My creative space...

During my recent online travels, I came across Kirsty's blog.  Apart from creating cool stuff, taking gorgeous photos, and writing an interesting blog, Kirsty hosts 'My Creative Space'.


Every Thursday, artists and crafters from all over the world amalgamate on Kirsty's blog to show off what they're working on.  It's all a bit of fun, who doesn't love a sneak peek!  And I want to be part of it.  


So here is 'My Creative Space' today:

Now, usually I don't like to show you what I'm working on because (a) it may turn out to be a dud design, or (b) I may never get around to finishing it.  But by showing you a preview, I'm forced into (a) turning it into a success design, and (b) finishing it!  Win-win!


Pop on over to Kirsty's blog to see what other artists are creating today...


Be well!

Nicole's Birthday Giveaway

There are giveaways...and then there are GIVEAWAYS.


My good friend, the beautiful and talented Nicole Campanella, is having a GIVEAWAY to celebrate her birthday next month.  How nice is that!  Most people are happy to just sit back and receive things on their birthday...but not Nicole, she is giving something away on her birthday.


It's not often that you have the chance to win a piece of beaded art.  Check out this beauty:

Isn't it beeeeautiful!  I cannot even comprehend how Nicole begins to create something so amazing.  And I cannot even begin to comprehend how she can bear to part with it!


So you'll want to be a part of this giveaway.  Pop on over to Nicole's blog for your chance to win!

Solaris necklace...and another starfish

My latest custom orders have been shipped off to their new owners, and I'm still waiting with baited breath to find out whether they are happy with them.  The suspense is killing me!  I need to know that they love what I have created for them.  I need to know that I have read their minds correctly and have brought their vision to beaded fruition.


So whilst I'm waiting impatiently, I will show them here and ask what you think.


The client wanted a necklace to wear to the office.  She liked my 'Angelus' necklace but didn't want the large angel-like pendant hanging from the centre, and she wanted it in beige tones, not silver.  The result is a VERY simple necklace...so simple, in fact, that I had to ask my husband to tie my hands behind my back so I wouldn't embellish it anymore.  


Less is more, less is more, less is more...  


The Czech fire-polished beads in copper lustre add a little sparkle without being too over-the-top.  The finished necklace reminded me of rays of sunlight (ok, so you might need to squint your eyes...and use your imagination a little...), and so I have named her 'Solaris':

A sweet little seven year old is the recipient of the following necklace.  She loves the ocean and all its creatures, and turquoise is her favourite colour (well it is this week, but she reserves the right to change her mind...she is seven, after all).  So a starfish was in order.  But this starfish is different to my other starfish...because it has a backside!  It hangs from a looooong tubular herringbone rope so that the little darling can slip the necklace straight over her pretty head.  What seven year old wants to be fiddling with a clasp!  

I am still planning on offering a free tutorial for my starfish, particularly now that I have my swanky new 21.5 inch iMac complete with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and the works.  So I will try to squeeze it in somewhere between designing my website, fulfilling custom orders, creating new designs, entering competitions, looking after my two babies, loving my husband, cleaning the house, brushing my teeth... 


Did I mention that I've given up sleep?


Be well!

Welcome to my new blog!

I made it...I'm here!!!


I'm so pleased to be coming to you today from my lovely new blog.  Hip hip hooray!  


Time for me to do my happy dance...

Green is my colour, don't you think? ;-) LOL


You will note that every blog post from Bead Fetish has been transferred here.  What a relief that it worked!  I had visions of all of my precious blog posts being forever lost in cyber space, but here they are, safe and intact.  *phew*


After many hours of editing and formatting and fiddling in Photoshop, I finally designed a template that I was happy with.  And after many more hours of hair-pulling, frustration and tantrums, I finally got it successfully loaded here.  *big phew*


So what do you think of my new blog?  Like it?  Don't like it?  Am I missing anything?  I'd love to hear your feedback!

The tweaking will continue for another few weeks, so please bear with me.


Stay tuned for some photos of my latest works and works-in-progress!

From Bead Soup to Bracelet

I'm constantly amazed by the versatility of beads.  They can be manipulated into any look that your mind can devise and your hands can create.  They can be uniform, or they can be organic...they can be precise, or they can be natural.

I find the natural, organic look of freeform beadweaving so appealing, but it is not something which comes naturally to me.  In fact, it makes me feel rather uneasy.  My brain seems to skip the 'free' and instead focus on the 'form'.  How can something that looks so natural, feel so UNnatural?

Having recently acquired the informative, inspiring and visually stunning 'Beaded Colorways' by Beverly Ash Gilbert, I set off on a journey of free-spirited discovery.  I enjoy pushing my creative buttons whenever possible, and this exercise pushed them unmercilessly!  My orderly brain fought the randomness every step of the way, but I got there in the end.  

I began with a pile of warm, earthy bead soup:

And ended up with a bracelet...'Whisper of Autumn':

Hmmm...

Thanks for looking, and be well!

Cerulean Sunset

Colour...it is something I have obsessed about from an early age. And it is often where I draw inspiration when beading.

The dynamic and clashy combination of cobalt and orange has been haunting me for a few weeks now. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I started other projects, but my mind kept wandering back to cobalt and orange. I had to create something. And 'Cerulean Sunset' was it.

We are treated to the most beautiful sunsets here in Western Australia. I never tire of watching the sun set over the water, Mother Nature always puts on the most glorious show. I wanted to capture a little of that magic in this necklace...the last arc of tangerine sun gleaming on the horizon, and the cerulean sky above fading into twilight...

I knew that getting the colour proportions just right was the key to the success of this piece. I hope I've nailed it.

It is a weighty necklace...the large cobalt fire-polished beads are 10mm across. Almost a whole strand went into this necklace!

For me, this piece was also as much about the negative space as the positive. The space between, as they say...

This is a detail photo of the reverse side of the necklace...it can be worn either way, depending on whether you like your orange BRIGHT or BRIGHTER ;-)

The clasp, in my usual style, is a continuation of the rest of the design:

There is so much fun in colour. I admire beadweavers such as Margie Deeb, Marcia DeCoster and Rachel Nelson-Smith for their fearless approach to using colour. When I grow up, I want to be just like them ;-)

Inject a little colour into your own designs...be bold, be brave! And don't forget to have FUN :-)

Thanks for looking, and be well!