Full circle

My first experience with beads was around the age of 8 or 9 when my babysitter taught me how to make a loom out of a shoe box and how to bead on that loom. I remember making bracelets with names on them… I even used to sell them on the beach…. then, I’m not sure why or how, those beads were forgotten and only 30 years later did I pick them up again, but this time off loom.

I guess I wanted to relive my childhood… so I bought myself a loom!!!! a gorgeous wooden one!!!!!! from BeadLooms.com

I bought the biggest I could find… eventually I would love to make some beaded bags…

Let me just tell you I was so pleasantly surprised by the quality and construction of this loom!!! and by the super-professional dealings of this company!!! The loom is simply perfect!!! I love everything about it but specifically the shelf which holds all my beads underneath and allows me to move my project around my flat without any inconvenience!!! LOVE it!!!!

So, what could I have been doing since I got my loom??? beading on it of course!!!

My nephew is a guitar player… and he will be turning 18 in November, so I decide to make him a guitar strap for his birthday…. Ok, so maybe I should have started with a smaller project… like a bracelet, perhaps! :-)

here is my first attempt using Delica:

Really hated working with the Delica beads!!! I don’t mind using them when I’m off-loom beadweaving but on the loom I found it slow and painful to weave them + I wasn’t getting that rock & roll feeling… so I scrapped this one and started on a new one… using Japanese and Czech seed beads…. much better and quicker!!!

and this is what I got up to:

I’m so pleased with how this is turning out!!!! since taking these photos, yesterday, I’ve actually done some more and have finished the length of the loom… didn't know how to wrap the threads in order to make it longer, so I’ve decided to make 3 pieces and somehow connect them together once I sew them on the guitar strap… wish me luck!!! :-)

So, one part down… 2 more to go!!! :-) If anyone out there in beadyland has any suggestions for making guitar straps in 3 parts, I would really appreciate hearing them!!! :-)

For now all other projects are on hold till I exhaust my excitement with this new bead toy!!! :-)

I will post more of my process as I go along… till then… happy beading!!! :-)

Sea urchins + JL - Necklace

I’ve been nursing a stinking cold! Unbelievable!!! 30 degrees centigrade outside (and inside, come to think of it, as I try not to use the air conditioner too often) and I’m as sick as a dog!!! :-)

The only thing that could have possibly cheered me up was the arrival of notification that a package was waiting for me at the post office… so I quickly went to see what could be waiting for me! :-)

It was a package from Janice Abarbanel of Naftali!

Remember my post at the end of May about a new necklace I created with Naftali’s gorgeous polymer clay cabochons for her stand at the Bead and Button Show…. well Janice sent it back to me after the show was over… but that is not all…. she enclosed inside the package one of her  gorgeous…… and I mean GORGEOUS… Sea Urchin Cabochon!!!!!!!!! How exiting is that?!?!?! I’ve been ogling at these beautiful cabs since she posted them in her shop!!!! and now I’m the lucky owner of one of them!!!!! thank you sooooo much Janice!!!!!

I was too eager to post about this, but as it’s the end of the day here I was unable to take photos of my urchin (a gorgeous silver-grey one, similar to the one in the top left picture) so instead I will show you some of the Sea Urchins she has available in her shop!

 

Click on the photos above to be taken to the listings and to see more details - These are only some of them! there are more in red, green, lilac and other colours.

and… as the necklace has now returned, I have listed it in my shop:

JL – OOAK Necklace

 
As soon as I get past this stinking cold I will start to create something with my gorgeous sea urchin!!! don’t know what… but something for sure!!! :-)

happy beading everyone!!! :-)

Summer Breeze

The theme for Artbeads blogging program this time is “Summertime”! yeah!!! I love summer!!!!

I was informed that I could choose anything from their incredibly large selection of products from the following categories: Charms, Pendants and Glass Beads.

So I chose the following:
2 14 mm Bermuda blue Swarovski Crystal Cosmic Rings
1 20mm Swarovski Cosmic Ring Crystal Bermuda Blue
3 24mm Faceted Teardrop Pendant Crystal (1 in Bermuda Blue and 2 in Crystal Volcano)
and my favourites at the moment, some Swarovski pearls in cream.

OK, so not the most original of choices… the pearls, well, I just love them… and at the moment I seem to want to only create pieces using Swarovski pearls! and the crystal cosmic rings, although I’ve seen them used quite a bit, I never saw them used within beadembroidery and I really wanted to try them out as well as wanting to try out this Bermuda Blue colour, what better colour to portray the summer!!!! at least for me as I relate summer to swimming, the sea and fun holiday time. I chose the cream pearls to go with the Bermuda blue because I LOVE the off-white/turquoise-blue combination for summer, in fashion, in jewellery and even in home decorating!

So this is what I made:

Summer Breeze – Necklace

Originally, I was going to use the teardrop pendant as a pendant and not beadembroider around it, but the hole at the top of the pedant kept on cutting my fireline and after 3 tries I gave up and decided to treat it as a cabochon. So be aware, although gorgeous, the teardrop pendant is not very good for beadweaving and would probably suit wirework or the use of a metal bail much better, or as I did beadembroidery.

The necklace was beadwoven using hundreds and hundreds (over 700) Swarovski crystal pearls.

I still had the 2 smaller cosmic rings to create something with and I really wanted to make a pair of matching earrings, and here they are:

Summer Breeze – Earrings

All I have left now is the 2 volcano pendants which I will turn into a pair of earring to match a necklace I’m currently working on… stay tuned! :-)

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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.