Friday Feature: dagger jewelry

In honor of one of my newest pieces, I decided to search for dagger jewelry on Etsy this week for the first time in ages. Enjoy.

Beaded Cuff Bracelet - Dagger Fringed - Green Red Purple by randomcreative

Agni Fire & Gold Earrings by AMermaidHeart

Rainbow colorful soutache earrings, turquoise, red, orange, yellow, leaf, dagger beads, swarovski crystals for summer by agtesa

Daggers bracelet, Czech glass daggers, Tangerine bracelet, orange dagger braelet, brass finish by CHARMATIONS

Geometrical Green Spike Earring Fiber Jewelry Long Earrings by LavenderField

Bad Girl dagger necklace with colorful separators by FlirtyBJewelryDesign

Bead Trends March magazine feature

My second Bead Trends feature for 2012 is up and running!  I'm so excited that I can say that.  If you missed my post about my February feature, check it out right here.

As always, I got my two free copies of the magazine.

I also got another $20 gift certificate.  Believe it or not, I haven't spent any of these yet.  I need to make some online soon to do a big bead shopping spree at Fire Mountain.  For anyone wondering, I already checked with the site about using multiple gift certificates for a single order, and you can use 5 at one time.

I was pleased see with the feature that they actually photographed my whole item instead of just taking a couple artistic shots of it.  Anyone interested in making this project will have a decent shot at it.  They also clearly didn't have any better idea than I did how to capture this color palette very accurately.

This piece is now available right here in my Etsy shop.

I have revisited different variations of this color combination a few times over the years.  I'm sure that I'm not done with it yet.  These first two pieces are available in my shop.  Click on the photos to go to the listings.

In the comment section of my last Bead Trends feature post, Edi shared a great tip about submitting ideas to magazines:
Magazines are generally looking for ideas 3-6 months ahead of the current trends and season.  When you submit ideas, you should be in this mind frame, too.
Thanks Edi!

Any other tips about magazine submissions?  Share them in the comments!

I am included this post in Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday - 3/9/2012.

July design team reveal: the amazing purple donut transformed

It's the last Friday of the month, which means that it's time for Kristie's design team reveal!  I'm pushing back my Friday Feature and Saturday Link Lists posts this week so those will resume tomorrow.

I am honored that Kristie accepted me as a guest member of her design team.  This is the first time that I've participated.  For those who don't remember, this is the selection of ceramic donuts and buttons that we got to choose from.

I chose the middle purple donut.  I knew that I wanted to create a beaded bail for it with a beaded rope.  I chose two purple delicas for the bail and a champagne mix of delicas for the rope.

I started with the rope.  I still think that this would look awesome in a gray, but I couldn't pair my purples with something that I liked with the pictures online so I went with champagne.  I made this with tubular herringbone, which was something new for me.  In the future, I would make a rope with 6 beads around, not 8, but the thicker one works for this because I wanted more of a statement piece.

The herringbone was pretty fun.  It's a little tedious, but I think it may give me a new venue for some of the delica combinations I've been planning but simply cannot get excited about working in peyote right now.  Part of the tediousness of the rope came from the length.  A bracelet will work up much more quickly.

I made a really big bail because I was worried about the rope not fitting.  When I made a bail for one of Kristie's donuts a couple years ago, I made it way too tight and only a thin ribbon will fit through.  This has inspired me to redo that at some point.  Anyway, the big bail works with this statement piece.  I like how the purples coordinate with the donut.  I wanted the magenta shade so the piece would have a brighter pop of color.

The donut is so reflective!  I had a hard time taking a picture without glare that didn't turn the purple into black.  I am pleased with how the purple did turn out in a lot of these shots.  Kristie's donuts are so much fun to work with because her craftsman ship is so great.  If you're interested in your own, they're available here.

I added an extender chain for this necklace.  The rope is 17".  The extender will lengthen it up to 22".  I can add a longer chain if necessary.  The delicas are so light that the rope didn't weigh the piece down as much as I thought it would.

I'll have this item up for sale in my Etsy shop sometime next week.  You're welcome to reserve it now if you're interested.  I am still clueless on a name for it so if you have any inspiration, please let me know.

One of the best parts of this team is that you get to see what all of the other members created this month as well.  Click on the picture links to see what they made.

Indian Summer

I finished my Indian Summer custom order necklace today.

I'm very pleased with the results.  Hopefully the recipient will be, too.  Personally I prefer lightweight necklaces, but the large cluster of leaves for a necklace is a very neat look.  If anyone is interested in a leafy necklace, you're welcome to put in a custom request like Jennie did.  I can base it off an existing leafy design or work with any color combination that suits you.

I also designed a coordinating pair of Indian Summer earrings today.  More details on those soon. :)

purple or brown?

A woman from Chicago bought one of my older pieces, blue with a hint of green right angle bracelet, on Etsy today! That was such a boost. :)

I made my most recent pair of earrings with opaque pearl espresso bean delicas. The opaque and opaque matte shades of the espresso bean delicas are definitely brown. I think that the pearl finish makes them look almost purple, though. You can really see that come through in the first picture.



I used these same espresso bean delicas in my most recent creation for myself this weekend, which is a necklace with the smoke fired ceramic donut that I won from Kristie (artisanclay). I bought some very thin (1/8" wide) black grosgrain ribbon for the cord. I need to mention that I owe a lot of credit to Carol Dean for my original inspiration for this design because she's made some beautiful necklaces like this one that are very similar. I'm very pleased with the result. Kristie still has some ceramic donuts like this one available in shop if anyone is interested.



I made one more pair of earrings this weekend with the same delicas that I used in my necklace. I still need to photograph them.

While I was taking pictures today, someone decided to help me. So I took some pictures of her, too.