Peace, Love and Flower Power, Baby!

I'm really telling my age here, but I once had psychedelic, neon colored posters plastered all over my bedroom walls, big bright tissue paper flowers stuck in funky vases and peace signs everywhere.  I listened to Janis and Jimi and wore hip hugger bellbottoms and tie dye t-shirts.  Yep, I am a child of the 60's.

 When the March Etsy Beadweavers challenge theme "Fashion Through the Ages" was announced, it wasn't hard for me to find inspiration.  I remembered those big, daisy style, neon colored flowers we plastered everywhere; in our rooms, on our possessions and on our persons!  I remembered the long necklaces we wore, singly and in multliples,  with our bell sleeved tunics and our granny dresses.  So, for the challenge, my memories created a long, multi-strand, daisy chain necklace in vivid colors of purple, orange, blue, yellow, pink and green.  I have to say, it is far out. 

Can you say, "Groovy, man!"?

Leaves!

In Springtime, their soft beauty promises hope and renewal.  In Summer, they offer us shelter and cool shade from the heat.  Autumn arrives and they show us nature's glory and awesomeness.  Even in Winter, the leaves that remain green remind us that even in difficult times, there is survival.   Leaves have always been a favorite motif of mine.  I use them in decorating my home, incorporate them into my jewelry designs, and of course recognize the value of a strategically placed leaf stem or foliage in my floral designs.  I just love leaves, any size, shape or color!  So, of course, when I read the theme for the October Etsy Beadweavers Challenge, I was thrilled!  The theme is "Autumn Falling of Leaves".  This was a challenge I didn't want to miss.

Shortly after learning the theme and starting to think about how I wanted to develop it, my SO and I visited the tiny town of Paxico, KS.  Paxico is surviving by having become a community almost totally made up of antique shops.  It's a delightful place to visit and the shopkeepers are very friendly and helpful.  In one, when I told the lady I was looking for old costume jewelry that I could use in my beadwoven designs, she directed me to the appropriate niche and there I found the perfect focal for my October challenge entry.  It was a silver maple leaf shaped brooch with a red jasper stone set in the center.  It had definitely seen better days but the apparent aging only added to its appeal.  After all, what are Autumn leaves if not aged?  This sad little jewelry box reject now sits grandly front and center in a glorious tribute to the colorful beauty of Autumn falling leaves.  It's surrounded by bead embroidered stylized leaves on a bib necklace with beadwoven Russian leaves falling from the edges.  I hope Mother Nature approves.

Indian Summer Patchwork

I am a bargain seeker, a treasure hunter, collector of odds and ends. My bead stash runneth over. So, when the theme for the Etsy Beadweavers team September challenge was announced, Indian Summer Dream, I knew I had the perfect components to make up my interpretation of the theme - somewhere!

Last fall I bought these darling fall leaf buttons in Hobby Lobby's clearance aisle. At the time of the purchase, I wasn't sure what I'd use them for, but they said "take us home" so I did. Now which drawer did I put them in? Oh yeah, there they are! Okay, so how do I make them up? Lots of fall colors, of course! What else does "Indian summer" make me think of? Wrapping up in an old throw at football games, kicking through the fallen leaves on a crisp afternoon walk, seeing the glorious autumn patchwork of treetops blanketing the Flinthills.

I think I've got it now... a patchwork of autumn colors, scattered with leaves, to wrap around the wrist.

Shades of the Southwest

I love silver. I love turquoise. I love silver and turquoise accented with coral. I love Southwestern style. So it was only natural that my entry in the August Etsy Beadweavers' challenge be a Southwestern style design done in turquoise, silver and coral. The large, chunky freeform turquoise pendant was another of my finds at the farmer's market where I purchased the turquoise square donuts. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be the focal piece for my challenge entry. Since the pendant was asymetrical, the rest of the necklace evolved asymetrically as well. I'd like to think that with this creation, I've put my own little spin on traditional Southwestern style.

Here Comes the Bride!

Not me, for heaven sake, it's my entry in the Etsy Beadweaver's July Challenge. The theme was picked by the May challenge winner, Miriam of Cielo Designs. While I don't plan to ever be a bride again, it was fun coming up with something for this challenge. I tried to do something sort of traditional bridal, but at the same time, that could be worn for any dressy occasion or even to soften the look of a business suit. I just recently learned how to stitch a flat spiral and I've enjoyed experimenting with the stitch. In my necklace I started with the original flat spiral using AB firepolish crystals and three shades of white seed beads. As I worked toward the center, I made graduated loops of beads on one side. The flexibility of this stitch gave me the idea of the rings in the center to represent the unity of marriage. This may have been the first piece I've ever made in all white. It was a bit of a challenge just to come up with the variation of white seed beads that I wanted, but I'm pleased with how the different finishes complement each other.

The Rest of The Weekend

Today was an absolute gorgeous day in spite of the weatherman's predictions . Temperature was in the high 70's, a light breeze and sunshine. This was my lazy, stay-at-home day. I cleaned the living room in the morning, helped my SO mow the yard and then took the bead tray and spent most of the rest of the day on the patio beading.

I was working on my June "Humor" challenge entry. You can kind of get a sneak peek here.

The colorful little fish were a recent yard sale find. They were on a broken chain and just begging to be reused. The lady said she had bought them on a trip to Guatemala. I won't use all of them for this piece so will have fuel for future creations. I managed to finish the components for my necklace today and am working on the chain to tie them all together now. Should be able to finish well before the deadline. Good progress and a great day!!

Hollywood Red Carpet Creations

When I first read the theme for the May Etsy Beadweavers' Challenge, I thought, "Oh, boy, this is going to bring out the glitz and glamour". How was I ever going to come up with something to compete with some of the wonderfully elaborate creations this team thinks up? Answer: Not gonna happen. I'm really not a "Wonderfully Elaborate" kind of person. So I got to thinking about the kind of fashion that appeals to me when it comes to formal dress. Again, I normally don't lean toward lots of ruffles and frou frou. I like draped designs, simple sheaths, skirts that flow. I love men in tuxedos. And when I thought of tuxedos, that's when it came to me - Black Tie! Fortunately for me, I had just bought Diane Fitzgerald's book Shaped Beadwork and was learning how to make the different components. It occurred to me that if I put two of the open teardrop shapes together point to point and figured out how to do a center, it would look just like a bow. A circle of fire polish beads did the trick for the center and my old reliable spiral stitch seemed a natural for the strings and ribbon. I used another of the open teardrops with a peyote stitch bar for the clasp. Done up in shiny black opaque and sparkly silver seed beads, I think it's Red Carpet worthy. I'd like to imagine someone like Diane Keaton wearing it at the next Oscar Awards! :-)

April Challenge Entry Listed!

I wasn't sure I was going to get this challenge entry completed in time but I finished it this morning and just now listed it to Etsy. Whew!! When I first read the description for the April Challenge, "Time Machine", my mind was spinning with possibilities. Do I try something Steampunk as some of the others had mentioned? Do I go with futuristic or something looking back in time? Finally, being the avid reader of fantasy science fiction that I am, I settled on creating something that would fit into the storyline of a fantasy sci fi novel.

One of my favorite fantasy series was by Diana Gabaldon about a 20th century woman transported back in time to the 18th century through a circle of standing stones in Scotland. So how cool would it be if one could transport through time simply by donning a piece of jewelry and gazing in a mirror?!

While the stones and beads I chose to work with came from my stash, I did do some shallow research into the meaning of the stones to see how well they fit the notion that this was a magical time travel necklace. It all actually worked out quite well. The jade teardrop center stone stands for clarity and courage, both attributes useful to the time traveler. A touch of amethyst for intuition which could definitely be handy in a strange land or time; lepidolite for acceptance and calm, aiding in transition; and hematite for protection and grounding, all things that would benefit the time traveler. Of course, the magic that actually makes the necklace work comes from the stitches and weaving (and the imagination of the wearer)!

Uplifting!

It's been a while since I've posted. Been busy with life, the good and the not so good. Have two loved ones right now with health issues and naturally, that is worrisome. One will have resolution soon but the other will not, primarily due to lack of health insurance. I will help what I can, but it will be a struggle to put together the money so treatment can be obtained. My job has been very stressful for a while now and I feel I'm burning out. What keeps me sane and keeping on is my family and my art. My grandson "graduated" from Early Headstart this week at the ripe old age of 3. We had a lovely evening in our little local park and zoo, eating pizza and cupcakes and watching the kids all get their pictures taken in a little cap and gown. Ashton was not too keen on wearing the cap or gown but he had a blast looking at the animals and running with the other children. His sister's favorite part was her cupcake. Emily's 10 months and managed to get more frosting on her face than in her mouth! Of course, Grandma got pictures.

Then there's my beads and my floral work. I finally got my September challenge piece done this past week and I am very proud of it. I feel it's one of the best pieces I've ever done. Evidently, others think so too, because I have received so many compliments from people who have seen it. In fact, this evening when I logged in to Etsy (after a Very long day at work) I found two convos waiting for me. Convos are always very exciting! The first was from someone inquiring if I would make a custom wreath. Evidently, they liked my Kansas Color wreath well enough to get in touch with me. Of course, I responded in the affirmative so we'll see where that leads. Hopefully, to a sale and a satisfied customer. The second convo was from a fellow EBW'er and even though it was not about a sale, it probably lifted my spirits as much or more than a sale. She convo'd me just to tell me how much she admired my Tears of Joy and was very lavish in her compliments. I've looked at the things in her shop and she has some pretty amazing things herself, so I considered this high praise, indeed. To receive the recognition of ones peers is something I think we all strive for as designers and artists. I'm going to try to follow her example and when I see something that really moves me, I'm going to make the extra effort to let that person know. I know I'm going to be riding high for a while because someone took the time to share with me. Thanks!