Honeycomb Bangles

I just finished number eight of these bangles - green and bronze, very nice. They really are addictive, although I must admit part of the reason I have made so many is because I've been re-watching some old shows on DVD. The bangles are easy to make while 'watching' telly, if you don't have to concentrate on the actual telly. I have re-watched eight seasons of NCIS and almost one season of Chuck while making these bangles! I think it might be time I moved on to something else ...

Have you ever noticed that it's inevitable that when you're having trouble with a design, the problem is because you don't have just the right components, not that you are stumped? ;) I was all set to get started on my Steampunk piece again, but 'realised' I needed some extra components. Now I have to work on something else while I await their arrival. Thank heavens for Ebay, you can find lots of weird and wonderful stuff from all over the world on there!

Name Tags and Bead Expo

As well as my Bead Challenge entry, I have also finished a 'sort-of' UFO. I made myself a beaded name tag a few years ago, which all Bead Society members are supposed to do. I did mine in bead embroidery. While I was happy with the effect, I made a couple of major mistakes. Firstly, I measured my beading area to be the same size as a conference badge, which actually turned out to be too big. The badge is very heavy and drags on clothing. Secondly, I used much too small a pin-back on the badge, so it rarely hangs straight. I have to admit it's also a wee bit goth. So I very rarely actually wore my badge, and had been 'going to' do a new one for ages.

Anyway, last week I dragged out an old book of cross-stitch alphabets, and used that to make a square stitch name tag. Because square stitch is a grid, you can easily bead cross-stitch patterns using that stitch. I did make a couple of mistakes with it though. Firstly, I should have measured everything out before I started. The beading ended up being too long for its height, so I had to add some rows top and bottom. However, that meant I was cramming some beads with thread, and I actually broke a couple. This means there is a couple of gaps in the beadwork. They aren't too noticeable, but they are annoying. 

I might try again next year sometime and see what I come up with.

The old and new tags are in this photo, so that you can see the size difference. The old one really is over the top!

We have just finished the annual Bead Society Expo [http://www.beadsociety.com.au/expo.html]. I am the Vice President and am one of the front desk people at the Show. For the most part it went very well. It’s exhausting being on your feet running for four days when you aren’t used to it! It’s nice seeing everyone enjoying themselves and spending up. It’s also really nice to see all the member’s work in the Exhibition and the Challenge – it’s inspirational but also makes me feel a bit competitive! Given that this is supposed to be the UFO year, I’m happy to report I found some beads to use on my UFO necklace. I also found some more Swarovski crystal rivolis for the big blue bling project, so hopefully there will be some movement on that UFO. Of course, I also bought some lovely new stuff, which will increase my stock of UFOS quite a bit! I purchased some lovely cabochons, gorgeous crystals and fabulous beads. It’s probably fortunate I was busy a lot of the time, otherwise I would have spent even more money …

It means that I’m really looking forward to some enjoyable beading though!

Bead Challenge 2011

Well, I can finally post a picture of my Bead Challenge entry, which occupied most of my beading time for over a month. Every person that enters the contest is given an identical set of beads, and has to use all of them, plus whatever else they like, to make something with. This year's beads were silver and amethyst [http://www.beadsociety.com.au/challenge.html].
I nearly didn't do anything, because I was having trouble deciding on a design. Then I was poking around my beading stash and found the cabochon, which I bought at the Bead and Button Show in 2008. I had it in my head that it was pinker, but actually there are shades in the stone that exactly match the amethyst beads. Once I had the focal stone, the rest of the design fell into place. I must say the fringing was very tedious, and I think I will avoid doing that in future. The bead lace works well with the central pendant though, so I will do that again.
Lessons learnt: start early on a Challenge, especially if you're having trouble with inspiration. Get out everything in your stash that might be remotely suitable and try it all against the Challenge beads -  you never know what will strike a chord and give you ideas.

Nearly ready to get going again

Hooray, I got my Bead Challenge entry done! I can't post a photo until after the Bead Expo, but I'm very happy with it. There's over 200 crystal beads of varying sizes in it, so it is very, very bling.
I also recently got some new supplies for my Steam punk necklace, and I have a clear idea of how I'm going to re-jig it to make it work, so I'm about to get started back on that project. It would be very nice to get that one UFO finished by the end of the year.
I must confess, I recently splurged on some new cabochons, which are fabulous. So it's even more urgent to get this project done, so I can get started on this new one!

Photos of recent work

I took some nice photos of recent work today, so I thought I might as well post them. At least it shows that I am actually powering ahead on the UFO project. I've had to have a break from that though, to make my entry for the Bead Society of Victoria's 2011 Bead Challenge competition. I'm about halfway through my entry, and then it's back to the UFOs. I've finally had some inspiration for my winged time piece, and I can't wait to get stuck into it.

This is a close-up of the pendant of the necklace that I discussed in an earlier post. It gives a good view of the vintage button used as the focal. I have been wearing this one a lot and always get compliments.

This is my latest completed piece. There's an earlier blog entry that shows the chain as it was being made. This necklace evolved several times, and really it isn't very much like my original conception! The antique buttons used in the pendants came from Button Mania and L'Uccello, both in the Nicholas building on the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane. I'm going to enter this in the Member's Exhibition at the Bead Expo this year. I won't win any prizes but it's always fun to see what people think of your work.

I actually made a bail at the back of the top pendant from ultra-suede instead of beads for this one. I wanted the pendant to sit up a bit on the chain. At first I was going to make a beaded loop from the top to the bottom, but I've been caught out before with beads rubbing against other and the finish coming off, and I didn't want to risk it with these Swarovski pearls. That was when it occurred to me that I could use ultra-suede. One thing I learned from this was that, if I'm going to do that again, I should sew the ultra-suede bail on before attaching the backing to the pendant. It was quite awkward sewing it on afterwards, and the stitching is a bit messy. If I had thought it through, I could have attached it with the sewing machine and it would have been nice and neat. Oh well, next time!

These necklaces were also the subject of an earlier blog entry, and now they are completed. They aren't easy colours to wear! I find the top one goes nicely with my grey tunic though - gives it a bit of a lift so I don't look totally drab. These are both made with beads from Bead'licious and then basic diamond net chain. They are pretty and easy to wear, so I consider them to be very successful.

I have also completed another dragonscale bracelet and altered a necklace for WS, so I suppose I'm not doing too badly in the beading stakes at the moment.

Pinterest

I've been having a lot of fun on Pinterest lately. Check it out here: http://pinterest.com/
One thing I have been doing is pinning pictures in particular colour themes on one board. I thought I could use them later to help work out what 'my colours' are, on the basis that, if I pin enough pictures, there should be some sort of theme emerge. I have also set out a 'beadwork inspirations' board, and have been using it to pin web-pages with vintage and modern jewellry I like. I hope to eventually see themes emerging that will make it more obvious to me what my style is. It probably sounds really silly to say that, but I often find myself looking in books or magazines and thinking, I like that, I like that, I like that ... and they are all different! So what is it about each different thing that I like? Why do I like it? Is there a common theme in what I like, which just isn't obvious to me? Give me a few more months and I'll report back on my findings!    ;)

Last post for today - this is the current worktable

This is the current project. I really liked the coral Swarovski crystals I used in another necklace, and wanted to do another necklace where they were more of a feature. In this one, the pearls are 4mm, whereas in the other one they were 3 mm, so they stand out more in this one. Using the same matte black beads in 11o and 15o for the netting also makes the pearls stand out more. I find these very easy to bead with and they look terrific.

The plan is to make a pendant with the vintage black button shown on the right, which will hang from the diamond net chain. I haven't started on that part yet though, as I wanted to see how many of the pearls I needed for the chain, and then how many I could have for the pendant. It's actually really difficult to find coral coloured beads in the right shade to match with these pearls! So I expect the pendant will end up being mostly black. Once this is complete I hope to have the beads assembled to go back to my Steampunk thing and see if I can finish it this time. The Melbourne Bead Expo is in November, and if I want to put any of this stuff on exhibition, it has to be finished by October. 

These weren't UFOs, but they were a lot of fun!

I have recently discovered that I can do basic beading projects while watching telly, although it has to be simple stuff that doesn't require much thought. So I have been having fun making bangles. The patterns for these come from B&B and BW magazines. The crystal honeycomb bracelets designed by Cynthia Rutledge are a lot of fun to make! One of these is too small for me and I'll have to give it away eventually, but I guess that's just an excuse to make more. These are very comfortable to wear, and unlike metal bangles, they don't make any noise as they move about your wrist. I'll be making more of these I expect. Funny thing though - I haven't done any crochet this Winter, and hardly any embroidery, because the time I would normally use for those crafts has been filled with beading.

More UFOs completed

Here are two completed necklaces - I showed one half-done in an earlier post. Both of these necklaces have been made using lampwork beads from Carli Hall of Bead'licious. The chains are made using diamond netting stitch. The necklace on the right is made using grass green fire polished crystals and cooper-coloured 15o and delica beads. Copper coloured glass rondelles are used on either side of the lampwok bead, and copper coloured glass flower beads are used as bead caps. You can't see it in this photo, but the clasp is a button and loop closure with a copper coloured vintage glass button.

The chain on the right is made with 3mm Swarovski pearls, pistachio green 15o and black 11o seed beads. The effect is a bit like argyle socks! It's very different but I really like it, and it is a good complement to the lampwork beads. The clasp on this one is also a button and loop closure, made with an opaque green antique button.

At the same time that I purchased the beads from Bead'licious, I also purchased some sets of beads from Wendy Bergamin of Bergamin Beads. Wendy makes some wonderful beads, and I have several of hers in my stash. Anyway, I had all of these coloured beads in my stash and wasn't sure how to make them into a necklace, then at the last Quilt and Craft Fair at Jeff's Shed (end July), I saw some small red rondelles, which I knew would be perfect spacers for these beads. This is a perfect Winter necklace, just because it is so very bright! I purchased the clasp at the Bead and Button Show when I went there in 2008, but I have to say it's the only part of the necklace I don't like - the toggle bar scratches my neck. I'll see how I go with it, but I might have to come up with a different arrangement. This only took a few minutes to make, but I'm sure I will get a lot of wear out of it.

The on-going saga of the Steampunk creation

Some time ago I posted photos of a half-finished piece I was calling my first attempt at Steampunk. Well, that piece has been sitting there ever since, waiting for inspiration. The original intention was that there would be a series of Victorian style swags of beads connecting the components. I tried many different combinations of beads and crystals and other bits and pieces, and I could never come up with a swag arrangement that I liked. So frustrating! Anyway, I was looking at that project the other day and I think I have come up with a Plan B at last. It's dependent on getting some more of one type of bead from a friend of mine, who gave me the original lot. She is going to go through her stash and see if she can find the rest of the beads, and if she can, I'll start work again.
I'm thinking now that it might be a RAW style band connecting the components. More later ...

The Gryphon necklace

This is my latest completed project. I call it the gryphon necklace after the image on the antique metal button which I have used as the central focal piece.

This started off as a kit I purchased from Laura McCabe a couple of years ago, when she came out to teach in Australia. I really liked the chain, but wasn't keen on the focal, which was a set of dangles. So the kit sat in a drawer for ages, while I did other things.

Anyway, a while ago, I was going through my beading drawers, looking at all my bits and pieces to see if inspiration would strike, and it did! It occurred to me that the chain would look really good with the antique button, and all I needed to do was design a pendant that would match with the chain. I made the necklace first, as I needed to know how many beads I would have to use on the pendant. My challenge was to use as many parts of the kit as possible, including the various pearls and bits and pieces that Laura had included to use in the dangles. I decided that I could add to the kit contents, but only with left-over beads from other LM kits. That made the challenge both harder and easier ... harder in that it really limited my choices, but easier in that a couple of the projects I had done from LM kits were in roughly similar colour-ways, so I had quite a few beads that toned with the ones from this kit. It was also hard in that the colours were not ones that I would normally use together. I really wouldn't have thought dark purple, mustard gold and raspberry would work together!

So, the only original part of this project is the pendant, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It was very difficult getting the bead embroidery to be even on both sides, because I was working from the outside in. There's no doubt it's easier to start in the middle and work outwards.

It's worth noting that I was very careful to not alter or damage the antique button. I built up behind it with stiffened felt to protect the shank and prevent it from sticking out at the back. While it makes the pendant a bit thick in the middle, it means that the value of the button should not be affected. I think you should be careful when using antique pieces in your work, and only alter them if it's absolutely necessary, or if they have no intrinsic value.

I still haven't gotten any further with my big steampunk piece. I wish some inspiration would strike with that project, because I would really like to finish it. I should aim to get it done in time to exhibit in the Bead Expo I suppose. The last week or so I have gone mad for the bracelet by Cynthia Rutledge that was featured in BeadWork magazine a couple of months ago. I have already completed two versions of it, and have no doubt I'll do a few more. It's actually an easy project to do while watching telly - with most of my beading I need to sit at the table and really concentrate. I'll post some pictures when I've finished another one.

Powering along on the UFOs

I finished another UFO on Friday.  I started the herringbone rope for something to do at Bead Society meetings.  I was finding that if I tried to do anything that required a pattern, I would make mistakes because I was talking and not concentrating!  I didn't really have anything in mind for it, but then I purchased this ceramic cabochon from Cranberry [http://www.cranberry.net.au] and realised it would go nicely with the rope.

I started bezelling the cabochon last week.  One of the things I love about about this technique is that it's so quick!  It only took a few hours work spread over a few days to make the pendant.  I used a vintage button for a button and loop closure.  I find these to be the easiest closures to use, and if you use antique buttons you know that every closure will be unique. This is a very simple pendant, but I felt that, with the rather busy pattern on the cab, it was better to have a simple bezel, otherwise the pendant would have ended up looking too fussy.  I have used delicas, 15/os, 11/os and 6/os in this project, all in shades of purple, mauve, sage and grey. Most of the beads are matte metallic, except for a row of mauve ceylon 15/o around the edge of the cab.


Just to show that I am powering along, here also is a photo of my worktable, showing the next UFO nearly complete.  I had a half day of beading at the BSV meeting at Geelong on Sunday, which really helped get this one along.  It doesn't take long to do a diamond netting rope anyway.  I'm going to do a few of these, mostly because I have several lovely lampwork beads which need to be made into necklaces.  I like pairing a really attractive lampwork bead with a simple beaded rope, it makes the bead the focus and is also easy to wear. This bead is by Carli Hall of Beadilicious.

I know it's cheating a bit to focus on completing the easy projects.  I have several kits and original ideas which are are complicated, and I'm dragging the chain on those.  I actually pulled out one kit the other night, all fired up to start it.  Then I read through the instructions, realised I couldn't be fagged trying to figure out what the author was saying, and pulled out the ceramic cab project instead!  Sometimes, when you're really busy with work, you just need an easy beading project that gives you a few minutes peaceful meditation ...

My first UFO, finished!

I have finally finished one of my UFOs.  This started out as a bracelet kit called "Daisy Chain" that I purchased from Laura McCabe when she was out here in Australia.
I don't generally wear bracelets, so I decided to adapt the kit and make a necklace.  I added another flower made with a larger rivoli, delicas and bicones.  I had enough of the other beads in the kit to convert the bracelet to a necklace.

I'm very happy with the way this one turned out. It's an interesting combination of teal and gold which I would never have put together myself. I like the flower forms too - they are fiddly to make, but they make interesting components for beading. The closure is a button and loop closure.  I made the button out of a bezelled rivoli.  It has a ring of bicone crystals around the edge - it will be interesting to see if they get caught in my hair.

I'm tossing up what to do next! I'll have to look through all of my containers of projects and see which one catches the eye.