EBW September winners

The winner of the EtsyBeadWeavers Indian Summer Challenge is:

Indian Summer Sunset by Lorraine of Trinity Designer Jewellery

Second place is my dear friend Miriam from Cielo Design (who has to listen to me bitch and moan on a daily basis! and for that she deserves a medal!) :-) with her Parvati's Grace Necklace

and 3rd place… yours truly with my Indian Summer Nights

Thank you to all of you who voted for me, I really appreciate it!!!

To see the rest of the runners up + all the gorgeous entries, please visit the EBW blog.

BAO Item of the week

It’s been a GREAT week!!! My son is not only back at school, but he is going to be there (from Sunday) till 4.30 pm everyday!!! Which means my life can go back to normal (last year he was coming home at 1.30 pm everyday)… so not only will I have time to get all my work done (real job) but also have time to create new pieces, start working on some instructions for sale…. and hopefully, if I can get it together, start making some beaded bags…. which is actually why I started beading in the first place!!! I have a terrible bag fetish… the more the merrier! :-) I have all the materials… I just didn’t have the time to sit down and start my first one! :-)

As soon as I catch up with my “real” work… I will buckle down and start working on all the things I’ve been dreaming about for over a year!!!

In the meantime… here are this week’s BAO items, all gorgeous as usual!!!

My item this week is one of my very favourite beadembroidered pieces. Aztec Treasure – this piece was published in the gallery section of Nicole Campanella’s Flatwork book.

Purchase and pay for this OOAK necklace between now and 10th September and receive 20% off!!!

Visit the BAO blog to see all the specials being offered this week - http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/

And last… but not least…. I want to thank all of you who followed me on Twitter and left comments on my previous post. I won!!! and it was a landslide win thanks to all of you!!! The winner of my earrings giveaway will be announced on Sunday, so make sure you come back! :-)

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend ahead!!!

Neptune’s Bride

I finally managed to photograph my new piece and entry for the EtsyBeadWeavers July Challenge “Here Comes the Bride…”

I say photograph, although I’m really not happy with how the photos turned out… they lack the sparkle and colour intensity of the actual piece… but for some reason I found it really difficult to photograph…. strange how some colours and pieces are harder to photograph than others…

I was inspired to create this piece as soon as I read the challenge theme chosen by Cielo Design, winner of the May Challenge and a dear friend!

I don’t think I ever finished a piece for any of the challenges as early as I did this one! But as I’m going on holiday at the end of June for a few weeks, I was worried I wouldn’t get it done in time, and am glad I did! :-)

Neptune’s Bride was inspired by the colours of the sea, I envisioned a mermaid and attempted to design a bridal piece that was classic in its design while at the same time using non-traditional colours. In Roman mythology Neptune was the god of water and the sea. This piece was designed for his bride.

I really love how this piece turned out!!! but what I’m most proud of is the necklace band (see left photo), beadwoven in Right Angle Weave, which is one of the most versatile stitches and the first beadweaving techniques I learnt, and embellished with tiny Japanese cubes. You really need to concentrate on this stitch when using it, as the direction changes continuously and it’s so easy to get lost. So not the quickest of stitches but by far one of my favourites! :-) and once embellished, one of the prettiest!

In the next few days I will post another piece I’ve been working on, but in the meantime…. have a great weekend!!!! :-)

Golden Pool

One of my favourite things about having joined Etsy is the discovery of so many talented and wonderful artists. One of those talented artists is Lisa Peters from LisaPetersArt. She makes the most beautiful OOAK beads, buttons and cabochons using different types of clays, glazes and firing methods. In the last year or so I have bought quite a few of her cabochons and some buttons. They are all so beautiful that I sometimes find it difficult to part with them and use them in my beadwork. I just love looking at them and fondling them! :-) However that is why I buy them… to use in my beadwork… so last week I did just that! I picked one of her cabochons and decided to make something out of it…. and this is what I made:

Golden Pool

I love her pieces so much that I didn’t want to detract too much from the beauty of the cabochon so I decided to keep it simple, at the same time I wanted to somehow depict and incorporate into the beading the movement of the golden swirls, so I bead-embroidered round the cabochon and tried to mimic the movement by adding a twisted edge to the bead-embroidery. This was the first time I had tried using this technique and I have to say I’m really pleased with how it turned out…. I’m sure I will be using this twisted edge again! :-) I wanted to make the necklace along the same idea, so I simply strung two strands of beads and twisted them together, and I think it works well.

If you’ve been following my blog recently, you may have noticed my current obsession with using turquoise/green together with gold. Well this obsession has not even come close to running its course! :-) I’m currently working on a green and gold St. Petersburg stitched necklace. I decided yesterday to overcome my (unfounded) fears and try and see if I could manage to do it… and manage I did, it's actually relatively easy and am finding it extremely relaxing to work with… I have no idea what I’m going to do with it… but will be working on it later today and hopefully something wearable will have emerged from it in the next few days… come back and see! :-) In the meantime this is what I’ve managed to do so far:

For more of Lisa’s beautiful work, please visit her links below:

Shop: http://www.LisaPetersArt.etsy.com
Blog: http://www.lisa-petersart.blogspot.com
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisapetersart

Black Sun

I was asked to design a piece around these beautiful gold metal cabochons for my next bead-embroidery workshop that I will be giving in the next couple of months at Bogal’s (one of my favourite bead suppliers)…. and as the workshop is held at their place, I also wanted to use beads that I know can be found there (as they will be making the kits for the workshop)… so I chose to use ‘baby pillows’ which are actually one of my favourite beads to use for bead embroidery, because they are rectangular, flat and when sewn one next to the other they give this nice shimmering effect… I love them! :-)

So here is what I came up with: Black Sun Necklace

And this is how it looks when worn – I love how the fringe hangs!!!!

I will be designing a smaller version of this piece for the workshop itself and will be making it in silver and maybe some colour variations.

Was thinking of making this into my first tutorial and kit to be offered after the workshops are over… what do you think?

In the mean time, don’t forget the BAO’s Spring Sale is on (see previous post for SALE details) and today there will be another giveaway!!!!

Go check it out by clicking on the BAO banner on the left.

Stepping Stones Cuff

It feels like ages since I posted anything new... and am happy to finally do so!!! This cuff was so much fun to make and at the same time took forever!!!!  The main part  was ready weeks ago, and I was about 3 hours away from the end.... I had a complete mental block towards it and refused to finish it!... probably because I wasn't 100% happy with it.... it's the over-achiever-perfectionist-nutcase in me :-)  Now that it's finished, finally, I do LOVE it!!! I really love the colours! I used lots of shades of grays and bronze, accented with dark purple Swarovski pearls and light gray fresh-water pearls.... full of sparkle!!!   What can I say... I just love bead-embroidery!!!! and am now going to hide in my bedroom and start something new!!!

To see more information on this cuff click on: Stepping Stones Cuff or the photo.

Tonight is Seder night (1st night Passover) - I will be spending it with my sister and her family... am looking forward to it!  although am sure I will be regretting the over-eating which tends to happen at every Jewish gathering... it's a curse... almost like all sense of reality and what is right escapes you, and you are no longer able to understand when you are satiated and full.... so you eat more... and more... and more!!! :-) I'm full already just thinking of it!!! :-)

Hoping to survive a ridiculous amount of food :-) and wishing everyone a happy Passover!!!

Stepping Stones - Bead-embroidered collar

Well, here it is the piece I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.... After a few false starts I finally settled down and stuck to one idea and carried it through to the end. I was so petrified of not getting this piece right because I was using one of Lisa Peters' Art's beautiful ceramic cabochons and I really didn't want to mess it up!!! hence all the starting, unpicking, cutting up... but I am pleased with the result and doubly pleased that Lisa liked it!!! :-)

Stepping Stones

Lisa is a fellow member of the Bead Art Originals and she makes the most beautiful ceramic beads, buttons and cabochons. If you are not familiar with her work, you must check her out!!! http://lisa-petersart.blogspot.com/

I am the proud owner of quite a few of her pieces (and have some on the way).... Between wanting to do her pieces justice and selfishly wanting to keep them all to myself so I can look and touch them (they are sooo gorgeous) I've been reluctant to use them.... hopefully I've gotten over that little mind obstacle and you should be seeing quite a few of my future pieces incorporating these gorgeous ceramic treasures! :-)

If you are interested in finding out more about the materials used for this piece and the measurements, please click on the picture or here.

For now, I'm off to play with my new keyboard.... at the age of almost 42 I decided to take up piano lessons and I'm loving it!!!! and I'm one of those people that when they start something new they need to get all the equipment! :-) of course a piano was out of the questions (too expensive) but a keyboard, that I'm sure my son will end up using as much as me, didn't break the bank, so 2 days ago I went and got one! :-) and I'm so glad I did, and by practicing a couple of hours every day I have already seen an amazing improvement... my piano teacher will be so impressed and surprised! :-)

Wishing everyone a great day and happy beading! :-)

BAO Items of the Week

Here are this week's items from the BAO.

My item this week is:

Black and Pink Pearl Pendant

Purchase and pay for this item between now and 1st March and receive 5% off + free shipping to anywhere in the world! :-)

Please visit the BAO and check out all the amazing bead artists that belong to this group and see what specials are being offered this week:
http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/

Dove of Hope by Daniella Flakowicz

Today I'm showing the work of a wonderfully talented Israeli artist; Daniella Flakowicz.

I met Daniella when she attended my bead-embroidery workshops a few months back, and as you will be able to see, she took to bead-embroidery like a duck to water! :-) Although I'm not surprised because if you check her website, you will see she is a woman of many artistic talents!

When Daniella described this piece to me and the reasons why she created it, I had goose bumps all over and tears in my eyes. This piece is not only stunning, but the reasons behind its creation are so touching.

This is what Daniella had to say about this piece:

"Here is the dove of hope... created with all my thoughts and concern for Gilad Shalit. I ended the work on day 900 of his captivity ,which is 21600 hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Imagine.

Each bead was carefully embroidered as one hour of Gilad's time.
I hope and pray he is released as soon as possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have dedicated this project to Gilad's mother as a very small thing I could do to be with her.

I thank you Triz for teaching me the art of bead embroidery, so I could combine it with my love of painting and colours, even though I limited the colours to white and shades of blue, colours of our national flag .

I hope as many people see this dove of hope, so we don't forget our Gilad, a son of ours. "

The Hebrew words are from a proverb from the bible: "that our sons shall return to our borders"

I can't really add much more to this.... the piece is stunning, its sentiments are even more beautiful.... I'm deeply honoured that I had a tiny (tiny) part in teaching this technique to such a wonderful artist, and I too pray and hope for the speedy release of Gilad Shalit!!!

If you are unfamiliar with who Gilad Shalit is, please visit http://www.habanim.org/en/gilad_en.html and read more about his story.

BAO Item of the Week

Here are this week's items from the BAO.

My item this week is:

Black Panther Bracelet

Purchase and pay for this item between now and 22nd February and receive 5% off + free shipping to anywhere in the world! :-)

Please visit the BAO and check out all the amazing bead artists that belong to this group and see what specials are being offered this week:
http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/

when things go pear-shaped....

A few days ago I showed a sneak preview of a piece I've been working on.... well... that one was scrapped... and this one is the next version:

but wasn't happy with this one either, so I cut it up and decided to keep Lisa Peters' gorgeous cabochon as a pendant... so cut the sides off.... and started enlarging the centrepiece... finished it... and decided that I didn't like it on its own... so started making some side panels for it!!! Ok, so I'm a bit lost... I think it's because I feel so pressurized to do this piece justice and just can't seem to find my way :-)

so here is the latest development:

I'm relatively happy with the centrepiece! I think the side bits are going ok :-) but still, am not sure where they are going... am not sure if I'm going to fringe, embellish, etc. ... I just hope that I don't cut it up again!!! so much wasted beading time!!! :-)

They say three times' a charm!!! lets hope so!! :-)

Got to take my little monkey to the doctor, he's developed a rash all over his body and face, I'm guessing it's one of those kiddie diseases... so am going to stop beading for the day... but come back in a few days time to see where this piece takes me... and hopefully it will be somewhere :-) blood and sweat I say :-)

New Piece (sneak preview) + BAO Items of the Week

Yesterday I started working on a new bead-embroidered piece using one of Lisa Peters' gorgeous cabochons.  I've had this beautiful piece for a while, but was a bit intimidated using it, for fear of not doing it justice....  it's soooo gorgeous!!! :-)

I figured, if I don't like the piece I can always cut it up and try again... so I brave it and started it, and here is how far I  got.  The cabochon is rather large and was thinking of using it on its own... but why do things simply, so I challenged myself to make a collar with it... obviously inspired by the swirls in the cabochon I started beading swirls around some tiny Swarovski flat-back crystals... so far I'm really happy with the result and can't wait to get back to beading it!!!! let's see how it develops, as right now I have almost no idea! :-)

 

And here are this week's BAO's gorgeous Items of the Week:

Silly me, forgot that I had already featured this item a few weeks ago... but never mind, in case you missed it then, here is your chance to purchase my Turquoise Delight Cuff  between now and the 15th February with 5% off + free shipping to anywhere in the world!!! :-)

 

 

Please visit the BAO and check out all the amazing bead artists that belong to this group and be sure to check out the Items of the Week and see what specials are being offered this week:
http://beadartoriginals.blogspot.com/

Come back soon and see how my new bead-embroidered piece develops!!! for now, I'm off to my very first piano lesson!!! should be fun! :-)

Miriam's Jewel - Choker

This is going to be a really quick post, as I'm struggling to concentrate on anything at all.... I've been sick with the flu for the last few days, and today, although my cough has gone and my nose has stopped running, my head is absolutely exploding!!!!!

As the sun finally came out, I thought I would take the opportunity to photograph my latest (and probably favourite) piece... I absolutely LOVE this piece, am so happy with how it came out!!!!!

Miriam's Jewel - Choker

 

For more information on materials, techniques and to see more pictures, please visit my shop or click on this link.

Ok.... going to back to bed now, before I pass out!!! :-)

Blue Lagoon Choker

Here is the Blue Lagoon Choker that I spoke about a couple of days ago... I had it all ready for posting, but I got distracted by a new piece, which I love even more than this one, and I love this one a lot!!!  the perfect complement to the Blue Lagoon Cuff!

The pendant is bead-embroidered with my current favourite colour teal....  I tend to go through colour stages... and at the moment, strangely enough for me, I'm on a gold roll... I say strangely for me, as I've never really been a gold person... I have always worn silver, and when I did buy or receive something in gold it's usually white gold... but all of a sudden, all I can see in my mind is these wonderful bright colours combined with gold... does it mean I'm getting old? ;-) are my skull-and-crossbones-silver-jewellery-hanging-from-a-piece-of-leather-days completely over???? well, ok, the skull and crossbones days have been over for a while, I just hadn't paid attention to it... :-)  however the silver pendant on a leather choker pretty much still exists, although since starting to bead, my pendants tend to be beaded and larger, but still hanging off leather :-) it's the repressed hippy in me! :-)

So in this crazed gold and bright colour roll I've almost finished a bead-embroidered cuff, all that is missing is the right clasp/closure for it (I will be checking the net today for just the right one).... and for the last 3 days I've been working on another bead-embroidered choker, also in gold, but with amethyst cabochons and ruby red Swarovski crystals.... I love this colour combination, it's so rich and majestic... and that's what I will be doing for the rest of the day... if my son can entertain himself (he's home from kindergarten with yet another ear infection, but he's ok... his ear is leaking which is why I'm keeping him home... a couple of days of eardrops and he will be back to normal and he's already expressed an interest in playing on the computer today, so my beading time looks pretty much un-threatened )

And one last thing.... my heart, thoughts, prayers go out to all the brave soldiers out there and their incredibly brave and strong families.... to all the mothers of these boys, I have no words.... praying that they all come home safe and sound, that this conflict will be over soon so the south can go back to normal living and in an idyllic world that there will be final lasting peace in the region with ALL our neighbours.... wishing everyone a safe, quiet shabbat shalom!!!!

Celeste Earrings

As the craziness of December is finally over, or is at least winding down... I find myself able to go back to all those projects that I didn't have time or energy to finish... and here is one of those project.

Believe it or not the earrings were almost finished a long time ago, all I had to do is attach the top part to the bottom.... would you believe it if I told you that it took me over 3 weeks to actually sit down and do it?!?! talk about procrastinating... I'm almost ashamed! :-)  I don't know why but there are times when the design is so close to completion and nothing on this earth would actually make me sit down to finish it! why??? I'm not lazy... there are just so many distractions... mainly in my head, with ideas for new pieces... and I just have to move on to the next piece.... it's all very well, until I find myself confronted by tons of pieces that are in the almost-finished-stage... with still more stuff cluttering my little brain! :-)

Anyway, here they are: Celeste Earrings - Bead-embroidered around white Quartz and Jade cabochons in gold glass beads and greeny-blues Swarovski crystals - I just LOVE them!!!! I wish I had learnt how to bead while I was out and about partying in my 20s and 30s... I would have worn these to death!!! :-) now my idea of partying, is cuddling up under the duvet in front of the telly and hoping for 6 hours of sleep! :-) not much need for ear decorations :-)

Tomorrow I will post the Blue Lagoon necklace.... I'm still working on the photos... till then... happy beading!!! :-)

Blue Lagoon Cuff

 

Here it is... my first finished piece for 2009!!!! the first of the many projects that I've been working on for the last few weeks!!! :-) Funny, because this was actually the third I started... but with so many on the go at the same time, it's the one I felt like finishing first... for no particular reason.... or maybe because I just LOVE making cuffs. ...

Strangely enough it was inspired by my Frozen Waters Cuff, obviously the water theme... I was thinking of waters melting in the sun... in an effort to keep warm as the temperatures finally dropped and winter arrived... and I already miss summer :-) we've only had a few weeks of winter, so I can hardly complain :-)

 

 

 

I played around with lots of combinations, and cut up the cuff and restarted it more than 4 times till I finally got to this one... and as I was doing that the bead-embroidered centrepiece grew in height, which I'm really pleased with... I like the fact that it's not flat and that it has a rather domed effect....

The matching necklace, which was actually created first... I do tend to do things backwards... is almost finished, well it is finished, as soon as I find the time and inclination to make a bail for it... the actual bead-embroidered part was finished even before starting the cuff... what can I say... I'm a bit confused at the moment :-) 

For more information on materials, size,  etc. please check out my shop - or click on this link:  Blue Lagoon - Cuff

 

Frozen Waters - Earrings

 

 

I'm so pleased with how the Frozen Waters earrings have turned out that I've already started making a second pair in a different colour.  Although it's really difficult for me to keep to such small dimensions, compared to my cuffs and collars, I really enjoy making these... it's so nice to be able to start a project and finish it in the same day! :-) instead of my usual days or weeks :-)

Sadly the pictures are not brilliant... this is the best one out of a lot of really bad ones...  lack of light, but I will take some more in a few days when I have a few more pieces to photograph and better light! :-)

 

 

 

These earrings are the perfect complement to my entry for  this month EtsyBeadWeavers' Snow Queen December Challenge. 

Frozen Waters - Cuff

Which reminds me voting is currently taking place at http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ vote for your favourite piece! voting ends 15th December!!!

Snow Queen EBW December Challenge

 

 

31 amazing entries this month!!!! WOW!!!! I have no idea which I'm going to vote for!!!!! They are all so beautiful, I think I have about 15 favourites!!!! I must narrow it down! :-)  Can you pick your favourite????

GO and check them all out at the EtsyBeadWeavers' blog and vote for your favourite!!!!!  Voting starts today 9th December and lasts till 15th, so don't put it off, cast your vote!!!!!!

My entry for the Snow Queen Challenge is # 11:
Frozen Waters Cuff

Vote for your favourite! http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

Frozen Waters Cuff

Here is my new bead-embroidered cuff!!! It took me a really long time (over 22 hours) but I really enjoyed making it and I love how it turned out!!! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This cuff was created with the EtsyBeadWeavers' Snow Queen Challenge in mind, especially in terms of colour palette, but in terms of technique, I used the technique I learnt from making Sherry Serafini's collar and this has  definitely been a huge influence in this piece.   (see previous post)

Frozen Waters is probably going to be my entry for the EtsyBeadWeavers' December challenge "Snow Queen".  I say probably because I'm half-way through making a matching bead-embroidered collar and if I actually finish it in time, I think I may enter that one... don't know... don't know if I'll have the choice :-) also a pair or earrings are in the plan! :-) I don't know what happened, but I really like this colour combination and have been very inspired to make more with it!!! :-) come back soon! :-)

EtsyBeadWeavers November Challenge - Ancestral Expressions

Voting has started at the EtsyBeadWeavers' blog!!!!  This month's theme is "Ancestral Expressions".  Look at the amazing diverse entries for this month!!!! All so different... all so beautiful!

My entry this month is # 13 (I hope lucky 13!!!) - Let My People Go

I blogged about this piece and the inspiration behind it here.

Go check these beauties out and vote for your favourite!!!!!  Don't put it off, voting ends on 15th November!!!!

http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/