The Jewelry Swap -- Update

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  I had my orientation week at school last week, and let me tell you, we had some long days.  I know it's just a taste of what I'm in for this semester, but the days were long.  I finally have some time and wanted to update everyone on the awesome necklace (and bonus earrings -- Thanks Amy!  You rock!) Amy at Spyder Jewels sent me for the jewelry swap. 

In response to the questions I sent, I told her that I'm pretty casual and that I would like a lariat style necklace.  Well, she delivered!  This talented lady created a beautiful necklace and matching earrings for me.

Aren't they gorgeous?!?!?  I can picture them with everything from a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt to a little black dress.  I just love everything about the set.  The colors are perfect.  The style is great... casual, but elegant.  The length is great.  I am just so excited to add the set to my jewelry collection.  It is definitely going to get plenty of wear!

I can't provide too many details about the necklace I created for Davinia until she receives it (it takes a little while to make it around the world).  However, I can share my inspiration for the piece.  Shortly after receiving her answers to my questions, I saw an amazing photo on Beverly Ash Gilbert's blog.  As soon as I saw the photo, I felt compelled to create Davinia's necklace using the colors and style of the picture as my inspiration.  I hope she likes it, and I can't wait to share her answers to my questions and how I converted those answers into a piece of jewelry that I hope she loves!

Here's the inspiration photo from Beverly Ash Gilbert's blog: 

I'll provide more details later... and check back Tuesday for an all new New Tip Tuesday post. If you have trouble with color combinations, I think you'll like this post.

Happy Beading!

Kell

Introducing the Jewelry Swap Participants: Dawn Doucette

For those of you who follow my blog, the name Dawn Doucette is not a new one.  She's been mentioned and featured on my blog a bunch of times before.  However, in this post, I want to give you a chance to know her a little better.  Read on to learn how she got her start, what inspires her, and what she hopes to learn to do in the future.

Beadativity:  What is your name?
Dawn:  Dawn Doucette.

Beadativity:  When did you start designing and creating jewelry?
Dawn:  I've tinkered for years, but I really decided to pursue jewelry making as a business about 2 years ago.

Beadativity:  Why did you begin creating jewelry?
Dawn:  As a kid, I did not come from a creative family - quite the opposite, everything was black & white.  It was my future Mother-in-Law that encouraged me to be creative and as she said, "Surely sweetie, there's something you are really good at.  You just haven't discovered it yet."  Then, she needed a chain for her reading glasses... I beaded one for her and the rest is all history.  All of a sudden wire began calling my name and beads just couldn't resist coming to live at my house! :)

Beadativity:  What is your favorite piece of jewelry you have ever created

Dawn:  Favorite piece of jewelry ever... ohhh, that's so hard. Don't make me choose. It's really a toss-up between two.

First is a necklace I just made for my mom. The crystals and pearls came together with the hand-painted porcelain beads perfectly (and she loves it).

The other would have to be this triple strand purple & turquoise necklace. The colors and textures turned out even more beautiful than I had thought originally! Other than that, anytime I get to create with Swarovski or pearls for wedding jewelry is always special.

Beadativity:  What is your favorite piece of jewelry you have seen?

Dawn:  There's not one specific piece. I've seen so many. I really admire glass artists that create lampwork glass beads. But for complete pieces, I just love the intricate wirework. The swirls and spirals just make me drool.

Beadativity:  What is your favorite jewelry making technique (beadweaving, wire wrapping, stringing, etc…)?

Dawn:  I create using different methods, but my most creative pieces have been wire crocheted. The possibilities are endless!

Beadativity:  Where does your inspiration for your pieces come from?

Dawn:  Oh everywhere! I can see a piece of artwork or a picture and it talks to me. Sometimes nature - flowers, butterflies and places inspire me. Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to be open to it!

Beadativity:  Can my readers buy your jewelry? Where? 

Dawn:  Yes, you can buy on my website: http://www.designsbydawnmarie.com or directly through my artfire store: http://www.artfire.com/users/dawnmd But for routine giggles and inspiration, my blog is a happenin' piece of real estate. http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com

Beadativity:  What do you like to do in your spare time?

Dawn:  I love spending time with family. Golfing, reading and my favorite past time... a good afternoon nap!

Beadativity:  Do you have any pets?

Dawn:  Absolutely - we have two dogs and they truly are our kids. My little princess is Brandi, a Springer Spaniel and my son Cody, is an English Setter. They are best of friends!

Beadativity:  What is your favorite color?

Dawn:  Purple... hands down, always has been since I could say my colors as a little tot.

Beadativity:  What is your favorite color to use in jewelry?

Dawn:  For metal & wire, I'm fascinated with copper. When it comes to choosing beads I love working with purple (of course) and turquoise.

Beadativity:  What is one new technique that you would like to learn?

Dawn:  My bucket list for jewelry making includes just once, I'd love to play with fire. I admire the artists that create lampwork beads and I've always wanted to try it. Someday I'll get to... I just know I will.

Beadativity:  Tell us one interesting fact about yourself.

Dawn:  I love hugs! I hug everyone... it's just me. Sharing a hug always brightens someones day and then they can go forward and share a smile with somebody else!

This is just a peek into a really cool woman.  Check out her blog to get to know her a little better.  When you read her posts, you'll feel like one of her closest friends!  And definitely check out all of her beautiful jewelry.  She's an amazing artist.  Her Mother-in-Law was right that she is great at something (actually, I'm pretty sure she's good at many things) and it's definitely jewelry.

Beachy Keen

My big project this weekend was a beach-themed necklace using some of the sea glass I collected while visiting my family in Maine.  I began by selecting the piece of seaglass I wanted to use from my stash.  I just loved the triangular shape of this piece of sea glass.   

After selecting the piece of sea glass and shells I wanted to include, I had to figure out how to include the seaglass in the necklace.  Since I found the sea glass myself, it didn't have a hole in it and I didn't want to try drilling it myself (I'd rather practice on unimportant pieces of glass before I work on something I'd hate to see break).  I started by trying to create a bezel for the glass, but I ended up making the bezel too small and it looked too heavy.  I really wanted something light and beachy.  I came up with this free-form-weaving net.  I thought it went with the whole beachy theme... like the glass is caught in a fishing net. 

My next challenge was figuring out how to incorporate the shells and really create the feeling of the ocean.  I selected my colors first.  I wanted to work from the dark blue of the deep ocean to the aquas and greens of shallow water and the reef.  I created mixtures of each color and faded them together.  Finally, I sprinkled some shells

throughout the mixture.  I then used a freeform beading technique to create a really substantial necklace to balance the size of the pendant.  I wasn't sure how the necklace would turn out, but in the end, it is my favorite piece I have created to date.  I think it really invokes a feeling of the beach.  It's really organic with all shapes and sizes of beads.  I accomplished what I wanted to even though I didn't know exactly where I was going when I started.  Everything came from the one piece of glass I found.

Happy Beading! 

Kell

Who's Up For a Jewelry Swap?

In April, I posted about a jewelry swap I did with my friend Dawn of Designs By Dawn Marie.  Well, I thought it might be fun to plan a bigger jewelry swap with more people.  Here's what I'm thinking...

I'll take names for the jewelry swap for one week.  If you're interested in participating, leave a comment on this post and I'll include you.  Feel free to send the information to any other jewelry artists you think might be interested.  All they need to do to be included is comment on this post.  You can also blog about this or provide information about it via other social media outlets if you think others would like to hear about it.  The more people who are involved, the better this event will be!

After taking names for a week, each person will be assigned one other person (you will not be paired up, so the person you are creating for will be different than the person who is creating for you).  You should send a series of questions to the person you are assigned (you can ask questions about jewelry -- what color do you like, what style do you like, etc... or you can ask questions to learn about your person's personality -- what do you like to do, what's your favorite book, etc...).  Based on the answers to your questions, you should design a custom piece for the person.  I think it will be really interesting to find out how others see us and what kind of jewelry they create based on questions they ask.

Each designer will have two weeks to create the custom piece and send it to the person he/she is assigned.  To make sure everyone receives an "equal" piece, we should set some limits for how much to spend in materials.  If you're interested in participating, please let me know how much you think is a good amount to spend/invest.

Have fun with this!  Be creative, and try to come up with something new and great for the swap.  Hopefully we'll all leave this event with a few new friends in the business and a whole lot of inspiration.

Under The Sea Bracelet

In my June Post, Pretty Pretty Beads, I gave you a sneak peek at some of the charms and glass beads I received from Artbeads.com.  I left you with the promise that I would show you what I created with the gorgeous beads.  Well, since some of the beads are charms, I knew I was going to make a charm bracelet of some sort... but, I didn't want to make a traditional bracelet with charms hanging from chain.  I wanted to make something really cool and funky. 

Since the charms were sea-themed, I decided to combine them with the amazing glass beads that shimmer and change color just like the ocean.  I created cages for the glass beads and used wire wrapping to suspend them in their cages.  Then, I alternated charms with the glass beads, also attached using wire wrapping.  This charm bracelet came out how I imagined it.  It was inspired by some of my SCUBA diving trips, and everything from the colors to the charms remind me of my trips!

I'm pretty happy with the way the bracelet turned out.  Next time, I will try using a smaller gauge wire so the structure of the bracelet is sturdier.  I'll also make the bracelet slightly shorter since it's a little big for my wrist.  Other than that, it came out the way I imagined it.  I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!

FTC Disclosure: The items in this post were provided to me free of charge from Artbeads.com for review or design purposes as part of the Bead Blogger program. I am providing an honest review of the products for which I am receiving no compensation.

June...

Wow, the entire month of June has gone by without a blog post.  In my own defense, I have a good reason.  I've been in the process of moving from Guam to Florida.  The move began at the end of April when we shipped the majority of our belongings and hasn't ended yet... although we are almost done moving.  We spent the month of May sleeping on a air bed, with only a few belongings and spent the month of June in six different hotels and the homes of two family members.  We still have only the belongings we were allowed to fly with (2 suitcases and 2 carry-ons each) and the boxes of stuff we mailed to family members.  However, at the end of the week we will close on our house, and should have our shipments delivered in the next couple of weeks.

Now that I'm done with the excuses, I can go on to the beady happenings in my life.  During our journey, we spent some time visiting our families in Maine and New York.  While in Maine, we spent some time on a small island with a great beach.  Since the beach is only accessible by boat, it is relatively undisturbed.  While combing the beach with my husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and puppy we found a bunch of buoys and LOTS of beautiful sea glass.  I can't wait to start designing with it!!!  Here are some pictures of the glass we found:

My entire stash:

Bottle pieces:

The whites:

The browns:

The blues, greens, and one purple piece:

Check back later for how I use these beautiful finds in custom jewelry pieces!!!

Thank you Mr. Postman!!!

I love getting mail... I mean I really, really love getting mail.  It's even better when the mail I receive is large amounts of beads!  Well, this week I received a couple of shipments of beads... I just haven't had time to photograph them and post the pictures.  Enjoy the pictures of my bead loot!

These first two beads are focals I purchased.  I have a project in mind for the red one (I've already started the woven beaded rope for the glass focal and will post pictures when it is finished).  I don't have anything specific in mind for the fish, but I just couldn't help myself when I saw it.  It represents the summer and SCUBA diving to me... both of which I love.  I can't wait for the perfect project to use it in.

These mother of pearl beads are just so cute.  I love the yellow flowers -- they are just sunny and happy.  I plan to make some earrings with them and maybe some charm type bracelets.  The purple triangles are just a cool shape.  I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I know it will be really cool when I figure it out.  The brown rectangles are such a luscious color that I just had to have them.

These drop beads are really fun!  They are mother of pearl in resin.  I think they will make really cool chunky drop earrings, and maybe a fun bright focal for a necklace.  I can picture the earrings (they include wire wrapping fun), but I'm still working on the design for the necklace.  I'm thinking of something chunky and VERY colorful.  Check back to see my progress on both projects.

All of the beads in this picture are glass crackle beads.  I was introduced to crackle beads for the first time on a trip to China, and I fell in love with them.  I bought a strand of small multi-colored beads while there, but have been keeping my eye out for larger crackle beads.  When these beads went on sale, I bought all the bright spring/summer colors they had in stock.  The beads with spacers in them are drop beads which can be used to make just about anything (fun earrings, multiple strand necklaces, charm type bracelets... and many more ideas).  The other beads are bamboo shaped.  I just thought they were really fun.  I don't know how I will use them, but I don't have many long thin beads, so I indulged myself.

My next indulgence was stones.  I have some small round stone beads, but I don't have anything chunky.  I have a couple of ideas that include wire wrapping that require me to have larger stones, so I picked up a bunch of different types of stones.  I bought some turqoise, just because it's so popular right now, and it's such an awesome color.  I picked up two shapes of redline marble, some jasper, and another type of marble.  I can't wait to work with it.  I don't work with stones too much, so it will be a great divergence from my normal style.

I was definitely in a spring mindset when I was selecting beads.  I found all types of flower spacer beads that will add some fun and whimsy to my work.  I'm thinking of using the lucite flowers in a ring.  I can also picture them being included in a cool multi-strand necklace and maybe even some earrings.  You'll just have to wait and see what I come up with!

These drop beads are blueberry quartz.  In the picture, they had a lot more blue in them.  The specific set I received only has a couple of beads with a significant amount of blue.  I still think they are really cool.  I just wish they had a little more color.  I don't have a specific project in mind, but will know when it's time to use them.

These spacer beads were too pretty to pass up.  They just scream elegance to me.  I'm not sure whether I should work with the elegance and make a really pretty/dressy piece (maybe using pearls and swarovski crystals) or if I should juxtapose them with some thing really industrial and funky.  I guess only time and my mood will tell.  I can see both ideas clearly and am attracted to both.  Hmmm... what to do, what to do?

With so many necklace and bracelet ideas floating around in my head, I had to pick up some findings worthy of the jewelry pieces I have in mind.  I usually work with really simple magnetic clasps, but I wanted to use clasps that could be displayed in the front of the jewelry pieces... and all of these were on sale, so I picked them up!  Again, spring is the main theme.

Last but not least is a bit of bling.  I selected some beautiful Swarovski crystals from Artbeads.com.  They came in early in the week, but I didn't take pictures of them until Friday evening.  I am in love with the red and yellow drop bead.  I can't wait to design something to display it.  The smaller beads are going to be used in earrings.  The round bead will be combined with some other beads and wire wrapping to create a really cool focal.  I think I'm going to need to add more hours to the day in order to work on all the projects I have in mind.

FTC Disclosure: The Swarovski beads in the last picture of this post were provided to me free of charge from Artbeads.com for review or design purposes as part of the Bead Blogger program. I am providing an honest review of the products for which I am receiving no compensation.

Beading Organization Project

I subscribe to a couple of different jewelry making magazines, and I purchase additional magazines when they inspire me.   I also turn to the internet whenever I need to learn a new technique.  The result is a huge pile of loose papers and magazines.  I hate to throw any away because I might want to refer to them at some point.  However, my upcoming move has made me think about how much I need to keep and what I can get rid of.  I decided to go through all the magazines and find the projects I want to keep and organize them into binders.  The added benefit is that it will be easier to find projects when I need them.  It isn't an easy undertaking, but I'm excited to have all my wonderful resources organized in a way that will make them even more useable (not to mention, it will be nice to go through all the projects again to see what I have)!  Right now, the biggest hurdle is that I already shipped my three-hole punch, so I am left to organize all my papers with my manual one-hole punch.  That makes the process a little slower... but it will still happen!

Thanks for reading... and happy beading!

Kell

Pretty Pretty Beads

beadsI just put in a couple of order with Artbeads.com... and I can't wait for the beads to arrive.  Check out the pretty pretty beads I have coming:

These charms are so cute. I can't wait to make a funky charm bracelet with them!!!

I just couldn't help myself when I saw these glass beads.  They remind me of the ocean... maybe some of the sea charms will find their way into a bracelet with these:

What girl doesn't love some sparkle?  I just love the colors in these Swarovski Crystals!

Check back to see my design ideas and how I incorporate these beautiful beads.  I'll post pictures of the finished jewelry pieces as soon as I receive the beads and am able to create the jewelry!

FTC Disclosure:  The items in this post were provided to me free of charge from Artbeads.com for review or design purposes as part of the Bead Blogger program.  I am providing an honest review of the products for which I am receiving no compensation.