea theme. Sailors in the old days had quite active imaginations. They shared a love/hate relationship with the sea; they couldn't stay away, but they didn't trust it to keep them safe. Old sea charts are riddled with the illustrations of imagined sea monsters and merfolk. Tales were passed down through the generations of wild experiences on the waves, sights glimpsed through fog that ignited speculation, heirlooms and stories of mystical things and places.

Jewelry can capture these sorts of sentiments; certain materials spark the imagination in the same way. So, for this giveaway, I am offering the following.

A strand of light blue glass tube beads, four blue faceted pearls, eighteen green/brown resin beads, one of the lime magnesite slabs I won from Rings&Things, ten black mother-of-pearl discs, four dark blue-green Czech glass beads, two artisan lampwork beads handmade by the extremely talented Copperrein, and a beautiful pewter mermaid charm from Green Girl Studios.

 

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment here telling me your favorite thing about the sea!

For up to three extra entries, repost about this giveaway on your own blog, Facebook, and/or Twitter.

I will be accepting entries until the morning of Sunday, March 27th.

The winner will be announced at 6 PM EST on Sunday.

Good luck, everyone!

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