Monday 15 March 2010

Purple Rain

Some of your may know that I belong to the ArtBeads.com blogging program. A while back I received some gorgeous Cubic Zirconia products from them. I’m ashamed to say (and apologise profusely) that it’s taken me this long to create something with the products they sent me. The reason why is… I chose items that were completely out of my comfort zone, both in terms of material, shape and colour. When choosing, I usually try to pick items that I wouldn’t usually chose for myself… to try something new and different and to challenge myself.

This is what I received… way back in December:

image image image

From left to right:

1. 9x36mm Light Amethyst CZ Faceted Flat Teardrop Pendant
http://www.artbeads.com/cz-lam-td36.html

2. 12x18mm Light Amethyst CZ Faceted Fan Pendant
http://www.artbeads.com/cz-lam-fn18.html

3. 20x30mm CZ Faceted Oval Drop - Light Amethyst
http://www.artbeads.com/cz-lam-ov30.html

The Teardrop Pendants were a no brainer! They would make perfect earrings!!! And I knew I would use the Oval Drop as a centrepiece for a necklace…. but the Fan Pendant…. that left me really baffled! The shape was quite bulky and a bit awkward… for some reason I was expecting it to be a bit flatter… so rather than dwell on what I didn’t know how to use, I started beadweaving around the Oval Drop. I wanted to show the beauty and transparency of the Cubic Zirconia by bezalelling around it and had this image in my head of creating something very graphic and modern…. but when i finished… I wasn’t so happy with the results, so I put it aside and went on to other thing… finally last week I decided it was time once again to revisit the started piece… well I really hated it, so I unpicked it and decided to treat the pendant as though it was a cabochon (yes, back to my comfort zone!). That was the best decision I made!!! and I was able to realize what I had envisioned… but best of all I even found use for the Fan-shaped pendant that had been the cause of my creative block! :-) and this is what I made:

Purple Rain – OOAK Necklace

Purple Rain - Necklace 02 copy
I beadembroidered around the pendant with some beautiful silver-lined AB purple Japanese seed beads that I bought a really long time ago, but had no idea what to do with them, and my favourite beads, Swarovski pearls in dark purple. Once the centrepiece was finished, I had no doubt that using the pearls in lots of different sizes in a Right Angle Weave would work perfectly with it!!! Isn’t it great when you finally get it together using materials you had no idea what to do with! I love how this piece turned out!!! It’s pretty, it’s elegant, it’s perfect!!! :-)

The earrings were easy once the necklace was finished:

Purple Rain – Earrings

Purple Rain - earrings 01 copy

I mentioned in my last post that I was working on a bracelet to match… well I’ve been sick all week and just didn’t feel like beading… or doing anything else for that matter… so the bracelet is still a work in progress… hopefully I will finish it over the weekend… in the meantime go and check out all the wonderful Cubic Zirconia products that ArtBeads have on offer – they come in so many lovely colours and they are really nice to work with!
http://www.artbeads.com/cubic-zirconia-jewelry-beads.html

Now I’m going back to bed to nurse this stinking cold!!!

Wishing everyone happy beading!!! :-)

**************************************************************

Disclosure: I am a reviewer of Artbeads.com products and a participant of its blogging program. I received all Cubic Zirconia components free of charge. This post reflects my honest opinion and Artbeads.com is not compensating me for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

Thursday 11 March 2010

Fly me to the Moon

Remember I started to fuse glass in my microwave? Well, here are two more cabochons that I (successfully) made and used within my own beadwork! I’m so proud of myself!!! :-)

The first piece I made into a cuff:

Fly Me to the Moon – OOAK Cuff

Fly me to the moon - ooak cuff 01 copy

Fly me to the moon - ooak cuff 03 copy

The second I made into a necklace to match the cuff:

Fly Me to the Moon – OOAK Necklace

Fly me to the moon - ooak necklace 01 copy


Fly me to the moon - ooak necklace 03 copy

and whilst I was in a matching mood I made some earrings too! :-)

Fly Me to the Moon – Earrings

Fly me to the moon - ooak earrings 02 copy
I rarely make matching pieces, but these HAD to be made. I’m so please with how each one has turned out and love them as a set but also individually!

I got some more glass a while ago, must get my glass fusing kit out and make some more!!!! I really do get so much enjoyment out of beading around cabochons that I made myself from scratch! It just adds to the beading mania!!! :-)

I have actually made another set, well… I’m halfway through making the bracelet, the necklace and earrings are finished, but I wanted to show them all together… so you’ll have to wait till next week…. What I can tell you is, they are purple and GORGEOUS! :-) so stay tuned!

Monday 8 March 2010

1001 Nights – EBWC Challenge

The March theme for the EtsyBeadWeavers’ Challenge is Fairy Tales. My entry for this challenge was inspired by a favourite childhood book of collections of fairy tales titled 1001 Nights – also known as Arabian Nights. This book captivated me with its beautiful and exotic stories of faraway lands and its gorgeous illustrations of bejewelled princesses and treasures. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor where some of the stories in this book. This beautiful sparkly necklace was inspired by both those stories and those beautiful illustrations and was created with loads and loads of gorgeous Swarovski crystals and Czech firepolished multicuts glass beads.

1001 Nights – Necklace

1001 nights necklace 03 copy 1001 nights necklace 02 copy
Please visit the EBW blog between the 9th and 15th March and vote for your favourite piece!!! http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

**************************************************************

Also, for those who follow me through their e-mail subscription, please note that this will be the last mailing sent out. If you wish to continue following me you can do so by following me on one of these platforms:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TrizDesigns
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/TrizDesigns
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trizdesigns/

and of course by joining my Followers list on my blog (mid-right hand column) and/or subscribing to the post (bottom right hand column). I apologise for any inconvenience – happy beading everyone!!! :-)