Gold Bling

These gorgeous gold Swarovski pearls were the inspiration for this necklace. The first piece of the set that was completed was the smaller of the two circles in the pendant. My granddaughter told me that it was too large for earrings so I decided that it would be a pendant. Then I added the larger circle of the pendant.



The Russian spiral rope contains pearly seed beads and is closed with a Swarovski button and loop. The sparkle and flash of the pendant were to be dominant so the rope needed to take a back seat to it.



Finally, the matching earrings were added. When I look at the set, I envision it worn with a full length strapless gown.



Oh and in between working this set, I managed to complete two more pairs of baby booties. They are available for sale in my Etsy Store!

Aqua and Silver Necklace

Another necklace is finished! This one has been sitting on my livingroom coffee table for quite a long time. I started it and when I got about half way through it, I decided that I wanted to include some Swarovski crystals and I kept forgetting to order them. Finally they arrived and have been waiting for me to get back to the necklace. At last, I put my mind to it and got it finished in the last few days, little by little, bit by bit.

The Russian Spiral stitch that I used is one of my favourites to play around with and see how it comes out with all different sorts of seed beads. This one is basically bugle beads (I always have trouble remembering the name of these - "trumpet" kept popping into my head!) and Toho seed beads. I love the sparkle that the silver lined beads create and it's just the thing to go with the crystals. It's for sale in my Etsy shop if you take a fancy to it. You'll also find more details about it, length and such, there. You'll see a couple of other photos of the necklace as well.





If you scroll down a couple of posts here to the batch of earrings I recently posted, there is a pair that would go perfectly with this necklace. It's in the bottom photo of the post, in the bottom left hand corner.

The necklace is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Creating for Friends

These are the last two pieces that I worked on. Both of them are for friends.

This copper and black Russian spiral necklace is for a friend who came to visit me from about 1500 miles away. While she was here, we went into a glass shop and she bought a gorgeous glass pendant in coppery tones. It should look great on this necklace.


This bracelet is made up of odds and ends of keepsakes and favourite earrings and bits and bobs which was mailed to me with the request for a charm type bracelet. This friend lives in the small town I moved from in February and I've asked her to come to pick up the bracelet and visit so that I can size it perfectly to her arm.

Bzzzzz...Not For Sale

This necklace is a gift for a friend. I know she loves the colour yellow and I just couldn't resist pairing it with black. Reminds me of bumble bees.



I delayed finishing it for a while as I couldn't decide whether it would have a beaded toggle or not.



I picture it with a nice crisp yellow shirt, top two buttons undone.

Not Your Granny's Purple

I just completed this necklace and listed it for sale in my Etsy Shop. The name for the necklace kept running through my head as I thought of the poem "When I'm An Old Woman, I Shall Wear Purple". And then I'd think that this necklace isn't that kind of purple!

Quartz Crystal Necklace

One of the design techniques I seem to use often is Serendipity. This necklace is a result of that technique. The quartz stone had been in my collection of quite a while. I knew that I wanted it as a pendant and prepared it for that role by stitching it into a netted bezel. Then it hit the "projects in progress" pile. The rope it is a Russian spiral and was actually an experiment using a mixed bag of pink beads. When I saw the two pieces in close proximity in my heap of partly completed projects I pulled them out and set them aside to be finished and finally got to it today. The result is even better than I imagined!







This necklace is for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Maybe My Necklace

This necklace has been in progress for a while. In the beginning I thought I wanted to put a copper closure on it. I searched around the internet and bought a few pieces of copper but just didn't find one that I felt worked with the two bead colours. Finally a light bulb came on and I made a beaded toggle closure. The last stage of the project was figuring out how I was going to handle that large turquoise stone that I wanted to use. I'm very happy with the final result and I'm thinking I should be keeping it for me.



My granddaughter was here on the weekend and she was admiring the turquoise and topaz rope. I mentioned to her that I was adding the turquoise stone and that turquoise is my birthstone. Then I remembered that she and I are both Sagittarians but that I am December and she is November. And she reminded me that her birthstone is topaz. So the necklace has some symbolic significance for us. I may need to keep it.



As I said, I'm very happy with the final result. I've been saving that gorgeous turquoise stone for a long time. Waiting for the right necklace to pair it with.

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.

Life, the Universe and Everything...

This is the title in the "trilogy" by Douglas Adams known as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe. It's also a good way to describe what's going on with me. I'm moving. From a two bedroom townhouse to a three bedroom house on 1/4 acre lot. Sounds pretty simple but my move entails a 150 mile drive down a two lane highway from the town of 2500 that I'm in (on the ocean - see photos here), to a ferry landing. When I get there, I'll sail across the ocean from Vancouver Island to a somewhat larger community (15,000) on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. The ferry trip takes 1 hour, 35 minutes. Anyway, I'll be scarce online for a few days while I wait for my phone and internet connection to be hooked up.

So these are the last pieces of beadwork I'll be showing for a while. The neck piece on both is Russian Spiral and I made them a while ago. I recently pulled them out of the store they were in, to bring them home and add pendants.

The blue triangle piece below is a version of another two necklaces I'd made previously. Unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph the sparkle of the Swarovski crystal roundells. The piece above is a first try at one way to add a bevel to a stone. I'm pleased with how it turned out and I have more ideas for ways to expand on the design.

Serendipity Necklace

Some time ago, I bought a challenge kit of beads from a store that I shop in, online. From another online store, I'd ordered some short Toho bugles to experiment with. The kit and the bugles have been sitting on my coffee table, AKA bead studio for a while. I'd seen some pictures of Russian Spiral stitch done using long bugles and though it is interesting, I thought I'd like it better with the shorter ones I had. As I worked on the beginning of the necklace, I was thinking about adding some larger beads at the center to create a sort of faux pendant stitched right in. Back to my "bead studio" I went and the kit caught my eye. So began the experiment. The necklace is made up of seed beads in several sizes and colours, bugle beads, Swarovski crystals and fresh water potato pearls. I have to say that I'm really pleased with the result.

It was for sale in my Etsy shop. Now, it's sold.

Two Quick Bracelets

I enjoy doing both the Russian Spiral and the Spiral Rope and often when I need something simple to work on, I make a bracelet using those stitches. Here are the latest couple of results.

There are three different shades of blue in this one, combining with the silver center spine.


Too bad I wasn't able to photograph well, the shine of the silver lined grey toho beads in this one.

Black and Silver Necklace

This necklace and pendant were created while I was away. The last detail for completion had to wait until I got home so this morning I added the Swarovski crystals to the ends of the toggle closure. The necklace is Russian spiral and the pendant has a netting stitch base that was then embellished with rondelles, bugle beads and seed beads all in black and silver. The technique was shown to me by my friend who has completed several bracelets this way.



The pendant can be removed so that the necklace can be worn alone for added versatility.

Odds and Ends

I'm leaving home this week and won't be back for a while so there may be a lapse in posts. I may be able to get a post up somewhere along the way, but I can't be certain.

Anyway, here are two items I finished in the last few days. The bracelet is another Russian Spiral and is a gift for a friend. The earrings are additions to my inventory as I've been selling earrings lately and stock was dwindling.

More Russian Spirals

The first Russian spiral I made went very well. No hitches at all. Then I tried again about six times, each attempt ended with being unbeaded about five times until I gave up and ripped the whole thing out. Finally, I sat down with the book one more time and closely followed the directions. And...found where I'd been making the error. The stitch starts with loading on 2 size 11 beads and one size 8, three times and forming a circle. From that point, the beads are loaded the reverse, one size 8 followed by two size 11s. The mistake I'd been making was loading the order of the base round!

Anyway, having finally gotten it figured out, I made the following two pieces with beads in my stash. The gold one is actually 8's and 10's.



This one is made with size 11 triangles (the silver beads) and size 11 seed beads in three different shades of blue. The colour goes from dark to light and back to dark again. I love how it turned out.



Now if I could just decide on what the pendant will be for them. In the meantime, I think I'll start another spiral. I have to...I just received another new order of beads!!

Pendant For The Russian Spiral

A while ago I purchased some natural beads that are called mother of pearl blister pearls. They are absolutely beautiful and unique and I've been anxious to find ways to use them. It seemed to me that they'd make a stunning addition to the Russian Spiral necklace I made and I'm so pleased with the result. The piece sits high on the chest, more or less right between and just below the collarbone. And the pendant can be removed so that the neck piece can still be worn alone. It's so much fun to create something like this that's more versatile.

Russian Spiral

This necklace is my first foray into the new book I bought. I found the instructions very easy to follow and the stitch itself is fairly simple and straight forward once you get going on it. I did have to unbead it a couple of times but that's no big deal. I really like how it feels. It has a bit of stretch to it and it's very supple and soft. I'm working on a bead order to get myself a stash of different beads to work this stitch. And, there is a pendant in progress to go with it. But there's also a different version of the rope brewing in my head that I may have to work on next. Oh, and there is a freeform peyote bracelet in progress too.



Hockey starts tonight! So I'll be knitting during the game.