ZNetShows Design Team Reveal

(Heads up - this post is photo heavy, so you may want to refresh that cup of coffee and settle in for a bit...)

A few weeks ago, I as one of a number of people invited by Bill Zhang of ZNetShows to design some jewelry using his company's cultured sea glass beads.  Once I picked myself up off the floor from the dead faint of surprise, I said yes and kept watching the mail for what I figured would be a bead or two.

As I described here, what I got was a veritable treasure chest of goodies to work with!

This photo doesn't show a couple of packets of base metal components
that were included -- oops!  You'll see them in the final projects.

And here's what I made with it.  First up, three pairs of earrings:

ZNet Shows sea glass ovals suspended from peyote stitched loops

Another view

ZNet Shows sea glass donuts, Chinese crystal, metal barrels in antique copper finish

ZNet Shows sea glass with mother of pearl ruffles from my stash
(these mother of pearl beads were a BEAR to photograph!)

Four necklaces:

ZNet Shows sea glass shell shapes dangling from doubled length of copper chain

Here's a view of the whole thing - I love how it drapes when worn

ZNet Shows sea glass pendant, clear faceted Chinese crystal,
sea glass rounds,and silver tone beads
(my own fabricated sterling  clasp)

The necklace to go with the earrings above - ZNet Shows sea glass
nuggets and  Chinese crystal.  The mother of pearl ruffles and coral
beads were from my stash.  I made the clasp with an arc-shaped
ZNet Shows sea glass component and a loop of coral beads.
Again, the luster of the mother of pearl made this a bear to photograph nicely.

 And if you know me, you know I had to break out the seed beads sooner or later:

ZNetShows sea glass marquises, sea glass rounds, bead embroidered.
All suspended from multiple strands of silk rattail,
with my own sterling fabricated clasp.

And finally, a freeform peyote bracelet.  This one was the result of my wanting to use the absolutely adorable sea glass starfish as a clasp.

ZNetShows sea glass starfish button, Chinese crystal in a couple of shapes and finishes,
base metal barrels in antique copper finish.  I added lots of my own seed beads.

Big thanks to Bill for letting me play with these great beads!  I hope I did you proud.

Introducing Leonard

A couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to win a copy of Karen Williams' great book Freeform Peyote Beading.  Not only did Karen send me a copy of the book, but she sent a treasure box of beads selected to echo the design in the book that had most caught my eye.

Looking through the pages of her book online, a bracelet stood out to me -- not just because it was lovely, but because I misread Karen's title (Leopard Jasper Bracelet).  "How funny!" I thought, "She called the bracelet Leonard Jasper."

(Okay, originally, the plan was to sit down and bead myself silly over Thanksgiving weekend.  Yep.  So let's just jump in the WayBack Machine and pretend it's late November, and that I'm not actually two months behind schedule on this...)

And so, in honor of Karen and her wonderful generosity and talent, allow me to introduce Leonard, the Jasper Bracelet.

I've done a good bit of freeform work, but Karen's book was full of great ideas and tips that were new to me.  My favorite tip for this project was to consider the first strand of beads you string as the centerline of the final piece and build on both sides simultaneously, at least at first.  This great tip helped me avoid my typical wonky "aw, crap, it's lopsided" moment in freeform bracelet creation.

Thanks, Karen, for helping to bring Leonard into my life!  And y'all, go take a look at her book on Amazon -- yummy...

The Button That Saved the Bracelet

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you've had a great start to your week. Allow me to introduce you to the button that saved the bracelet.

This past weekend was relaxed and gave me a chance to catch up on some little chores that have been hanging around the bead room for a while. One was to make a replacement on the closure for a freeform bracelet. I had originally used a really cute vintage bead that looks kind of like a pair of wings or flower petals. It was cute, but a little too small to be a secure, dependable closure, so it had to go back into the collection to be used elsewhere another day.

Do I have a photo of this cute little bead? Um, no. That would be entirely too logical. And I can either do Monday, or I can do logic. The ability to do both simultaneously seems to have vanished some time in my 30's....

However, here's what the bracelet looks like in its new, repaired state with the flower button pictured above in the place of the vintage bead closure.




I'm so happy to have it back in wearable shape. Now to decide -- should it go to one of the galleries that sell my work, be part of the inventory for my show in three weeks (gasp! I've got a lot to do for that!!!), or perhaps serve as an early entry for the Etsy shop I want to get started?

Maybe I'll take it for a test wear tomorrow and decide then.