Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Still Inspired...

Still on an inspired kick of creating with ribbons and cords, I have two more pieces to share with you...


I connected a piece of aqua silk ribbon purchased from Marsha Neal Studio to a set of washers from Old Forge Hardware that I textured. This added in a fun contemporary element. I used crimp covers to secure the ribbon in place giving it a nice finished look, complementing the washers.


Staying true to my love of modern and nature, I used a variety of natural beads including wood and a really cool salwag nut and gorgeous teal magnesite, adding in white brass spacers and a textured metal tube to give the piece a bit of contemporary flair.

The second piece I created was with handmade polymer clay beads by Karyn Lewis Bonfiglio of Plus Size Bangles. As I mentioned in an earlier post about summer inspiration, aqua and turquoise have been my go to colors this season. I just can't seem to get enough of these serene hues!




After sliding the beads onto the cord, I tied an overhand knot at each end to secure them in place and add a decorative element. I finished the ends with knots and silver spacers to give some weight to it. Simple, modern, pretty. Perfect for summer!


Monday, June 25, 2012

Assortment of Fibers Winner...Take Two

I selected another winner for my "assortment of fibers giveaway", due to not being able to get in contact with the first winner Beadrecipes. The new winner is: Katalina Jewelry

To encourage people to try adding ribbons and cords into their jewelry designs, I thought it would be fun to give away an assortment of fibers! I randomly selected a number from the comments left on my previous post for the Bohemian Inspired Jewelry blog hop.

Please contact me with your address so I can ship out your lovely fiber assortment! Congratulations!


Friday, June 22, 2012

Inspired By Fibers And Cords!

This weekend, Beading Daily is hosting a blog hop for the Book "Bohemian Inspired Jewelry"  written by the ultra talented Lorelei Eurto and Erin Siegel. It is filled with gorgeous projects that introduce you to the wide assortment of fibers and the many beautiful ways they can be incorporated into jewelry designs.


Taking inspiration from the necklace titled Autumnal Arrangement on page 38, I used silk cord to link ceramic discs and a toggle that I purchased from Captured Moments. To balance the boldness of the discs, I added in a really fun and unique crocheted yarn that is three inches wide when stretched. The graduated colors of taupe to gray complimented the discs and toggle.



The second piece that I created involved simple overhand knotting in between ceramic beads created by Elaine Ray, with a rhodium plated rectangle bead as the focal. I finished the necklace combining polyester chain and silk ribbon to glass rings, giving the overall design an organic feel. Some examples of overhand knotting can be found on pages 59, 63 and 78 in the book.



This next design was inspired by the resin beads that I purchased from Rings and Things a few days ago, taking inspiration from the Fleur De Lis bracelet on page 89.



One of my favorite new art books, Bohemian Inspired Jewelry is a beautiful resource for adding texture and color to designs. The Interweave Store as well as Lorelei and Amazon all have copies of the book for sale.

Bohemian Inspired Jewelry

In celebration of this event, I will be giving away an assortment of fibers to help inspire some Bohemian Inspired Jewelry! I will select a winner randomly from the comments left on this post.
Winner will be chosen Monday June25th!


Please visit the other participants!

Amanda Davie - Articulations of Amanda Davie
Amy Freeland - CopperDiem
Barbara Bechtel - Second Surf   
Beth Hemmila - Hint Jewelry      
Erin Prais-Hintz - Tesori Trovati 
Gaea Cannaday - Gaea Handmade          
Heather Powers - Art Bead Scene            
Heather Trudeau - The Peacock Fairy     
Kathleen Lange Klik - Modern Nature Studio
Keirsten Giles - Cerebral Dilettante         
Kristie Roeder - Artisan Clay       
Lori Anderson - Pretty Things    
Melanie Brooks - Earthenwood Studio  
Michelle Mach - Beads & Books
Rebecca Anderson  - Song Beads             
Rebekah Payne - TreeWingsStudio          
Sally Russick - The Studio Sublime            
Shannon Chomanczuk- For My Sweet Daughter               
Shannon LeVart - Miss Fickle Media 
Staci Smith - Staci Smith Jewelry               
Stacie Florer - Love My Art Jewelry         
Susan Kennedy - Sue Beads        

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Metal Goodness And A Bit Of Sparkle


Yesterday I went to the Rings & Things bead show in McLean, Virginia. This was my first time attending this show as well as buying from them in general. Upon arrival, I was greeted by a very friendly R&T associate who gave me the lowdown of the show. He handed me a tray and off I went...

I was planning to buy only gemstones. Instead I ended up finding some really great metal beads and spacers, some of which I had been searching for!

handmade beads made from recycled metal - had been searching for these and found them!
brass and silver plated copper heishi discs 
cool silver plated copper spiral discs
resin tubes
solid copper flower beads - awesome find!
sterling silver french hook ear wires
chalcedony in shades ranging from pale pinks to lavender


This is the gorgeous chalcedony that I purchased. I don't use a lot of sparkle in my designs but I couldn't resist this gorgeous strand. It reminded me of summer flowers!

I left with a bag full of goodies, two Rings & Things catalogs (which I am enjoying perusing) and stayed within budget!



Thursday, June 7, 2012

Art Bead Earring Swap

The wonderfully talented Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio hosted an Art Bead Earring Swap. What that involves is, after signing up Diana pairs people in sets of three. You then make a pair of earrings, using at least one art bead per earring, for each partner and then mail it to them. I was paired up with Melinda Orr of Melinda Orr Designs and Keri Lee Sereika of Pink Lemonade. What an awesome and fun idea! I now have two new pairs of fantastic earrings created by two fantastic artists!

 Here is what I received:

 Melinda Orr created these gorgeous, contemporary patterned copper and 
antiqued sterling silver earrings, with jade.



And from Keri Lee Sereika; beautiful, vintage style earrings with polymer clay beads that
she hand made, using a technique called Mokume Gane to represent jasper,
antiqued brass and oxidized sterling ear wires.


This is what I created for Melinda and Keri:

 For Melinda: I used a Greek ceramic bead, a washer that I
textured and a ceramic disc by Elaine Ray. I made the ear wires from
silver filled wire, oxidized with liver of sulpher.


For Keri: lampworked discs by River Oak Acres and the rest I created with silver filled wire.


Please visit the other participants to see what they created and received!

Diana Ptaszynski http://www.suburbangirlstudio.com
Jenny Davies Reazor http://www.jdaviesreazor.com/blog
Melinda Orr http://www.orrtec.blogspot.com
Cilla Watkins http://www.tellyourgirlfriends.com
Stephanie Haussler http://www.pixybugdesigns.blogspot.com
Sally Russick http://www.thestudiosublime.com
Susan Kennedy http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Cheryl Brown www.dragonflybeads.ca

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Summer Inspiration

As the summer season approaches thoughts of surf, sunshine, gardens and vacations influence my jewelry designs. Shades of turquoise, aqua, pale greens and yellow are some of my favorite summertime colors. These are a few of the gorgeous artisan beads that have inspired me...


Top to bottom, left to right.


What are some of your favorite summertime colors and themes?
Who are your go to artisans for summer themed beads?