Makin' Stuff

 

I guess you could call this my month of August round up.

 

 



Rainbow button set

Harvest magnet set

Purple impression Jasper cuff

Sunset cuff

Tray of goodies

Here are some of the beaded buttons & magnets I plan to give as gifts this year.

I also made some rings out of some of the smaller ones.

Autumn Cuff

I made this cuff bracelet for my mom for Christmas this year.

We had one of the most beautiful and mild autumns this year. Very little wind and rain meant the changing leaves stayed on the trees longer. I couldn't not be inspired by them.

These also happen to be some of my mom's favorite colors, so I know it's going to a good home.

I'm trying to make most of my Christmas gifts this year. So far it's going pretty well and I hope to be able to post a few more things I've made in the next couple of days.

Well it's been a long cold wet May here in the great Pacific Northwest, perfect weather for sitting inside and beading. With my trusty DVD player and a thermos of hot tea I've been keeping myself busy and making a mess at my table.



For the most part I've been making buttons, to either turn into pin or magnets. I like to keep a few on hand for last minuet gifts, but after all the birthdays this month and last I found my stock was running a little low. So I've challenged myself to make enough to fill this tray with, 50 to be exact.

  Here is a shot of one of my favorites, orange & green is such a springy color combo. If you want to see them all so far you can go to my Flickr page.

Gold and Teal Cuff

I had such a good time making the first cuff, I went ahead and made another.

This time I chose teal and gold for my color palette, I love how the warmth of gold is tempered by the coolness of teal. I also used some of my gold charlottes for a some sparkle.



Moon Light Cuff

I can't tell you how long I've wanted to make a beaded cuff. After coming across the bracelet blanks I must have bought years ago, I figured, why not?  

 I wanted to work with a simple color palette, so I went with silver, grey and black.

This was so much fun to make and it really didn't take that long to make. Now I can't wait to wear it!

Some would call it noodling

So this started out as a simple ruffle, but I just kept thinking "What would happen if I just kept going?".

Well this is what happened. I don't know what I would ever do with this, but it does make for a pretty sweet bead sculpture.

It's actually kind of cool. You can fold it and twist it into different shapes.

And it looks pretty from all sorts of angles.

I also got inspired to whip up a pair of snazzy earrings for my self.

 

Moving Update & I Get To Bead!

Well, It's done.

Or at least I'm calling it done.



The shelves are almost full.



The bead table is ready to go.



One of the benefits of moving, aside from having my own space, was going through my collection of beads and supplies. As I reacquainted myself with my stuff, discovering beads I bought more than 15 years ago, all I wanted to do was stop and make something. I hadn't felt like playing around for awhile and I had a hard time keeping myself focused on moving in.

Officially these earrings are the first thing I made.



Earrings for Spring.



Lately I've become kind of obsessed with the colors of peacock feathers. Usually, I would make a button when I felt inspired by a color combination, but I didn't feel like messing around with fabric. I hadn't done peyote stitch in a really long time and I love that is just needle, thread and beads. So simple and easy to get started.

These are some ruffles I made. I think they would make great embellishment for bead embroidery or a bracelet. 



Experimenting with flat round peyote stitch.



 After awhile, I started thinking about the Czech beads I have and how I have always wanted to try freeform peyote. Why didn't anyone tell me how much fun this is? I don't have a clue what I'm making or what I'm doing. I just know I having a good time.



My first attempt at freeform peyote.



I'm having fun not knowing what I'm doing.



Trying to incorporate the Czech glass has been the most challenging.



Done and Gone

I spent a lot of time thinking about traveling while beading my February page. In the last few years I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to some wonderful places on this planet, and now I find myself days away from leaving again.

I used copper and red for this months page. I don't use a lot of red generally and I wanted to try this color combination out, as a sort of sampler for another piece I have in mind. Technique wise this piece is pretty simple but I'm still pleased with how this turned out overall. 

Well that's it for now. Time to put down the beading needle and put on my walking shoes.

Bead Journal for January

 When so much is brown, grey and dark out side I felt drawn to the splashiest color combo I could think of. Orange and hot pink seemed to fit the bill. I found myself looking forward to coming home and working with these colors. It seemed to fill some sort of color deficiency in me.

I dug out some sequins I've had for far too long and never used.

I haven't decided how I want to finish these. Do I turn them into individual pieces or wait until I have finished all twelve and put them all together? Oh well, I guess I have a year to figure that out.

This is a gift for my good friend Connie in Tulsa. She is a fellow Gemini and a true kindred spirit. Unfortunately I don't get to see her as often as I would like, being so far away and all.

I used size 11 seed beads and some beige pearls that have a nice luster, the cab is a ceramic piece I picked up at The Bead & Button Show last year. After all the bright colors I've been using it was nice to work with a more subtle color pallet.

The chain is spiral rope chain with my first peyote stitch toggle clasp. This chain is great to use for so many reasons. It's very strong for one thing, your needle passes through the center so many times that even if there is a break some were the whole thing won't fall apart. But even with all the thread running through it, it still feels light and supple. Stronger than it appears is a good way to describe it.

In other news, "The Hand" has officially been handed over to Jen. We talked a little about what to do with it, but I'm leaving it up to Jen to work her magic for the most part. I'm sure we'll see what wonderful thing she comes up with in the near future

Eight is Enough

Well, for now at least, these are my last buttons. After making these for awhile I've started to wish they didn't end so soon. So I'm taking that as a sign that it's time to start a large project.

But in the mean time here are some pictures of the rest of the buttons. A fine little collection if I do say so myself.

Now at least I have some last minute gifts if I need them. Just cut the shanks out and glue a magnet or a pin back on and voila! instant gift.

Here we have the copper and purple button. I am really happy with how this one turned out. The matte copper, apollo gold and matte crystal picasso beads are all SuperNova Hybrids from Starman Inc. I have had these beads since last fall but haven't had a chance to use them until now. I thought the purple and copper was a lovely combination.

The blue and yellow button was my attempt at a pattern. It came out of a doodle I drew and I just wanted to see how it would look in beads. I also love blue and yellow together. This button uses Czech and Japanese seed beads.

The orange and blue button turned out petty good. I sometimes forget what colors orange looks good with, and I end up not using it at all. But when I do use it I really like it. This button uses Czech and Japanese seed beads

So that's all for now. Not much else going on around here. Just waiting for winter to go away and stop snowing every two weeks. Jack is doing good and J.P. is as busy as ever. We have started biking again, it's nice to get out of the house and breath some fresh air, but that's it. Good bye for now, B.

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Button It Up

Lately I have been spending what spare time I have in my bead room. Mostly making button and marathon watching HBO's Rome on DVD (thank you work for the Christmas gift of a portable DVD player). Here are a few pictures of the button collection so far:

So I will admit that this is not my best work, but that's not really the point of making these. For me these buttons are a way of trying out different color combinations and a way to try out and perfect different embroidery techniques. They are also a perfect little respite from larger projects.

This jet & silver one turned out pretty well. The beads used are Japanese seeds with a nice Czech transparent grey rainbow tri-cut for sparkle and a lovely coin pearl.

I love teal and green and purple. When I'm in a rut this is my go to color combination. I'll also admit that this button was a work in progress when I decided to finish it. This button uses all Japanese seeds.

With this pink and grey button I went over board with the beaded ruffle. It turned out a little more messy than I set out to make it. However, I loved playing with pink and grey and I would expect to see a bigger project with this color combination. Again with the Japanese seed beads.

Ah, the red and pink button. There are something I really like about this and others that I considered pulling out and redoing. In truth this button suffers from "too much going on". I wanted to try out too much and as much as I like red and pink together, I have a hard time with it. This button uses Czech glass flowers, Czech seeds and Japanese seeds.

So this is what I've been up to, in fact I already have one more button to photograph and post. But I need to start a wall hanging for someone that I've been putting off for awhile now. I will probably get started on this with in the next week. Latter B.