Bracelet winner!

Congratulations Jen (aka Kashmir6), you've won the pretty red bracelet! I'll be in touch shortly for shipping details.

"Peace Piece"

The December 2009 Etsy Bead Weavers Challenge has such a great theme, I think. The winners of the last challenge, SmadarsTreasure and AngelqueCreations, chose "Peace Piece" - to represent peace and the winter olympics.

I started an entry but unfortunately due to my more work at my office job I wasn't able to finish in time. I did finish it this weekend though, so there shall be some pictures for you later this week - after the giveaway.

There are some great designs to choose from - so please take a minute to take a closer look at the entries by clicking on the links below. When you have decided on your favorite, head on over to the EBW Blog and vote. Thanks so much!

1. Serenity Cuff Bracelet - BettyStephanBeadwork
2. Tara (Goddess of Peace and Protection) - noritadesign
3. Dream Medallion - sagescupboard
4. Snow and Ice Necklace - AngelqueCreations
5. Peace Piece peyote cuff - randomcreative
6. Tide Pool EBWC December - JoniLynn
7. Golden Creamy Bouquet Necklace - bead4me
8. When Red meets Black - BeadsAndI
9. In Heavenly Peace - HauteIceBeadwork
10. La Donha - SilverDragon
11. Black and White Twist Necklace - MoreThanSomewhat1
12. Dove of Peace - ArtBeadwork
13. Peace on Earth - SmadarsTreasure
14. Go For The Gold - carosell
15. Peace, Love, and Beautiful Hair (Clip) - adinahalperndesigns
16. Winter Necklace - AsteropeBC
17. Snowball Necklace - BeadedExtravagance
18. Purple Frost Necklace - SpringColors
19. SIOBHAN - Beaded cabochon necklace - Stellaltinaan
20. Ray of Light - Lauralia

Bracelet Giveaway

With Christmas just around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to give away a bracelet. I made this following Sandra Hallpenny's pattern, she offers the pattern for free. If any beaders out there want to make one for themselves, here is the link: Round Lace.

It is woven with size 11 toho seed beads in a pretty matte red color, and finished with a gold plated swivel lobster clasp. I just love these clasps because they keep the bracelet from getting twisted up on your wrist.

Rules/How to enter:
Entering to win this bracelet is simple. The giveaway is open to all residents of the USA and Canada.

• 1. Visit my ArtFire shop and find your favorite item.

• 2. Post a comment on THIS blog post telling me what your favorite item is. If you are not a blogger member please leave a way for me to get in touch with you for your address in case you win.

• 3. Extra entry: To up your odds of winning, tweet about the giveaway on twitter. Your tweet should include a comment and link to my blog. Let me know that you have twittered by leaving an additional comment with your twitter ID so I can see your tweet - this will be your extra entry.

That's it! Easy peasy.
The winner will be chosen December 16th via a random number generator.

I will contact the winner immediately. If you get back to me with your address before the 20th, you'll be recieving the bracelet just in time for Christmas. The bracelet will be shipped in a pretty box, suitable for gift giving - just in case you plan on gifting the bracelet to someone else.

Men, don't be afraid to enter - I'm sure there's a woman in your life that would be delighted to own this lovely bracelet!

Some more beaded rings

I liked the first batch of rings I created so much that I needed to make some more. Rings usually take an hour to three hours, depending on the complexity of them. That's "instant" gratification to a bead weaver - many of my projects take 10-20 hours or more to complete. Sometimes I just need something I can finish in an afternoon...and these rings are just perfect for that.

These first two are in the same style as the ones I posted about a month ago - a bit of right angle weave with embelishments. They were woven with bugle beads, and size 11 and 15 toho seed beads.

These last 2 rings were woven in good ol' right angle weave, with size 11 toho seed beads. I added and "edging" to it to give it a nice even band look. It was a bit of extra work, but really worth it. Makes for a more distinct looking piece, in my opinion. What do you think?

I am admittingly bad at finding time to photograph my jewelry. I work a 40 hour regular office job in addition to my beadwork. Every day I wake up at 5am, my dear husband even earlier. By the time I awake, my coffee cup is waiting for me on the living room table. After a few minutes of yawning and snuggling with my hubby I reluctantly find something to wear and get ready for work.

I commute 45 minutes to my office. The work day goes by - sometimes fast, sometimes slow. I drive another 45 minutes to an hour home. We make dinner, we eat dinner. Now it's 6pm. Do I bead? Do I exersize? Do I take hundreds of pictures and sift through them all to find the good ones?

More often than not, I bead. I'll take breaks and do some wii fit, or some stretching and hoop dancing. Before I know it I'm yawning again...and it's time to get ready for bed.

This is my day. Not super exciting, I know...

The weekends, however, is my "me" time. I bead lots, I clean a little. If the mood strikes, my husband and I will get out and hear some local live music. But THIS weekend I promise I'll take some pictures and get some good stuff to you next week.

I even have a bracelet all made for a giveaway (that I still need to photograph, of course), that will most likely start on Monday. Stay tuned! In the mean time, here are some simple yet lovely netted bracelets I made recently.

"Beauty of the Flower" Winner Announced

Congratulations to this months winner of the Etsy Bead Weaver's challenge - Melissa Grakowski. Melissa created a beautiful hibiscus flower necklace with a variety of seed beads, swarovski bicone crystals, and freshwater pearls. Isn't it fabulous?!
Take a minute to check out Melissa's Etsy shop for some more of her lovely beaded creations.

Next month's challenge is an interesting one - "Peace Piece". It's been awhile since I've had the time and ambition to participate in a challenge, but I have an idea swirling around in my head...hopefully I can bring it to fruition by Dec. 5th!

Beauty of the Flower

My jaw dropped to the ground when I saw the challenge entries for this months Etsy Bead Weavers challenge Beauty of the Flower...every single piece is just WOW! I can easily say, it is going to be really hard choosing just one. They are all amazing! Please take some time to look at each entry, you can get a closer look by clicking on the links below. After you have found your favorite, please head on over to the EBW Blog and vote.

1. Mother of Pearl Brooch - enchantedbeads

2. Crape Jasmine Beadwoven Necklace - MaryTDesigns

3. Cape Primrose - glimmerstone

4. Bird of Paradise - ArtfulAr

5. Lady Slipper - savoystudio

6. Azalea Flower Necklace - Charmingthings

7. Floating Lotus Trinket Box - Medic5415

8. Crystal Flower Necklace - roseworksjewelry

9. The Beauty of the Columbine - dreambeadweaver

10. Mystical Orchid Necklace - CieloDesign

11. Pink Flower Sun Necklace - demetgun3

12. Midnight hibiscus - Lauralia

13. Hibiscus Necklace - grakowsky

14. Water Lily - oraninbar

15. Lotus Bracelet - SpringColors

16. Blue Lotus Necklace - windyriver

17. Warm Winter Bloom Necklace - SmadarsTreasure

Lacy Rings

I'm continuing to experiment with 2 needles, or cross needle weaving as it is sometimes called. It can be challenging at times - at first picking up beads with the needle in my left hand was a little difficult. I have more confidence in it now though, and find myself choosing to use 2 needles instead of one more and more. I still use only 1 needle for some stitches...peyote stitch, spirals. However for that lacy look 2 needles work just lovely. These rings were the result of some 2-needle experimenting - I think they turned out very pretty!

By the way, you may have noticed I changed up my background in my photos. I originally was using white because I wanted the attention to be on the item itself - but my pictures were looking a little washed out. Does the new background take attention away from the rings (or the bangles below)? Great photos are a constant struggle of mine...always striving for better.

New Bangle Bracelets

I wish I had a more steady stream of stuff to "oooh" and "ahhhh" you with, but, here's the thing - I can't work on just one project at a time. That doesn't mean I'm juggling 6 needles with thread at one time though. Bead weaving is a time consuming endeavor - especially if you are working on a large project. I don't want to be looking at the same colors and doing the same stitch for endless hours, so I tend to change it up. It keeps my hands busy - but I don't necessarily finish one thing in an entire week. Wait a few weeks though, and I'll have 5 or 6 things finished. It comes in waves, folks...it comes in waves.
Maybe I should do a "work in progress Wednesday", or something like that. Would anyone like that - to see works in progress?

Ok on to the bracelets. Still enamored with right angle weave here. I have been playing with some other techniques, but was on a kick this weekend to finish these two bangles off.
This first one was the more time consuming of the two. It was the first of this style that I started off in size 11 toho seed beads. I think I'll be sticking to size 8's or 6's for the base of these from now on...11's just take so long to work in cubic right angle weave. It does look pretty neat though.

This second bracelet actually started out as a ring. But it just wanted to be a bangle. Perhaps now that the bangle is made I can go on to make a matching ring.

I have had some amazing strands of turquoise just begging to be made into something pretty. In addition to the gold fire polished Czech beads and the turquoise rounds, I used robins egg blue turquoise chips from the sleeping beauty mine in Arizona. Sleeping beauty turquoise is one of, if not the most desired turquoise, because of it's naturally blue color. Pretty, right?

Congratulations to the winner!

Congratulations to the winners of this month's Etsy Bead Weaver's Challenge - Super Power Jewelry. Yes I said "winners" we have a tie for first place!

Tied for first is AngelqueCreations with her beautiful bracelet - Cuff of Power

and SmadarsTreasure with her Black Spider Woman Necklace

Be sure to check out both of their etsy shops for some fantastic bead woven goodness! Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who participated in the challenge. Stay tuned for the next EBW's challenge, "Beauty of the Flower", which will be available for voting Nov. 9th.

Super Power Jewelry

The creations beaded up by the Etsy Bead Weavers for October are truly fit for a super hero! Get a closer look at each one individually by clicking on the links below. When you have decided on your favorite, please head on over to the EBW's blog to vote. Thanks!

Voting ends October 15th.

1. Cuff of Power - AngelqueCreations

2. Triforce Necklace - MaryTDesigns

3. Emerald Enigma Necklace and Earring Set - HauteIceBeadwork

4. K - MadeByOlga

5. Black Spider Woman Necklace - SmadarsTreasure

6. Power of Resistance Bracelet/Glove - dreambeadweaver

7. A Wonderous Woman - sedonaskye

8.Wonder Woman Rivoli Beaded Bridal Bracelet - SpringColors

9. EBWC Care Bears - Stellaltinaan

10. I've got the Power - RachelesOriginals

11. Galaxy Stars Super-Powered Collar - FrancescasFancy

12. Super Woman in Style - kraftymax

13. Xena - Suede Necklace with Beadwoven Beads - alatvian

14. The Power of Three - enchantedbeads

15. Power Goblet - njema

Jack-o-lantern Earrings

I'm still in the Halloween spirit, and I felt like making a little something for myself this weekend. I found a tutorial for a jack-o-lantern charm online, so I thought I'd make 2 and turn them into earrings. Cute, right?
Here is the tutorial for anyone interested in beading up one or two of their very own: Jack-o-lantern charm tutorial
You could even substitute cream colored beads for the orange and make a Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Candy Corn Bangle Bracelet

Try as I may to work on other things (I have a peyote stitch box and bracelet in the works), I keep coming back to cubic right angle weave. This bangle was a labor of love - it took over 15 hours to create. In the planning stages, I had only intended to make the a bangle from 3 strips of cubic right angle weave and leave it at that. When I got to the "end" though, I kept on going. Since I had the perfectly matched colors of fire polished beads, I layered them right in, and everything turned out even better than I imagined in my head. The fire polished beads give the bangle just enough sparkle to catch the eye.

Usually I am a bit behind the power curve when it comes to holiday themed jewelry, so I'm fairly impressed with myself this time around - having actually finished this an entire month before Halloween. Go me!

The winner is...

The winner of this months Etsy Bead Weaver's challenge is Lorraine of TrinityDJ with her beautiful necklace Indian Summer Sunset. Congratulationa Lorraine!

Congratulations also to our runners up:

Second: Parvati's Grace necklace - CieloDesign

Third: Indian Summer Nights - triz

Fourth: I Dream of an Indian Summer - sedonaskye

Fifth: Tropical Indian Summer-Cabochon Necklace - RachelesOriginals

Sixth: Indian summer sunset OOAK necklace - Lauralia

Seventh: Night Guard Owl necklace - BeadCatcher

Eighth: Indian Summer Dreams - ThePreciousBeads

Ninth: Mexican Indian Summer Peyote Bracelet - AngelqueCreations

Tenth: Indian Summer Beaded Necklace - SpringColors

Bravo all who entered. Such a talented group of beaders!

More bangles

I was so happy with how the last bangle came out that I HAD to make more. I am love, love, loving cubic right angle weave, there are just so many possibilities! The latest bracelet is made from baby pink toho seed beads, and purple swarovski crystal pearls. It's lightweight, rigid but flexible, elegant and dainty!

This next one has a bit more "industrial" feel to it. I wove it completely from hematite, so it's just a tad heavier than the other bangles. Very punk or goth, don't you think? I could see myself wearing it on a dark snowy day.

Indian Summer Dream

Once again the Etsy Bead Weavers have designed some fabulous creations for the monthly challenge. The theme this month is Indian Summer Dream.

Quite appropriate, I'd say. I'm dreaming of an Indian Summer myself...I can't believe it's September already! Where did the summer go?!

Anyways, please head on over to the Etsy Bead Weavers Blog and vote for your favorite. Thanks so much!

Pietersite Bangle Bracelet

Still playing with cubular right angle weave here, and I'm still using two needles to do it! This "almost chunky" bracelet was woven with size 3/o toho seed beads, and finished off with small pietersite nuggets. Pietersite is such a pretty stone - one of my favorites. It's almost like tiger eye but with tons more color.
I'm not a bangle bracelet wearing gal, but if this one were a bit smaller I'd probably keep it!

Beaded Rings

I've been experimenting with RAW (right angle weave) a lot lately. The possibilities are just endless - and it's good beading fun. In addition to that, I've been doing all my beading with two needles now, using cross needle weaving techniques. I find it to be more effiecient time-wise than using just one needle - PLUS the strings can be twice as long as your comfortable working with, which means not having to weave in thread as often. Yay!

These rings were super fun to make. After they were done my head was spinning with all sorts of ideas - colors/shapes. But these babies are my prototypes.

This next ring was woven in size 15 toho's - the smallest size toho seed beads come in! In retrospect, I suppose I should have taken a photo with a penny or something for a size reference. I'll have to do that before I list it for sale, but, alas, here it is. Woven in cubular raw with some beads added on the inner circle for stiffness. It's light and extremely comfortable.

Please vote for my friend's band!

I promise we'll get back to beady-ness soon, but in the meantime, would you please take a minute to help my friend's band out?
The Ryan Montbleau Band has been nominated to rock out aboard JamCruise 8. This is well overdue for them and would be wonderful exposure (not to mention a damn good time). Your vote would be greatly appreciated by me AND them.
Here's the link to VOTE.

Tresuries!

Yes, plural...found myself in TWO treasuries over the weekend, and the curators were lovely enough to contact me to let me know!

Click on the pictures below to go to the treasuries, feel free to click and comment!

Summer Peach Harvest

Levitate

Here are my favorite items from the curators of the treasuries (the people that picked the items for their treasuries). Click on the pictures for description and pricing info.

From AngiesJewelryDesign:

From BeadSire:

Here come's the bride!

Voting has begun for the latest Etsy Bead Weaver's challenge - "Here Comes the Bride". Once again I am floored by the massive amount of talent here...and I know I'm going to have a hard time choosing my favorite. To get a closer look at each item, click on the links below. Then head on over to the Etsy Bead Weaver's Blog to vote.

1. Pearl Romance Collar - nemeton

2. Intertwined in Love for Wedding Bliss - kraftymax

3. Pearls and Crystals and Silver OH MY - cigarboxbeads

4. Neptunes Bride - triz

5. Pearls And Gold - Bridal Jewelry - Rainy Lane

6. Something Blue - randomcreativ

7. Love Goes Round and Round - 1BeadAtATime

8. Forever Yours - beadsandblooms

9. Bridal Cameo Necklace - Medic5415

10. Geometric Decadence - vanishingpearl

11. Floral Lace - ArtfulAr

12. Champagne Dreams - HauteIceBeadwork

13. A Touch of India - BeadazzledofOregon

14. Seaside Wedding - caraway

15. Two Hearts Become One - BeadworksbyKerri

16. Bridal Tradition - glimmerstone

17. White Bridal Wave - HannahRachel

18. Dare to Dream of Crystals and Pearls - dreambeadweaver

19. Gothic Wedding Fetish Beaded Fishnet Gloves - crownrosegems

20. Two Shall Become One - beadsforever

21. Something New Something Blue - jodihorgan

22. Halloween Bride - alatvian

23. The Blushing Bride - Fivefootfury13

24. Something Borrowed, Something Blue - AmethystRavenstar

25. The Mermaid Bride - ThesePreciousThings

26. Something Blue - copperwaycrafts

27. Beadwoven Bridal Necklace and Earrings - SmadarsTreasure

28. Jewels of Dawn Bridal necklace - CieloDesign

29. Walking on Air - RedCatArtBeads

30. Wrist Corsage - MoreThanSomewhat

31. Stars in my Eyes Bridal Necklace - SpringColors

32. Sparkling Bride - Amykohndesigns

33. Champagne Sparkle necklace - FleurDeIrk

34. Crystal Ice - fashionsfrome

35. Fairy Tale Princess Bride Choker - FrancescasFancy

36. Rebel Bride Freeform Cuff - playnwithbeads

37. Here Comes the Bride - enchantedbeads

38. Indian Bride - BeadCatcher

39. And Together - LiciaBeads

Voting ends midnight July 15th, so go vote for your favorite now!

Lacy Beaded Rings

I've been experimenting with cross-needle weaving, or, two-needle weaving a lot lately. For a while I was quite content working with one needle. As I look to expand my experience, though, I thought it was worth a shot. There are some things you just can't do with one needle alone, and some things are just a whole lot easier using two needles. At first it was difficult, I felt like I was learning to bead all over again. My left hand is used to holding the beadwork, not a needle, so it took a little getting used to. After I was comforable with it I just couldn't stop! I'll share more with you throughout the week, but here's a glimpse at my first cross-weaving endeavors...some lacy beaded rings!