Tribal Dance… gone wrong!

This post is not what I was expecting to write today…. in fact, completely the opposite.  I was going to write all about my new soutache necklace and how it took me two and a half weeks to make it… how the design developed… how I felt as though I was giving birth throughout the process… and the excitement of having given birth to this piece… and how happy I was with how it turned out.

Well this morning as the sun came out I took photos of my new piece… worked on them… and was just about to write a description for my listing… when I noticed some of the turquoise beads peeling!?!?  At first I thought it was a bit of fluff… so i tried to wipe them gently with my fingers…. and then the realization that two and a half weeks of intensive labour had just gone down the toilet!!!! Upset???? that would be the understatement of the year!!!! I’m literally fuming!!!!  I guess my only comfort is that they peeled before it was sold and shipped… I would have been mortified to have sold a piece and found out that the colour of the beads had peeled off after the customer had received it!!!

So here is the necklace (prior peeling):

 

I was so, SO pleased with it…. and here is a close up of the part that started to peel (see turquoise rectangular beads, bottom 2 have peeled to white):

I guess what I will do is peel off the rest of the turquoise beads, so that they are all white and keep this piece for myself :-)  at least I’ll get to use the necklace… and it will look great on me this summer :-)  as for those pesky turquoise beads…. the dustbin seems like an appropriate place for them!!!!

as for me…. I’m calling it a day and am going to hide under my duvet!!!

Soutache Fever

I’ve been infected!!! Yes, I also have caught the soutache embroidery bug!!!

After years of not knowing what to do with the soutache braid that laid unused in one of my many boxes containing bits and pieces that I may, or may not use one day… I finally broke down and bought a soutache tutorial! :-)

First of all, let me start by saying that I probably would never have even thought of trying this technique had it not been for my dear friend Miriam Shimon who not only inspired me with her stunning soutache work but also encouraged me and shared some of her secrets with me.  If you are not familiar with her work, please visit her shop, you will not be disappointed!!!  

Here is one of my favourite souache pieces that Miriam designed:

So armed with inspiration and all her support and encouragement I bought a beautifully explained tutorial by Jodi Horgan, who also makes superb soutache work:

and as I’m unable to follow instructions (in terms of design, not technique) this is what I made from the tutorial… my first soutache pendant:

It’s not perfect…. but I love it and it’s the perfect winter pendant for me and I’ve been wearing it non-stop! :-)

As I said… I caught the bug… so I started making more pieces… these are my first (well made) earrings:



Can’t wait to make some more pieces!!!! so stay tuned!

Indian Summer

It’s November… not that you could tell by looking at the weather we are having here… the temperature has dropped slightly… about 3-5 degrees… it’s so unbelievably hot still!!! but at least the nights are cooler than they were in the summer… and thankfully it isn’t as humid!!! 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m NOT complaining… I love the summer, and am not too crazy about the winter… but it would be nice if the temperature would drop a little bit… I don’t know, down to maybe 20-22 degrees.

The thought of Autumn but the reality of what we actually have makes me think of Indian summers and inspired me to create this necklace and matching cuff.

Indian Summer OOAK Necklace

What I’m most proud of in this piece is the beaded caps and closure.  I love wearing leather necklaces but don’t really like how they are usually finished, so I tried to improve on the finish by creating beaded end caps, I think they smarten up the whole look and I’m really pleased how they turned out!

Indian Summer OOAK Cuff







I really love how this cuff turned out! I love using the metallic silver leather!!! and I love the edging, it came out so pretty and the cuff looks amazing on!!!

More silver leather cuffs to follow as soon as I get around to working on the photos!
Till then… happy beading!

Peacocks… my version :-)

It’s 4.23 am… and I’ve been up for over an hour!!!  I wouldn’t mind, as I usually wake up around 4 am every day…. check my e-mails, facebook, etc…. and I’m usually out the door by 6.15 am for my run with the dogs… but tonight I’m teaching and have no idea how I’ll be able to stay awake and sound coherent! :-) I hope I can mange a nap at some point during the day… so I thought… I’m up… I have a blog to post… so here I am! :-)

In the last post I mentioned I had loads more pieces to show you and here are some!

These pieces were inspired by the colours of peacock feathers (or at least the way I see them in my head) :-) The peacock colours are represented in my choice of the Swarovski crystals I used.

Peacock OOAK Necklace

 Peacock OOAK Asymmetrical Cuff

Peacock OOAK Earrings

Yesterday, as I waited for my son to finish his swimming training (2 hours), I had the bright idea to take all my almost finished pieces with me, and instead of going for a run or reading a book (which is what I usually do when I’m there), I managed to finish 4 pieces!!!! Hopefully today, weather permitting, I’ll be taking photos and hopefully should be posting them around the weekend… so stay tuned! :-)

Till then… have a great one!

Belt Buckles

I’ve been very quiet… and absent… just finding it difficult to be a fulltime single mum and manage the rest of my life at the same time… I think it was easier when my son was little and had naps during the day but he’s 8 now and between homework, taking him to his extracurricular activities, dealing with the mountains of washing and dishes… and lets not forget simply loving him and being with him… there comes a point when I just can’t do more… so this year I guess I reached that point and although I may not have been terribly active on my blog it doesn’t mean that I have not been beading!!! :-)

During the summer I managed to make quite a few pieces and I have finally gotten around to taking  photos… and here are two of my newest pieces!!!

I’ve been meaning to make belt buckles for the longest time…. for two reasons, first, I love them and wanted to make some for me to wear with jeans and second, because they are fun quick projects to make and best of all I can use all my left over beads and don’t need to worry about quantities… I have a lot of leftover beads… so expect some more belt buckles in the future!!!

So here are my first two belt buckles:

Southwestern Belt Buckle Bead Embroidered in Silver, Black, Turquoise, Coral and Ivory

    

Large Boho Belt Buckle Bead Embroidered in Brown, Turquoise, Orange and Ivory on Brown Leather

    

There are loads more pictures of new jewellery to post (and loads I still have to take)… Hopefully after the weekend I’ll be able to put some more up.

Wishing all a fantastic weekend ahead!!!

Fiery Warrior

Where to begin… seems like…. feels like… I'm being pulled 1002 ways… don’t know why!!!! I stopped smoking almost 5 months ago…. and I somehow feel like I’ve lost my mind and replaced it with 10 kg!!!!  shocking!!! but I digress… again… which is why I can’t seem to get anything done lately… my mind is just everywhere!!!…  did I tell you I just turned 45!!!!!!!! 45??????? almost as shocking as the extra 10 kilos I put on since I stopped smoking!!!! so before I change the subject… again… here is what I manage to finish and photograph… these are the pieces where I tried to combine my newfound metalwork skills with my less new beadwork skills :-)

 

Fiery Warrior – OOAK Necklace

 

 

Fiery Warrior – OOAK Leather Cuff

 

  
The photos really don’t do these pieces justice…. but after 3 previous failed attempts due to massive sand storms which blocked out the sun for about a week (on and off)… this is the best I could do….

 

I sawed and textured the copper myself…. I’m soooo proud!!! :-)

 

If you want to read more about materials used and see more photos, click on the titles or pictures….

 

Ok… if I can keep my head straight for the next few days I should be able to work on the photos of my new metal pieces and then I’ll hopefully post them here ASAP!!!

 

In the meantime… let me know what you think of this metalwork/beadwork combo… happy beading!!! :-)

Metalwork and Diamond & Pearls Ribbed Bracelet

Lately…. I want to spend less and less time on the computer (hence my sporadic blogging) and more and more time in my studio… I’ve become addicted to metalwork!!! and LOVE spending the day in my studio sawing, soldering and filing!!! who would have thought?!?!?

I showed you my first pieces in my last post… but I’m happy to see improvement since then! :-)

Here is one of my favourites I made that I’m keeping for myself and LOVE to death!!!!

I’m so proud of this piece and wear it almost every day!!! :-)

So I started making loads of pendants… some didn’t come out so well but went to good use anyway… some have found new homes… and some are waiting to be photographed….

Here are some that aren’t quite right… the bezel was too high for the stone… I now worked out the right sizes :-)

These didn’t go to waste, I wear the left one and my friend the right one :-)

  

This is a piece that went to my lovely neighbour Ella who looks after my doggies when I go away overnight :-)

I really love how these pendants are turning out… I love filing them into shape… and love how the sharp metal turns into soft curves… I’m really enjoying this medium… a big step away from beadwork but I have actually made two pieces incorporating both metal sheet and beadwork… unfortunately my camera’s batteries died just as I was about to take the photos this morning… so will have to take them tomorrow… and post them at a later time :-)  I’m really happy with how these turned out so make sure you come back and check them out in a few days….

I’ve done very little beadwork this year… partly because I felt uninspired and partly because my metalwork is occupying most of my time…. but I did make this bracelet a few months ago… I just forgot to post it :-)

Diamond & Pearl – Ribbed Bracelet

 

This bracelet is bead-woven into a rib texture.  Made with over 350 Swarovski pearls, the bracelet was designed around a gorgeous gold-plated clasp that I got from The Beadsmith and the bracelet ended up in one of their adverts!!!!

Hopefully, I’ll take more photos tomorrow and then show you some more pieces… till then… happy beading! :-)

Silence….

A long time… a long time indeed… since I last posted… what can I say… I’ve been in a really funny mood… winter? life? I don’t know… I just didn’t feel like talking… or writing… I can’t say I was depressed… I just needed to have silence in my life.

Very little beading happened during this quiet time… I couldn’t find myself…. so I occupied my mind (and my creative craving) by redoing my son’s bedroom… painted it, bought some new furniture… (a desk, a cupboard, some cool wall stickers)… updated it and reorganized it to fit his age…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m really proud of myself because I managed to do everything on a really tight budget!!! The paint was about 300 NIS (c. $80), I found the cupboard on sale for 400 NIS (c. $108), the desk, also on sale for 200 NIS (c. $54), of course I had to build them, which I did all by myself!!! :-) The rest of the furniture I already had, I just reorganized it and gave away a ton of toys that he had grown out of… bought some wall stickers, that he chose himself …  and voila’ :-) I’m so glad he finally has a proper cupboard to keep all his clothes in and places for most of his toys… plus, most importantly, a desk!!!! to do his homework on, draw, do whatever he wants (instead of on my dining room table) :-) I wanted to paint the old wooden furniture white, but Ethan didn’t want me to… so I left it…

My lovely (and talented) cousin Bettina made him this gorgeous ceramic Mezuza cover for his new room and even made me 2 more for my bedroom and my workroom. Aren’t they gorgeous!!!

So once the room was done you would think I would get some beading done, right? well… no! still waiting for my muse to return from her extended hiatus!!!! So…. I started doing some origami… and started checking out things one could do with origami… came across this amazing artist (who happens to be in Israel too) Ilan Garibi…. you have to check out his amazing origami lamps!!!!

Design by Ofir Zucker and Albi Serfaty in collaboration Ilan Garibi.

Photo by Albi Serfaty.

Then after a bit of origami…. some crochet!!! :-) I started making a blanket for Ethan's new room… some angry bird hats… anything to avoid the frustration of sitting in front of my beads and having nothing to say…. my beads are silent….

Then, the other day, a friend came round to show me how to start on my metalwork… I’ve had the equipment for almost a year and all I made was a pair of earrings which I posted a while back:

I simply had this fear of the torch and the unknown… so my friend Penny came over and kindly spent the morning showing me how she makes her lovely hammered copper bangles – see below her lovely work and check out her etsy shop - PenelopeStern!!!

            

And here is what I made!!!!

Couldn’t have done it without Penny’s help!!!! I made one with her, then spent the next day making 2 more 1/2 round ones and 2 flat hammered ones! and I LOVE them!!! I’ve been wearing them ever since!!!! :-)

Armed with this new knowledge, and having got rid off some of the fear of using the torch, I thought I would use one of my books and try and make one of the projects, a ring… here is the result… not perfect but not bad for my first attempt and good enough for me to wear! :-)

 

It feels really good to be making again!!!! and I look forward to playing more with my torches… so stay tuned and see what I come up with! :-)