North Shore Nocturne

Most of our family vacations have been visits to my (or Carl's) parents.  So we had never been to the North Shore of Lake Superior, a very Minnesotan summer get-away destination.  For my birthday this year, we went for the first time, and I found it inspiring!  While strolling the beach in Grand Marais, I noticed many very flat rocks, and a young man, skipping them across the water.  I picked up one that was a nearly flawless oval, with a Payne's Gray color I loved.  I stuck it in my pocket and thought it might be interesting to bead.

The lake is breathtaking, crystal clear, and constantly changing with light and clouds. This cloud rolled down the shore, completely hiding from view the little jut of land and trees while I watched.  

There was often a mist, creating brilliant rainbow effects,
especially at the many waterfalls, where we hiked early each morning.

My favorite images were the high-contrast, silhouetted ones, with light angled low, at dusk or dawn.

When we got back home, I found the pebble in my pocket. I scrubbed my treasure and rubbed it with beeswax, polishing it to a lovely matte luster. I decided to try to re-create the waterfalls, and the beautiful silhouette lighting I found so appealing.  I called my results "North Shore Nocture".

I tried to include the mistiness and the bits of rainbow, and the beautiful natural world.  My friend Kinga sent me some cabochons for my birthday, and this shadowy leaf one seemed to belong to the piece.

We heard owls hooting, but never saw one, so the bail represents their unseen presence.  

I am really pleased with the rope!  I made a chenille rope, but it did not seem substantial enough for the work, and stretched to support the work, it felt bumpy and imperfect. :(  I tried again, increasing the base row from what I originally learned (6 beads) to eight, to accomodate a core of purchased commercial satin wrapped neckstrap, with ends already attached.  Here's a pic from the work table of the icky original chenille rope, (which does not look so bad until stretched to hold the weight of the waterfall) and the new one and its ends. Learned something really cool there, and it brings up some fabulous other ideas!

And because you know I like to be proud of the OTHER side of my work, a parting shot...

   

Oh, and one more thing.  Regina Krawets recently posted a beautiful piece of body jewelry on facebook and said she thought it was her "go-to" style.  I wondered what mine was. 

I think since I began as a beadweaver, and love work that is entirely woven, (although I do bead embroidery too) this might be my "go to" beady self.  A weaver.  Maybe this is why I love this gal's work.....

  

For My Friend

This work is a gift for a friend on the occasion of her 70th birthday.  Last year, for my 60th, she honored me with a generous gift certificate to one of my favorite local bead shops.  I wanted to return the favor.

My friend is intelligent, a voracious reader, and loves opera.  She is a mother to feline fur children, currently, a tabby named Holly. She plays bridge, and is a loyal companion.  She owned a cabin in Wisconsin, and that was the part of her that spoke to me, in this design.  Oh, and have I mentioned, she is a private person, and I respect that.  No names.

I wanted to return to my roots, and produce an entirely woven piece for her, and chose this jasper because it feels like a Wintery Wisconsin woods sunset to me.  It is either Cherry (sometimes called Red) Creek Jasper, or maybe Picasso Jasper. I have had it a long time, and do not remember where I bought it.  It has a nice polish, and because of this, I am going to guess, Utah Picasso.  I am fairly sure some of the supporting beads are Cherry Creek from China, judging both by their matte finish, and the not quite perfect drilling that China seems to be famous for.  I chose this stone, both because of its outdoor imagery, and because the beautiful silvery gray in the stone is very close to the color of my friend's hair.

Since as we age, dexterity dimishes, I wanted to make the work easy to wear, and especially, because my friend lives alone, with no one to fasten a lobster claw for her.  I used  hidden magnets to close the back of the necklace.

I created a delicate pair of earrings, as she is a small woman with delicate features.  The bracelet is also closed with a magnetic foldover clasp.

I had to ask her for a wrist measurement, since the oval beads will not lay flat unless the bracelet fits snugly and even though she has said "no gifts" she did oblige me.  I am sure she knows what I am up to, but I hope she will accept my gift in the same way I accepted hers; as an act of love, support, and celebration of life well-lived.  Happy Birthday!

Persian Princess Parure

I have been missing from the blogosphere for what feels like a very long time. Partly, this is because I decided to produce an entry for Bead Dreams this year, and it has taken over 100 hours to realize this literal dream.  I submitted my entry about ten days ago, and began working on this little piece for the Etsy Beadweavers April Challenge, "Shades of Scheherazade."  The theme is about Middle Eastern dancing, or as it is more commonly known here in the US, belly dancing.

Based on words from the theme description, I wanted my entry to be mysterious, exotic, curvey, and have movement itself, so that it might appear to dance with the wearer.

I hunted through my stash for things with those attributes, and also attended a local Bead Bazaar, organized by my friend Doris Coghill, in a high school gym with 40 bead vendors from 10 states.  I found several things that fit the bill.  Doris sells Swarovski Rivolis in ultra colors, which have tremendous depth and unusual color, and I found the ultra purple ones to be particularly exotic and mysterious, with a color range from purple to green gold.  She also had delicas in pale matte gold, and those seemed right too!


I found another vendor at the Bazaar with matte gold metal trinkets that seemed both curvey and somewhat in the Arabesque style, which has a Persian feeling and put me in the right corner of the world.  I bought three little metal bits, and some funky embellished chain, and a wonderful tassel, all in the matte gold.

My plan was to make a simple, wearable, date-night kind of piece, that I could easily finish before the beginning of April and the Battle of the Beadsmith, which I am putting on my dog tags for again this year.

I had seen other Beaders use metal bits like mine in embroidery, so I found a scrap of bead backing, glued on one of the bits and got out the beads.  But my results were abysmal.  Sigh.  I had buried the pretty shape in too much texture, made it bigger than I wanted it to be, gave it the disturbing quality of an animal face of some sort, and overwhelmed the matte gold finish I liked so much. Epic fail!

I decided I wanted the metal piece to be the size it was, and that it should have only minimal additional texture. I wanted to add color to it, but not beads, or only just a few.  I dug through my satin scrap bin and found a wonderful green gold piece.  I fused it to a bit of backing, and cut it to the exact shape of the stamping.  Then I added a few delicate beady touches and glued that result to ultrasuede.  But THEN WHAT?  I was used to having a beadwork to edge, and how in the world was I going to apply the backing through the metal at the edges?  The answer was, with great difficulty. And as I was edging the thing, the difficulty of adding fringe, which I knew I wanted, also occurred to me.  Nothing is ever simple, you know?

After the edging, I bezeled 8 of the smallest Ultra Purple rivolis in the light gold matte delicas, set them aside, and turned back to the fringe problem.  I thought maybe I should just attach the funky tassel I bought and call it sufficient movement, but the scale of that tassel felt too large, so I took it apart, thinking I would eliminate the biggest ball.  Then I decided I really wanted the fringe, and that I would just figure out a way to do that.

I experimented and discovered that I could pick stitch the fringe through the ultrasuede backing with a sturdy needle, creating minimal visual impact from the stitching I would usually hide in the beadwork, so I fringed, and re-fringed, tassled, and fringed again until I got a delicate result with nice action. Here's the back and the tiny pick stitch dimples.

I grouped the rivolis into a triangular support for the focal, and played with connecting them, one of my current favorite beading interests.  I am loving working with connections as a means to blend disparate elements into a cohesive whole! I used 4 and 6mm Amethyst rounds from my stash to pull out the purple from the rivolis in the connection elements. I wanted the piece to have "hips" since hip action is such a defining element of  belly dancing, and found a way to drape on a hip shape on both sides of the focal that really pleased me.

HIPS!

Then it was time to make the strap.  Warren Feld (in his Jewelry Design Discussion Group on Facebook)  just wrote about the importance of the integration the strap, and I whole-heatedly agree.  And the first step is creating the right strap to integrate; one that will blend in with ease, offer support to what is already there, and bring its own little delight and meaning to the party.

Once I had the right thing, (a flat spiral, which is one of those techniques that I have never used before, but like the look of) I think the integration went pretty smoothly. 

In fact, I decided to make a larger flat spiral bracelet and a pair of earrings to create a set, making it sufficient to be called a parure, and helping me discover my alliterative title, Persian Princess Parure.   Although, I think Scheherezade was actually a queen...

 

If this set should be yours, you can see the listing in my Haute Ice Beadwork Etsy Shop here!

I find it has a springtime, crocus kind of color feeling, something I am just itching for!  Outside my window there are still many inches of snow blanketing my world.  Spring?  My backside.

I try hard to consider my design time irrevelant in the pricing of my work, and attempt to just price according to the time I believe it would take to duplicate the work, once the design work is resolved.  How do you price your work?  Do you include design time?  Construction time? Cost of materials?  The time it takes to make photos and write and post listings?  I think to recoup design time, you probably need to write tutorials.  Which would take yet more time.  :o)  That just has to be on my horizon, I think.  But not right away for sure.

Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry

I have SOOOOOO much to write about that I hardly know where to begin.  It's been over a month since I have held a beading needle, and the explanation for that will be a separate post.  I have three exciting bits of beady news to share, and I will begin with this one:

I was absolutely over the moon to find that three of my works were included in the new Lark 500 series book, "Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry."  You can check out the book here:

http://amzn.to/z6tZH2

on amazon and even place your order to see all the really splendid and inspirational work.  Many of my beady friends and heroes were also included, and I am so honored to be in this spectacular publication.

In 2007, when I first discovered beading, it was because of another Lark book.  For my birthday, I was given a book store gift certificate, and a handmade bracelet that was too large for me.  I went to the bookstore to find out how to shorten the bracelet, and next to "Beading for Dummies" was "500 Beaded Objects."  I opened the book, and was instantly hooked, knowing that I wanted to DO that!

Now, 5 years later, I feel like a circle has been completed. I got my copy of this wonderful book in the mail and was totally thrilled to open it and see my work there with the "big boys and girls of beading!"

I will confess, I am not pleased with my photography for the book.  There were myriad requirements, like, "NO EDITING" and "SHOOT IN RAW" and all kinds of things that my photography simply does not approach, and my ancient camera is simply not capable of.  I borrowed my husband's camera, and at least got enough ppi to satisfy the most basic requirements, but just didn't know enough about using this new camera to make my work look its best. I am afraid I rely on being able to crop and adjust exposure to compensate for my lacking photographic skills and when those options are not available, my work really suffers. 

I have promised myself that this fall, I will get both a new, state of the art camera, and take a photography class, to learn how to handle the next opportunity when it pops up.  Please feel free to take a look at my work and then chew my backside off over the quality of the photos, and hold me accountable for the new camera and classes!

The pieces chosen for the book were "Bollywood Beauty," "Raindrops on Lilacs," and "Persephone's Return," three of my favorites.  And incidentally, another of my lilac series pieces, "Persian Lilac" is featured in this month's Your Work section of  Bead & Button Magazine.  Happy dancing here in Minnetonka!

Tweed Bracelet

"When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me."

 We all have things we gravitate towards as designers, and things we avoid.  I am not a silver girl.  I wear a gold wedding ring, and the silver bin in my bead storage is the emptiest of all the bins. 

Beadsmith's wonderful Steven Weiss sent me a clasp he chose for me, as a part of the Elegant Elements project.  It's a lovely thing, a pretty shape, with a subtle and unusual color combination.  But working with it really made me stretch my boundaries.  And for this I am thankful.  Every time we make safe choices, we close our lives off a little from possibilities.  A silver, mauve and siam bracelet was a big reach for me.  But I did it, and I have learned and stretched and grown.  And I have to add this.  These Elegant Elements clasps are made with Swarovski components.  So if you use Swarovski crystals, or their crystal pearls in your work, a beautiful and organic match with your work is guaranteed. 

And that is enough said. Except for one thing.  In the corner of this private group forum, it says,

"A very intimidating group...  you've been warned :o)"

But the support and kindness there is what makes it possible to reach outside your personal comfort zone and try something entirely different with which you do not have experience, technical expertise or the even the ability to be securely successful.  

Now I am aching for emerald and gold.  Off to clean my table, and follow my heart.

What it Took...

... to make my Arabesque Hearts and Flowers Necklace.

Some materials:

1 8.4 carat Rhodocrosite Teardrop Cabochon  12.00

1 pair Rhodocrosite Cabochons                        20.00

1 piece Pink Bead Backing                                   .65

1 piece Gold Ultrasuede for backing                    4.00

2 2x2mm Gold Filled Crimps                                .30

2 3mm Gold Filled Jump Rings                              .40

22 4mm Swarovski Rose Champagne Bicones      5.50

1 tube 24k Rose Gold Plate Delicas                    15.25

1 tube Nickel Plated Size 11 Seed beads                4.00

1 pkg Size 8 Green Iris Teardrop Seed Beads        2.00

6 tubes Size 15 Japanese Seed Beads                     9.80

1 tube Size 15 24k Gold Czech Charlottes          17.00

1 tube Size 13 24k Gold Czech Charlottes          15.45

4 tubes Size 8 Seed Beads                                    17.00

1 Gold Filled Toggle Clasp                                    9.50

4 bobbins Nymo in 4 Colors                                 5.00

1 spool 10 lb test Red Power Pro                        14.95

1 spool Crystal Fire Line                                    16.80

1 spool Fine Gold Extreme Soft Flex                 25.50

I didn't use up all of each of these items, but I made a just under $200 expenditure to have each item needed at hand to make the necklace. 

Plus some tools:

Needle nose pliers, crimping pliers, beading needles in various sizes, tailors thimble, awl, card stock for making patterns, Lazer shears for cutting the fishing lines, beading mat and tray, bead scoop.

Plus some time:

Usually I keep meticulous track of time, but this time (because I started so late and worked so fast) I have to guess, about 12 hours, but I suspect that is a conservative estimate.

Plus some experience:

Which enabled me to know that what I designed originally could not be finished in time to make the deadline for completion, so I adapted and adjusted my design to allow me to complete it in the time I had available.

Plus the inspiration:

 I got from watching my Etsy Beadweavers teammates post their entries for this challenge, and after deciding that I just didn't have time to do this, re-deciding that I REALLY wanted to make my own response to the challenge of "Arabesque Style."

Tomorrow is the last day of this challenge and if you have not already done so, please visit our Etsy Beadweavers Team blog, and choose your favorite entry of the many delightful interpretations on display and VOTE!

Pearls from China

My friend Doris Coghill spoke at the Upper Midwest Bead Society meeting a couple weeks ago, providing insight and information from her many years of beading, teaching beadwork, and selling beads.  When asked about beading supplies from China, she used a very bad word.  She explained that the Chinese government has recently forced the retirement of many skilled workers to provide jobs for younger people entering the workforce.  When many of those experienced workers left, with them went skills and ethical work habits. 

One of the results of this forced mass Chinese early retirement program is a flood of poorly drilled pearls on the market.  Earlier this fall I bought piles of pearls at the local Gem and Lapidary Workers Show when it visited Minneapolis.  I love to weave with pearls, but usually find I must buy them wholesale to afford them. Weaving eats up materials quickly, and the GLWS is a great place to shop.

So when the blitz of my fall costume work ended, I happily sorted through my goodies and got out my favorite 3 strands of golden bronzy 3mm-ish rice pearls and two pieces of Biggs Deschutes Jasper and set to work, with this result:

The jasper was pricey, especially the upper piece, but the pearls were very reasonable, so I had plenty to play with, and after configuring the focal section, I decided to drape the pearls on each side.  I liked the exclaimation point image I had, but wanted to soften and disguise it a little, so it had subtlety and invited a closer look, since the details in the focals were so lovely.  This is where my trouble began. 

When you are draping strands of anything, uniformity is critical to success.  And these pearls were far from uniform. I loved the differences in color, since they echoed the depth in the jasper.

But the differences in length were more problematic.  For what I had paid for them, I didn't think the size differences were unreasonable, and the surfaces were smooth and lovely and with a deep glowing nacre.  I sorted them by length, and realizing that I would not have enough of any one length to do the job entirely, tried to organize them in my draping to provide the best results.  They were visually deceptive!  Fatter ones looked shorter than they were, and vice versa.  But all that was 100% acceptable to me and my purposes.

What I found disappointing was the funky drilling of many of the pearls.  In my triangle weave section, it didn't matter, but in the draping, it did.

I did the left side first (ok, REALLY I did the right side first, hated it, and did the left side and got a better result, and then ripped the right side and re-wove it) and I was able to use mosly the pearls with the holes drilled straight through, but by the last strand at the bottom, I had to start encorporating the pearls with the angled holes.  See the one in the center of the picture? There's one in two strands from it as well.  Sigh. 

And the right side has more of those badly drilled babies.  I don't see this as a crisis.  My piece is still pretty.  But my friend was right.  Less care and skill is going into the drilling of pearls from China.

Now, maybe the specific Chinese supplier makes a difference, because I ordered the pearls for my Victoria's Secret piece from China, and I was really pleased with their quality, price, and super fast service with reasonable shipping costs.  Better than companies in this country that shall remain nameless.

So, for future reference, caveat emptor!  When you buy a strand of pearls, hold them up and look at how they have been drilled and consider your purpose before plunking down your cash.  If you want to drape them, you want the holes drilled straight.  Thanks Doris, for opening my eyes. 

It's Been Sooooooo Long!

I had a super busy fall and neglected both of my blogs, while working 7 days a week for more than 6 weeks at my ballroom dance competition costume business, Made for Movement.  But I didn't stop beading entirely...

First there was "In the Forest Primeval" a beautiful tabac navette, with matte green leaf fringe to herald the coming autumn.  I made it a peyote neckstrap with dark gold delica edges, and a beaded buttonhole and toggle closure.

And of course, there had to be earrings...

There was a huge forest fire in the Minnesota Boundary Waters this fall, and that inspired this pendant.

And of course...

Then, there was a simple Picasso Jasper pendant piece for the Etsy beadweavers Team "Inspired by Picasso" Challenge.  Love the vibrantly strung neckstrap and the coral bezel.

I am certain there were earrings that went with this, but I don't see the photo!!!

Then, I beaded up a Dutch Spiral for my Etsy Beadweavers challenge "TOTALLY TWISTED!"  I really enjoyed using the metallic matte cubes in the mix, and the Vintaj Brass beadcaps.  No earrings yet...

And then, I had some beautiful Lapis Lazuli ovals and a matched Azurite pair, so I tried a little bead embroidery, not my strong suit, but most enjoyable in my hands.

Since bead art is my second job, I find when I am stressed, it's a meditation that centers, focuses, and relaxes me, but I can't take on projects that are ambitious when my mind is still full of my day.  I'm so glad now to be only normally scheduled for the rest of the year, and look forward to picking up some more substantial projects.

After a Long Silence...

Finally, a new post and a new piece.  I spent all of January and most of February pursuing a project that I was simply unable to realize in the way I thought should be possible.  I eventuallly set aside my fourth attempt, took the hundreds of dollars worth of pearls I had purchased for the "IP," ( impossible project) and decided I would enter the March Etsy Beadweavers Challenge, "Fashion Through the Ages."  I purposefully used the biggest and best of the pearls, so I could not revisit "IP" without re-investing. 

The March Challenge was to choose a historial fashion style and create a piece of jewelry in that style.  I found this beautiful painting by Victorian artist Franz Xaver Winterhalter very inspiring.  I loved the bare necks and beautiful soft shoulders and wanted to create a pearl choker with a three dimensional feeling that would embellish all that lovely bare skin from all angles.

I used triangle weave, one of my personal favorite stitches, to create the choker, and then added drops all the way around the base, so that there would be something beautiful to see from the sides and back, as well as the front.  This is my second attempt, and I was glad to start again after nearly finishing the first time, because it allowed me a opportunity to perfect the design, which had potential, but needed cleaning up.

Then I visited my favorite local bead store, The Bead Monkey and found this splendid sterling silver clasp, shaped like a little heart.  I was thinking my piece would be a great wedding necklace, and the clasp seemed perfect for that purpose, as well as continuing my "beautiful from all angles" idea.  And then of course, it needed a little extender chain.  I tend to design jewelry with my own skinny neck in mind, and like to make it possible for others to adjust the work to fit without alterations to the weaving.

On a side note, I just read about the tiara likely to be worn by Kate Middleton when she becomes a British Princess and, in the process, stumbled across this photo of a necklace worn by Queen Mary, with one of the tiaras under consideration.  According to Wikipedia, the neckalce is from Garrards, Inc, "Crown Jeweller of the UK, charged with the upkeep of the British Crown Jewels, from 1843 to 2007."  Very similar to my own attempt, but made of silver.  Wonder if the stiff, cold metal would be uncomfortable?  Too bad they didn't beadweave this piece!  Take a look.  The design inspiration must have been very similar to my own!

Fortunately, stepping away from the "IP" has been refreshing, and I am happily working on another new piece as well.  Maybe someday, I will revisit "IP," and by that time, I will either have a more realistic expectation, or the techincal skill to reach my goal.  Do you ever get stuck?

Let me add a note here: this is a contest entry, and you can choose your favorite piece and have your voice heard!  Please visit http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ by March 15th and vote for your favorite entry on the right hand side of the blog in the poll!!!