Beauty of Spring Necklace

Artbeads declared February and March as their months of ‘The Beauty of Spring‘ for their blogger community. I was asked to design my jewelry or creation with my own individual interpretation of Spring and here is the necklace I created. Leaves always make me think of spring because that is the time that they appear, signalling that summer is on it's way. I found these gorgeous copper plated ivy leaves by searching "leaves" on Artbeads. They inspired me to design this necklace. I received three leaves and each of them is unique and beautiful for a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry. The other two leaves will be finished as earrings to match the necklace.



The small round copper "beads" in the spiral twist neck piece are actually 3mm copper Swarovski crystal faux pearls. I've been working with their pearls for a year now and I absolutely love them for their beautiful sheen, consistent size and colour. I believe that they give my jewelry a "step up" in elegance.



The necklace also features Opaque-Lustered Turquoise Toho seed beads. They were chosen for their colour and the consistency of size. The central core of the spiral is size 11/0 Triangle Toho beads. I like to work with triangle beads where I will need to pass a thread through many times. They also add interesting texture to the piece. These quality are my favourites to work with.

All of the supplies in this necklace were given to me by Artbeads.com in return for a review of the product.

Back to Beading!!

This is the piece I've been working on for quite a while. The fancy oval was what initially inspired me. I've been stalled for a while because I haven't been happy with the starts for the neckpiece. At least four times I've started and ripped it out. I'm still not sure about the one shown here. Looks like it's still going to be a while in progress.

Sophie's Puppies

A few posts back I mentioned that my little female dog Sophie would be having puppies. They were born on February 26th and here is a photo of them at 10 days old.



The white and black one is a male and weighs in at 9 5/8 oz. The black one with white toes is a female and weighs 8 oz. She started out the tiniest at 3 1/4 oz. The all black is a female and is gaining fastest. She weighs 11 3/8 oz. It's really fun having puppies in the house though my male dog - Willie has been banished by Sophie and isn't allowed anywhere near the room the pups are in.

New Earrings

Worked on these as I watched Canada win the gold medal for hockey and then the closing ceremonies afterwards. (Just don't ask me how many hours!) Goodness knows I'd have been biting my nails during the hockey game if I hadn't been beading!

These beads are called "amethyst" but they look more raspberry to me.


Turquoise and silver always look good to me.


The green of the fire polished beads is very interesting...there is some red in them too. I like the way they look with the metallic AB seed beads.


Not black...hematite. I love the shine of these beads.


All of these earrings are for sale in my Etsy shop.

1,000,000,000 Pillowcase Challenge

If you haven't heard of it, you can find all of the information here. What they say about it is: " A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident."

I spent Wednesday cutting out twenty-five pillowcases for the ladies in my quilting group to sew and when I left them they were sewing them. Today, I decided to make a few myself. I have a huge fabric stash and I'm looking for ways to use up fabric so that I can justify buying more.

Here's a peek at the ones I made. You are looking at the cuff on the ones I made and the smaller strip in the photo is the fabric of the body of the pillowcase. They are well made and all of the edges are finished.



In case you want to participate here's the lowdown on how I cut my pillowcases.

1 - Body of case 27" x WOF ( width of fabric) - approx 44/45"

1 - Cuff of case 12" x WOF

1 - "Zinger" strip 1 1/2" x WOF.

Pin together and sew "zinger" (folded and pressed in half), cuff and body of case (right sides together). Then roll up body of case into cuff folded in half (right sides together) to make a tube. Sew tube. Pull pillowcase out of tube and finish remaining two seams as french seams.

And now, back to beading.

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!

Another NOT Beading Post

Lately, I've been learning to weave. I did not warp the loom for this project. Another weaver generously gave me the warp that was left on the loom when she finished her place mats and table runner which I had been admiring as she wove them.



I have a rather long dining room table. This table runner is 75 inches long.



The white threads in this piece are the weft - the part I did. The coloured threads are the warp. The reason I mention this is to show you that a large part of the work on this piece was done by the other weaver. I did the easy part. My next project begins with me warping the loom myself. (Actually, planning the project was the first step.)



And finally, this is Sophie, my 5 pound shih tzu/poodle cross dog. Sophie will be having puppies around February 28th.

Etsy BeadWeavers' Challenge

This is my entry in the EBW Challenge. The theme this time is "The Ocean" and since I live on the west coast of North America in Beautiful British Columbia, this challenge is a MUST for me. Head over to the EBW Blog and check over all of the amazing entries from so many talented beadweavers. Be sure and vote for your favourite! Voting closes at midnight February 15th.

You can get a better look at my entry (which is available for sale) and find more information about it by going HERE.

I've Been NOT Beading Again!

Several months ago I found this adorable free pattern for baby slippers and bought some wool to knit some. As you can see from the photos below...I couldn't just knit one pair. The biggest challenge was to make two of the slippers "match" and look like a pair while working with yarn that changes colours. The pairs aren't identical but I'm satisfied with how they look. Unfortunately, my youngest grandbaby is 13 - so long past these tiny slippers. A friend suggested that I wait for some great grandbabies but I'm hoping that doesn't happen for at least another five years! Twenty is too young for my oldest granddaughter to start a family!










These booties came from a free pattern that is available on patons.com. (NB: you'll need to be a member to get it)

Blogging for Beads with Artbeads

These three items are the latest I've received from Artbeads in return for blogging a product review.

The pearls are 4-4.5mm Pink Rice pearls and the colour is absolutely gorgeous. It's a lovely pastel/baby pink and they have a very smooth almost satiny finish. As far as them being "rice" pearls, to me, they are almost "potato" pearls as they are fuller and rounder than I expect rice pearls to be. I have plans to use these in a necklace that I think would make a lovely gift for a young lady to wear to her graduation.

The three small sterling silver heart charms are lovely. They are small and dainty and would make a beautiful addition to a charm bracelet, necklace or earrings. I'm very pleased with them and look forward to including them in a piece of jewelry soon.

The sterling hammered 3D heart hook and eye clasp is a bit of a disappointment to me. I'm not happy with how the hook fits into the heart because it will hang asymetrically. I'm going to have to be inventive coming up with a piece of jewelry that I think it will suit. That said, the stamping, shape and size of the clasp are fine.

Any of these three items would be perfect to include in a piece of jewelry suitable for Valentine's Day! I'm thinking...have a heart! What about you?