Stuff….

First of all… I’m so excited my A Hazy Shade of Winter – OOAK Beaded Wrist Bag won the December Simon & Garfunkel EtsyBeadWeavers' Challenge!!!!!

Thank you to all who voted for this bag!!!! All the entries were amazing and I’m really chuffed I won!!! :-)

My other bag, Arearea – Joyousness is currently in the Bead Art Originals (BAO) Team’s December challenge!

The challenge was to pick a famous work of art and to create something inspired by that piece. Go and check out the BAO team blog, http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-challenge-art-inspiring-bead.html between now and 26th of December, chose your favourite creation and leave your vote by commenting on that post, and enter your chance to win a fabulous prize (TBA)!!!!!

As for me…. I’ve been on another cuff-creating frenzy… so far nine!!!! must stop and take some pictures in the next few days!!!

Till then…. :-) happy beading!!! :-)

Volcanic Collection – 4 New Pieces!

It all started off with me receiving some absolutely stunning cabochons and buttons from MAKUstudio… and that was an accomplishment in itself!!! Every time a new cab was posted on her facebook fan page, I would click on the link and…. it would be already sold!!!! Am not surprised because her pieces are so yummy… anyway, so I managed to put an order in and received them about a week later… and got out the few I had bought from her a while ago…. and all I could think when looking at these gorgeous pieces was…. fire… earth… lava… volcano… ancient… tribal… primitive…. so I gathered my beads (another accomplishment as they are spread all over my flat) and started to bead my first piece which is designed for the Bead Art Originals “No Bones About It” September Challenge. We are supposed to design a piece inspired by the TV character Temperance Brennan from the series "Bones."

The character, Temperance Brennan, is a forensic anthropologist who works together with the FBI to solve murders. She is often seen wearing gorgeous tribal and ethnic jewellery and I love this series!!!! :-)

Her jewellery style and her profession inspired me to design this gorgeous primitive/tribal-influenced piece featuring two of MAKUstudio’s gorgeous cabochons (actually the top one is a button that I used as a cab).

Volcano Goddess – OOAK Necklace

Then as soon as I finished this, I got loads of ideas for making more pieces with MAKU’s raku ceramic cabs…. first came the cuff:

Volcanic Rock – OOAK Cuff

then another necklace…

Volcanic Rock – OOAK Necklace

(both the necklaces and the cuff above use all MAKUstudio raku ceramics)

and then of course the earrings…

Volcanic Rock – Earrings

and I wanted to make more… but I run out of dark copper beads and almost the black ones too!!! (more ordered and on their way!)

So I put this collection aside… and started a new one! Still have to work on the photos and decide on a name…. but I’ll tell you this, the colour combination for it is coral red, black, ivory and gold… and it is GORGEOUS!!!! and I made THREE necklaces and THREE bracelets!!! I’m in a total beading frenzy!!!! and…. just now as I was typing, the doorbell rang…. the postman is here with my order of copper and black beads!!!! The only problem is, I actually run out of Fireline… my dad, who is coming to Israel on Tuesday is bringing me loads…. so I guess no beading till then :-) and just as well as I have loads of work to do for my ‘real’ job! :-)

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead! :-)

The Next Generation + BAO Item of the Week

I spent the last 2 months together with Ethan! We’ve had a ball!!! We spent most of our time at my parent’s pool which overlooks the sea… it’s a hard life! ;-)

Ethan has mastered his front crawl… and I’m so proud of him!!! I love swimming and the fact that we can now swim together, rather than me following around the pool having mini heart attacks every time he goes underwater, has been an incredible pleasure!!!

He started showing an interest in photography… another of my hobbies…. so I gave him my old digital camera and he takes it with him everywhere!!! The pool, walking the dogs, the supermarket…. everywhere!!!

Then one day… out of the blue… after I received my loom in the mail… he said: “mummy I want to learn how to bead too! I want to make bracelets and then you can sell them on the intranet (internet ;-D) for me and give me the money so I can buy lots of toys!” :-) my heart melted… the next day we went out looking for a kiddie bead loom… it took me a few days to find it… but we eventually did!

here he is, hard at work making his first bracelet which will be a birthday present for his cousin Shani who just turned 4! :-)

How precious is that!!!!! I couldn’t be prouder!!!! :-)

As for me… I’m busy making the next EBW Challenge “Bollywood”….

and last, but not least… here is my BAO Item of the Week:

Cleopatra – Necklace

Purchase and pay for this necklace between now and the 26th August and receive 5% off + free worldwide shipping!

Visit the BAO blog to see all the specials our talented member are offering this week: http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!!! :-)

Revisiting Old Friends

If you knew me really well…. you would know that I consider a little trinket hanging over a piece of string or leather, my most prized possession!!! Apart from when I get dressed up and actually go out…. which is so (soooooo) rare lately, I love wearing really simple jewellery…. the same sort of jewellery I wore when I was 16!!! :-) OK… so I’m immature and refuse to grow up + I’m a rebel at heart! :-)

About 2 years ago, I made this pendant which was so perfect for me! So I decided to keep it!!! If you have been following my blog you may have seen it… and in case you are new or have simply forgotten here are my posts from 2 years ago:
http://triz-beadingmania.blogspot.com/2008/07/not-sure-where-this-is-going.html
http://triz-beadingmania.blogspot.com/2008/07/keeping-it.html

One of my favourite pieces of jewellery I own!!!

I wear this all the time…. and I mean all the time! I go swimming with it (something I would definitely not advise anyone to do, especially with beadwoven jewellery), shopping with it, walk the dogs in it… basically anytime I want to wear something turquoise and I don’t want to ruin some of my other prised possessions… I wear it! :-)
Whilst wearing it…. during the last 2 years… I’ve been complemented on it… by people who usually wouldn’t even look at jewellery… but in the last month, people actually asked me to make them some… so of course I obliged :-) I made a smaller version for a lovely lady I met at my gyno!!! :-) and 2 more for a mother and daughter who come to Israel on holiday every year and we became friends last year at the pool…. so I thought… why not make a few more of these to sell in my Etsy shop… and I did! :-)

Zebra Jasper Donut - Pendant

Turquoise Mosaic donut - Pendant

Larvikite Donut - Pendant

I really enjoy making these!!! so as soon as I can find some more donuts that I’m happy with (I’m really, REALLY fussy) I will probably make more!!! :-)

I know these are very simple… but I love their simplicity and design…. having said that, come back tomorrow and check out a gorgeous, GORGEOUS new bead embroidered piece I made for this month’s Bead Art Original colour challenge!!! the challenge is: Black, dark green, copper and bronze (optional). I’m debating whether I should part with it… that’s how much I LOVE it!!!

A Novel idea – 1st BAO challenge

Voting has started at the BAO blog!!! Comment on the challenge post on the BAO blog between now and the 22nd June and enter your chance to win a fabulous prize!!!

Vote for your favourite! 

http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/2010/06/bao-challenge-novel-idea.html

Birthday parties and Red Poppies…

I’ve been so busy with the preparations for my son’s 6th birthday!!! Although his actual birthday is not till the 2nd July, due to the summer holidays we had his school party two weeks ago and his big party this past Friday… Who would have thought preparing for a 6 year old party would consume so much of my time!!! OK, so I did go overboard with the cakes…. and I did burn the first 3 I made!!! but all in all they turned our great!!!

This was his cake at school:

He shared both birthday parties with his good friend and neighbour who chose to have the main party at a horse riding ranch! what a brilliant idea that turned out to be!!! The kids had so much fun and it was so nice to have a kid’s birthday party that was different to the usual, and all kids got to ride on the horses!!! Even my brave little Ethan (who was really scared to begin with) absolutely loved it!!!

This is my favourite picture of the day – he looked so cute with his riding hat on!!!

and for this party he wanted me to make him an igloo cake with penguins… and I obliged:

I loved making the igloo and the cake itself turned out delicious!!!! and didn’t melt even in the 36 degrees heat wave we had, which I was really worried about!!!

I am so glad the whole thing is over though… it was a lot of work, worry, preparations, etc. … On his actual birthday I’m planning to take him to the pool for a nice relaxing day and then dinner with my sister and her kids….

And in between all this I also had to deal with my real job, which almost made me miss the deadline to enter the first BAO challenge “A Novel Idea”, but I managed to get it together and here is my entry:

Red Poppy – OOAK Bracelet

This is the first time the BAO are putting on a challenge so I really wanted to make sure I entered!

Voting will take place on the BAO blog between the 15th – 22nd June, so go during that week to check out the entries and vote for your favourite! http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com

Polymer Art of Naftali

About 3 weeks ago I was contacted by one of my favourite polymer clay bead artist and a fellow member of Bead Art Originals (BAO), who asked me whether I would I be interested in creating a piece using some of her cabochons to be displayed at her booth for the Bead & Button Show… would I??? of course I would!!!! Janice Abarbanel of Naftali is one of my all time favourite bead artists!!! I’m the proud owner of two of her pieces which I wear often (see 2 photos below, back and front of one of the beads I own) and a few cabochons which I’m yet to do anything with…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I was extremely honoured to be asked!!!! Her work is incredible!!! and last week I received my little package with the following cabochons:

Please note, the pictures do not do justice to these beautiful cabs! Although I was sent photos of a few cabs to chose from, and chose these two… once I opened the package and saw them in real life I was amazed by their beauty and richness!!! I specifically chose these because even though I love this colour combination, yellow and grey, yellow is a colour that I tend to avoid using… not sure why… but I like challenging myself, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do so!

I started rummaging my bead stash for complimentary beads so that I could start working on these… I found the perfect seed beads, dark metallic grey, that I had purchased a while back without having any notions of what I would do with them… and they are a perfect match for the cabs… plus I found some yellow beads, bought because I wanted to get over my fear of using yellow and never used them… and started working on the first cab:

I do have to get on with these as the show starts on the 6th June, and I have to send them to the US before that date!!! I hope to finish it by Monday the latest so I can ship them (express) by Tuesday or Wednesday at the very latest!!! Guess what I’ll be doing all weekend? :-)

Please take the time to go and check out Janice's websites, you will not be disappointed!!! and, if unlike me, you are lucky enough to be attending the Bead & Button Show, go and check out her booth and hopefully see this finished piece in real life, as well as Janice's amazing polymer art beads!

Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Naftali
Website: http://janiceabarbanel.com/
Blog: http://janiceabarbanel.blogspot.com/

Here are some of my favourite pieces from her Etsy Shop:

I’ll be posting more pictures of my progress with these gorgeous cabochons as I go along, so come back and check out how it will develop!

Happy beading everyone! :-)

a few of my favourites….

I know I promised to show you the other fused glass pieces… but the pictures came out really dreadful… and the light hasn’t been good enough to take more… so instead I’m going to show some of my favourites beadwork pieces that I found lately created by some of the bao and ebw team members.

Celestial Ocean Necklace by Cielo Designs

Scotties on Houndstooth Peyote Cuff by SandFibers

Cat Prints on a Lime Green Quilt by Time2cre8

Chocolate Truffle – Beaded Pendant and Necklace by TotallyTwisted

The Barn Owl by SedonaSky

Atoc Maned Wolf Wall Art by Hokaiye

I could go on forever!!! so much amazing talent in both the ebw and bao!!!! these are just a handful… make sure you click on the links and check these amazing beadwork artists out!!!

As for me… I will retake the photos and will post them as soon as possible…. in the mean time, check out my BAO item of the week:

Flower Power – OOAK Cuff

Purchase and pay for this cuff between now and the 25th February and receive 10% off (refunded via paypal)

Life amongst other things…

It’s been a few weeks since I wrote anything, and I’m sorry… Sometimes there are just not enough hours in a day… other times there is just not enough energy left in me :-)

I haven’t been sleeping too well… most mornings, I’m up at the  ridiculous hour of 2 or 3 am!!! I remember the days when that wasn’t even close to my bed time… in fact it was probably the time I would start considering heading home… long gone are those days… and now my sleep times have reversed!

The good thing about being up so early is witnessing the most beautiful skies… just before the sun comes up… and here is a picture I took last week from my balcony at some un-Godly hour! :-)

 

Pretty dramatic! So I guess that’s my consolation prize for being up half the night! :-)

I’m also attempting, yet again, to stop smoking… I’ve cut down from 30/day to 3/day and I’m hoping that by the end of the week I will have managed to stop completely (again!) :-) I’m really trying…  but i have to say that the insomnia is not helping the cause…

So you would think that with all this lack of sleep I would be up all night beading… wouldn’t you?…. well no… not really… I try and utilize that time catching up on my forever-growing list of e-mails that need to be answered… however, some beading has taken place… I’m working on 3 pieces at the moment… one I’m stuck… one I’m trying to work out the right necklace for…. and one I have to find the right clasp in order to finish it off…  Here is a preview of the last one:

Almost finished, but not quite! :-)

Also, here are this week’s BAO Items:

My item this week is:

Venus in Green Bracelet – OOAK

Purchase and pay for this item between now and 14th January and receive 15% off!

Visit the BAO Blog to see all the specials attached to these gorgeous items: http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/

And one last thing…. I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy new year!!!! :-)

Princess Tia + BAO Items of the Week

Almost a week has gone by since my last post… I had a crazy work week (real job) and completely forgot to post the second necklace I made… where did the time go? … where is my head??? :-) so, apologies, and here it is:

Princess Tia – Necklace

The centrepiece for this necklace, believe it or not, came about from a mistake… well I was super happy to have made this mistake, as it led to this creation! :-) I was trying to make the neckpiece for the previously posted necklace Cleopatra by beadweaving a band in graduated herringbone stitch, but it just didn’t work… and as I hate wasting, I started playing around with the “mistake” and got the idea to use it as a centrepiece by adding to it this gorgeous triangle Swarovski crystal I bought not long ago… sometimes mistakes pay off! :-)

Sadly, since this was made I’ve had absolutely no time for any beadwork… as I said above, it’s been a crazy work week… hopefully things will quiet down in the next week or so and I can go back to beading!!! :-)

For now, let me show you this week’s BAO Items:

My item this week is:

Emerald Queen Necklace

Purchase and pay for this necklace between now and 31st December and receive 15% off + free shipping!

To see all the beautiful BAO Items of the Week visit:  
http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/

Wishing all of you hay holidays!! I hope you are all enjoying yourselves with your loved ones!!!

BAO Items of the Week

OK… so I have 2 gorgeous necklaces ready to make their appearance into the cyber world…. but no sunlight!!! so I can’t take photos…… hopefully another few days of this miserable grey weather (reminds me of living in London) and then I will take photos!

What I can show you is this week’s items from the BAO

My item this week is:

Angelina Jolie Bracelet – OOAK

Purchase and pay for this bracelet between now and 24th December and receive 10% off + free shipping!

Also, a reminder… Worldwide free shipping throughout my shop until the end of this month!!!

Don’t forget to check out the BAO blog and find out what specials offers are attached to this week’s items!

http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/

Wishing everyone a superb weekend!!! :-)

BAO Item of the Week

Here are this week’s BAO Items of the Week! Visit the BAO blog to see what specials are attached to these items until 17th December:

My item this week is:

Turquoise Galaxy Necklace

Purchase and pay for this necklace between now and 17th December, and receive 10% off + Free shipping!!!

Wishing everyone a happy Hanukah!!!! Hag sameach!!!!