Here is my latest creation, Satellite. You can view the actual listing HERE.
I decided to create something a little more versatile and unisex. This can be worn on the included neck wire as a necklace, or you can wear it on any choker, rope, chain, necklace of your choice, slip it on a leather wrist band as a bracelet, slide it on a purse or bag strap, slide it on a belt, whatever floats your boat.
This is a substantial piece triple woven for durability. Features rubberized matte black cabochon, ribbed spikes, natural Serpentine beads, Hematite beads, and Japanese seed beads in matte olive green and matte and opaque black. Pendant measures 2 1/4" in diameter and projects outward one inch. Black steel neck wire is 1mm, 18" long, and closes with a secure twist clasp.
For this challenge, we were to pick a destination and design our entry around it. My favorite way to travel is via cruise, so my destination of choice is on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.
I’ve always been drawn to water; the smell, sound, sight of it. I enjoy being so far away from everything & getting away from the chaos of our modern world. We are getting ready to book our next cruise (to Belize & Honduras) so this was an especially fun challenge to design a piece for.
I've included some photos of our past cruises to the Caribbean (British & US Virgin Islands and the Bahamas), in which I found inspiration for this piece.
In the Caribbean, the water is so clear and can range in color from turquoise to teal to sapphire and the nights are so black. All is peaceful, warm, quiet, and calm.
The focal is a stunning teal Lucite cabochon I happened upon in a local bead shop. It is bead embroidered with black & tropical green seed beads surrounding it and backed with soft faux suede. The straps contain turquoise, green, and black seed beads and represent gentle waves.
Over 750+ tiny beads were stitched to create this lightweight and flexible necklace.
Please be sure to visit our team blog, between the 9th and the 15th of March to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and vote for your favorite entry!
Read on to find out what inspired me and to view more pictures...
Here is my entry, Cocoon, for the Etsy Bead Weavers February Challenge; Nest.
You can view the actual listing HERE.
The idea was to come up with our own interpretation of nest. One’s first thought of nest would probably be a bird’s nest. Upon Googling nests of birds, animals, and insects I was inspired by some of the wasp nests I came across.
To be honest, I hate wasps. They freak me out. I hate being stung and I run, duck, and emit squeals of terror anytime they come near me. But something about their neatly constructed homes drew me in. I think the repetitive pattern appeals to the part of myself with OCD.
I decided for this challenge I would make a bracelet since I’ve always made necklaces for my challenge entries. I had a vision right away of two very different bracelets. The first was more bird nest like, the second what I have created here. The first I thought wouldn’t be best beadwoven, so I went with my second idea, but wasn’t sure how to create the “tubes”. Even-count tubes are very easy to make when stitched flat then rolled and ends sewn together. But I didn’t think that would look right, I wanted something more organic and flexible versus stiff and perfectly even. After reviewing stitches, I decided to use 3 types; circular, tubular, and odd-count flat.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, other than a bed or receptacle made by a bird or animal for its young, nest can also be defined as a place of rest, retreat, or lodging OR a group of objects made to fit close together. So my vision seemed to fit well and to tie in to both of those definitions, as I choose to do a single line of “tubes” one right after another and to use the colors of my very own place of rest, which also happen to coincide with Pantone’s Spring 2012 Fashion Color Report; Bellflower, Sweet Lilac, Driftwood, and Cockatoo.
Each “tube” contains 258 tiny Delica beads stitched one at a time & passed through multiple times, taking over an hour to create just one tube and anchor securely to the base. The base took a few hours to stitch and then embellish with purple metallic drops. All in all 4,700+ Japanese seed beads were used. It took 19+ hours over 2 ½ weeks to complete. For the clasp I used gunmetal jumprings and an oxidized silver toggle clasp.
I decided to title it Cocoon since that is what the tubes remind me of. A cocoon offers protection, and since I used the colors of my own safe space, I thought it appropriate. I was tempted to stitch a pearl “egg” in each, and even considered a pearl talon so it would look like something clawing its way out, but thought it might look too busy or complicated, so I chose to leave them empty.
This is totally my style; modern, a little weird, probably unexpected, and includes my favorite colors of purple, green, & black.
You can view the actual listing HERE.
The idea was to come up with our own interpretation of nest. One’s first thought of nest would probably be a bird’s nest. Upon Googling nests of birds, animals, and insects I was inspired by some of the wasp nests I came across.
To be honest, I hate wasps. They freak me out. I hate being stung and I run, duck, and emit squeals of terror anytime they come near me. But something about their neatly constructed homes drew me in. I think the repetitive pattern appeals to the part of myself with OCD.
I decided for this challenge I would make a bracelet since I’ve always made necklaces for my challenge entries. I had a vision right away of two very different bracelets. The first was more bird nest like, the second what I have created here. The first I thought wouldn’t be best beadwoven, so I went with my second idea, but wasn’t sure how to create the “tubes”. Even-count tubes are very easy to make when stitched flat then rolled and ends sewn together. But I didn’t think that would look right, I wanted something more organic and flexible versus stiff and perfectly even. After reviewing stitches, I decided to use 3 types; circular, tubular, and odd-count flat.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, other than a bed or receptacle made by a bird or animal for its young, nest can also be defined as a place of rest, retreat, or lodging OR a group of objects made to fit close together. So my vision seemed to fit well and to tie in to both of those definitions, as I choose to do a single line of “tubes” one right after another and to use the colors of my very own place of rest, which also happen to coincide with Pantone’s Spring 2012 Fashion Color Report; Bellflower, Sweet Lilac, Driftwood, and Cockatoo.
Each “tube” contains 258 tiny Delica beads stitched one at a time & passed through multiple times, taking over an hour to create just one tube and stitch it to the base. The base took a few hours to stitch and then embellish with metallic drops. All in all 4,700+ Japanese seed beads were used. It took 19+ hours over 2 ½ weeks to complete. For the clasp I used gunmetal jumprings and an oxidized silver toggle clasp.
I decided to title it Cocoon since that is what the tubes remind me of. A cocoon offers protection, and since I used the colors of my own safe space, I thought it appropriate. I was tempted to stitch a pearl “egg” in each, and even considered a pearl talon so it would look like something clawing its way out, but thought it might look too busy or complicated, so I chose to leave them empty.
This is totally my style; modern, a little weird, probably unexpected, and includes my favorite colors of purple, green, & black.
Please be sure to visit our team blog, between the 9th and the 15th of February to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and vote for your favorite entry!
My entry, Lemon Twist, is #11 for the November Etsy Beadweavers Challenge (EBWC), Totally Twisted.
I decided to finally take on a new spiral technique to create the single twisted ribbon left of center. On the right I used one of my favorite corkscrew spirals doubled. As one may notice, I have a preference for asymmetric designs and rarely like things that are perfect, even, or common. In the center I've bead embroidered 2 cat's eyes glass cabochons. I originally designed this piece to have the bottom yellow teardrop suspended from two tiny twisted spiral ropes with a grey cat's eye glass bead centered between. I stitched it all together and it looked way to "busy" to me so last night I cut them off and re-stitched the two cabochons directly to one another for a cleaner look.
Yellow is one of my least favorite colors & I seem to mostly gravitate towards black, purple, and green, so I thought I would attempt something outside my comfort zone. I fell in love with the soft, buttery Delicas as soon as I saw them and knew they would be the shade of yellow I'd work with. You can see more pictures of this necklace in the actual listing HERE.
This piece took longer to complete than expected, the new spiral was for me very fiddly; awkward to hold and insert a needle into, but I do love the finished look and will do a smaller piece using that spiral soon. I much prefer the basic twisted spiral rope (as seen in my last necklace, Blue); I can almost do it with my eyes closed and find it very meditative to stitch.
I decided to finally take on a new spiral technique to create the single twisted ribbon left of center. On the right I used one of my favorite corkscrew spirals doubled. As one may notice, I have a preference for asymmetric designs and rarely like things that are perfect, even, or common. In the center I've bead embroidered 2 cat's eyes glass cabochons. I originally designed this piece to have the bottom yellow teardrop suspended from two tiny twisted spiral ropes with a grey cat's eye glass bead centered between. I stitched it all together and it looked way to "busy" to me so last night I cut them off and re-stitched the two cabochons directly to one another for a cleaner look.
Yellow is one of my least favorite colors & I seem to mostly gravitate towards black, purple, and green, so I thought I would attempt something outside my comfort zone. I fell in love with the soft, buttery Delicas as soon as I saw them and knew they would be the shade of yellow I'd work with. You can see more pictures of this necklace in the actual listing HERE.
This piece took longer to complete than expected, the new spiral was for me very fiddly; awkward to hold and insert a needle into, but I do love the finished look and will do a smaller piece using that spiral soon. I much prefer the basic twisted spiral rope (as seen in my last necklace, Blue); I can almost do it with my eyes closed and find it very meditative to stitch.
Please visit our team blog
between the 9th and the 15th to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and vote for your favorite entry!
Here is my entry, Blue (#14 Black Grey Bead Embroidered Necklace), for the October Etsy Beadweavers Challenge (EBWC), Inspired by Picasso.
I originally chose one of Picasso’s cubist paintings for my inspiration, but I happened upon The Tragedy and it really struck something in me. When I discovered that it was created after learning of his friend’s death and began Picasso’s Blue Period (blue tones dominated his paintings from 1901-1904), I knew I had to explore this further. I completely identify with the sense of loss & darkness in The Tragedy, having lost my good friend of 25 years last Sept 22nd and watching my father suffer numerous health challenges being on hospice the past four months, soon to pass.
I incorporated a piece of blue beach glass and shell beads to represent the beach/water, three coral branches to represent the three mourning figures, while weaving in various shades of blue & gray, along with black and green seed beads to reflect the overall mood. I wanted to convey the veil of sadness that weighs heavy over your heart, the uneven sharpness, the downward spiral of emotions you can’t escape when grieving, without being too dark or ugly. You can see more pictures in the actual listing here.
I completely enjoyed this challenge; learning more about Picasso, being able to release some of my own blue feelings, and of course creating something new and original.
Please visit our team blog
between the 9th and the 15th to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and vote for your favorite entry!
