In the Dreamtime

Some designs just seem to turn out dreamy and abstract, and in the case of these earrings, pastel as well.   

A while back I fell in love with these lovely pink coin beads, below (found at Arte Bella Surplus on Etsy), and I wanted to try making earrings with them using my thread-wrapping construction.   

I had a pretty strong feeling it probably wouldn't work, because wrapping beads and components together with thread/cord requires torque upon the components...and there was a natural frailty built in to the stacking of the coin bead, the small Caribbean-green Czech glass rondelle, and the rose-colored glass disc.  What would be stable wired might not be when pulled tight on cord.  

As it turned out, I ended up needing to wire wrap the earrings to give the beads the stability they needed to stay in place.  But in the end I still had fun with some fiber by wrapping pale lavender Irish waxed linen thread around the tops of the beautiful polymer clay components by Jeni Houser Alasad of Auntie Moons.  💗 

As I write this, it's raining gently outside my window, after a day of heavy rains; it's been a busy day, and I'm ready to rest.  When you read this it will be Valentine's Day, and I wish you all love and best wishes!  I'll be back in two weeks with something new.  💕

xoxo
Meridy

My Shop
My FB Page 

SOS

This week I've been up on our village Wetlands area, where we have just erected some new lifebuoys in the event that anyone thinks it  a good idea to go swimming (either by accident or design) among the wading birds, swans, geese et al.

Thinking ahead to my post, I had these industrial looking polymer clay pieces from Jon Burgess with distressed wire above - they just looked to me like the structures holding our lifebuoys. So I wired some circular stuff to them - on one side, a rustic ceramic piece from Sarah Kandell-Gritzmaker and on the other a piece of shell-like druzy. On top, beautiful smooth African turquoise beads.

The copper chain can be worn at the front or turned to the rear, or one of each, whatever you prefer. The dark copper earwires are of course by Lucy Haslam.

 

Like washed up flotsam and jetsam attaching itself to the lifebuoys on a deserted pier.  They're over in my Etsy shop now.

 

See you next time!

 

Lindsay x

 

My Etsy shop

 

My Facebook page

Glowing In The Night

Striking polymer headpins with an amazing crackle and glowing finish by Kimberly Rogers of
Numinosity Beads.  

The design challenge for me was, that the headpins are very bold and I wanted accent beads that were just as bold but didn't compete with each other.  I had these lovely matte black vintage lucite accent beads with brilliant gold stars and thought they'd be perfect mates.  They work well because they are predominantly black.  Also, having one component with a matte finish and the other with shine is a nice contrast and gives more definition.

The headpins are substantial in size but being polymer also, super lightweight!  Lucite is also very light so they make a nice statement earring without losing any comfort.

I love that the stars are carved and not just printed images.  I also added a little rhinestone spacer for a little extra sparkle.

Kimberly's headpins and beads are a favorite of mine; I'm a huge fan of her work!

Luna and I thank you for stopping by and will be back in a couple of weeks

 ~ Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton ~ Artful Jewelry in Beads

Spring is springing!!

Some of us are getting more spring than others but it's getting closer for sure!!

I've made these Hand Painted Polymer Clay Hibiscus Flower pair with beautiful bright Lampwork beads by Patricia Ritchie.

🌞🌝🌞

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.com

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

KristiBowmanDesign on Facebook

A New Riff on the Criffles - Topsy Turvy

Many of the components I make aren't exactly matching.

That's the case with a batch of polymer clay pieces I made.

I love how they automatically lend themselves to asymmetrical designs.

I am especially fond of reverse placement in my designs on earring pairs.

Balanced yet more compelling to my eyes with the different placement of the components.

Paired with some of my lampwork "criffle" discs

Topsy and turvy (hmm, those words by themselves are just a bit weird. I think I've felt both topsy and turvy at different times)

These earrings have lots of splash and length but are very lightweight.

How about you? Do you like designing asymmetrically?

Thanks for visiting and Happy Summer creating!

Kimberly Rogers of NuminosityBeads

www.numinositybeads.etsy.com

Pinky Love Knots

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I get giddy just thinking of certain color combos, well this one is another one of my favorites: Pink and gold. It's sunny, happy, and makes my girlie heart sing :)

Being that my health hasn't been the best for quite some time, being able to work with polymer clay and create with happy fun colors and components is such a joy, and such a healing process. I highly recommend it. Just do it for yourself, if nothing else.

So today, I wanted to share these happy earrings with you:

Small polymer clay oval earring drops, handmade by me - these are water-colored in and I added some glitter (because life is happier with glitter, and because I can LOL), sealed with a glaze. I used some pretty Gold-tone Tierra Cast rings to create the two Love Knots.

Throw in a little natural hemp cord and Swarovskis for some lighthearted sparkling fun, and my gosh, we're ready for a fun Summer party! Wanna join me? We'll get the BBQ going :)

Have you added some fun accessories to your Summer wardrobe this year? What kind of accessories do you gravitate towards the most?

If you're looking for one of a kind handmade jewelry components and finished jewelry, hop on over to my Etsy shop HERE.

Cheers,
Nathalie

Visit my Etsy Jewelry/Components shop here: My Garden Of Love
Visit my Etsy Digi shop here: The Crafty Tribe

It's a boy

Sooooo much has happened since I last posted a couple of weeks ago. I had mentioned that I'd soon be a "grand-maman" later on in April. Well, turns out that this little cuddle monkey decided he needed to come out 3 weeks early (!!!)

My husband and our brand new grandson, wrapped in a soft baby blanket that I designed

We had a bit of a scare because of some late-pregnancy complications. His mommy was going to be induced to get him out last Friday, but he decided to come out himself without medical help... a few days earlier than planned.

Thank God everyone is now fine, healthy and safe. Little Harvey (and his mommy) ended up going on a 50 minute Air Evacuation Helicopter ride when he was just 30 hours old to get him ASAP to the big hospital on the South end of the Island as he was having difficulty breathing.

He is ever so precious and we're all very proud and happy of this new arrival in our family.

So, in his honor, I was inspired to make something in 'blue' to celebrate our new beautiful grandson:

I created this design starting with some cool 'iceberg' blue (gray-ish blue) Czech glass beads at the top, nesting them in some Bali silver bead caps.

I have a large collection of pearls - some of them I have purchased from one of my favorite Pearls seller on Ebay: Rainbow Island Pearls, and these large Keshei pearls with natural light shades of blue-mauve looked like a good fit. I love their uneven surface catching the light and adding movement... paired with a set of my small handmade polymer clay dagger drops.

These drops have specks of silver leaf, and swirls of greyish-blue. I used simple hypoallergenic Titanium ear wires to finish the design.

The polymer clay drops almost remind me of stars in the evening sky around here. They move a lot, and are really fun to watch. Very lightweight and versatile!

I think these earrings would be perfect to wear with a pair of jeans and a cool Summery tank top.  What do you think?

Have a wonderful weekend ahead!

Cheers,
New Grandma (Grand-maman) Nathalie :)
Visit my shops:
My Garden Of Love on Etsy
The Crafty Tribe on Etsy

Treasures of the Sea

Treasures are in the eye of the beholder... What may seem insignificant to a person, may be an incredibly precious treasure to another. Where does your mind go when you think about "Treasures of the Sea"?

When I was younger, whenever I would think about the Treasures of the Sea, I would automatically think about Seashells, Pearls, Sea glass, Sand Dollars, etc.

As I'll soon be entering my (hopefully) wiser years by becoming a grandma next month... Now, when I think of Treasures of the Sea, my mind now goes to artful pieces of soft driftwood adorning our beaches nearby, stones of various colors polished to a super soft finish by the sea, the gentle waves rolling on my feet as I walk along the water line, holding my loving husband's hand. I feel so happy in my heart and soul, and that feeling is my most precious Treasure of the Sea.

Kin Beach, Comox, BC - Photo: Nathalie Lesage

The blue sky, the sun, or cooling clouds, the birds singing, the whales and seals floating by...
every single thing is magical in an even deeper way than when I was a child.

This story is my inspiration for these earrings... precious little tumbled nuggets of color with shades of the water, sand and sky (in my handmade polymer clay beads), the driftwood (the rustic wood beads), the gentle waves of the ocean (in the copper wavy bead caps), held together on a pair of non-allergenic niobium ear wires:

The perfect way to carry the good vibes of the beach everywhere you go ... at 1 7/8" tall.

I prefer to wear shorter earrings, but I find it challenging sometimes to incorporate everything I want in a design, while keeping the overall size under 2 inches :)

I've made a couple of extra sets of these cute little beach inspired rustic shaped Polymer Clay Nugget Beads. You can find these earrings and my handmade beads in My Garden Of Love Etsy Shop HERE.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!
Cheers,
Nathalie
My Garden Of Love on Etsy
The Crafty Tribe on Etsy

Rock And Chain

Art Beads:
Facetted polymer clay rocks by Barbara Bechtel of SecondSurf/Floridity.

Other components:
Brass chain and findings

I really like the three-dimensional shapes that are created when this type
of chain hangs vertically and freely like this. I lack the words in English
to properly explain what I mean, but I hope you understand from looking
at the picture above.

Note:
I am so lucky to still have quite a few of Barbara Bechtel's components
in my stash. She is/was one of my favourite art bead artisans. A wiz with
the polymer clay. Inventive and groundbreaking. Check out those faceted
rocks. She was the first one who started making them some years ago.
Now we see many using that style, and in different materials. Nowadays
she is focusing on her art carreer more than the jewelry side.

These earrings are not for sale at the moment. They will be worn on
stage by one of the singers in my son's band.

-----------------------------------------------

All my best,
Malin
www.beadingbymalindekoning.blogspot.com

Polyclay and Lampwork Team Up

I was so delighted to have been able to attend a polymer clay technique class by Christine Damm of The Stories They Tell at Art On The Farm in Vermont this early summer.

With polymer clay you can achieve quite a bit of length without adding too much weight to your designs.

The poly clay parts are actually headpins I formed and with the coloring and veneer technique I learned I was ready to go big using the pieces as a canvas for texture and color.

I simply paired them with a set of lampwork beads that I had on hand that I had made.

I didn't sell the beads as a pair because the the dimensions weren't the same but I'm not afraid to use them together myself!

These babies are over 3 and a half inches long  (9 cm)

 I'm looking forward to making more of these headpins so that if I get enough of  a good stash of them i'll be willing to part with some to sell.

Imagine the possibilities!

thanks for stopping by

Kimberly Rogers

www.numinositybeads.etsy.com

On the Edge

I'm on the edge. The edge of a vacation, that is. 

That delicious pre-vacation period where you're ALMOST THERE and are filled with the anticipation of having time to step away, breathe, clear your mind, get yourself out of the workweek rut.  My mom always said that the pre-vacation is better than the vacation itself. Part of me doesn't want to believe that, but there certainly is something to be said for it. 

Next week my other half and I are headed to the mountains of West Virginia. We stayed in a cabin for one day last year as we were passing through, and it struck such a chord with us that we vowed to come back this year and stay for more than just a day. The cabins are nestled at the foot of a towering cliff, and a clear, clean river winds its way past the base. Last year we saw a bald eagle soaring right above our heads. I was even able to convince my husband (who is not afraid of heights, definitely not afraid of heights, no, never) to climb the nearby mountain with me. We got to the top with a mixture of exhilaration and sheer white-knuckled terror. Quite a memorable combination!

We toured one of the region's many caves and experienced TD, or "total darkness"---where the guide leads you deep into the cave, gives you fair warning, and then turns out all the lights. If you've never experienced that kind of sensory deprivation, it's incredible. That is, unless you're claustrophobic or scared of the dark or have a fear of being trapped underground. Yeah, probably not so good for that.

We also spent a couple hours walking next to the river, which was filled with tons of perfectly rounded, water-smoothed rocks. Each rock was glazed with a soft, slippery layer of mossy-green algae. And when I say slippery, I mean, "Nikki fell on her ass while trying to cross the river". Hey, I at least had to give it a try. That's just me. 

The green lushness of those memories from last year remind me of this pair of polybells I made a while ago. I took polymer clay, formed it into two rough poddy bells, textured them against some piece of random organic matter, cured them in the oven, hand painted them with acrylics, and then sealed them. The mossy green pockets, slate blue peaks, and silver-kissed highlights bring to mind a deep craggy forest.

Hope you have a wonderful week while I'm off playing mountain woman!

Happy Wednesday,
Nikki 
LoveRoot on Etsy

Not quite ready yet

Whenever I hit a designer block I turn back to my old passion: bead embroidery. It gives me more creative freedom, as I can place these tiny little bead treasures anywhere I like. If you haven’t done bead embroidery yet, I urge you to give it a try. There are beautiful guidebooks on the market to teach you the basics.

Bead embroidery basically comes down to gluing and sewing beads and components on a foundation and backing it with another material. I prefer Lacy’s Stiff Stuff as foundation as it is firm, easy to sew through and it will not fray. With a marker I make it a bit darker so the white will not shine through the beads. For components you can use anything you like as long as it has more or less a flat back. Here I used beautiful pewter charms from Inviciti, polymer clay headpins from Studio St James, amethyst cabochons and Lucite flowers. I glued these on the foundation with 2-part epoxy. 

Then out come the little guys: seed beads. Just sew them on the foundation in a pattern you like. You can bezel a cabochon with seed beads, using peyote stitch. You simply cannot go wrong with these little treasures.

I have to apologize, as these earrings are still a work in progress. I managed to finish just one half of the pair yesterday; the other one is still in the first phase. The ready one is also a bit a work in progress as I’m not completely satisfied. So I will fiddle and twiddle with it a bit more before I will post them on Etsy.

Thank you for looking and have I hope you give bead embroidery a try.

Janine

Esfera Jewelry

My etsy shop

My website/blog

My facebook page

Jingle (Poly)Bells

It's that time of year again---when we're lucky if we can find five spare minutes to rub together in the studio. I don't even need to say it cuz I know you already know---December is a crazy month.

So instead of scrambling to put together a new pair of earrings for you today, I'm going to give myself a break and revisit a pair of my beloved polybells. 

It seems like I always end up using the adjective "beloved" whenever I talk about my polybells. I think it's because I feel so motherly to them---each is its own unique little species made completely by me. No two are alike, so once they're gone, they're gone. I form them out of polymer clay, cure them, hand paint them, seal them, sweet-talk and coo over them...yep, I'm a freakin' weirdo.

This particular pair always reminded me of frilled wood mushrooms or maybe rock lichen. Subtle piney green dappled with bark brown and oyster gray. I balled my own copper headpins using a torch, gave them a simple wire wrap up top, and hung them from my signature long ear wires.

I've had a sincere intention to make more polybells for the past, oh, year or so. At the rate I'm going, maybe I'll get to it by next June?! I mean, hey, flowers don't bloom until the weather warms up, anyways, right?

Happy Wednesday and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Autumn Wanderings

I don't know why these little fellows caught my eye this week. I guess I was feeling playful and thinking about walking in the woods when I get some free time this weekend. I'm so ready for sweater weather and pumpkin everything. We had a little tease of fall weather all week but it was short-lived. Autumn is my jam, let's get on with it! 

I paired up the baby hedgies with Czech glass flowers, leaves, brass bead caps and tiny Humblebeads wobbles.

Autumn Wanderings by humblebeads 

I created a Polyvore outfit to match my earrings - wish I could sport little boots like that but it's too much heel, I'm such a clutz! But the rest, they are so me. I need some brown jeans now. (Click on the little icons to see the info for each item.)

You can find the baby Hedgie beads here. The earrings can be found here.

Asymmetry and I

As a designer who gravitates toward earrings, I'm always thinking in terms of pairs, especially when it comes to purchasing art beads. It's just one of those things that gets engrained in your brain and becomes second nature---like riding a bike, remembering to turn off the burner when you're done cooking, or making sure you put on deodorant each morning.

So when Kim of NuminosityBeads threw me for a loop and offered just ONE of these crazy glowy ultraviolet etched dichroic lampwork glass beads, well, I was vexed. Panting, starting to break out into a cold sweat, I assured myself that I could incorporate it into a necklace...make it a focal...pair it with other complementary beads. It will be fine, right? RIGHT??!!

Against my better judgement, I was determined to make it work in a pair of earrings. Which could only mean one thing: it was time to get asymmetrical. 

Asymmetry and I are good friends---sometimes we veer way off to the left and sometimes we operate in a more conventional range. What's more important to me in a piece is the balance, not so much the symmetry. 

So I pawed through my bead hoard and came to the last tray in the tower (yes, tower)---the box I reserve for my own polymer clay beads. I keep them at the bottom because I don't make many polymer beads. And the sets I do make tend to get mostly used, leaving one or two left over. Those one or two tend to languish and get forgotten.

This pearly cratered lavender polymer chunk was just the ticket. Its soft frostiness plays a beautifully complementary second-fiddle to the intense ultraviolet flash of Kim's glass. I opted to keep the design simple, pairing each bead with two grungy vintage bone "cruller" beads and capping everything off with some soldering. Sweet, dangly, squeal-er-ific. 

Hope you're having a delicious week!


Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy