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.

Getting ready for the holiday season?

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I've been getting prepared for Christmas early this year! Not only have I been beading up jewelry to give away as gifts, but I've also been embellishing LOTS of shatterproof bulb ornaments with a netting technique. It works up fairly quickly, and makes the ornament so pretty!

If you are interesting in making these pretty ornaments for yourself, or to give away as gifts for the holiday season, you can download my easy to follow step by step tutorial with full color photos for each step, available here: Netted Ornament Tutorial

Try using an out of the box color combination for added fun!

Happy beading,
Joanna

Rings!

I've been playing around with right angle weave a lot lately. Cubular right angle weave to be specific. It is SO time consuming but SO worth it. The end result is a solid, structural piece, and the sky is the limit. I have a plethora of projects planned with this stitch in mind. Right now, in fact, I'm working on something very exciting! I can't spill the beans just yet though...I have 2 more in the "set" to finish before I can exhibit them to the world!
In the meantime, please enjoy some lovely cubular rings, inspired by my new favorite stitch!




I'm SURE I'll be making more of these style rings in the future...fun and unique, right up my alley!

Rings n things

Lately I've been all over the place - beadily speaking. I have a plethora of almost finished pieces. Some are waiting for that special component or clasp to come in, and others I have no excuse for, except that I have a severe case of B.A.D.D. - beaders attention deficit disorder. If I am working on a labor intensive piece, I feel the need to take time off from it to do smaller "tweener" projects.

I wanted to do something similar to the Blue Crystal Fantasy ring I did awhile back, but in different colors, and with a slightly smaller band. It came out just as I was hoping, and is extremely comfortable for what could be considered a "chunky" ring. It's definitely bold, and the silver lined purple beads are eye-catching.
This one is a bit simpler than the rings I usually make. The band is a single string of beads, as opposed to a woven band, like the ring above. Have no fear, however...this ring was woven with PowerPro, a super strong braided cord. I wove the thread through the band several times before weaving it back into the ring for knotting. After it was finished I gave it a real good tug, too, just to be certain. Solid as a rock.
This dainty ring includes swarovski pearls, galvanized toho seed beads, transparent opal toho beads, and opal pink swarovski crystals.

Both rings will be available for purchase through my Artfire shop, with a full description and sizing information shortly.

Vanilla & Chocolate, Chocolate & Vanilla

This set of bracelets was quite fun to make. When I was weaving them and counting out the beads it was fun to say "2 chocolate, 1 vanilla". Much better than 2A, 1B don't ya think? The beads almost look like wood but they are really size 6 toho glass seed beads. I usually work with much smaller beads, because I love the incredible detail that is possible. However there is something to be said for big beads. They not only give beadwork a great texture, but they work up a lot quicker than than their tiny counterparts.

Sparkly and Spiky

Lately I haven't been interested in delving into any time consuming projects (aside from the ones I already have going, of course). I do love the accomplishment I feel from finishing a complicated piece, but sometimes you just want (close to) instant gratification. Instant gratification for a bead weaver is any project we can accomplish in a weekend...am I right? This past weekend, I stitched up 2 fanciful rings. The first is a circle motif, woven with toho seed beads, czech fire-polished beads, and genuine swarovski crystals.

The second (and admittedly my favorite of the 2) is a vintage inspired square ring with 2 layers. The bottom layer is all cube toho beads, and the above layer is toho rounds, criss crossed over the square to give the ring texture.

Complimentary Contradictions

I had been hoping to get my latest done before midnight on September 5th so I could enter it into the Etsy Bead Weavers challenge "Complimentary Contradictions". You can vote for the challenge on our blog from September 9th through 15th. Don't worry, I'll be reminding you again when voting opens!
I actually finished at 10pm, thinking I had plenty of time to take some pics and get it listed. HA! What was I thinking? I DID get the necklace listed before midnight (11:54 EST to be exact), but I struggled with the photo taking. I even tried again yesterday to get some better photos...different light, going outside, but I can't seem to get the camera to see what *I* see.
Nonetheless, it's finished, it's listed, and it's officially entered in the challenge. I call it "Circle Gets the Square".
I used a bunch of different types of beads for this one. Swarovski glass pearls, delica seed beads, toho seed beads, czech firepolished beads, and swarovski crystals squares and one circle for the clasp. I put a lot of energy into making my hands do what I saw in my head, and I'm quite pleased with the result.

First place winner!!

My bridal necklace "Wedding Bells" won first place in the bead-patterns.com wedding themed beading contest! A BIG thanks to everyone who voted!

To celebrate, I'll be hosting a giveaway of some sort in September. I haven't decided WHAT to give away just yet. Feel free to vote for what YOU would want to win in the poll on the left, and stay tuned for details.