Friendship

There are certain people you meet in life who will touch your heart like no other.  


Sharon is one of those people.


The stars aligned one day and our paths crossed in this big ol' blog-o-sphere, and she has been a friend and an inspiration ever since.  


It was Sharon's jewellery that first captured my attention...her soulful, inspired creations were gorgeous, and her wire wrapped bracelets were unlike anything I had seen before.  Her talents lie not only in creating jewellery, but in graphic design also.  She has recently started a graphic design shop on Etsy named Plumrose Lane (so sweet, I love that name!), and through her inspiring blog she offers the MOST beautiful blog backgrounds, and tags, and all sorts of treasures.


Sharon has recently made the difficult decision to close down her handcrafted jewellery shop on Etsy, Mana Moon Studios.  Every beautiful piece of handcrafted jewellery is marked down by 75-85%.  So many beautiful treasures at bargain prices.

I couldn't resist this bracelet, Coral Horizon...as soon as I saw it I just knew that it had to come and live with me...

It is so vibrant and joyful in real life, I don't think I've stopped wearing it since it arrived...

And as I dug deeper into the parcel, I was confronted by a most wonderful and generous surprise...

...seed beads!  But not just a few packets...

...LOTS of packets...

...and the deeper I dug...

...the more I found...

...and then I started to cry...

...somewhere between here...

...and here...

...because I was completely overwhelmed by Sharon's amazing generosity, and kindness, and heart.  

If I wasn't already crying after opening this wonderful package, I certainly was after reading the beautiful, heartfelt card Sharon wrote me.

Thank you, my friend...for being beautiful right to your very soul ♥♥♥

~*~

Aside from thanking my lucky stars for having such wonderful friends, I also had the chance to crank up the torch this weekend and try my hand at silversmithing.  More on that later!


Thanks for looking, and be well!

My creative space...

Wow, Thursday again...already?!


Last Thursday's creative space necklace and earrings set is finished and winging its way to its new owner as we speak.  But more of that in another post. 


Time to peek inside my studio to see what I'm working on today...


This custom order began with bead soups I mixed together in shades of white, emerald, aquamarine and sapphire (to represent the birthstone colours for the months of March, May, June and September...a sweet sentiment, don't you think!)...

The aforementioned bead soups are being woven into a beautiful freeform bracelet:

I love these colours...so serene, tranquil...

To see what other artisans are creating today, head on over to Kirsty's blog.


Thanks for looking, and be well!

Sea glass pendant

It has been a long, long three months without my precious beads. How happy my hands were to rediscover beadweaving after such an arduous absence! Life is once again returning to a steady, familiar rhythm, and so I am able to bead. Joy!

My latest humble offering is pendant of sea glass hanging from a simple twisted tubular herringbone necklace.

Have you ever wandered along a beach and collected a piece of tumbled glass which has been washed upon the shore? It has been a favourite ritual of mine since I was a child. There is something enchanting about these remnants of times and places unknown, offered up by the sea and carved by Mother Nature. Not knowing where they have come from, nor how long they have been tumbled by the ocean, is an enticing mystery.

This particular piece of green sea glass had a story to tell and so I had to give her a fitting home in which to tell it.

I added a simple fringe, reminiscent of coral or seaweed.

I purposefully left the back of the pendant open. When backlit, the glass gives off a beautiful green glow.

A simple toggle with three square-stitched rings makes the length of the necklace adjustable.

I encased the sea glass with right angle weave and peyote stitch. The openness of the RAW lets the glass receive light from all angles.

My sea glass necklace is making it's way to a lovely lady who has been a family friend since I was a child. She is one of the most vibrant and generous people I have ever known, and her heart is as big as her smile :) She spent countless hours making a gorgeous cot quilt for my daughter and so I wanted to repay her with a small token of my gratitude. This particular piece of sea glass was found on the beach very near to her home, and so I feel it needs to be with her. I hope she likes it :)

Wind Dancer

When I was researching the humble hummingbird for this piece, I came across many stories of love and romance associated with these 'flying jewels'. One story I found particularly touching was an Apache myth about a young warrior named Wind Dancer. He could not hear, but he sang enchanting, wordless songs which brought fine weather and good health to those who heard him.

One day, he came across a young woman called Bright Rain who was being attacked by wolves. He rescued her and they fell in love. Shortly afterwards, Wind Dancer was attempting to rescue someone else and was tragically killed :(

His death heralded a terrible, bitter Winter which threatened the lives of many. The bitterly cold weather only ceased when Bright Rain started taking long solitary walks. Tribal elders discovered that her beloved Wind Dancer had been reborn in the form of a hummingbird, and appeared to her in fields of spring flowers. He would whisper magical secrets in her ear, and this brought her peace and joy.

After reading this touching story, Wind Dancer seemed an appropriate name for this piece. I'm always a sucker for a good lurve story :)

Hummingbird detail:

Fabric backing:

Clasp detail:

As you can see, after all my umming and arring, I went with a very simple clasp. Anything more would have been too OTT (over the top), me thinks.

So, one UFO (UnFinished Object) bites the dust...now onto the next one. Stay tuned!

Progress

The going is slow on my hummingbird collar, but I'm pleased to report that all I have left to complete is the clasp. And therein lies my dilemma...I have no idea what sort of clasp this piece *needs*. A bead-embroidered clasp? An S-clasp or toggle clasp? A bead-woven clasp? Any suggestions gratefully accepted!

Suggestions for boys names are also being accepted ;-) LOL

Here is the collar with the completed fringe:

And a close-up of the fringe:

I thought I would try a vertical, rather than horizontal, picot edge on this collar. Mostly to hide the foundation from showing through in a couple of places. I'm fairly happy with the result.

Paradise in Purple (Heather's Garden)

I can finally post some photos of my latest creation. It was a hush-hush project, a Christmas present for my wonderful Mum :) And as she's my biggest fan, she's a frequent visitor to my blog (Hi Mum!) and I didn't want to spoil the surprise before Christmas.

So here it is...Paradise in Purple (Heather's Garden):

It is a bead embroidered choker-style necklace. Many, many hours work. It probably didn't help that I changed my mind at least three times during the process about what I was making...it started as a collar, then became a pendant, and ended up being a choker in it's final manifestation. Nooo, I'm not indecisive...maybe...

It includes some flowers made with simple fringing, a scattering of peyote leaves, and many different types of beads...and even a few... *gasp* ...sequins! I can hear almost hear the beading purists hissing at that admission. I'm not a bead snob, I use whatever works. So bite me!

I wanted to add something to the ends of the ribbon...they looked rather sad in their unadorned state. A jumble of mauve seed beads did the trick. I'm pleased with their berry-like appearance.

I used cotton fabric for the backing as I think it adds something special to the piece. Why shouldn't the back look as good as the front! As recommended by the lovely and always knowledgeable Bianca, rather than gluing the fabric straight to a felt backing (as I did in 'Hope Has a Place'), I used a layer of fusible interfacing between the fabric and the felt. It worked a treat! The finish is much nicer and fraying is not a concern as the edges of the fabric were first folded over and ironed flat. I just love the mind-boggling range of beautiful fabrics available, so it's a thrill that I can use them to good effect in my bead embroidery creations.



I'm pleased to report that Mum loves her new necklace. So much so that she's going to eat, sleep and shower whilst wearing it :)

Shaken, not stirred

*Cue James Bond theme music*

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words 'spy movie'? For my husband, it was HANDCUFFS. Read into that what you will... LOL

I had to agree with him that beaded handcuffs would perfectly suit last week's Year of Jewellery theme on the Beading Forum...SPY MOVIE!

Ever since buying Carol Wilcox Wells book 'The Art & Elegance of Beadweaving', I'd been wanting to try dimensional right angle weave (the book features a project for some fantastic 3D RAW beaded beads). Using the same technique from the book, I set about creating my beaded handcuffs.

With the usual week-long deadline looming, I had to simplify the design greatly. In fact, I was so short of time that I only managed to create the handcuffs, when I had been planning to make them into a necklace.

Here is the end result - made entirely of size 11 czech seed beads in 3D RAW and tubular peyote:



And a different angle which better shows the 'dimensional' part of the cuffs:



And yes, I'm aware that the handcuffs have no keyhole...I realised that fact by the time it was too late to add them... *doh* Ah well, there's no escaping these handcuffs ;) *mwahahahahah*

Despite much unpicking, hair-pulling, and learning as I went along, I'm keen to experiment further with 3D RAW. It has infinite possibilities. It's a technique which allows you to create structures that are not possible with any other stitch.

Sunflowers

Here is my latest and greatest.

Entitled 'Sunflowers', it was inspired by the sunflowers series of paintings by the master, Van Gogh. And predictably, it was made for another YOJ challenge on the Beading Forum...yes I know, I know, I'm an addict!

I started the large sunflower on Wednesday night, and the entire necklace was finished by Sunday morning. How's that for efficiency! Well, I haven't been getting much sleep lately with a teething 10 month old terror, so I figure I should make the most of my late nights by doing something constructive.

At this point, I'd like to thank my ever-supportive husband for putting up with my beading madness over the last few days. This necklace was BEGGING to be made, and it would still be a work in progress if it weren't for him. Thanks darling! *mwah*











I'm toying with the notion of entering it in the Bead & Gem Show Competition this year. However, as I only started beading earlier this year, I've never even been to the Sydney show and have no idea what the level of competition is like. Anyway, I may just try my luck...

Dracula's Tango

And finally, hot off the press, we come to my very latest completed piece...for yet another Beading Forum challenge (*Hello, my name is Belinda. I am a Beading Forum addict. It has been 2 days since I made a piece for a Beading Forum challenge...*)

This is without doubt the largest and most time consuming project I have tackled thus far. This little beauty clocked up at least 25 hours of work...mostly late nights while my munchkin was sleeping.

It was made using bead embroidery techniques...countless black seedies, a few red ones, black bicones, red glass drops (which have an uncanny resemblance to blood *mwahahah*) and *gasp* a couple of sequins for added bling.

As always, I wanted to avoid the usual cliches (bats, coffins, crosses, etc) and make something worthy of one of Dracula's innocent young conquests.

Embarrassingly, the name is inspired by a REALLY bad 80's song. I have no idea how that song found it's way onto my iPod...honest!











I'm quietly chuffed with this collar. Now if only I could wrangle a romantic dinner with my gorgeous hubby so I can wear it out...

Lemon Lime & Orange - a trip down psychedelic lane

Warning: please don your sunglasses now prior to scrolling down to view the following photos. In the event of blindness, dizziness, or a psychedelic trip...you were forewarned...

Another fabulous challenge on the Beading Forum...this one was too good to pass up, Freeform Psychedelic Stream.

I'd never tried freeform before and was itching to give it a go, although somewhat apprehensive as to how my orderly brain would cope with the 'free' part of freeform. As it turned out, I had a riot of fun making this cuff and it was a great experiment in colour and form. I enjoyed it so much that I am in the process of making a second in pinks and purples (at the request of a fellow forum member).

I named my cuff Lemon Lime & Orange...for obviously reasons...

Got those sunglasses on yet?

I really love the textural element of this cuff. Being a very tactile person, I lurrrrve how it feels.