Fresh from the desk: Push to Pageant Weekend!

Hot Springs is a small town, but for some reason or another, the Miss South Dakota Pageant has been held here for decades (if not since the beginning... having some trouble finding the dates for that, but it's not terribly relevant for my purposes).  Having grown up here, left, and moved back, I can't quite figure out why something so big would stay here, but it's a huge deal for this little town.  There's a whole weekend's worth of events structured around the pageant.

The event that's of most interest to me at this point is the annual Arts & Crafts Festival held in Centennial Park.  It's a wonderful display of art, handicrafts, local businesses, local musicians, all of that.  Someday I hope to be able to afford a table there (as well as the 3 days the event runs... I'd have to miss a day of work for that now), but this year it isn't in the cards.  I'd need to sell everything I have to break even, so it's not an option.  What I will do, however, is set up my table on Saturday morning on my usual corner at the White Elephant and hope to catch some of the parade traffic there.  It may or may not work, we'll see.

Partly because of this and partly because of my decision to build my inventory and post more listings online, I'm beading like mad this week.  Tonight I made two memory wire necklaces, a pair of earrings to match a necklace I made yesterday, and reworked the green necklace I made a couple of weeks ago.

This one has a yellow carved bone pendant and two similarly yellow carved soapstone beads.   I employed my trusty color wheel to come up with the purple glass beads, and luckily I had a large amount of varying shades and finishes that were the first package of beads I ever bought.  I thought it was time to try to use them up.  That's a bit of a theme for me lately... I have lots of partially-used packages of beads that really just need to be worked with.  I'm not a huge fan of using straight-across complementary colors on the color wheel... they tend to be a little too jarring for me, but after I worked with this combination a little it started to grow on me.  I may try it more, if I have the right beads for it.  We'll see what the public thinks this weekend.  This is also the first memory wire necklace that I've beaded the whole way around.  It really is a bit of an experimental piece, but what else to do with such a stunning pendant?

This one is more typical of my style.  I have a package of dainty large leaf pendants, so I chose one of the smaller ones and added a symmetrical arrangement of shell and wood beads in greens, browns, and white, natural greenery tones to complement the leaf itself and lend their different textures.  I love this piece, and it went together in about 10 minutes flat, so we'll see what the public thinks of this one also.  Personally, it's one of my new favorites.

After making the green necklace a few weeks ago, I immediately started second-guessing myself.  I took it to the Saturday show right after and I wore it for a little while, and my suspicions were confirmed.  It was too long, it didn't lay right, and the daisy chain stitch just didn't work with the heavy soapstone centerpiece.  Tonight I cut it apart and put the soapstone where it belongs, on a piece of hemp surrounded by shiny glass beads, unfinished wood beads, jade-green pony beads, and pale green soapstone.  It's long enough to be about 18", but I prefer to tie it tighter.  The center bead just lays better when it's closer to a choker length.  This is a much better use of it.

Yesterday I made this necklace.  One of these weeks I'll take the time to get some good photos.  Maybe after Saturday.

It's simple, purple and white, 16" daisy chain with a faceted purple glass pendant and two small white shell beads on each side.  It's sparkly, just sparkly enough to be a little dressy but not overly formal.  Purple may be my new favorite color... it keeps showing up in my new clothes, new beads, new designs... I'm okay with that.

Luckily for me, there were smaller matching purple beads available, so I got them at the same time with the goal of making matching earrings.   It's still a daisy chain, still the same white shells around the purple pendant, but in earring form they almost look like a helix, don't they?  I like it.  Lots.  Again, we'll see how this set does this weekend.

Tomorrow I need to make more bracelets and anklets like this one just because they're fun (and to use up leftover beads).  No two will be exactly the same of course, but I should try to do matching bracelets and anklets just in case.  Hooray for progress!  It was a good night!

Fresh from the desk: Beaded bookmarks

I'd like to be up and about, but since I sat down it's required that I hold a cat.  I've been gone a lot, so I may as well indulge him and write while I sit, right?

These are actually an older project that Mom and I worked on while she was making ornament covers and we had leftover lampwork or Millefiori beads to use up.  They're quick and easy to make and because of the beads I have left over from various projects, each one is unique.  They're listed for sale at Etsy now as well, and I can certainly work with any color requests.  They vary in length from 10"-14" long and most of them are on a dyed strip of leather, but some are on a string of lightweight white hemp.  I just clamped a loop tip to each end, attached a few links of chain, chose a large bead for the focal point, then added other smaller complementary beads.  I think they're adorable and they sold pretty well at my latest Saturday show.  I have one that I use for my books and Mom used to use one before she got her Kindle.  For these, I tried not to use fancy beads or my natural stones since I wanted to keep the cost down.  I wanted them to be cute little impulse buys, and it's slowly starting to work that way.  Occasionally I'll find a package of lampwork beads on clearance that I just can't resist, and inevitably a few of them end up on bookmarks.

Occasionally I'll decide on a theme for one.  For example, the one on the far left in the picture is slightly patriotic, with red, white, blue, and silver stars.  It's possible to make these without a focal point bead, but what's the fun in that?  Lampwork and Millefiori beads are way too much fun to ignore!  Actually, I should work with them more.  That's an idea!

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: Everyday layering necklaces

Do you like them?  My boyfriend's mom wanted one like this, in all silver (like the one on the far left) and after doing that and getting set up for the day at The White Elephant tomorrow, I thought these would be a cute way to boost my impulse buys as well as use up some beads that were sitting around.

From the left, since the colors are a little weird on my phone camera, they are: Silver/silver, white/pink, white/gold, brown/gold, white/blue, purple/pink, green/ble, pink/green, pink/red, teal/matte white, matte blue-ish/yellow.

I'll end up wearing one tomorrow to demonstrate and I think the matte blue-ish/yellow one is my favorite, but what do you think?  Those bugle beads are a wonderful color, they're a little iridescent blue/purple but the matte finish gives them a very unique look that I thought would be nicely offset by the pale pearly yellow of the seed beads. 

The silver/silver, brown/gold (which is also the colors for University of Wyoming where I got my undergrad...didn't realize that until halfway through hehe), and white/gold are meant to be neutrals, with the white/pink, pink/green, and blue/yellow a step above that, with the green/blue, purple/pink, and teal/white being more showy.  They're 15 inches long with a 2 inch extender chain and spring clasp, made quickly using surplus beads so I can offer them at $10 each (or less, if someone wants more than one) without hurting at all.  How would you wear them?  Would you do wear one at a time or a few in complementary colors?  What other color combinations would you want?  Maybe I'll wear three to show the possibilities.  Hmmm.  I should go make sure all my display stuff is packed and signs are correct, need to get to bed so I can get up bright and early!

*Edit 5/11/11* These are now available on Etsy for $10 each!

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.

Fresh from the desk: Wooden flower necklace

This design is a bit of an experiment. But, really, aren't they all? I came across the large wooden flower in a clearance bin and just had to have it. It came with two matching leaves, which I'll probably make into a pair of matching earrings.

The main issue I had with this was the fact that the flower has no drilled hole like most pendants do, and I wasn't about to try and drill one myself. It's light and fairly thin and I probably could have, but I wanted the challenge of trying to make it work without drilling. I started with a daisy-chain stitch with very pale pink bugle beads with a lovely pearly finish. They're so pale I've had trouble using them before without them ending up looking white. I framed them with opaque bone-white seed beads which helps differentiate the colors a little bit, but subtly. The flower is enough of a statement that it didn't need wilder colors than that. I had some wooden beads on hand I used for the metal-free loop-ball clasp and above the flower on each side. The tassels have copper-colored Swarovski crystal pearls to add one more texture while staying within the color scheme. Noticing a trend with my texture obsession? lol.

The first idea I had for this wasn't quite like it ended up. The package had 2 flowers in it so I may try that later with blues instead and see how it turns out. The flower ended up being more of a stabilizing structural element than it looked at first glance in the package, but really, I'm okay with that. It gave me a chance to work with a different approach to a Y-shape necklace and to make another subtle statement piece. Is that a contradiction in terms? A subtle statement? Maybe not. I see a lot of people wearing large brightly-colored necklace and wonder what they're thinking...some of those things are sooooo ugly. There's nothing wrong with making a statement with some class, right? Right.