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 ...

Amazingly enough, I have finished something!

Here's my finished bead lace necklace with the spotty daggers.  I made a loop and toggle closure with a vintage triangular button, which works quite well.
The bead lace pattern was designed to automatically curve, so it naturally makes a circle like this.  This means that it sits flat on the neckline without any kinks.  It looks great on! 
Next step - cleaning up some of the detritus around my beading area so I can get some room to work on one of the other backed up projects - there's about five or six waiting to be done at the moment.  Sometimes I seriously wonder if I have ADD!  I rarely seem to stick at one project until it's finished, and I have lost count of the UFOs.

Fibres Ballarat 2010

I've just spent a week at Fibres Ballarat 2010 [http://www.mannmaid.com.au], doing a class with the Bead Cats, Virginia Blakelock and Carol Perrenoud.  It was a lot of fun and very instructive.  Unlike many beading classes, where you have a set project to make, this was quite freeform.  V&C had samples of various projects we could try if we wanted, or we could work on our own projects with help from them, or make samples of various stitches.  It was a good opportunity to try out different stitches and see what I liked and didn't like.  I also set myself the challenge of using bead colours I wouldn't normally use, to stretch things a bit further.  I hadn't been to a Fibre Forum event before, and it was really interesting to participate in one.  I particularly enjoyed the nightly slide shows by the various teachers, talking about their work and inspirations and why they make what they make.

My samples at the end of the class look a bit like botanical specimens pinned to a board!  They include several flower and leaf shapes, which will eventually be combined into a hair clip, and a length of two-needle right angle weave beading, which will eventually bcome a bracelet.  it's always interesting to see how the same pattern looks completely different depending on the colour and finish of the beads used.  It doesn't look like I did much, but the class wasn't just about sitting doing beading - there were discussions about colour theory, how to get different effects from different finishes, and various other things.  Virginia and Carol also gave us an in-depth talk on how they had made several of their major beaded artworks, and some of the technical issues associated with that.  I'm really quite keen to try doing a beaded collar, so hearing a bit from Virginia about the tricks in constructing them was quite useful.

I also loved the trading hall area, which had several people selling everything from class supplies to books.  I went mad amongst the vintage buttons and the table covered in fabric samples.  I also bought some nacky threads.  This is on top of all the beads I bought from the Bead Cats!  The week ended with a exhibition of all the students work, and it was great to see what everyone else had been doing.  I'm hoping some of the other teachers come back in future years, so I can do classes with them, especially the Kumihimo teacher and Mary Hettmansperger.

Last weekend at the BSV meeting Jo (www.cranberry.net.au) had some gorgeous multi-coloured dagger beads with polka dots on them. They are in various metallic shades, mostly lilac and apricot. Jo laughed when she saw me eying them off, and asked if she should take them away! If only I had looked at them and not had a shred of inspiration, I would have been fine, but of course as soon as I saw them an idea popped in my head!
I have a book called Crystal Lace Necklace Patterns by Sandra Halpenny, which I made a 'gothic' style necklace from for a Christmas gift. I knew that the daggers would work with one of those crystal patterns, so of course I ended up buying some.

Here's the beginnings of a necklace made with the daggers. The bead lace pattern is quite complicated - learning right-angle weave will be a doddle after doing some of these patterns! It doesn't help that there was a mistake in the book in one place - I only figured it out with the help of a magnifying glass and the photo. I should havbe been patient and waited until I could get some appropriate coloured crystals to use as the highlight beads, although the frosted lilac 8os look quite good - understated I guess.

Having a rush of enthusiasm for the bead lace meant that I had to put away the other project I had just started. Here's a photo of the layout.

I bought these beads at Spacetrader. I was told they are replicas of antique beads made in Africa. They are certainly interesting shapes and sizes. My plan is to create a collar using peyote stitch to collar the beads and herringbone connectors.
As soon as I have finished the bead lace, I'll get back to this one. I might then, at last, get to the blue bling one. Funny how all my current projects are so different! I need to get started on my Bead Challenge entry soon too ...

The butterfly is done!

I finished the butterfly hair clip last night. Here are some photos taken while making it.

One thing I learned from making this was to not stitch the 'veins' in before starting the main stitching. I thought having the outline done first would make it easier to keep both sides even, but that wasn't the case.

Next time I will simply draw the pattern I want on to the felt before I start stitching, and use that to keep things even.

I will try to be more adventurous with colour on the next one! I like the colour of these beads but I feel this one is a wee bit bland. I think I will make a yellow one next time ... my beading buddies always laugh when I threaten to make something in yellow so maybe I need to actually carry it out. Before I do another hair clip though, I'm ready to get started on the next big bling project. Updates will follow.