White Freeform Peyote Bracelet

About a week ago, in this post, I showed you the beginning of this bracelet. Sometimes it's a good thing when a project waits to be finished. When I take a break part way through, I'm often inspired to go a different direction than my original idea for the piece. That's what happened with this bracelet. When I went back to it, I knew that I wanted to include the Swarovski pearls and I saw that there were already obvious places on the bracelet that were perfect for those pearls.

Choosing the combination of beads that I'd use to support the pearls was simple because I used a Toho Seed Bead Mix called Winter Frost. Sometimes when I use these mixes, I add several other beads from my collection. This time, all of the beads I used were part of the mix. I especially love the consistent quality of these mixes.



The bracelet is available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Kokopelli Howlite Necklace

This necklace got it's name after I photographed it and the following shot reminded me of Kokopelli. As the deity of agriculture, his flute playing chases away the Winter and brings about Spring. This is very appropriate for the necklace as I've been watching my garden burst into bloom as I worked on it and I'm sure I'm not alone in being ready for winter to be over.





The necklace is available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

A New Batch of Beads

I just received another order of beads from Artbeads.com and I love the way the beads always come wrapped. Makes it feel even more like Christmas every time an order arrives.



And here are the Toho Seed Bead Mixes that are so much fun to play with. I think they are a great way to get a colour coordinated mix of beads when you are relatively new to beading and aren't sure how to mix beads. They are so inspirational when looking through beads and thinking about what to try next and which beads to use.





I also got an order of mainly faceted bicone Swarovski Crystal Beads that you'll start seeing in my jewelry soon. I have a plan....

Works in Progress

Before anything else, I need to mention this gorgeous sunset I managed to get a pic of from my bedroom balcony two nights ago.



I do have a few things in progress. This is a freeform peyote bracelet I'm working on. It's very early stages and I'm using a Taho bead mix. If you haven't played with any of their mixes...check them out. They just happen to be on sale at Artbeads.com this week. But hurry, they are going fast because they are having a Dollar Days Sale. I've already placed my order and will place a second if the money gets to PayPal quick enough!



On this tray, I've got a pair of earrings in Delica's started. I'm also working on a necklace and pendant using some Howlite beads I've had for a while.



And finally if you are interested, I've put some photos of the "greening of my garden" HERE.

Aqua Sparkle Bracelet

Looks like I'm on a roll! I just finished another bracelet and listed it in my Etsy shop. The beads that I used are what inspired me. The aqua beads are Toho size 11's and are silver lined. It's the sparkle that makes me love them. I also used silver lined transparent triangle beads. These are also Tohos and triangles are one of my favourite beads to use. To the finished bracelet, I added an antique silver toggle clasp and an AB Swarovski drop. I think this bracelet would look amazing with a little black dress.

Summer On My Wrist Bracelet

I've just completed and listed this fun and happy bracelet. It's the second time I've made something similiar but it's still quite different. More colours of flowers were added as well as a pressed glass butterfly near the center. Swarovski crystals give it some sparkle.

It's That Time of the Month Again!

Etsy BeadWeavers' April Challenge mosaic is up and you can visit the Blog and vote for your favourite piece. Check them out! There are some amazing pieces there and it's not going to be easy to choose just one!