On A Roll!

It looks like I'm on a roll! I'd done the bezel on the glass pendant some time ago and it's been waiting for inspiration to finish it. A couple of days ago, I finally came up with a design for it and started working away at it. The rope part was pretty simple and straight forward. When I got to the time to work on the branch fringe I prepared to be at it for a while. Since the last branch fringe pendant I did took a whole day, I was expecting this one to take as long or longer. As it turned out, I discovered a technique that made the whole process a lot quicker. And I finished it last night.

Finally Finished Necklace

This necklace was originally mentioned here and I'm very happy to say that it's finally finished. Before today, I had the stone bezeled and had part of the rope done and the finishing touches done today took me all day. I now have a lot more respect for beaders that do a full fringe on their designs. It's very time consuming.





This necklace is available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Still Nothing Beaded to Show

The past several weeks have been hectic and crazy and I just haven't been inclined to sit down and bead. By the time I'm able to sit down, I'm too tired to bead. I've been going to bed by 9:30 every night. Usually, I read for 1/2 to an hour before I turn out the light but I also get up pretty early. As early as 6:30 but as late as 8am.

Today was the local Farmer's Market. As I'm participating in the "50 mile Food Challenge", (where I've committed to trying to eat at least 50% of my food from local producers) I head to the market looking for some fresh produce. Today, I didn't get there until late but I managed to get some gorgeous veggies!

The kale, zuchinni and yellow plum tomatoes came from the market.


Those yellow tomatoes are so delicious! I had to taste one as soon as I got home. The red one came from my son's tomato plant. Another beautiful and delicious tomato!


The prune plums came from the tree in my son's backyard. I'd already eaten the few I'd picked from my tree so they are not pictured here. I'm looking forward to the kale. There were three different kinds in the bunch I bought.


And of course I had to leave you with another beautiful sunset photo. This is the only shot I got of this one as my camera's battery died right after I snapped it.


There are a few beaded pieces brewing in my brain. Maybe I'll start one today.

Back From Vacation

There have been no posts to my bead blog as I was away on a road trip with my granddaughter. Here is a small peek at where we went and what we saw.

Hoodoos in Dinosaur Provincial Park



Back in the Rocky Mountains



Looking out over Osooyos



And finally, home for a beautiful sunset!



And now...back to beading. I'm hoping to have some finished projects to post soon!

Swarovski Crystals

Look at this gorgeous collection of Swarovski that just arrived from Artbeads!



The largest piece is a Fancy Oval. It will be the focal point in the piece I have planned.



The other beads I have are two Triangle Rings, Teardrop Pendants and finally some Faceted Roundelles. Since I'm about to leave on vacation, it will be a while till I get to beading with them but I can hardly wait. With such a beautiful collection of crystals waiting for me, I'm going to look forward to getting home again!

Where Does The Time Go?

it's hard to believe that it's been almost a month since I last posted here. It's been crazy busy in my life. I'm had either friends or family staying with me for the last three weeks. In the same timeframe, I purchased and investment property, coordinated the trades to get it ready for my new tennant for the first of the month. I've also been working like a slave in my garden and I'm really happy with how it's coming along.

I have been doing some beading, but nothing has been completed except for a few of earrings that I managed to squeeze in. Anyway, here is the piece I've been working on. Those are glass pearls I'm using.



The stone is captured in peyote stitch and it's the first time I've had a success at it. Though I did rip out the first version as it didn't fit the stone properly. There are two secrets to success with doing a peyote bezel...first, use a strip of paper and wrap it around the stone to find out the exact length of beads to string to start. I've been using a strip out of my shredder. Secondly, size 15 beads. The bezel needs no decreases when you start with a larger bead and decrease the bead size. I started with #11 Toho seed beads then went down to #11 Delicas and finally down to the #15 Toho seed beads.



The necklace is in progress and it's taking a lot longer than I expected it would. I'll be taking it with me when I leave for holidays on Wednesday. (Another thing to make my life hectic!)

More Gold!

Earlier in my blog, I posted photos of a gold and pearl necklace and earring set made using 24k gold Delica beads. I absolutely fell in love with them and decided to order more so that I could "play" with them a little. This bracelet is the result of the first "experiment". I just felt that the beads themselves were so beautiful that they could stand alone in a simple peyote stitch bracelet. The vintage button was purchased in June and I had no idea how I was going to use it. When I placed it with the gold bracelet, it was a match made in heaven.



Oh...and there is another bracelet brewing in my head now! I just might need more of those beads.

This bracelet is available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

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.

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.