Lighthouse by the sea

When I was a young girl, my Nana and Grandfather would spend a week in Cape Cod, in a small cottage by the ocean and I was lucky enough to go along with them. Some of my fondest memories stem from those carefree days on the beach. I would spend all day splaying in the sand and surf, coming back to the cottage only for a quick bite to eat before rushing back out to play.
Lighthouses always bring me back to that time and make me smile.

I've created three versions of this lighthouse bracelet pattern, available in super wide, wide, and thin.

Army Men Bracelet

Remember when you were young, and the long summer day seemed to last an eternity? Ya know, when kids used to bring their toys outside to play instead of sitting in front of the tv for hours? I've brought the nostalgia to your wrist with wearable art that will bring you back to the simper days!

I wove this bracelet bead by tiny bead using peyote stitch and the incredibly uniform Delica beads. A sterling silver slide clasp adds value and a touch of class to the piece. Woven on a 6lb test quality beading thread, this bracelet should outlive you when treated properly!

The bracelet is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.



For the crafty folks out there who prefer to bead up their own bracelets, I also have a pattern available for purchase HERE. Purchase of my original patterns entitles you to make AND sell your wares. Please give credit to the designer though! Happy beading!

Speaking of animal print...

...how about some zebra print fun?! I recently finished weaving up this super wide peyote stitched cuff using Delica beads and my favorite beading thread. It measures 7-1/2" long and a whopping 2" wide.

Want to make one for yourself? You can! I have detailed zebra print patterns available in 3 different widths AND different color combinations. Check em out in my Etsy Shop.

All of my patterns come with a full color image, delica bead number and bead count needed, a large easy to print black and white symbol graph, and a word chart. I also email you a hi res photo that you can zoom WAY in on.

Get WILD!

Holy beading Batman!

For a good portion of the summer I didn't do ANY beading - I was too busy being outside and working on my hoopdancing to be stuck inside.

Now that the leaves are all on the ground and a little bit of snow has fallen, I'm back to hibernating and beading like a madman. Recently I finished this Batman cuff bracelet. It's woven with delica beads in matte black, yellow, and steel. The steel makes it super shimmery when it moves, yet it's not exactly feminine either. It measures 7-1/2" long, and 2" wide at the widest part of the cuff and is finished with a sterling silver slide clasp. Elegant indeed!

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!

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.

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?

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.

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!

Purple Argyle Bracelet

Ah, peyote stitch, my first love. I can't say that it was love at first sight though, as my first few attempts at the seemingly easy stitch resulted in me throwing my beadwork across the room. A lot has changed in seven years though, and peyote stitch for me is a constant, a standard - a feeling of "home", if you will. It will always be a favorite stitch of mine. Granted, it takes a while to work up anything substantial, but the feeling of accomplishment when you are finished is priceless.
I did a spring colored argyle cuff bracelet not too long ago, and immediately started on another one. They are just so fun looking! I am FAR from "preppy", but I think this bracelet could accomidate a variety of personal tastes - from punk to hippie.
I can definately see doing this up in some other colors sometime in the future!

Bracelet Giveaway

I wove this fun little blue lace bracelet following Sandra D. Halpenny's free pattern, available from her website HERE. Thank you Sandra for sharing it with us! If you are a bead weaver or aspire to be, have a look at her homepage for some fresh patterns. Using size 8 beads instead of size 11 will make the bracelet a little chunkier, but it will work up faster - I would actually recomend it for beginners.





In the spirit of giving, I'd like to offer this bracelet as a giveaway!
It's a smaller size, measuring in at 7". If this bracelet is too small for you, feel free to enter the giveaway anyways. The bracelet will be shipped in a box suitable for gifting, so you can pass this on to a family member or a friend - they don't have to know you didn't spend a dime on it!

The rules of the giveaway are simple:

1. Go to my etsy shop HERE. Shuffle through my shop and find your favorite item - there's only three pages so please have a look at every page!

2. Come back to this post and comment with your selected favorite. If you do not have a blogger account, please leave a way I can get in touch with you if you win - email address, website, twitter, whatever! This giveaway IS open to international contestants, however anyone winning that resides outside of the USA or Canada must assume shipping charges. Package will be marked gift, so you do not have to worry about customs charges.

3. Sit back and wait! The winner will be selected 2 weeks from today at just about noon-ish using a random number generator based on the number of comments. I'll post the screenshot of the number picked with an appropriate time stamp and whatnot.

If the response to this giveaway is good, look forward to other sizes being offered!

Spring Bracelets

This weekend was glorious. I did very little housework and cleaning (thanks to my wonderful husband, who told me I had this weekend "off"), and I did LOTS of playing. As a celebration for passing my LEED exam, I bought myself a wii, and a wii fit to go along with it. What a fabulous little contraption that is! Even my husband, who never really go into video games, is a fan. He loves the fact that it's so interactive. I feel a little sore today - those balance games really get your controller muscles working! Watch out world, I'm gonna be a hot mama this summer!
In between hooping and playing on the wii, I managed to finish 2 bracelets I've been working on.

The first is a fairly simple design, but pretty nonetheless. I wove in peyote stitch with various sizes of toho beads to achieve a bumpy look - in fresh spring colors.

This second bracelet I'm really proud of - it's also woven in peyote stitch, bead by tiny bead. I've always liked the look of argyle and have been wanting to do an argyle cuff for a while. The colors scream spring, I think.

Psychedelic Spiral Bracelet

If I had finished this bracelet in time, I would have entered it in the Etsy Bead Weavers challenge "Time Machine". If I had a time machine, I would go back to the psychedelic 60's, and that's what this bracelet reminds me of.

I have a jar of "leftover" delica beads...beads that never made it back into their original containers, my "delica bead soup" jar. This bracelet was woven in peyote stitch, all beads coming from my bead soup container. For the clasp I used a sterling silver slide/lock clasp. I'm quite pleased with how it came out, but not as pleased as my husband. He says it's by far his favorite bracelet I've created to date. How sweet of him!

It's a tad smaller than traditional bracelets - measuring in at only 7". I'm debating whether or not I should sell or list it...I DO have tiny wrists and it fits me perfect. Hmmmm.....

Neon Fun Bracelet

Most of my bead weaving is done with tiny beads. Really tiny beads. This makes for a very detailed design, but it is an incredibly time consuming labor of love. Any bead weaver out there knows what I'm talking about. Every once in a while though, I feel the need for (almost) instant gratification. Anything that can be finished in an afternoon is "instant gratification" for a bead weaver.

This bracelet was my "instant gratification" this past weekend. Its woven with size 8 seed beads, in orange, green, and pink neon colors. It's finished with a silver-plated swivel lobster clasp. I don't think I'll ever go back to non-swivel lobster clasps after using a swivel. Not having to worry about your bracelet and clasp getting all twisted on you is a wonderful thing!

Waves

Lately I've been trying to use beads I have on hand rather than buying on a whim. So far, so good. My biggest temptation has got to be artbeads.com. Every once in a while they'll send me an email with a great deal on the latest colors, sizes, shapes of seed beads and it's rare that I don't pick up a few bags of little beady goodness. Luckily for my wallet, it's been over a month since I've perused thier website.
These wavy bracelets were woven from Toho seed bead mixes I have had on hand for awhile. Yay me for using existing stock!

Purple Waves

Weaving in peyote stitch with different sizes of beads will give you a great texture. Both bracelets were woven with Toho beads in sizes 11 to 6.


Dragon Scales

This is my first bracelet attempt with a button clasp and it came out purrrrfect. The loop is secure and tight, the button will not go through the loop unless it is tilted sideways and pushed through the slot. I used a metal button with an intricate dragon design on it - makes for a great focal point.



Matching Pendants

I didn't feel like picking up my bead colors...so I just kept on beading. I'll be throwing in the pendant for free when you buy the matching bracelet. Fun!

Irish Flag Cuff Bracelet

Trying to keep up with the holidays, I was determined to create something with St. Patrick's Day specifically in mind. I found myself leaning towards the colors of the actual flag of Ireland more so than a shamrock or a little elf - perhaps that's my own Irish pride shining through.
After finding the perfectly matching delica colors, I wove in 2-drop peyote stitch.
It's finished with a beaded toggle clasp that will hold the bracelet securely on your wrist.

As a special promotion, I'm offering free shipping for this bracelet to anywhere in Ireland!

Is spring here yet?

It may be the middle of winter, but my head is in the tropics. Every once in a while the mood strikes me to bead up a snowflake but, frankly, I don't like snow. I can appreciate the beauty of freshly fallen snow, and I try to take in each breath, each moment as I live it. However inevitably each winter I find myself longing for spring, anticipating the first signs of new life, and the return of the green buds of my garden. Perhaps in the summer I'll be able to bead a snowman without grimacing, but for this month, I needed a little taste of summer. I used a pattern from the July/August issue of Bead-Patterns the magazine to weave up this hibiscus bracelet in peyote stitch. The page didn't have a designer name on it so I'm assuming the designer is Rita Sova herself. If you're interested in beading one up for yourself, you can purchase the pattern HERE.

In case anyone is wondering, I will NOT be selling this bracelet in any of my shops. A bracelet that is woven using another person's pattern should not be sold, unless you have permission from the designer themselves. A little beading ethics 101 for you.

Holiday Delights

I wove these little lovelies over the weekend, realizing that December is here already!

This bracelet is a simple weave, finished off with a gold wire guardian and a gold-plated swivel clasp. I LOVE the swivel clasps, because your bracelet never gets twisted.

This little "Christmas Bell" was woven around a wooden bell shape with toho seed beads, sizes 11 and 15. I included a woven loop bail, and for the "bell" I used a swarovski glass pearl.

I entered this pendant in the Christmas competition on craftjuice.com. Vote for me HERE.

Doesn't red, green, and gold simply look great together?

Catching up on things...

It's been over a week since I posted anything that I've been working on. In part, this is due to not being able to get the quality of pictures I desire.

Hopefully soon I'll have some fresh shots of all my etsy shop items though. I've contacted a friend, Brody, over at Polarity Photo. Brody takes some amazing shots. His passion is..um...legally being escorted into abandoned buildings and capturing the decay of the untouched.
Here are a few prime examples of what he sees through his lens:

That's just a taste. Definately check out his site for more amazing photography.

Now...onto the jewelry.

This ring and earring set was the absolute biggest pain in the butt to photograph. After many attemps, I settled a little bit on the picture. I'm excited to show them and I just couldn't wait any longer.

I've done rings and earrings of this style before, but I do have to say these are my favorite. Red and black together are just such powerful colors. This was woven with matte black delicas and checkerboard swarovski crystals. Again, I was going for a vintage/flapper style, and I think I captured that quite nicely.

This next bracelet is something I made as a gift for a friend who shall remain nameless. I don't think she's a blog reader, but better safe than sorry!

It was woven with toho seed beads, and overlayed with purple swarovski pearls.

These next bracelets are purely fun. I have had this stash of plastic pony beads for the longest time. Pony beads, meet stretchy cord. =)