Galería de Cyndy

My Summer

2011-09-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

I just started beading again after basically taking the summer off. I've noticed, despite my lack of new posts, that this blog continues to get views and new followers, for which I'm very grateful.

One thing that kept me busy this summer was getting married to my longtime boyfriend. It was a simple ceremony on the Oregon coast on one of the rare sunny days last July. I always knew that if I got married again, I wanted to dress like a 20's flapper. I found the perfect dress at the amazing online store LeLuxe Clothing, and a local hat artist, Gwendolyn, made a gorgeous headpiece for me. I feel a bit lame for not even making a piece of jewelry myself to go with the outfit, but with so much beading on the dress, a simple strand of pearls was all that was needed.

Ready for Spring!

2011-03-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Aren't we all? Those of us in the northern hemisphere anyway. What better spring accessory than a colorful little butterfly?

Feeling Inspired

2011-02-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

This necklace feels like a culmination of sorts of my previous experiments with textiles. Like it is all starting to come together into something. Often when I finish a project I want to go off on a different tangent, try a different technique or even a different craft altogether, because I get bored easily. But this time I can't wait to continue exploring the same path further.

Materials used: antique obi silk, new chirimen fabric, brown and black soutache, brown obsidian beads, brass filigree, seed beads.

In a Purple Kind of Mood

2011-02-14T15:31:00.000-08:00

Lack of employment plus winter equals increased jewelry output. As you can see from these two pieces, I'm feeling the purple lately.

Blue Paua and Black Lace

2011-01-08T19:58:00.000-08:00

The inspiration for this necklace was a piece of black lace I picked up on clearance at a local fabric store. I wanted to come up with a lacy collar to go with it. I had some black edge trim in my stash that I found in the "Goodwill bins", to which I attached a black bugle bead chevron chain and added some dangles with capri blue fire polished rounds. Instead of a clasp, I attached black velvet ribbon to make it easier to adjust the size and because it seemed appropriate for such a romantic piece.

Maharani

2010-12-29T20:57:00.000-08:00

I'm enjoying some free time around the holidays, so I have two rather major projects completed this past week: the wall hanging in the previous post and this colorful necklace. It was a rather special Christmas for our household, our first with my fiancé's daughter, who moved to the U.S. and came to live with us in September. She is a lovely young woman, and quite creative herself, as you can see from this very chic handbag she made me for Christmas.

Have a very happy and creative new year everyone!

Beaded Wall Piece

2010-12-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

After a year of sporadic work, I completed this piece for my friend Debby (see work in progress photos below). I mounted the beadwork to wood embellished with collage and paint.

New Beaded Fabric Button Design

2010-10-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

I'm working full time fairly regularly now, so my creative output is ebbing. The last time I had some days off however, I came up with this set. I used some beautiful fabrics I had in my stash for years. They came from a very cool shop in Vancouver, BC called Maiwa that teaches fiber arts in addition to selling beautiful hand dyed fabrics. I don't know if they still do, but back then in their retail shop on Granville island they had a bin of scraps that you could buy by the bagful for really cheap. Their funky, ethnic quality lent itself to a more casual look, so I used matte beads and a leather strap for the necklace. The earrings are reversible, red on one side and green on the other.

New Works

2010-07-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but I have been beading. The Art & Elegance in Beads show went well, better than I could have anticipated, so now I am in restocking mode.

This necklace started with a raku focal piece I picked up at the 2009 A & E show from the vendor Jim Stocker, aka Essence of Fire (it seems his website is "under construction"). By chance I laid a faceted glass cabochon on top of it, and liked the look so I decided to affix it to the raku piece. The rocky, asymmetrical shape begged to be surrounded with some free form beadwork. I used brick stitch and colors that mimicked the gorgeous hues of the raku. I did have one problem with this necklace. After I completed it and tried it on, I found the the beadwork would not lie flat, so I had to create a little support with some copper wire affixed to the back. It wasn't the most elegant solution, but it did the trick. Means I'll have to keep this one for myself though!

Feeling a bit flush after selling some jewelry at the show and my recent return to full time work, I ordered some new chirimen fabrics from Japan. They were so pretty, I just had to make something right away. This necklace and earrings are the result.

Bamboo Garden

2010-03-09T17:13:00.000-08:00

Thank you to anyone who saw my post (now deleted) and voted for me in the I Fly Nonstop Haiku contest. Alas, I didn't win. Here now is my latest fabric cabochon piece. For this one I used a beautiful silk with a bamboo design that came from a thrifted Japanese necktie. For the necklace I stitched a chevron chain pattern in black and rust colored seed beads.

Work in Progress

2010-02-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

Debby, a painter friend, and I had the idea to trade artworks, since we were both fans of each others work. Because Debby doesn't wear a lot of jewelry, I am making a wall piece for her. I'm so excited about this project, I decided to post some in progress photos, since I'm only about 1/3 done and it will probably be awhile before I finish because I'm trying to work on other pieces at the same time. Debby contributed a green cabochon from a ring that she had, which you can see being applied in the first photo.

I made a small mask out of polymer clay using a purchased mold. As I usually do, I used Lacy's Stiff Stuff for the foundation. Stiff Stuff is white however, so it always shows through any gaps in the beading. It can be dyed or colored in with markers, but as a quicker fix, I laid a piece of Ultrasuede over the top, temporarily fixed with double-sided tape, and then stitched through both layers as I applied the beads. (Note to Lacy: have you considered making this stuff in black, or at least dark gray?)

I have now completed the 'center' part of the design, as shown in the second photo. To give this section some dimension, I cut out a piece of foam core and glued it to the back. Then I planned out the rest of the design onto another sheet of Stiff Stuff. This time, because of the complexity of the design, I won't cover it with Ultrasuede, instead I will color each section in with a Sharpie before I bead.

Enchantment

2010-02-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

My newest piece. Started with the fused glass cabochon and grew from there. Was going for an art deco look, but as usual my color choices led me back to to the southwest desert. All glass except for a few synthetic turquoise beads in the necklace.

Oshi-e

2010-01-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

Today I want to talk a little about an old, but not very well known Japanese craft called oshi-e. I have mentioned it in earlier postings because I have adapted the technique to make fabric jewelry pieces, but I thought it would be nice to talk about and show you some examples of traditional oshi-e.

Back in 1992 I managed to get a position as an English teaching assistant in a public high school in Japan. I knew one of the things I wanted to do during my year in Japan was study a traditional craft. Actually I most wanted to learn how to do washi-ningyo. (You can see some beautiful examples done by American artist Dan Fletcher here.) But after asking around in the small town I was in I could not find a teacher, instead I was introduced to a lovely woman named Michi who practised the craft of oshi-e and offered to teach me.
I should mention that I already spoke fairly good Japanese going in, which helped a lot with the lessons. Oshi-e could be translated to 'pressed pictures'. There is no sewing involved. I guess the pressing part is holding the pieces down while the glue dries. The subjects are traditional motifs such as fairy tales, kimono-clad children, Chinese zodiac, Ukiyo-e, Noh, Kabuki, nature, etc. They are usually mounted on a board called a shikishi, or as below, made into a hagoita, an ornamental paddle based on those used in a badminton like game played at New Year's.

The process involves transferring an image to cardboard, then cutting it into pieces. Each piece is covered with some batting, then fabric is placed over and secured in the back with glue. (Oshi-e can also be done with washi paper in place of the fabric.) Then the pieces are reassembled to form the picture and glued down to the background. Apparently, in the past kimono silk scraps were used, but today most hobbyists in Japan use synthetic brocades and chirimen, resulting in a more vibrant color palette, I suppose, but I like the idea of recycling old kimono silk too.

Oahu

2010-01-17T13:49:00.000-08:00

In November I had the chance to travel to Oahu and did a little beach combing. Taking the pieces of coral, lava, beach glass, and shells that I found, I came up with this piece, which represents the waves washing onto the sand. In keeping with the ocean theme, I added a fossilized coral cabochon as a focal. I'm still debating whether the silver chain was the right way to finish this piece. My S.O. says it's not working for him. I thought it was the best option from what I had on hand, but as a stare at it, I'm starting to think he may be right. One better alternative might be a strand of black lava beads. Well, this is one of those pieces I may be reworking in the future, but I'll post it now anyway. Feel free to let me know what you think.

1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse

2010-01-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

I finally got myself a copy of this book, which came out a couple months ago. I bought it because I had submitted and have four photos of my work published within. Hugely exciting for me to be in the company of so many genius, and in many cases much better known, artists. Even my partner was thrilled, it being the first time any of his photos were published. I have to say, though, I am very impressed by the whole book, which was put together by Garth Johnson, and highly recommend all you artists and crafters get your hands on a copy. You will get so much inspiration looking through the various artists works, you might be afraid to throw anything away ever again! (If things get out of control, just pop over here and watch an episode of Hoarders and you'll be scared straight - warning: not for the squeamish)

New Butterfly

2009-12-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

I know it's been awhile. This piece was nearly finished when we left for a week's vacation in Hawaii recently. When we got back I completed it, but then our computer went on the fritz and it was several more days before J could get it up and running again. As you can see I tried something somewhat new, this time combining fabric with a brass stamping. I picked up the butterfly stamping, along with some other goodies, from Bello Modo at a recent bead show. I made the pendant first but had to give the necklace some thought. I wanted try some lacy beadweaving because I always liked that look but never got around to it before. I ended up adapting a couple different patterns to achieve a two strand effect. The piece is finished with a vintage brass button embellished with beads as a clasp. As a preview, I can tell you my next piece, already underway, will be a bead embroidered bib necklace incorporating the finds from my Hawaiian beach combing.

Beaded beads

2009-10-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

I picked up these wire beads at the Bead Fest Portland show and decided they would look nice with some solid color beaded beads. Anything more complex would have competed with the wonderful texture of the wire beads. I'm very satisfied with the result. One thing to note, if you come across these beads and decide to work with them, they don't necessarily have a 'hole' in the places you want them to, and I had quite a struggle getting the flex wire to go through, rejecting several beads in the process.

Garden Goddess

2009-10-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Before I got hooked on making jewelry, I made several masks. At first I just collected masks, often as souvenirs of my travels. But then I realized what a great medium for creation they are. There is no limit to the materials you can incorporate in a mask. And because you have a starting point - that the result should be some sort of face - it is easier than starting with a blank canvas. Recently the urge to return to this form got hold of me, and the Garden Goddess mask was created. Of course, this time I incorporated some of my bead collection, and some beautiful vintage lace and bead applique that were donated to me by friends.

I almost forgot to mention, I have also added several new jewelry pieces to my Etsy shop recently (just in time for Christmas!)

Odds & Ends

2009-09-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying the glorious northwest summer and have not been very productive lately. I just have a couple little projects to show.

I was chatting with one reader of this blog about the oshi-e technique that I use to make my fabric pieces, and I remembered that oshi-e is done in Japan not only with fabric but with paper. So I decided to experiment a bit with paper. It worked okay, but I found that I couldn't get a very smooth edge on round shapes. I coated the finished paper shapes with polyurethane varnish for protection.

After seeing so many beautiful rivoli rings online, especially on the blogs of European beaders, I decided to make my first beaded ring ever. I used a pattern from designer Bia Alessi that appeared in Bead and Button in December 2007, to make the bezel. Happy with how the ring turned out, I went on and made matching earrings.

Lastly, on a different topic completely, the image on the left is a tattoo I have had on my shoulder almost 20 years that has become very blurry and unappealing. Since tattoo removal is too expensive, I am working on a new design to cover it up. The peacock on the right is what I've come up with so far. I'm still tweaking the design and have to consult with the tattoo artist about it, but how does it look so far?

Use the Muse, II

2009-08-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry into Scarlett Lanson's latest Use the Muse contest. I was not very satisfied with this piece, but ran out of time before the deadline to rework it. However, I wanted to post to let everyone know that the winners have been announced and you can see them and all the other entries on The Beader's Muse. I'm impressed by everyone's work and the winning pieces are just breathtaking. Go check them out.

The Ammonite Solution

2009-08-11T23:54:00.000-07:00

I've had this polished ammonite fossil for a couple years, but couldn't figure out what to do with it. It's unusual greenish brown color didn't seem to go with any of my beads. I assumed that only earthy, neutral colors would work with it. But I'm a color lover and so don't have a lot of neutrals in my collection. One day I started playing with some colors I did have and thought, hmm that doesn't look too bad! And it had been awhile since I did a bead embroidery piece, even though it is my favorite technique.

Fabric Covered Button Flowers

2009-07-31T10:36:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a bunch of vintage kimono scraps on ebay, and this is my first project using one of the pieces. I covered buttons with the fabric, peyote stitched around them, and added some beads. The result reminds me of pansies. I was going to simply attach the flowers to a chain, but then I thought, if I attach them to memory wire instead they will lay flat and not flip around when the necklace is worn. The flowers are light enough that I didn't need to put any clasp on the memory wire.

Ann Arbor Art Fairs

2009-07-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Michigan, where I had the chance to attend the annual Ann Arbor art fairs for the first time in almost twenty years. For those of you unfamiliar, this event consists of four art fairs happening simultaneously on the streets of Ann Arbor, home to my alma mater the University of Michigan. I've heard it is the largest art fair in the country. The shows are juried (although seemingly not with equal strictness) so the quality of the work is excellent. To give you beaders an idea, the only beaded jewelry artist I saw there (not including some lampwork beadmakers) was the amazing Valerie Hector. I was so excited to get to see her work in person. Memories of past art fairs had me anticipating either extremely hot and muggy weather or torrential downpours, but surprisingly it was only in the 70s, and we just had to take cover once for a 10 minute shower. It was overwhelming trying to see it all in one day, though, and I missed my student days when I could leisurely view the shows a bit at a time.

La Belle Epoque

2009-06-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

I was so pleased how the 'boomerang' necklace below turned out, I decided to do another necklace with these shapes. This time, the colors for me evoke images of the late 19th century: bustles and corsets, parlors and steam trunks.

Cinnabarite Moon

2009-06-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything new. Two reasons, first there was a long spell of gorgeous summer-like weather in May, and as a sun-starved north westerner, I had to take advantage. Then a call from a former employer offering me a temporary work stint, which I just completed yesterday. I actually finished this piece a few weeks ago. The fabric here is a Chinese brocade with a dragon design, combined with faux cinnabar beads. I only learned recently that real cinnabar is toxic because it is an ore of mercury. I may need to do a little more engineering on this piece, because it doesn't want to stay properly centered when it is worn. Probably because the glass beads in the back are heavier than the front beads. Anybody out there have a good solution? Some way to add more weight in the center front?

Mayumi

2009-05-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Another in the oshi-e series, this time I made little boomerang shapes, with beaded bezels, and a short fringe of Swarovski and fire polished beads on the center 'boomerang'. In back I used some pale yellow Czech glass rounds kindly donated to me by a de-stashing friend that were just the perfect color to complete this piece. (Thanks Heather!).

Chirimen

2009-04-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Chirimen is such a cool Japanese fabric. It is a crepe fabric, traditionally made of silk for use in kimonos, but today is often made of rayon and is used in many crafts such as oshi-e and doll making, and is frequently the material for furoshiki. You can identify it by the squiggly lines in the weave of the material. You can probably see what I'm talking about if you zoom in on this piece. Unfortunately even rayon chirimen can be hard to find in the U.S. and a bit expensive, but I scored this beautiful dark orange print off a never-used wallet found at the Goodwill Outlet store. Here it is combined with russian serpentine and gold druk beads.

Enough necklaces, how about a pair of earrings?

2009-04-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

I just love doing necklaces because they are larger, therefore more room to express myself! I'm not much of a bracelet wearer; they just seem to get in the way of a lot of activities, so I don't find myself making many. But I do wear earrings; in fact I feel weird if I leave the house without a pair. They are not as exciting to make, because of the smaller area and the fact that you generally have to make two of the same (although I've seen some pretty cool asymmetrical earrings). Nevertheless, how could I continue to ignore such an essential item? And I've been working on this collection of textile jewelry that was so far all necklaces. So I came up with this pair, created from two fabric covered buttons stacked back to back and beaded with a peyote stictch bezel.

The other day we were hiking and found a really nice rock for the garden, and JC got the brilliant idea to use it for a backdrop for this photo.

Mariposa

2009-04-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

We're finally get some gorgeous spring weather here, so I'm going to be out trying to get some exercise the next few days until the rain and clouds come back. I did manage to finish one piece this week before the weather changed. Using the obi fabric I talked about in an earlier post, and combining it with one of my designer fabric sample swatches, I made this butterfly necklace. It was a bit time consuming to make the butterfly, but I'm very happy with the results.

Galatea

2009-03-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is my latest piece with fabric cabs. I made them from a cream colored embroidered silk sample manufactured in India. This time I made seed beed bezels for them. The focal piece is a shell that was previously part of a snail brooch that was in my junk jewelry stash. The brooch was kinda ugly and the shell was chipped at the opening. I filled in the opening of the shell with pearl polymer clay and baked it (yeah! baking doesn't seem to affect shells). This gave me a smoother shape to work with so I could put a right angle weave bezel around it. The stones are green jasper.

Use the Muse Contest

2009-03-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

This was my entry into Scarlett Lanson's Use the Muse contest (see The Beader's Muse). I am thrilled to have been awarded 'Design of Distinction'. This was my first time participating in a beading contest. For those of you who haven't heard about this contest, every participant got the same set of beads to work with, including a brass filagree piece which was 'the muse'. We were also allowed to add pieces from our own bead stash. I recommend going to Scarlett's blog and looking at all the entries, the variety and quality is amazing. She is planning to do similar contests in the future. It was really fun and I recommend it to all you beaders out there who want to try doing a contest but are not ready for the big ones. Thanks Scarlett!

New Fabric Piece

2009-03-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have been busy even if I haven't posted much lately. I too decided to try Scarlett Lanson's Use the Muse contest after reading about it on Kiwi Ellen's blog. I will post a picture of my entry here after the judging is complete. Besides that, I have been continuing work on my series of oshi-e inspired fabric necklaces. This one is the latest. I'm also working on other shapes besides the circles and ellipses I've done so far. I made a fabric butterfly awhile ago, but haven't been inspired yet on how to finish the piece. Pretty much any shape is possible using this technique, it just is a lot more time consuming as the intricacy increases. This necklace utilizes some lovely printed upholstery fabric that I scored recently from my former workplace. They were clearing out their sample library in preparation for a move and a couple former co-worker's tipped me off about the giveaway. As before I combined the fabric cabs with fabric covered buttons with peyote stitched bezels. The photo doesn't show it, but the necklace is finished with an antique brass chain.

Reconfiguring

2009-03-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

I was in a bit of a beading lull this past week partially due to a stomach bug, but I did accomplish one thing. I reworked this piece that I made a couple years ago. Originally it had a really long necklace that hung pretty low on me. I decided to shorten it and make it a double strand. I also removed a brass drop that I originally attached to the pendant. I like it a lot better now. The cab was formerly a brooch that I found at a yard sale. It was lovely as is, but I didn't wear it very much. As a brooch, It never seemed to work with any of my outfits.

Macramé

2009-02-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

I hadn't done any macramé since the 70's until today. But ever since I bought this focal piece I've been wanting to make a macramé necklace for it. I based this on a pattern in Sherri Haab's book 'Beaded Macramé Jewelry: Stylish Designs, Exciting New Materials'. It was fun, but I think it will be awhile before I'm ready for micro-macrame!

Old Kimonos

2009-02-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

I have a small stash of vintage kimonos. Some of these I bought in Japan, others I bought mail-order, in the pre -internet days. There used to be a woman that sold them by the lot; you didn't know what you were getting until the package arrived. The fabric used here came from the former, a kimono I bought at one of the great Kyoto temple flea markets. (I wish I could go back to Japan just to visit this flea market again!) This was circa 1993, and the going price for a plainer kimono like this one was just about 500 yen (about $6) according to my recollection. I paid a little more for the embroidered silk obi I used below. A huge bargain considering the high quality and workmanship of the fabric. There were several booths at the market that had piles and piles of them. It took me awhile to work up the nerve to cut into these kimonos, because each one is such a work of art on its own. I do have a couple that are in pristine condition that so far I have kept preserved, but the ones you see here had some condition issues. So I hope that by recycling them into my work, I am giving them new life and a chance to be seen. The fabric used here is a thin silk printed with a repeating pattern. I combined it with red dyed freshwater pearls, glass beads, and copper findings.

For Color Lovers

2009-02-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess after the muted tones of my last posted piece I was eager for some color. I had this green plastic cab from a vintage button earring. I'm not a plastic expert, so I don't know if it is acrylic or something else. It is slightly translucent and almost glows. Originally I was going to pair it up with a hot pink cab, but I just couldn't make it work with the colors of seed beads I had, so I went with just the green cab, attached it to the backing and picked out red, cobalt blue and green AB seed beads to go with it. The design just evolved as I went along. For the lower part of the design, I took a Chinese cloisonne bead and split it in half, which ended up giving the whole thing a real Chinese feel. Fitting, since the Chinese New Year passed while I worked on this piece.

Experimenting with Fabric, part II

2009-01-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

Here I go again making fabric cabs, this time elliptical shaped and using fabric from a vintage obi. Originally I planned to intersperse them with beaded beads. I had already completed one beaded bead when I came across these stone beads in my stash. I really liked the contrast between fabric and stone, and the way the colors looked together, so I decided to go this route instead. The rest of the beads are wood with a couple in brass. I'm so pleased with how this one turned out, I'm going to put it in the etsy store.

Khepri

2009-01-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

I named this piece for the Egyptian god Khepri, who is depicted as a scarab and was believed to push the sun across the sky every day. It took several months to finish this piece. I tried to keep track of the time, and calculated over 40 hours of work. This didn't include time spent planning and thinking about the design, just the actual beading. I found the scarab cab at The Bead Goes On in Lincoln City, OR. I believe it is carnelian. The two smaller cabs are hematite.

Snowflake Obsidian

2009-01-03T23:09:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to try out spiral stitch somewhere, so I came up with this necklace. The cab is snowflake obsidian, which is attached to an interesting metal piece I salvaged from a pair of earrings in the junk jewelry pile. I think this piece definitely has a Native American feel, with a hint of art deco. (And isn't J.C.'s camera work awesome here, as always?)

Basmati Bag

2008-12-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

We're snowed in here in Portland, not something we get to say here very often. The other day I finished this bag, after working on it in fits and starts for several months. I'm facinated with sewing, and envious of those who can sew, but it is a really struggle for me for some reason. My seams get all crooked, and I can forget making any clothes that actually come out the correct size. So the basic handbag or tote bag is pretty much the limit of my abilities. But even those are not without frustration. (I really need someone to show me how to do the bottom corners of this type of bag properly!) For this tote, as you can see I used the front and back panels of a basmati rice bag. I pieced them together with some of my decorator fabric samples. For the lining I used an old dress. The straps orignally came wrapped around some bedding that I bought. I'm always happy when I can recycle a bunch of stuff that's been sitting in my stash (in some cases for years) into something useful.

Experimenting with Fabric

2008-12-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

For some time I have been tossing the idea around in my head of incorporating fabric into my jewelry. I have a huge stockpile now of gorgeous fabric samples from my previous job at an interior design firm. However, the fabric bead instructions I've seen just didn't do it for me. I wanted something more like fabric cabochons. Here is what I finally came up with. The small purple "cabs" were made with a fabric covered button kit. I cut off the buttton part on the back and attached them to suede so I could peyote stitch the bezels. The larger cabs are made using techniques I learned when I studied the Japanese craft of oshi-e.

Announcement

2008-12-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

I decided to give Etsy a try to sell some of my pieces. You can click on the link at the left to see the store. I named the shop Antequera Designs, after the beautiful hill town in southern Spain called Antequera, where I once spent a lovely afternoon with friends in October 2007. I hope the name will also evoke the vintage feel of my designs. And to tell you the truth, it was the name I came up with after my first dozen other ideas were already taken by other Etsy sellers! That Etsy is a busy place. So I hope you will take the time to look at my shop. I just added my first 3 items this morning, to test the waters. More will follow shortly.

By the way, the banner art for my shop is a detail from a major beaded piece still in progress. This will be a beaded collar with a scarab cabochon and Egyptian/Art Deco feel that I am very excited about.

Lot's of Time to Bead

2008-11-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

I was laid off from my job last week thanks to the economic malaise, so I find myself completing more projects, and hopefully posting more to this blog. I am also working on setting up an etsy store (more info. on that soon). This piece combines a fused glass and a hematite cabochon. I don't often do assymetrical designs. I feel like my mind doesn't work that way very often. But I really like how this turned out. I attached the pendant to a silver choker wire that I picked up at a yard sale this past summer.

Junk Hunting

2008-11-23T20:49:00.000-08:00

Today, JC and I checked out a nearby flea market for the first time. I scored this pile of metal buttons for just $2. I separated out some of the nicer ones for the photo. These will hopefully be incorporated into my jewelry work as clasps or decoration. Another find: 3 pairs of manicure and other small scissors for $1. We suspect these were the proceeds of airport security confiscations, since a couple of the vendors had hundreds of them. I've been needing some small scissors to cut out the backings on my bead embroidery pieces so I could get into the nooks. I used to have a pair of manicure scissors that I used when I went through my kiri-e (japanese paper cutting) phase, but they didn't survive my last moves.

Still More Flooring Sample Jewelry

2008-11-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

I'm still chipping away at the same set of flooring samples I talked about in previous posts. This time I incorporated a button and some weird metallic on clear vinyl that I also found at SCRAP years ago. I really enjoy doing these pieces because they come together pretty quickly and it's a totally different look from my beadwork.

Knitting Spool, pt. 2

2008-11-09T15:08:00.000-08:00

I've finished my first wire knitting spool necklace. I used a dark purple wire with a grey-green seed bead. To jazz it up I wrapped a string of blue-grey freshwater pearls around it. I think the result is pretty elegant.

Fun with the Knitting Spool

2008-11-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

On a recent trip to the Goodwill outlet, I came across a knitting spool. Having read online at various sites (including Sister Diane's blog http://www.craftypod.com/) about incorporating beads and making jewelry with the knitting spool, I was eager to try it out. Here are the first three pieces I came up with. I'm almost finished with a fourth, using wire instead of cord. The black plastic discs I used for the pendants were also a cool find. I got them on clearance (4 for $1!) from a fabric store. They are meant to be buttons, but all those holes make them great for beading.

New Necklace

2008-08-31T12:34:00.000-07:00

This piece utilizes three off-loom weaving techniques: right-angle weave for the bezels, square stitch for the bail and tubular peyote for the neck tube and pink beaded beads. It took a long time to make, but I am really pleased with the results. I had bought the stone pendant a long time ago and didn't think I was ever going to find a use for it. One day I was flipping through an old copy of Beadwork magazine and saw instructions for the bezel and decided to try it on this stone, which appears to be chrysocolla. I was so happy how it turned out that I designed the rest of the necklace around it. I salvaged the purple glass rivoli from an earring in my junk jewelry stash.

Altered Book Done!

2008-07-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the altered book project and am hard at work on a new jewelry piece. Yes it's another necklace and it may be my best so far. In the meantime check out how my book alteration turned out.

Altered Book Project

2008-03-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am currently taking a break from jewelry making in order to participate in the Altered Book Project sponsored by Art on the Peninsula and St. John's Booksellers. The book I chose is an old Time Life volume on the Soviet Union. Part of my design will be a beaded version of St. Basil's Cathedral. The photo above shows the work in progress. This project will take quite a bit of time, so I will probably not post again for awhile.

More Flooring Sample Jewelry

2008-03-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

Since it's been so long since I posted, I'm going to compensate by posting twice today. I have been experimenting more with the linoleum samples I mentioned in an earlier post. One of the pieces I came up with are these earings, made with a yellow colored linoleum and blue coated washers held together with copper wire.

Working with Textiles

2008-03-02T16:46:00.000-08:00

I recently received an ad in the mail for Bead Unique magazine. It looks like a fine publication, but I really don't need another subscription at the moment. But a photo in the ad caught my eye. It showed bracelets made out of copper wire and something called zap cloth, which was then beaded upon. I figured I could get the same effect with some of the colorful fabrics in my own scrap collection. I cut two fabrics into strips, one an Indian sari fabric and the other an upholstery sample. I wrapped these around a soft, thick cord I found on my last visit to SCRAP. The cord wasn't quite long enough, so I used some copper wire to attach some copper chain. I embellished with seed beads and crystals and added a pendant which I made out of a graffiti photo (taken on a trip to Spain) transferred onto a bamboo tile. The colors of the graffiti were a great match for the textile colors.

Free Form Bracelet

2008-01-29T21:08:00.000-08:00

I subscribe to the magazine Beadwork, and while every issue is very good, the Feb-March issue had an article that made me drop everything I was working on or thinking of working on. The article was about bead artist NanC Meinhardt, and featured a "beadwork master class" on her signature free-form right angle weave technique. She gave general instructions on making a bracelet, which I just had to try and this was my result. I am totally inspired now to do more free form work.

Some Previous Works

2008-01-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

A couple of my favorite works never got posted here, so I'm going to add them now, since I am still at work on the bracelet I mentioned in the last post . The first one is a necklace and earring set, with a glass cabochon pendant. This one is done completely in the style taught by Jamie Cloud Eakin in her awesome book Beading With Cabochons. I actually owned one of Jamie's necklaces for years before I started beading, and thought it would be impossible to ever figure out how it was done. Then I came across the book, and actually it was much easier than I expected. The glass cabochon I bought at a local show of glass artists. Unfortunately, I don't remember the artist's name, but he had a bowlful of what to him were just scrap blobs of glass, for $1 each. I still have 4 more to do something with someday.

The above necklace many of you who know me have already seen. It was my first work where I did anything more than just stringing beads, but I was so pleased at how it turned out I submitted it to Bead & Button magazine, and they published it in the 'Your Work' section of the December 2007 issue. (You can still see it on their website here.)

Lapis Lazuli earrings

2008-01-21T21:16:00.000-08:00

Lapis is one of my favorite stones. I picked up these cabochons at a bead show last year for 70 cents and turned them into these earrings. So, no, I do not do only necklaces. I'm actually working on my first bracelet which you will see here soon.

Pearly Green

2008-01-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

I can't take credit for this awesome necklace design. I got the instructions from the Dec 2007/Jan 2008 issue of Beadwork magazine. The designer's name is Miwako Nara. It took me a lot of hours to finish this one, but I think it was worth it. The only thing I did differently was the colors.

Using Re-purposed Materials

2008-01-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

I have been experimenting with the use of recycled materials in my jewelry. The colored portion of these two necklaces are actually pieces of linoleum flooring material. There is a store here in Portland called SCRAP that collects all kinds of unwanted items from businesses and individuals and sells them at a very low price for reuse. On one visit a long time ago, long before I started making jewelry, I found a sample set of linoleum in really lovely colors there. I had no idea what I could do with it at the time, but I knew it must be good for something. Well, with my recent acquisition of a leather punch tool, here is what I've come up with so far. I still have lots of linoleum left, and am planning a whole series of these.

Another Cabochon Necklace

2007-12-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't noticed, I love working with cabochons. This carved and painted wood one came in my pile of junk jewelry purchased on ebay. The curved tube hanging below was picked up for free at a craft supply swap. The dangles came from old earrings of mine. For the necklace, I used wire links and jump rings instead of stringing the beads this time.

Green Goddess

2007-11-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

Awhile back I made a few polymer clay faces from a mold commonly available in craft stores. I wanted the look of copper verdigris, so I mixed together some clay in the right shade of green, pressed it into the face mold, then applied copper powder and baked the clay. Then I sanded the copper off in places so the green would show through. At a recent bead show I found this lovely seed bead mix in shades of green, which I stitched into a herringbone tube for the necklace.

Bamboo Tiles

2007-11-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

I'm busy making some jewelry for Christmas presents, which I can't post here or I'll take away the surprise. So instead here is a necklace I finished a while back. I made the pendant from a bamboo tile at a Church of Craft meeting. Candice from Art Neko rubber stamps was kind enough to bring her stamp collection for us all to play with. By using permanent ink (plus I added a coat of varnish) you can create a durable image on the bamboo tiles, which actually come from a bamboo placemat that has been taken apart. The chain is actually some ball chain that J found at the Goodwill outlet, and the gold beads forming the dangle came from my junk vintage jewelry collection.

Design Evolution

2007-10-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I have a pretty good idea of the final result when I start a project. I'll make sketches and work out the design. But a lot of times I make things up as I go along. This was one of those projects. I started with the center piece, which is black glass from a vintage earring. After I got that done, I thought it would be nice to have some swirly metal pieces on each side. I was thinking to make something out of wire, but I didn't actually have any appropriate wire on hand. Then I remembered these S-shaped pieces, which were actually meant for extending the length of a huge brass necklace I bought in the 80s and no longer wear. Finally I was reading a beading magazine and got interested in learning to make a Ndebele (herringbone) tube, which ended up completing this design.

Blue Rose

2007-09-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

This necklace was created by transferring an image found in a magazine onto an old earring that appeared to be made of some type of shell. I love to recycle bits of old jewelry into my pieces. I recently discovered that you can purchase "junk jewelry" lots on ebay. I used to try to find pieces at garage sales, but ebay is much faster and easier. The strands of the necklace were created with a silver toned tubular mesh. It was my first time using this mesh, and I found it very interesting. You tie knots in the tube to hold the beads in place. You can also open the tube and put the beads on the inside, which I am definitely going to try next time.

Welcome!

2007-09-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. My purpose is not to bore people with my musings on various topics. Honestly, I do not enjoy writing. So instead this will be a place for me to post images of some of my creations for anyone who cares to look. Feel free to share your comments. Thank you for visiting!