Beads of Clay Design Challenge

As a Design Partner with the Beads of Clay Professional Artists Team, I recently received an awesome package in the mail, filled with handmade beads and fiber wire made by several members of the Beads of Clay team.

The goodies are from Yarn Sweet Yarn, Jeraluna Designs, Kristi Bowman Design, Starry Road Studio, Marla's Mud, and Beads, Birds and Bones.

Once I had all these delicious looking supplies in hand, I went to review the requirements for the challenge -- and I panicked!  The initial directive was that we were to use ALL of the components to create just two pieces:  a necklace or bracelet, and a pair of earrings.  I don't typically sketch my designs ahead of time, but instead I tend to design in my head and as I go.  After I've spent time pondering a particular design, I usually have a good idea of how I want to assemble it and how it's going to look.  But this one was a complete puzzler!


The fiber wire is gorgeous and intriguing, but I knew that once I had figured out what I wanted to do with it I wouldn't really have an opportunity to change my mind.  It's very flexible, and the colors are beautiful, and I figured I was going to have to cut it into pieces to do something with it.  Since I'm not a magician, there would be no way for me to undo those cuts... The other challenge for me is one of my favorite components in the batch -- the long twisted tube by Marla James.  Its scale is so much different than the rest of the beads that I just couldn't figure out how I was going to fit it into one design and have the result be cohesive.

So I arranged.  And rearranged.  And thought.  And rearranged some more.  Thought some more.  Looked through my beads to see what I could use with these components.  All the while, I was following along with the discussions among the other designers, all of whom seemed to be having the same dilemma with being able to use all of the components to make just two pieces.  I had just about settled on making a freeform cuff, but with all of these components it would wind up being a HUGE cuff.

Now I have to tell you that I failed in the challenge to use all of the components.  I just couldn't find a way to make them all work in a single piece.  I suppose if I'd ventured into the land of wire wrapping, chains, or leather cording, I could have figured out a way to join them all together.  The biggest challenge to me, since I don't "string" beads or work with wire very much, was to use these components with some style of beadweaving.  I do have leather cording, wire, yarn, and all sorts of other supplies (what can I say -- I've never met a supply I didn't like), but I really wanted to do something that involved beadweaving, since that's my favorite type of work.

The piece I made is a necklace that I'm calling Bloom.  It's a bead crochet rope that incorporates the beautiful colors of the challenge components and a few of the pieces (I'm still considering a freeform cuff of some type to use the remainder of the pieces).

I'm thoroughly impressed by my fellow designers, all of whom managed to meet the challenge of using all of their components.  Please visit their blogs to check out their beautiful creations:

Cilla Watkins - www.tellyourgirlfriends.com
Kari Asbury - http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com 
Shannon Chomanczuk - http://formysweetdaughter.blogspot.co.uk/
Lesley Watt - http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Now I'm off to do some shopping...  not for beads (for a change), but for deck railing.  :-)

Dulcinea... Bead Soup Sweetness

This post is going to appear a little out of order.  You see, I decided a few months ago to participate in the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party, hosted by Lori Anderson.  I probably should have known better, but I always think I can do more, in less time, than I actually can (sometimes my Superwoman cape gets twisted around).  But there I was, signed up to participate, and then I started to panic a little that I wouldn't be able to complete anything with my "soup."

I did finish something, though -- not something elaborate, by any means, but it does meet the requirements of using the focal and the clasp I received in my soup from Penney Klaproth (more about the soup later).  Because I wound up waiting until the last possible minute to work on my piece, there's only one...  this sweet little necklace that I named Dulcinea.

I mentioned before that I was required to use the focal and the clasp (and you'll see later that there were LOTS of other beads, including a huge bag of seed beads and bugle beads that weren't even part of the soup!), but as soon as I saw the clasp I knew that it was going to wind up being part of the focal -- this little swirly copper loop is just too pretty to sit at the back of someone's neck.  So I chose to use it to suspend the little stone donut.  The necklace itself is an ndebele rope I made using beads from my own stash:  pretty bright copper lined seed beads that coordinate perfectly with the copper pieces Penney sent me.

 

Want to see the "soup" I received?  Here it is!  It has a great collection of metal and natural beads that will eventually be used in some project.  In fact, I have them sitting on my bead board now, while I ponder what I can do with them.  I'm particularly intrigued by the little glass plugs, the ones nearest the hand in the photo below.  Their colors are wonderful, and I'm thinking I might actually try something with wire...

 

 

Now I have some blog hopping to do...  And I'd like to invite you to hop along with me.  You can visit http://www.prettythingsblog.com/2012/08/6th-bead-soup-blog-party-2nd-reveal.html for a list of all the Reveal #2 participants.  Don't forget to visit my swap partner's blog, Faerie Acres!

Need a Vacation?

Do you need a vacation? I can honestly say I don't "need" one, but they sure can be fun.  I've been to quite a few places over the years, on all sorts of vacations:  the coast of Florida to sit on the beach and play in the ocean with my friends; to Venice for sightseeing; to Sweden for my friend's wedding (in August, which was much nicer weather than when I visited her in November!); to the Cayman Islands for some of the most wonderful SCUBA diving anywhere; to Sedona, Arizona, for hiking and sightseeing, including a trip to the Grand Canyon (which is where I took the picture you see here); to Bonaire, for more SCUBA diving of a completely different sort than what I experienced in Cayman; and even on a Caribbean cruise!  There are more places on the list, but those are some of the standouts.

Our most recent trips were to Hilton Head, somewhere I never would have thought of going, but a place that turned out to be pretty relaxing and enjoyable.  We went in the off season, so we just tooled around the island, visited some galleries and museums, and ate.  Lots of seafood.  It was wonderful!

So why am I talking about vacation?  Well, honestly it's for a contest... 

This is my version of a perfect 24 hours on a Spanish Island. This post was written as an entry for 24 hours on The Balearics contest sponsored by OnTheBeach.com. The prize is £500 in Amazon Vouchers and the contest runs until August 17, 2012. Please visit BeersandBeans.com to learn more about the contest and how you can also enter.

I've never been to a Spanish island, and I must admit that I didn't know anything about the Balearics, other than the names of some of the islands, before I saw the post on BearsandBeans.  The names of the four largest islands are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera.  A quick Google search for information and images demonstrates just how easy it is to learn about this island chain.

So let's see...  a perfect 24 hours on The Balearics would begin, of course, with a trip to the beach.  It really doesn't matter when the plane lands on Majorca.  It's an absolute necessity for me to get my toes into the sand and to feel the salt air rolling in off the ocean.  Since these islands purport to have 300 days of sun during the year, it's a pretty safe bet that that first foray onto the beach would be wonderful.  I could spend hours on the beach, especially if there are seashells to be found, but my husband would soon be clamoring to do something else...

The something else would probably be exploring.  Rather than driving around, we'd probably choose one of the island on-and-off tours that hits all the high spots and still gives you time the stop and visit anything that's particularly intriguing.  It looks as if there's no shortage of sights, either!  With beautiful scenery, mountains, Stone Age ruins, Gothic cathedrals, and villages all over the island, it's a pretty safe bet that we'll find lots of places to take pictures.  I always have at least one camera with me, and sometimes as many as two or three (especially after having our new digital video camera break on the first day of our vacation in Venice!), so the drive would take a long time.  I've been known to return from a vacation with more than 800 photos.

I'd have to be able to spend at least some time on or in the water, so I think we'd probably sign up for a catamaran cruise and snorkeling trip.  Although I've been a SCUBA diver for years, snorkeling is a nice, relaxing way to see some reefs and fish without having to haul all that heavy equipment around.

If we're not too tired from the cruise and snorkeling trip, we'd head out for the Majorca evening tour:  horseback riding and dinner!  Rancho Grande is located at the north coast of Majorca and has a 1.5 hour horseback tour followed by a barbecue dinner.  Yum!

Next on the agenda is a trip to one of the other islands, Minorca.  A lot of people will like Majorca, which apparently has more clubs, restaurants, and bars; but my husband and I are much more in tune with the laid back vacations where we can just look at sights and visit historical areas.  From what I've read, I think we'd take a ferry to travel from the larger of the islands to Minorca.  I believe my husband would like this island more, not only because it's less crowded but also because it supposedly has an almost constant breeze and is a bit cooler than Majorca.

I haven't kept track of the time spent, but I'm pretty sure that at this point we'd be pooped and ready for a good night's sleep.  We might stop at one of the local bars or restaurants for a beer or a glass of wine, but not too much -- with all the things to do and see in The Balearics, we're going to want to get an early start on the next 24 hours!

Nope, I don't "need" a vacation.  But reading all the articles I found and looking at the pictures makes me want one!  :-)

Here Comes the Bride...

I always thought June was the month for weddings.  But I've been busy working on some custom orders for three different brides, all of whom are getting married in early August.  It was a race against the clock for me to get all of these finished and sent off to the respective brides, but I managed to do it (even while I was busy during the day working on the fireplace in our new house).

In every case, I was asked to create one of my designs using custom colors.  The first bride ordered my Simply Stripes design in yellow and gray (I love this color combination!).

The beads used in this set are lovely frosty looking pale gray with bright silver-lined yellow.

The next order was for some custom color versions of my "Knot, Ready for Prime Time" design.  The bride asked for chocolate and taupe, and after sending several options for the beads to use she settled on a beautiful transparent chocolate brown with a matte metallic pale taupe.  She also requested a bracelet for her future mother-in-law, something that would go with a navy dress; so I used these silver-lined dark sapphire beads and paired them with galvanized silver.  These are beautiful color combos, so I'm going to be offering them as made-to-order pieces in my Etsy shop.  :-)

And finally, I was asked to make custom color versions of my Damask design using beads in the birthstone color for each bridesmaid and for the flower girl in this wedding.  For the flower girl, I adapted the design to make a narrower bracelet so it wouldn't overpower her tiny wrist.  Each bracelet was finished off with a button or two for the closure, so every one looks a bit different.  The months represented here are January (garnet with black), February (amethyst with orange), March (aquamarine with silver), June (pearl with orange), September (the one for the flower girl, sapphire and gray), and two Decembers (turquoise with coral and blue zircon with pearl).

 

It was really exciting to be able to work with all these brides to create something special for them.  The process involved lots of messages back and forth, with lots of pictures also going back and forth for the color choices, but I've heard from all three of the brides and they're all thrilled with their bracelets.

Now it's time to get to work on a couple more custom orders...  not for brides this time, so I'm not racing against the clock.

Oh, and the fireplace is finished!  Now we have to do the final work on retouching the finish on the beams and making sure the floor is smooth and level so the hardwood flooring can be installed on Tuesday.  Want to see pictures of the house?

Check out my Facebook photo album, building the house:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150201780024524.354390.787024523&type=3

Never Too Busy To Bead

I think beads must be good for my mental health.  (And for those of you who know me personally, stop snickering.)

It's been as busy as can be around here for the past few weeks, but I've still managed to fit in a good amount of beading.  And that's a good thing, because I have so many beads just sitting there in their bins, waiting to be combined into something special.  In between working on the house, going out of town, picking out and ordering all the interior doors for the house, having house guests, going over the cabinet design for the house with the local cabinetmaker, visiting the North Carolina Arboretum, laying out the cultured stone for the fireplace, hanging out with friends in town, mowing the fledgling yard at the new house, working on custom orders for a couple of brides, and working on the house some more (!), I've actually managed to get quite a lot of beadweaving done.  Not many pictures, unfortunately, but that's a whole other matter.

I've been a member of an Etsy team, the Etsy BeadWeavers, almost since it was formed several years ago.  Every month they have a challenge, based on a theme chosen by one of the members.  Most of the time I see the theme and figure I don't have enough time to focus on doing something for it, or I just don't feel particularly inspired.  For some reason, though, the July theme of "Tangerine Tango" immediately made me think of making a freeform peyote cuff.  I haven't made one in awhile (more than a year!), so it was fun to dig through all my orange beads to come up with a collection to make this piece:  Tangerine and Mango Tango 

 

By the way, voting for the July theme is now open on the Etsy BeadWeavers blog.

As is the case more times than I can recount, one beadwoven piece inspires another... and another...  and sometimes another.  Over the course of a week, I managed to create FOUR freeform peyote cuffs.  Only one other has been listed in my Etsy shop:  Mountain Sky.  The other two are awaiting photographs (along with a whole pile of other finished pieces that haven't had their pictures taken yet!).

 

Even with all this stuff going on, and me running around like a nut half the time, I thought it would be fun to sign up for a bead exchange.  Lori Anderson is hosting a Bead Soup Blog Party, so I joined in.  I haven't received my bead soup yet from my partner, but it should be on its way.  And that's a good thing, because my "Reveal Date" is August 11.  That means I have to receive the beads and figure out what to make with them...  and then actually make it!...  and get it photographed before that date.  Whew.  Nothing like a little pressure.  You can start blog hopping early to see some of the mixes sent and received by the other participants (there are 400 of us!).

And now...  it's time to go work on the house!  We're about halfway finished with putting up the cultured stone on the front of the fireplace, and we're hoping to have that project finished by Sunday so we can have the flooring people install the 2400 square feet of hickory flooring.  Fingers crossed.  :-)

A Change in Pattern

After a few years of selling patterns for my peyote designs on Etsy, I've finally decided to change my pricing policy to what it seems that the majority of pattern sellers do:  THE 3 FOR 2 PROGRAM.

So after a morning of editing, all 60 of the peyote patterns I currently offer in my Etsy shop are now available under the new pricing structure.

This change doesn't affect the pricing of the patterns offered here on my blog (there's a tab at the top of the page that will take you to the patterns), where the prices are already lower (and where the patterns are available for immediate download).

Wonder what else I can do today that's productive.

Oh yeah.

We have a house to build!

The next "pattern" I'll be working on is laying out the cultured stone for the fireplace.  I have 270 square feet of wall to cover, and about a ton of stone to move.  Beads are much lighter.  :-)

What Happened to April?

The days, weeks, and months are just flying by.  At least that's how it seems around here.  The house is consuming lots and lots of our time, even though it feels like progress has stalled a bit while we wait for the wooden beams to be finished and installed.

So what happened to April?  Well, income taxes took up a lot of time in the first couple of weeks.   Of course I waited until almost the last minute to do everything.  Every year I tell myself I'm going to be more prepared and not have to sit there crunching numbers in a spreadsheet for hours on end; and every year I sit there crunching numbers in a spreadsheet for hours on end.

There were some beading projects that I finished during the month, including one very special project for a lovely Frenchman who wanted something for his girlfriend's birthday.  He had definite ideas about the design and the colors, so it was a real pleasure to create this set of ropes for him.  They won't be presented to the recipient for another few days, and he's promised to let me know how she likes her gift.  For my part, I was thrilled to meet someone who put so much thought into a gift -- and he did all this more than a month before her birthday!

That's not the only beading project I finished during the month.  Because I was so busy with working on the house, I found it easier to work on bead crochet projects than anything else.  Once the beads are strung, a task which can take anywhere from 30 minutes up to a couple of hours, I can start and stop multiple times during the making of a rope without having to worry about where I am in a pattern.

Here are a few of the pieces I finished during the month (I finished several more, but some are still waiting for their pictures to be taken).

Blue Jean Baby

 Yes, this one was named with the Elton John song running through my mind.  I designed this one with picasso finish Czech glass beads (size 8/0) in denim blue and caramel, with the caramel beads placed to resemble stitches.  It's crocheted on royal blue silk thread, so it has a wonderful drape and heft.

Braith

I really like finding interesting and/or descriptive names for some of my pieces, and the name Braith means "speckled" in Welsh.  Created from matte opaque white, shiny opaque orange, and white-lined gray seed beads (size 11/0), part of the rope is speckled -- just a blend of the three types of beads -- and part of the rope is a series of patterns.  I just love these colors together, don't you?

Petina

The name of this piece is kind of a play on words...  "patina" is a "fine coating of oxide on the surface of a metal," and I think it's illustrated here by the combination of turquoise/olive beads mixed in with the dark silky copper beads.  Rather than name this piece "patina," though, I opted to give it the name of one of my favorite high school teachers.

Let's Do the Twist

It's been awhile since I made one of these twisted bead crochet bracelets, but I decided to have some fun.  This one is made in my own favorite colors using matte finish black and white beads of varying sizes.  Looking a bit like a Cellini spiral, it's really fun to watch the spirals develop as I crochet -- the result of using beads in three different sizes.

I took a break from working on the house today, having spent eight hours spreading mulch yesterday.  Crocheting beads is soooooooo much easier than spreading mulch!  :-)