La primavera - Spring

I was so excited when Artbeads contacted me as part of the blogging program and told me that this time the theme was “Spring” as spring is my favourite time and I could chose anything from their incredibly large selection of products that reflected my own individual interpretation of Spring for their ‘The Beauty of Spring’ theme.

So I chose the following: Light green Swarovski pearls in 4 different sizes and Swarovski XILION Gold-Plated Setting with 2-Holes in Light Amethyst and this is what I made adding some Japanese gold and gilt-line opal lilac seed beads and a few light amethyst Swarovski crystals.

This is what I made!

La Primavera – Necklace

Luckily, I have a new flatmate! :-) I say luckily because I was able to model the necklace on her neck… as this necklace looks so much better on the neck than off! so thank you Jai Lynn for lending me your neck! :-)

I’ve been super-busy beading up a storm this last week and have since made a complimentary bracelet to this necklace, another necklace and 2 more bracelets… need to stop beading and start taking pictures so that I can show you! :-) hopefully in the next few days and soon after that I will post them!

In the meantime… happy beading everyone and I hope your are all enjoying the spring!!! :-) and don’t forget to check out www.artbeads.com

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

Disclosure: I am a reviewer of Artbeads.com products and a participant of its blogging program. I received all the 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.

Ode to Miriam

A few weeks ago, during the Passover holiday, I did something I don’t usually do…. I ventured out of my flat…. with my son and a box of beads… took the train and travelled down south to visit my dear friend Miriam of Cielo Design! My son was so excited to go on the train…. I was so excited to go and bead with Miriam!!!! :-)

Miriam met us at the train station near her village and drove us back to her house. As soon as we got there, Ethan went off with her son ( who he had not met before) and I proceeded to follow Miriam around her bead world! Once I was able to pick my jaw up off the floor… I cannot put into words how absolutely incredible her beadwork is!!!…. she handed me a bead mat and we sat opposite each other at her dining table where we began to bead!!!! Miriam was working on her Bead Dreams entry (and it is absolutely spectacular) and whilst beading she taught me a couple of techniques I had seen her use that I absolutely LOVE!!!

Here is the first piece I made using one of those techniques, a flat spiral weave chain which complemented one of my beadembroidered centrepieces perfectly!!!… and of course I had to appropriately title it:

Ode to Miriam

This is such a beautiful and elegant chain and so quick and easy to stitch!!! Thank you so much Miriam for teaching it to me!!!

Sadly I was only there for 4 hours, although it felt like 20 minutes! I had so much fun, Ethan had so much fun! Miriam had to go to work, and we had to get home :-( As soon as we can manage it again I will have to take another trip down south!

Here is one of my favourite pieces Miriam made using that technique:

Celestial Ocean Necklace by Cielo Design

Visit her shop and her blog to see some truly STUNNING beadwork!!!!

Nicole’s Brooch Kit

I cannot believe it is almost a month since my last blog post!!! shameful!!! and I apologize but I’ve been so uninspired (and tired) lately…. I started lots of projects but was neither inspired nor did I have the energy to finish any of them… until yesterday!

Yesterday I received a package in the mail from Nicole Campanella of Beadwright!!!! I was so excited !!!! I love receiving packages, especially when they contain beads!!! :-)

So I went to my favourite place to bead… my bed… I opened it and was pleasantly surprised to find one of Nicole’s beading kits inside!

I’ve never had a beading kit before and I never made a brooch before so I was super-excited to try it out and quickly opened it and laid it all out on my bed!

Inside was everything you need to create a gorgeous bead-embroidered dichroic brooch: Instructions, a beautiful dichroic cabochon (see photo below) , my favourite beadbacking (which Nicole makes), leather, beads, thread, wax and even a needle! All I had to provide was the glue, a pair of scissors and a few hours of my time :-)

So I set off to make the brooch! The instructions were clear, concise and easy to follow, there were plenty of beads (even some left over in case I decide to make something to match). Everything was clearly labelled so that when the instructions required to use one of the materials I knew exactly what to use!

I had so much fun making this!!!! and it couldn’t have come at a better time, in terms of me feeling uninspired and because I’ve been wrecking my brains trying to figure out what to give my mother for her upcoming birthday… and this is just perfect!!!

Picking up needle and beads again jump started me into finishing 2 of the many project I’ve had on the go and had no inclination to finish!!! So come back in a few days and check them out! In the meantime, here are Nicole’s links:

Kits: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Beadwright?section_id=5100236
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Beadwright
Website: http://www.nicolecampanella.com
Blog: http://www.beadwright.blogspot.com
Nicole’s Beadbacking :
http://www.nicolecampanella.com/MYWEDSTIE/Bead_Backing.html

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

Disclosure: I was asked to try out and review Nicole Campanella’s bead kit and I received the kit free of charge. This post reflects my honest opinion and Nicole Campanella is not compensating me for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.