Pearl Challenge

This pearl challenge is yet another event hosted by Lisa Lodge. This one is a little different in that you did not have to blog about your creations. This allowed beaders without a blog to participate. Everyone's creations are posted in an album on Lisa's Pine Ridge Treasures' Facebook page.

I have decided to blog about my creations beyond what I sent Lisa to be posted in the album.

These are the glass pearls that were in the kits I purchased by Lisa. Two different sized round deep red, small round white and rice pearls in both the white and the deep red.

I started working with the smaller red pearls. I wanted to do something I had not done before, flat spiral. I found instructions in Jean Power's book Small Beads Big Jewelry. Jean's design used two different sized pearls and seed beads. I decide to use the smaller red pearls, clear fire-polished crystals and matte black seed beads.

After finishing this bracelet I thought what would if I used pearls on the edge and crystals in the center. A look thru my stash lead to this combination. Swarovski Pacific Opal crystals, the small round white pearls from the kit and seaform green seed beads.

Here are the two bracelets together, in the image that I sent to Lisa to include in the album.

Back in August while I was working on the challenge I was contacted by a fellow beader, Mary. She was looking for help with the Celtic Trefoil by Diane Fitzgerald in her book Shaped Beadwork. I had blogged about making some last summer. I decided the best way to help Mary was to make a trefoil and photograph some of the more challenging parts of the design. I decided to use colours that would work with the pearls in the kit and some bronze beads in my stash.

Here are some of the photos that I sent to her to help out.

At the second corner ready to add two beads for the increase

Completed third row and have stepped up to start fourth

Completed Trefoil

I then completed the necklace with a elegant pattern of the three different size and styles of the deep red pearls and the flat round bronze beads.

Take a moment to go over to the album on the Pine Ridge Treasure Facebook page to see the other beaded creations.

Thanks again to Lisa for the challenge!

Happy Beading!

Ocean Blog Hope Reveal Day #2

It has been two weeks since I revealed my creations as part of the Ocean Blog Hop. Today is the second reveal day and here are the participants-

Our hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations

Ev Shelby, Raindrop Creations

Toltec  Jewels, Jewel School Friends

Karla Morgan, Texas Pepper Jams

Ema Kilroy, Ema K Designs

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Catherine Yvonne King, Catherine's Musings

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Shaiha Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings

Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware

Eleanor Burian Moore, The Charmed Life

Kay Thomerson, Kayz Kreationz

Jill Bradley, Chat 2 Jill 
Rebecca Ednie, Eclectic Endeavours

I thought that I would share some pieces that I have created in the past inspired by an ocean dweller. Here is a picture of a sea anemone for Margie Deeb's Beader's Color Palette book.  It listed the delica colours of 203/910/073/281.

Sea Anemone

As a color experiment I did the tuffet box pattern, from Julia Pretl's Little Bead Boxes book, three times. Each time I change the placement of the colours with in the pattern.

Sea Anemone Tuffets

Last June I took Jean Power's Geometric Stars class. I decided to use the colour from the sea anemone inspiration. Once again I experimented with the placment of the colours within the pattern.

Sea Anemone Stars

Take time to hop around and see what everyone has created.

Happy Beading!

Summer Beading

It is the first day fall here in Weston. So I am going to take a look a back at some of the beading I did this summer. Some I have blogged about and some I have not.

Summer started with those three great classes with Jean Power, zinnias, frames and stars. Following the class I finished the zinnia and not just one star but 4.

Finished Zinnia

Finished Stars

In July I was part of the Bead Hoarder's Blog Hop. Using some of the beautiful beads I had been saving I made four different sets of jewellry. Here is my favourite, using beads by Jennifer Tough that I have had stashed in a little metal Swarovski box.

Bead Hoarder's Set

I took a great class at beadfx with Pamela Kearns. The shooting star pendant is from the book Crystal Play by Anna Elizabeth Draeger. In class I did one with jet & red coral Swarovski crystals and silver seed beads. 

First Shooting Star Pendant

I did a secod one later in the summer with green seed beads, green and yellow Swarovski crystals. It is not quite the look I was hoping for. I likely remake it with some brown seed beads to look like a wooden trellis for the flower-like cluster of crystals.

In August I posted about the piece I created with the polymer clay component by Alenka of Pepita Handmade. It was a fun challenge that push me to make something very different then usual!

Pepita Handmade necklace

The last challenge of the summer was the Cabochon Challenge. I loved this reversal pendant project from the August issue of Bead & Button by Amy Kohn made with Lunasoft cabs. I have been wearing the Red/Grey pendant and love being able to flip the piece during the day.

After blogging about Peyote stitch on the Rypan Designs' blog I decided to make a few projects from Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork book. I love the Celtic Trefoil design. It was interesting to see this go from a long loose knot of 99 delicas to a beautiful Celtic Knot Trefoil pendant.

To finish my first one I used short lengths of chain and small Swarovski crystals.

The second one has just silver chain.

My third is accented with mauve Swarovski Pearls.

 I also started to play with the pointed ovals from Diane's book. I was looking to use them to create a flower brooch. I was inspired by this photo I found online a number of years ago.

 Here is one of the pointed ovals in progress.

Five ovals worked together in to a flower. I just need to figure a way to hold it together as a wearable brooch.

 
Here is the necklace that I made with the beads that my friend Maria got for me at Bead & Button show. The beautiful owl pendant is accent with ceramic, copper and wooden beads.

Owl necklace

 Back in July I purchased some amazing ceramic beads from Kathi Mohlman of Earth n Elements Pottery. The urchin beads I wanted to put them with the Sea Urchin beaded bead from Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence book. I added some fire-polished beads and pearls.

Sea Urchin Necklace

I finished a few other projects for fall challenge reveals. Stay tuned to see some other fun projects.

Creating with Cabochons - Reveal Day

Back in July I signed up to participate in the Creating with Cahochons Challenge hosted by Sally Russick of Studio Sublime.

Back in June I had worked with a Swarovksi flatback crystal for Jean Power's Zinnia class.

back view, peyote bezel with addition of strip for wearablity

Addition of petals in progress

Finished Zinnia with two layers of petals

For my next project with cabochons I decided to do a project from the August issue of Bead & Button. Reverible Romance by Amy Kohn uses Lunasoft cabochons. I decided to use the designer's colour selections from one side of each of the two options.

Purple and Teal oval Lunasoft cabochons

You start this project by gluing the two cabochons together. You then create a right angle weave base for the woven bezel. Different colour beads are used for each side.

To hold the cabochons in place a web of overlapping segments of beads is worked off of the RAW base. Once you have done this on both sides you work the crystal embellishment around the outer edge. Different colour crystals enhance the cabochon on each side.

Ths pendant is finished with a bail of peyote.

Teal Side

Purple Side

The challenge was getting the woven segments in place and the right length. Looking at the images of the finished pendant I can see the thread showing in the bezel.

I had purchased two more Lunasoft cahochons to make a second pedant in my own colour selection. I used a red and a soft grey cabochon for this one. For the right angle weave base I used the same colour (silver) for both sides. The woven bezel and crystal embellishment are in a different colour on each side.

I also decide to have this pendant hang from the short end of the pedant.

Red Side

Soft Grey Side

I have been wearing the grey/red pendant recent and recieved many compliments.


Hop around see what others have created - 

Our Host:  Sally Russick

D Lynne  Bowland

Alicia Marinache           

Lynn  Jobber           

Jenny Davies-Reazor
           

Jo-Ann  Woolverton           

Marde Lowe           

Dawn Doucette           

Mary K McGraw           

Gloria Allen           

Cheri  Reed           

Sonya Stille           

Elizabeth Owens Dwy           

Veralynne   Malone           

Tania Hagen
     

Lynsey  Brooks           

Christina Miles           

Holly  Westfall           

Kathy  Lindemer           

Patti Vanderbloemen           

Therese Frank           

Adrienne Berry           

Liz   E 

Tanty  Sri Hartanti           

Ginger Bishop

Renetha Stanziano           

Marlene  Cupo           

Sandi Volpe           
Sharyl McMillian-Nelson           

Niky  Sayers

Mischelle Fanucchi           

Tracy  Stillman           

Skylar Bre'z           

Ann Schroeder           
Paula Kramer

Jess Green           
Susan Kennedy           

Stacie  Florer           

Cathie  Carroll           
Susan F. 

Michelle Caballero       
Sabine Dittrich           
Kristina Johansson           
Kimberly Sturrup-Roberts           
Melissa  Meman
         
Cheryl McCloud         
Michelle  Timms           
Cindy  Pack            
Lynda  Carson
Cynthia  Machata
         
Julia  Harris           

Karin  Slaton

Ingrid  Anderson           

Karin Grosset Grange

Jasvanti Patel 

Inge  von Roos

Molly Alexander

Toltec Jewels  

I look forward to see what everyone else has created.

Happy Beading!

In the mail - books and beads

Yesterday I was able to pickup not one, but two packages that had arrived in the mail for me.

The first was Jean Power's My Favourite Delicas 2. I had ordered this a few weeks ago.

I now have 27 new tubes of delicas. Some are colours I have, but many are not. I am looking forward to creating with them.

I loved the bonus spiral bound notebook for "Important beading notes". Are there any other kind of beading notes?

I also got two books that I had ordered.

The first is Marcia DeCoster's new book Beads in motion. I am hoping to get the supplies together to make the Saturn rings necklace.

The other book, Don't pigeonhole me!, is by one of my favourite children's author/illustrator, Mo Willems.  It is a collection of the sketchbooks he made to share with family, friends and associates. You get to see the doodles that lead to some of his books.

 Happy Beading & Reading!!!

Vacation Beading - Day 2 & 3

Yesterday I had lunch with Maria to celebrate are birthdays this week. We had burgers at the Works down in Bloor West Village. I gave her the Shooting Star pendant that I made on Thursday.

I spent the rest of the day working to finish my series of geometric stars from the class with Jean Power. Using the colour palette from the sea anemone as seen in Margie Deeb's book The Beader's Color Palette.

I finished the fourth star today. 

Here are all four stars together.

I just need to decide how best to display them.

Tomorrow I will do some beading in the morning and spend the afternoon with my sister and her family.

Happy Beading!

Jean Power class update

Wow, it has been two weeks since I spent the weekend taking classes with British bead artist Jean Power.

I have actually finished two of the projects that I started during the classes.

Friday's class was the Zinnia Flower class. Once I started working on it at home I finished up the petals at the front of the flower.

For the back layer of petals I switch the placement of the colours. The blue is main colour of the petals with an edge of silver.

Here is the back of the flower. With the band across the back you can wear it in many ways. I think this will look great pinned to my grey winter coat. Or I may make the beaded chain which was include in our instructions.

On Sunday we started our geometric stars. I would have gotten further along in class if I had not run into problems with my counting.

I completed the last two sides and zipped them together to the other three.

I am looking to do a series of these stars with just changes in the placement of the colours as I did with my sea anemone boxes.  I am using the same colours for the stars.

Happy Beading!

Geometric Stars class

Today was my last class with Jean Power at beadFX.

Jean and her book (photo from S. Dixon)

 Today's class was her geometric stars.

 Here is our very full class of busy beaders.

Photo from S. Henry

One of my distorted squares in progress.

My star with three of distorted squares zipped together.

Here is almost everyones in progress or completed stars.

Thanks to Jean for coming to teach us and to the wonderful staff at beadFX for a fantastic weekend.