Friendship on my Bead Table

Bead Table Wednesday.  haven't done this in a while. 

Well, Gena, this sweetheart friend of mine, sent me a box full of surprises. I am not gonna show them all here, you will all be jelous. I  will be sure to show you them as I create with them though.

It came after a really stressful week.  I feel so behind, and tired, and then this little package of friendship came and cheered me right up.

One of the wonderful things she sent me, was this.

I have wanted one of her anciet pebble (or the tablet) beads for soooooo long!  I just never knew what I would do with one.  They are so gorgeous, and there is so much going on, how do you even begin to design around such a fabulous bead?

Well, this time, I got right to work. I wanted to feel this positive energy, this connection, this friendship in a very tangible way.  I wanted to wear this bead.

I had just finished a bronze fire, and had this piece lying around.

Oh yeah.  I had to pull out the purples.  So a garnet donut and some sari silk will do.

Finished product is on my neck now, and will probably be there all week.  Sorry ladies, this one is mine. 

Love it.  If you have to have one of Genea's beads for yourself, you can grab them here.

Bead Table Wednesday Art Bead Scene Challenge

I feel like it has taken forever to make my Art Bead Scene October Challenge piece!  My studio has been in such disarray that I couldn't even find my pliers to assemble this.  I have had all the pieces laying there, under other things that got piled on top, but just couldn't get in there to create it.  So, after a lot of cleaning, and organizing, and finding of the pliers, it is done and that feels SO MUCH BETTER!!!

Before I show you what I made, I will show you the picture its based on...........................

A Hedgehog in a Landscape, 1643-51

9¼ x 15 in. 23.5 x 38 cm. bodycolor on vellum

by Giovanna Garzoni

I could not wait to make a piece based on this painting.  Nature is such a big theme in my jewelry, that this was perfect!  I also really liked the muted color palatte....all neutrals.  I knew right away I wanted to use one of my fold formed leaves that I made, and some stones as well.  I also thought I'd make a bracelet this time, something chunky, but I couldn't get it to lay right, so it became a necklace, and I am glad it did!

So- I did end up using my fold formed leaf, a smoke fired bead by Artisan Clay, a nice slab nugget of fossil coral, one of my loopTloops in antiqued copper, some little drilled stones from a seller on etsy (I can't remember who, it was sooo long ago) and some awesome ribbon from Lisa Jurist~Mudhound Studio    on etsy.  I made the clasp and matching swirl link as well.  Once I wore this necklace, I ended up wiring the leaf and smokefired bead together so the leaf wouldn't flip....I guess the different weights of them kept making it hang funny.  I didn't get a pick of that, but its all on the back, so it doesn't really change the designs at all.  I really like the creams, browns and greys together and will probably do more pieces in these colors. 

So that is it, all thats on my bead table this wednesday.  Whats on your bead table???

October Art Spark

This months Art Spark Challenge at Love my Art Jewelry is Color and Movement.  Check it out here, because Mary Jane Dodd gives some great tips for ways to accomplish this in your jewelry, just to get you started.

One of the things she reccomended was creating a trapeze to invoke movement.  I really liked how you could take this simple idea and do it a million different ways!  I also enjoyed the challenge of adding movement to my jewelry, since my designs can flow visually, but be very static physically.  So for me, the challenge was to create flow in both areas. 

I made my trapeze, and wrapped the top with some great yellow recycled sari silk.  It added just the POP of color my piece needed.  After all, we can't forget about the color portions of the challenge.  If I haven't mentioned this before, I get my sari silk ribbon from Lisa Jurist or jmozart on etsy.  She hand cuts old sari's and sews the strips together to create these fantastic, organic, recycled, handmade ribbons!!!!  Check her out, you will find something you love, I promise.  Ok- back to the design.
From my trapeze I dangled one of my lentil beads, with a slight hint of yellow patina, added some copper beads and a piece sea glass that I drilled, then I added a nice dyed agate of some sort to one side, yet, it still needed more movement.  So I decided to make wire wrapped links, and connect them with large jumps, to allow them to move around.  Voila!  Just what it needed.  I added another sari silk (can you tell I just adore them???) and a handmade clasp. 

So here it is all finished up!  Hope you like it, and I also hope you will enter our challenge. There are some great prizes!!!  Push yourself to create more handmade in your pieces.  Make the clasp (here is a great tutorial by Cindy Wimmer on that), hammer some wire to make paddles, use some handmade beads to add color, and you are there!!!!  You CAN do this.  I started out simply stringing beads.  I never went to school for this.  Just try it.  The more of your jewelry that you make by hand, the more rewarding it will be, and I know you can do it.  We'd love to have you and your creations over at Love My Art Jewelry.  Hope to see you there!!!!

P.S.  each week we pick an artist to be highlighted, but the grand prize is chosen randomly.  (and we at LMAJ don't qualify to play)  So don't be intimidated, you have as good of a chance as anyone!