Fresh from the desk: Abstract in green

Spring is very slow to get started here.  We've only broken 75 degrees a couple of days so far, the vast majority hovering around 60 with rain and wind.  Let me tell you how un-thrilled I am about this.  It's abnormal for this area for it to be so wet and chilly coming up on June, though I guess last year was about like this too.  Not for this long, maybe... it took us until the middle of May last year to get 3 dry days in a row so that my mobile home could be moved up the hill, since it got stuck in the mud the first day we moved it.  We haven't had many more dry days in a row than that so far this spring.  It's wearing on my nerves and patience, being the solar-powered girl I am and considering the number of projects I need to work on outside that I'd like to get done before the heat of the summer hits. 

I didn't start this post to whine!  I'm sorry!  What I meant to say was I have green on the brain.  In more ways than one really, I'm ready for the lush leafy summer we're destined to have after all this moisture and I'm looking for more ways to be self-sufficient and reduce my carbon footprint.  So far, that includes yogurt, which I'm still experimenting with, but that's for another day. 

I found the soapstone centerpiece for this and have been wondering what to do with it.  It's rather thick, mostly a pale green with some flecks of orange/coral, with a symmetrical shape and an asymmetrical carving on both the front and back.  Considering the shape and size of it, I figured the necklace should be around choker length so it would lay the best.  A comfortable slightly long choker length for me is 16", so that's what I went with here.  It lays comfortably just below the hollow of my throat.  Since the hole is drilled lengthways, it's not a pendant really on its own, but it's simple enough that I didn't want to overload it with anything too flashy.  I beaded a simple daisy chain for it, alternating between green foil-lined bugle beads and matte bone white large seed beads, all surrounded by forest green seed beads.  It's a simple piece, but I think the soapstone is showcased the way it should be.

It's time to build up my inventory for my next Saturday show.  This one I'll be doing alone, but that's alright.  More to come!

Fresh from the desk: Playing with hemp

Concert week always wipes me out.  Period.  It might be easier if I didn't have to drive an hour to get to rehearsals and such, but I wouldn't want to stop playing and I'm used to it, but I need to forgive myself for getting nothing else done those weeks.

So, with that said, welcome back!  Yesterday I got started on rebuilding my inventory after the last sale and at the suggestion of a friend I decided to try some hemp with simple macrame knots.  I may try more complicated macrame at some point, but not today.  I wasn't sure what to do with the large green aventurine donut pendant, but a fiber necklace seemed to be just the right approach.  It's a large statement stone, but "felt" more like an informal one.  After reading a bit about the stone and its traditional ties to creativity, stress relief, luck, and healing, my intuition there was confirmed.  It's perfectly at home on a string of hemp between wooden and carved soapstone beads and looks great with a t-shirt.  I attached the donut with a lark's head knot in the center of the two strands and tied an overhand knot between each bead to keep it all secure.  I did the same (minus the lark's head knot) with the little turtle that I found at our Earth Goods store in town.  We've been going to that store more and more lately and I enjoy supporting local businesses the only way I can.  On each side of the turtle is a bone disc bead, silver spacers, and round pink and black leopard jasper beads.  Because of the size of the holes, one hemp strand has to go around each of the jasper and bone beads, but I like the effect.  Both necklaces are about 24" long and can be tied to any length the wearer desires.  Fiber is a great way to expand my metal-free capabilities so I should experiment with it more.  I bet my cousin would like the little turtle...hehe!

I also made an anklet for myself just for fun.  I haven't had an anklet in a while so since I needed to use up a shorter length of hemp I figured I may as well do it for myself.  I normally don't make jewelry for myself; I tend to keep the "duds" and try to sell the good designs so I have very little of my own to wear.  Maybe I should get over that, I might be my own best billboard so maybe I should try.  This isn't a great picture, it's too dark and not staged at all and you can see the beads better in the other picture, but I like it. :)  I used 4 wood beads and 3 soapstone beads, the center one being a dark-ish pink and the sides being a pale green.  They came in the same package so they're carved the same but there's a good amount of color variation between beads so it keeps things interesting. 

I might be able to get one more necklace out of that package of hemp, but I'm not sure what else to do with it.  Most of my other beads that would work on it are too small to fit on it, even if I improvise like I did with the jasper.  I do have another wooden donut I could use.  Maybe I should work on something else for a bit, or maybe take it easy for the rest of the evening.  I'm getting a little sleepy.

According to Niche magazine online, the 2011 color of the year is honeysuckle.  It's not a color I would wear, ever, because it would simply look horrid on me in all kinds of ways, but if I were to try to use it what should I do with it?  What kind of beads should I look for?

*Edit 5/11/11* The aventurine hemp necklace is now available on Etsy for $15!

Fresh from the desk: Soapstone heart necklace

Okay, so this isn't a brand new design, you caught me.  But, it is part of my Spring/Summer 2011 line and it's available on Etsy for $15 so I thought it should get a little plug.  I made it just before the show we went to before Valentine's Day and it got a lot of attention at the booth, but no takers for whatever reason.  It's a soapstone heart on an 18" beaded chain.  It's metal-free like many of my necklace designs so the clasp is a ball-loop closure with a leopard jasper bead in the same color scheme.

I've had the purple and teal seed beads for a while and have wanted desperately to use them, and I am working on a little square-stitch bracelet, but that will take far too long to finish to make it worth selling for what I'd have to charge for it.  I happened across this lovely heart and had to use it somewhere, and luckily when I got it home I realized that those purple beads were exactly the right color.  I used pale pink (almost white) bugle beads and bone-white seed beads as the centerpieces for the daisy-chain stitch.  I brought in the teal beads because it was a little too monochromatic with just the purple/pink/white.

The transition from purple to teal was an experiment really, to see how it looked if I changed every other bead for a couple of "daisies" before changing completely to the other color.  It's a unique look, though I keep going back and forth about whether I really like it or not.  It looks better when worn than laid out, I think.

I'm generally not a fan of hearts in designs.  I can't really explain why, except that there are so many used in so many designs everywhere and my natural instinct is to avoid things that are ordinary, overdone, or cliche.  I don't like words in wall art either, which is getting increasingly prevalent.

Not sure what that had to do with anything, but there it is.  I just hope that this doesn't fall into the "generic heart necklace" category and that someone will take it home and love it the way it deserves.