Here is my entry for the Etsy Bead Weavers October Challenge, Misty Winter's Dawn; Wintertide. You can view the actual listing HERE.
This months challenge was to use a winter color palette to achieve a pale, pastel, foggy, subdued look.
Here are a few beautiful photographs I drew inspiration from...
Found here.
Found here.
Found here.
I chose to work with the pinks and purples found in the sky as the sun rises to meet the horizon and light bounces off snow & ice in the early morning.
Please be sure to visit our team blog, between the 9th and the 15th of October to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and vote for your favorite entry!
Time to VOTE for your favorite Lunar Obsession. This months challenge was to be inspired by the moon. Many great works from talented artists. Be sure to check them all out!
My entry is #23, La Bella Luna.
You can read more about my necklace and view more photos HERE.
Tonight will be a Blue Moon, rumored to be very auspicious. What perfect timing to list my entry, La Bella Luna, for the Etsy Bead Weavers September challenge, Lunar Obsession. You can view the actual listing HERE.
Often when perusing local bead shops I will purchase beady things that are ugly or weird, just because I like things that are unusual. The focal of my necklace, a grey resin cabochon, is just that. It caught my eye because I have never seen anything like it. I picked it up on a whim, not having any idea of what I would do with it. When I got it home and looked it over a second time, I thought I would never use it, that it was a little too ugly for jewelry use, and would join my overwhelming stash of going nowhere soon beady “stuff” that waits patiently for its birth.
For this challenge we were to be inspired by the moon. I often look to the moon; wondering, awed, captivated. Cloaked in darkness and full of mystery, constantly changing and often lacking symmetry. When viewing the moon even from such a great distance you see craters, shadows, texture, the beauty of light reflecting off of its surface.
The focal is representative of the moon’s surface. Also used in this piece were Picasso and metallic finish peanut beads, textured metal sequins, Hematite beads, matte cube beads, a cat eye cabochon, bugle beads, matte & opaque seed beads, and a gunmetal tube bead, backed with Ultrasuede, and finished with a gunmetal toggle closure.
Please be sure to visit our team blog, between the 9th and the 15th of September to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and vote for your favorite entry!
*Enjoy your holiday weekend and be sure to look up tonight and behold the Blue Moon!*
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!
Just a brief update...I'm taking a slight break (from Etsy, blogging, etc). I will be back sometime next week (hopefully) with more treasuries, Saturday Shops, promotions, and listings.
We've received some very sad news and I've been kinda lost in contemplation and haven't been feeling up to much other than pinning (boy has Pinterest been a much needed distraction! Anyone else on Pinterest?).
I have started a new project; a necklace that is both bead embroidered and beadwoven. It should be finished within a day or so, I will post a preview when it is done. I'm trying a new type of embellishing and it is a very fun piece.
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!
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!
New necklace, in store soon.
New necklace available in my store tomorrow.
Just a little sneak peek at some beadwoven items I am working on.
