In The Pink

I am a gingham lover; they remind me of more innocent times but most of all, they remind me of my grandmother ♡.  

These sweet gingham enamel hearts are by Cathleen Zaring of Blue Hare.  

Heart charms always have the small challenge of what to do with that center dip.  In my stash, I found these vintage acrylic etched beads with perfect proportions and color.

This was a nice little surprise - the backs had a daisy pattern on them!  Cathleen always finishes her work so beautifully. 

These had been on my worktable for a few weeks.  I have a newfound obsession with vintage sequins.  They were in the same soft pink so I thought I'd include them in today's blog post.

The lovely enameled wire chandelier hoops are by Gaea Cannaday of Gaea Handmade.

The vintage pink petal sequins are from Allegory Gallery

Thank you for joining me!  I have no clue as to what I'll be working on next ... but hopefully, you'll look for my posting in a couple of weeks!  😺

Loralee xo

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com

Head In The Clouds

Greetings! Thanks for stopping by!  

I've had these on my worktable for a while now.  I originally was going to messy wrap the charms to the clouds with AB crystals but it came across too stiff.  I wanted a little movement --a little shimmy, so I decided to add these tiny little silver charms and I'm super happy now!

Hand formed ceramic droppers by Petra Carpreau of ScorchedEarth with Rene Magritte images.

The tiniest and sweetest little pale blue ceramic clouds by Gaea Cannaday of Gaea Handmade.  Honestly, could those clouds be any more perfect?!!!

I'll be back in a couple of weeks!  Hard to believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

Until then! 💙

Loralee XO

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com

Happy Ending For The Bride & Groom!

While preparing for their wedding day, this June bride and groom experienced a near tragedy!  *Gasp!

Either the agate bead had a hidden flaw, or pressure from the steel wire wrapping was too tight for the etched Dzi bead and it crumbled right in my hand.

I thought of a couple of options, but as you know, you don't get a second chance wrapping lampwork headpins.  Once you've made the commitment (like our happy couple, here) there's no turning back!

Even before the mishap, I had wanted to bring more warm gold tones into the design.  So, I decided to do a fabric wrapped bead in a mellow gold tone wire on a dark background.  I had also thought of stacking ornate open jump-rings but there would be too much gold on one side; this had better balance.

I think the Mr. is looking even more dapper now.  I love this design far better than the original!  Now they compliment one another and each has their own individual style - like every couple should. 

~

Umm, it's honeymoon time...we should be leaving now I'm thinkin'.

♡

I hope if you experience a mishap while working, you'll think of it as a challenge!  You may discover a new technique or come out with an even better design!  I believe many refer to it as a "happy accident".

The amazing skulls were made by Gaea Cannaday of Gaea Handmade.

The lampwork headpins are the creations of Kimberly Rogers of Numinosity Beads.

Many thanks for stopping by today, it's always a joy to be here and show you what's happening on my work table!

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton ~ artful in beads

Rustic Christmas

Merry, Merry!

Hi, all~ Loralee here!  I'm getting so excited with the changing seasons and thrilled to share these rustic earrings with you today!

The lovely ceramic striped beads were handmade by my sweet friend, Gaea, of Gaea Handmade. I chose these in particular, not only for their rustic pattern and color combination, but also, for their unique free-form, oblong shape. 

The Copper patina charms are made by Jill Stoffegen of Foxpaws!  These  amazing copper charms are the finest I have ever come across. Not only beautiful to look at, but they feel magnificent in your hand!  In her description on Etsy, Jill wrote of their history which makes them all the more special:

"This copper is from our family farm. The Farm was homesteaded in 1850, with a log cabin. In the early 1880's a three story barn was constructed on the farm site. It was the only three floor barn in the state with drive in access on all three floors. This large barn housed the families draft horse breeding farm. This copper was salvaged when the barn was torn down last year. The copper was from a water trough used by the horses and later animals. That puts the aging process on this copper at over 120 years. The patinated surface is extremely durable, nothing seems to damage it. The surface has not been color altered. There are slight variations of color depending upon which salvage sheet they are from and some natural rugged edges were also used. You will be hard pressed to find copper like this with its history!"

♡

I was lucky enough to have a second pair of cooper charms! I'm so crazy for the dappled star pattern!  Again, everything done to a perfectly smooth satin finish.  

I wanted to play-up the dotted pattern so I paired the copper charms this time with lampwork beads by Petra Marikova.  Her work is meticulous and she is just outstanding!  The ivory with hints of brownish tan around the raised dots really make them pronounced.  Ivory looks amazing with the wintery sage green - bold yet subtle.

♡

Both of these earrings have me dreaming of a simpler life without electronics and so much noise.  I think of being in a cabin, under a blanket, next to a fire....hot coco and a big old-fashioned peppermint stick!  Okay, with a beading table in the corner....with a cat, or two...  blissssss  

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton - artful in beads 

Dia de los Muertos

Hola!  Loralee here for a visit and I've brought a couple of friends with me today!

A festive pair of earrings using lovely unglazed skullies from Gaea Handmade.  I gave her a rhinestone necklace and a hand carved, two-sided, mother-of-pearl, rose crown.  She is wearing the perfect party dress by Inviciti! Yes, the lady can dance, as her dress moves freely from side to side!

La Catrina

Bold, vibrant, primitive crosses by JoesphineBeads paired with hand carved bone skulls that are two sided.  I wanted to keep the continuity of the cross and skull, so I made a fabric wrapped neck piece, joining the two.  I really love the way it looks!

Las Almas

The components are two-sided or finished on the backs so it actually could be used as a second pair of earrings if you flip them on the ear-wire with a pair of pliers.  The backs of the crosses are a bronze metallic and are beautiful.

¡feliz día de los muertos!

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton Jewelry

Fabulous

 

I apologize for the late post today! I got sucked into some projects that have been at the top of my priority list and I forgot all about the earrings I had planned today! I hope to do them soon, for my next post, hopefully.

These are some danglies that I created this week. I was inspired by an earring design that I saw recently by my friend Gaea Cannaday. She is amazing designer! I made a few modifications to my earrings as far as using leather, and attaching small porcelain beads onto jump rings along the bottoms.

This is a fun summer color palette and the criss-cross glaze around the Joan Miller Porcelain beads adds some extra texture!

These are available in my etsy store.