Tribal Fringe

Helloooo Bead Peeps!  This is a short but sweet posting today as I'm off to Bead & Button in Milwaukee, WI this morning!

True confession:  I have forgotten who made these lovely tribal ceramic connectors so If anyone can identify them, please let me know!  I've paired them with some wonderful African glass, wrapped sari silk and some vintage golden beads.

I made the fringe by recycling some scrap gold plated parts.  Originally, I was going to hang them from jump-rings but, I really wanted them splayed apart so I messy wrapped them directly to the wire connector to achieve that effect.  

Thank you for stopping by today!  Hoping to find some unusual goodies at B&B this week!  I'm also on the hunt for new tools.  Most importantly, I'm looking forward to seeing my beady tribe!

Loralee xo

wwwloraleekolton.etsy.com

Long with large acrylic or resin

I am happily continuing on the path I've been on lately with long eye catching earrings with large light weight resin or acrylic beads. Varitions on a fun theme that I very much enjoy working with.

Ingredients:
Large black and brown faceted acrylic beads
8/0 matte metallic bronze seed beads
Black faceted glass beads
Vintaj brass large jump rings
Vintaj brass earring hooks
Strung on 4 ply walnut brown waxed irish linen cord

All my best,
Malin

Easter, Twigs and Fringes

Easter time. School holiday. We've had a busy and nice week with excursions and meetings with friends and family. I made these earrings just last night. Twigs and Fringes.

Art beads:
Ceramic twigs - Donna Perlinplim

Other components:
Different coloured waxed linen cord
Messy wrapped oxidized copper wire
6/0 seed beads
Handmade oxidized copper earrings hooks



Now, as I sit here and write this blog post and watch the images I took earlier this morning, I realize I must have been subliminally inspired by the season of the year and the typically traditional Swedish Easter decorations of coloured feathers on twigs or tree branches. It wasn't at all what I thought about as I made them last night. Isn't that just fascinating how the mind works in lovely mysterious ways :-).

All my best,

Malin de Koning

www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

You Little Rascal

Art Beads:

Ceramic drop charms - ScorchedEarth

Purple patinated hammered copper rings - MissFickleMedia

Other beads and components:

Dupioni Silk

Copper findings

Fabric glue

Handmade oxidized copper earrings hooks

All my best,

Malin

www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

The Fringes of Society

Some days we really do feel like telling everyone to just kiss off, don't we? 

All the expectations, obligations, mores, fashion ideals, traditions, and respectability in the world could not mean less to us in these moments. We're looking for a way to express the fact that we're tired of XYZ (insert whatever you please, here). We're over it. All of it. And we're looking for something different. 

See, now, many people may argue that you're being childish, you're pouting, you're rebelling in such a pathetically predictable way. I say this: it's those who are brave enough to leave the herd that are most capable of discovering new ways forward. Getting pissed off can be a good thing if we choose to channel that energy in a constructive way. 

The past month or so I've been coming to terms with the fact that this year has not been among the best. Perhaps I've been in the "anger" stage of coping, I'm not sure. But I'm not too proud to admit that I have had definite moments of rage--a rare emotion for me. 

So it makes sense that I haven't been creating as much in the studio this year. The spark is still there, it's just not burning in quite the same frenetic supernova blaze that it was last year. That's ok, because I'm going to give myself time. I'm going to tell my own self expectations to buzz off. I'm going to give myself permission to not feel guilty for saying "no" to custom orders. And I'm going to take things at my own damn pace. It's the most loving act of rebellion I can think of.

Today's earrings fall nicely in line with my "f-off" mentality, as they're big, they're wild, they're looong, and they refuse to be overlooked. They feature two carved horn shields from India that have been painted or shellacked, resulting in a lovely crackled honeycomb pattern. Truth be told, I could have just hung these charms from ear wires and been perfectly happy. However, I took the opportunity to add in some additional relatively lightweight components to turn them into real statement pieces. Rusty hoops added behind provide a layered halo effect, and a cascade of mixed metal chain fringe spills all the way down to your shoulders, creating music as you move. Everything hangs from my hammered dark copper ear wires and ends up being a lot less weighty than you'd expect. These earrings don't even need to be paired with a necklace, bracelet, or ring--they can stand strongly alone.

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Turquoise Thistles

Even though fall is here, I seem to be longing for color. Or maybe it's because of that. Fall in Sweden is not a dull season at all when it comes to colors. On the contraire. We get the beautiful bright blue skies, and lots of fall colors.  

And I really like to use waxed linen in my jewelry. It adds a lovely soft fabric texture, and also a possibility for color coordination and playfulness. 

Turquoise thistle motif (or is it pine?) polymer clay coin shaped beads - BeadsByEarthTones

 Handmade oxidized silver ear hooks - JNicLoft 

Turquoise picasso three-cut czech glass beads

Turquoise waxed linen cord

All my best,

Malin

www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.se