What The Heck?

Wondering what I've been up to?

I've been busy, that's for sure. The #1 thing that is keeping me busy is my garden. There is so much clean up to do. I have what is certainly the biggest cherry tree I've ever seen. So big in fact that none of the cherries can be reached. Even with a ladder, unless of course I call the fire department! The tree is now slated to be cut down and I'm planting a new one. For the amount of mess a cherry tree creates, it's just not worth it when I can't harvest the cherries. First there are the blossoms that cover my lawn, then there are all of the debris from cherries not forming as well as cherries dropping off of the tree before they are ripe. And finally, I have the leaves falling to look forward to in autumn.

The new cherry tree is standing in a pot in my front yard along with a pear tree that is a gift from friends. They are not in the ground yet as I haven't decided where they are going. Soon though...I have to get them planted!

I've been beading like crazy too, working on stock for the Studio Tour of Artists which takes place late August. You may recall seeing some of these posted here earlier. Well, this dozen is the most recently completed project.



Thought you might enjoy a closer view, though the colour isn't great.

Mystery Revealed

The project I was working on is complete and I'm happy to share it here now.

It's my entry into the Etsy BeadWeavers July Challenge - "Here comes the bride...". What bride wouldn't enjoy wearing gold and pearls with her lovely white dress?

Unfortunately, the photographs of this piece just don't do it justice. There is an airiness to it and both the pearls and the gold are beautifully set against the other. The necklace falls just below the collar bone and will draw attention to the bride's face. It's a beautiful combination of necklace and earrings that I'm proud to have created. Both the pearls and the gold plated Delica beads came from Artbeads. When it was almost done I realized that it really deserved a more special clasp and that is what caused the delay in finishing it.





No, these are not the shells of the oyster that produced the pearls in these pieces. They're fresh water pearls.

What's On The Drawing Board?

I don't want to say too much about the project yet, but in the triangle pans (left to right) are opalescent triangles, 24 karat gold plated delicas and freshwater potato pearls. Who doesn't love gold and pearls? It's actually finished but I'm waiting for some gold findings before I reveal it.

I have to say that those 24 karat gold plated delicas are absolutely gorgeous. Everything I hoped they'd be with a depth to the finish that can't be captured any way but with gold. I've been wanting to work with them for a while and all I can say is I've got to have more. I have ideas!

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.

Let It Be - Turquoise

There is no denying that I'm loving the combination of the colours turquoise and copper. Not long ago I posted a necklace that I thought might be mine. When it was finished, I had yet another turquoise stone that I wanted to do something with. This is the "something" that I did. I named it Let It Be for two reasons. It's one of my favourite Beatle songs and also, I was thinking, "if I could have only one necklace - Let It Be Turquoise!" And it's quite an accomplishment for me to be completing things now as summer is here full force with temperatures up to 38C on my deck late afternoon. I just want to be out in the sunshine, working in my garden!



This necklace is available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

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!

Artist's Studio Tour

It's another red sky at night last night and today is a gorgeous warm sunny day!



I'm going to be participating in a local event - The Powell River Studio Tour.

"The Powell River Studio Tour is an annual self-guided tour of artists and artisans on the Upper Sunshine Coast of British Columbia that is free to the public. 2009 marks the 5th year of the Tour and showcases 30 individual artists and artisans plus another 25 represented at the gallery.

On this year’s Tour there are 27 locations from Lund to Lang Bay with each studio providing an example of the diversity and excellence of the art community in the Powell River region. An added bonus is the spectacular natural beauty that can be enjoyed along the way."

It doesn't actually happen until August 22nd and 23rd but I'm already gearing up for it and I'm pretty excited. As my studio is in my home, it means that lots of folks will be coming to my home. It will be a wonderful way to share my jewelry artistry and more of the detail of what goes into it. I'm planning to do some works in progress to document the process of designing and developing a piece.

Fun With Earrings

For quite a while now, I've been intending to play with some earring designs. Much of the designing I do is "on the fly" and this latest earring design was developed that way. I began with beads looped into a circle and just sort of winged it from there by adding a row of beads and evaluating the look and then adding another. The black and silver pair happened first with several false starts...beading and then unbeading. Ultimately, I'm satisfied with the result. So much so that the silver pair is mine. And then, of course, I wanted to work the design in some other colours so I had to put together a bead order. Which turned into two bead orders. And that's how I have "fun with earrings".



The gold pair of earrings is available for sale in my Etsy shop.

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.