Four Long Years

I admit it.

It's taken me FOUR YEARS to FINALLY understand and do Bead Crochet.

It took a lot of trial and even more error to get my hands to work together on crochet. I can now say, I like it! I like it a lot. :D

 

Feeling Uninspired

I hate feeling this way because I have So Much invested in stock that I feel obligated to bead. Not only to bead but to bead something new.

But when this feeling hits, I revert to what I know which lead to these, Dragon Scale Bracelets.

A whole year

Has it been OVER a year since I posted here? My bad. Truly, my bad. So here, I've been practicing my bezel Rivoli skills.

Back side,

This is a brand new method I read and decided to try out. Now while I love the idea of the covered backside, it was rather difficult to embellish the edges. So yes/no I like this method.

In other random news, the Gathering of Nations is tomorrow!!!! :D

Etsy Beadweaver's May Challenge - How Unsual

So the challenge for May, was: Let's use the most unusual items this month! Besides your normal beading items (seed beads, crystals, gemstones, etc.), your entry for May must have at least one unconventional item. Look around you - on the street, in nature, in your kid's room (dolls, dice, playing cards, etc.) or in a man's world (screws, tools, bolts, bullets, animal eyes or teeth, etc.), or anything else you have not thought so far could be part of your beaded projects. Just think Out of the Beading Box and be innovative! ======================================== Not as easy as it sounds actually because I'm not that clever. But once I figured out what I wanted to use, a zipper it really didn't get any easier. Why? Because at first I thought, I REALLY WANT THE ZIPPER TO BE OBVIOUS. So I went and bought a jacket zipper, very close to these,

Pretty cool huh? Well here's the thing, I bought the smallest/shortest zipper available in the store which was 21 inches. I thought, Oh I know how to shorten a zipper, I do it all the time when sewing! Pfffttt.... yeah well it's a different story when you still need it to be a zipper that still needs to separate. You need a specialized tool and specific parts to be able to finish the ends of the zipper. Parts I neither had nor had the time to special order in time to have my entry finished. So back to the store I went and found - on sale - and the VERY LAST OF THEIR TYPES, a black and a white zipper that were both 7 inches long and that would zipper together like I wanted. Now to figure out how to cut back on the size of the fabric part of the zippers. Turns out I pretty much ended up cutting away almost all of the fabric part with just enough to left on which to bead on. I knew the colors I wanted to use, contrasting colors: Purple and Turquoise. I started with the purple,

. . . . . . . . .

Here it is two weeks later, completed:

Time to start on the Turquoise part:

Now here's the thing, the base of very fringe part is a size 11 bead, each size 11 bead has 2 to 3 fringe parts made from 11, 8s, 6s and 3.4 drop beads; each fringe part has three fringe branches to it. Getting the picture here on why it took me just about a month to bead this baby together? :D

Turquoise half done!

Although another glitch in the design, the white tab on the zipper. It was so painful to look at sitting in between the two halves that I wanted to color it to match the turquoise. But you know what? A sharpie didn't work and I didn't know what to use so I asked my Facebook friends and one suggested, nail polish! It worked like a charm and the tab part is now un-noticeable once the two parts are together.

Time to put the two halves together!

So there is the story behind my entry, which I managed to get entered one day before the deadline because it was A LOT more work than I thought it was going to be.

You can find it available at my ** Etsy Shop, HERE. **
Raven. :D

Playing with Daggers

My first time playing with long dagger beads. I wasn't sure I was going to like while working on it, but now that it's finished. I like it!

WIP for EBWC for March

My entry piece for the Etsy Beadweaver March challenge: "Am I blue" ** This is actually my theme idea. :D I really should enter it. I just hope I can finish this in time. Wish me luck that I can finish on time!

Etsy Beadweaver Challenge Theme: Warmth

February Etsy Beadweavers Team, challenge theme "Warmth": Think of whatever it is that makes you feel warm on a long February night, and turn it into a cozy warm beaded piece. Voila, my entry. I like to create things that are different, This is my entry for February's Etsy Beadweavers Team, challenge theme "Warmth". When my first boy was born, we were given a beautiful genuine Pendleton wool blanket for him to have through out his life because they are not only warm but durable and most of all BEAUTIFUL! :D (Google Pendleton blankets for the awesome colors they come in!) We have continued this new tradition when our second boy was born and he too has his own Pendleton blanket to have throughout his life time and hopefully pass on to his own children. I wanted to use the many colors used in the Pendleton patterns because they are bright and they just add to the sense of warmth when you snuggle under these thick, heavy blankets on a cold night or rainy day. This pendant was beaded together with seed beads ranging from size 11s to 6s as well as Fire Polish Czech beads and woven with the circular Peyote stitch. It holds it's own form and can easily be strung onto your own silver chain, silk ribbon or leave it on it's own beaded necklace. The necklace is the Russian Spiral stitch using 15s and 11s and has matching beads on the inside to reflect the color of the pendant. The Pendant itself measures 1 3/4 inches long by 1 1/4 inches wide; the necklace is 20 inches long and together with a leaf motif clasp. ...::+::... ...::+::... ...::+::... ...::+::... ...::+::... ...::+::... ...::+::... I am a proud member of the Etsy Bead Weavers Team. For more great items from this teams very talented members please search EBW Team in Handmade. Please visit Etsy Beadweaver's team blog, http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com between the 9th and 15th of February, 2014 to have a chance to vote for your favorite "Warmth" Challenge entry.