Coffee and Honey

I went a bit crazy and bought a whole pile of fire-polished crystals recently, from Over the Rainbow, who were having a sale over May [www.polymerclay.com.au].  I wanted to do a couple more of the diamond net ropes (I now have enough crystals to do more than a couple!).  These 'latte' crystals went very nicely with the seed beads.  I matched them with biege size 15/o seed beads and galvanised gold size 11/o seed beads in the rope.  They work really well together.  The clasp is an antique glass button with a simple loop at the other end.

The pendant had to be designed to go with the rope!  I used an antique glass button and a new steampunk style metal button as the focals, and then did some bead embroidery around them.  I rather like the way this one turned out.  Instead of doing a loop at the top of the pendant for a bail, I did the loop going down the back of the pendant, so that it hangs slightly up over the rope.  I wish I had figured that one out earlier, I would have used it on another couple of earlier projects.  I really like the galvanised-finish  beads.  I have some in gold and silver and they are both nice.  The matte metallic finish is interesting mixed in with other bead finishes.  It's nice to be able to use some of the beads and so on in the stash too.  I doubt very much whether I could claim this one as Steampunk - it's the wrong colours for the Victorian era, which Steampunk is based on.  Still, the 'industrial' button works nicely with the other elements in the pendant.

I went to the Melbourne Bead and Gem Show on the weekend with some friends [www.beadandgemshow.com.au].  As usual we had fun rummaging through all the beads and buying stuff.  I was relatively restrained this year, at least partly because the ATM wouldn't give me any money first thing in the morning!  I purchased some velvet display busts from Feeling Inspired, including one large one to use when working.  I'm finding that things will actually sit on it - these ones already have an artificial suede backing glued on, which is probably why they stick to the velvet, I doubt if it will work all the time.  Even so, there is enough padding under the fabric that it will be easy to pin things to it to hold them in place.  It should prove useful in designing pieces where I need to plan how things will drape.  As you can see, my real Steampunk project is progressing slowly.  I got some supplies for it at the Show, so will move ahead with it now.

A beaded keyring

Yet another class project with Noelle Walker.  I rather fancy this little keyring - you can twist off the lid and hide needles, pills or some money inside.  the beading is peyote stitch in a basketweave pattern using delica cylinder beads.  Noelle's web-site is http://www.silkstonedesign.com/.

Now I'm back to my steampunk piece, which is coming together nicely. 

The domino effect

I do a beading class at Craftee Cottage in Oakleigh once a month with Noelle Walker, which I really enjoy.  I've been going for three or four years now.  Every nonth we do something different, and it has given me a fantastic grounding in beading techniques.
The necklace to the left is made in a netting technique called filled tubular netting, which Noelle taught in the class last month.  It's a netting tube with crystals woven into it, so that each 'diamond' of netting is filled with a crystal.  It's a very effective technique.  I've seen several variations made by beaders at BSV meetings and it's one of those patterns that can look completely different depending on the beads used.
My version has been made with mauve fire polished crystals (some of the stash from America) and teal 15o and 11o seed beads.  The focal is actually an old domino which was painted by Sharlene of Paper Surprise.  I purchased it at the Bead Expo from Kay's Artycles.  I have used the standard cabochon technique - it's glued to stiffened felt and then I have used peyote stitch to form a bezel around the domino.  I felt that it didn't look quite right with plain sides so I added an embellishment, which is echoed in the embellishment around the outer edge.  I have used some amethyst coloured crystal beads at each end of the netting tubes, and the clasp is a vintage brass button and a loop.

I suspect this may have turned out to be too mauve - I really like the look but feel it is a bit too old for me.  I need to think about it for a while I guess.

Anyway, now that I have cleared away these smaller projects, I have moved on to my first attempt at Steampunk jewellery.  I've been collecting bits and pieces for a while now, and am finally ready to have a go.  The picture shows the beginning of the central pendant, which has a watch face and wings - there will be more added underneath.  I think I will name it 'Procrastination', both because I delayed starting it for ages and because I seem to waste so much time through procrastination sometimes - hours just fly by!  It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out - I have an image in my head but I'm not certain how it's going to translate.  After that it will be time to move on to my Bead Challenge entry at last ...