Happy Forth of July

Hoping everyone has a happy Independence Day with great weather and wonderful fireworks!!!!

Chesapeake - Beaded Necklace

I am finally getting some beading done here in PA. This is a new beaded necklace and pendant called Chesapeake. The pendant is hand made using silver wire and beads that match the necklace and measures 1 1/2 inches in length. The necklace consists of many beads - wood, silver, turquoise, and turquoise chips. It also has a silver loop and toggle closure. This necklace measures 16 1/4 inches plus the closure. I am enjoying doing a little stringing and I think this necklace has a nice earthy feel.

Mango Mix - Freeform Peyote Bracelet

Well I finally made something in PA - a freeform peyote bracelet called "Mango Mix" using various sized seed beads in spring colors. The problem is that I do not have a "place" to bead here and my stuff is scattered all over the upstairs bedroom. I hate it when I am disorganized and I do not bead well like this. I am not sure what the solution to this problem is going to be but I better come up with something because I will be here all summer.

Awesome Bead Giveaway

Silver Parrot is having a wonderful bead giveaway and I suggest you get over there right now and enter to win this great stash of beads. All you have to do to enter the drawing is make a blog post about the give away and leave a comment with a link to your blog. I am telling you this is huge and so generous. There are so many different kinds of beads included here - well you just have to see for yourself:

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=91889402354&h=C6j1b&u=3TVdZ&ref=nf

Marble - Beaded Bracelet

Every once and awhile I like to do some stringing - especially since most of my beads are in PA and I am in NJ. I took a large black focal and paired it with some other black, white and silver beads and made this little bracelet. Understated but nice. I want to do more of these in the weeks to come when I am reunited with all my beads!!!

Dreaming of the Desert - Peyote Bracelet

I have not been beading lately - well I have been beading but doing an awful lot of ripping out. Lorelei had a post on her blog the other day about orphan beads. This got me thinking about beading with seed beads and about orphans - with seed beads the orphans can be a large number - not enough left over for a new complete project but still quite a lot of beads. I started looking through my seed beads and got together a bunch of orphans in gold and earth colors. This peyote bracelet is made up of size 6 and size 8 seed beads - and I didn't rip it out!.

I WON - I WON!!!!!!!

The best news this morning was that I had won the "Water" Enchanted Adornments Giveaway from Cynthia Thornton of Green Girl Studios. Above is a photo - I am so excited.

So here's the deal - for every new 100 fans of Enchanted Adornments: Creating Mixed Media Jewelry from Metal, Clay, Wire, Resin & More by Cynthia Thornton, a new giveaway will be announced! What I suggest is to become a Facebook Fan of Enchanted Adornments and leave a comment in the photo giveaway - couldn't be easier right. Cynthia Thornton's new book will be coming out in November but the good news is that you can pre-order it TODAY. The Facebook Fan page has a lot more info on the book, some sneak peeks, and the giveaways - so what are you waiting for!!!

I will be sure to post photos of the fab jewelry I make with my prize - woooo hoooo.

Teke Bracelet

This is a bracelet I made for my cousin Terri - she is a Lakers fan and this one is in Lakers colors - purple and gold. It is a Russian spiral using size 6 and size 11 seed beads.

My First Craft Show of the Season

So I do a craft show this weekend – I had high hopes. A woman sets up next to me selling jewelry too – but very different from mine – she is spread out all over the place – I have hardly any room to even get behind my display.

The day starts and she is like a spider – she pounces on anyone that comes into her display – with her spiel – I am giving a 10% discount just for the morning, this is my signature piece, you won’t see any other jewelry like this at the show, etc. If someone looks at something she jumps up and puts the piece on them, offers a mirror and proceeds to tell them how stunning it looks on them and how it is her “favorite piece”. She is the pushiest person I have EVER seen.

In the afternoon her spiel has changed to giving a 10% discount as her stimulus package. People are not even stopping to look at my stuff because they think it is an extension of her display and they are trying to get away from her. Anyone that was in her space and looked at a piece of jewelry and didn’t buy, she chases them over to my display telling them they will kick themselves if they leave without the necklace/bracelet – this is in my space now.

The best part of this story (there is really not a best part) is she did not even make this jewelry – it is imported junk that she is selling and people are buying it like crazy. She is saying it is one of a kind and when people leave with a piece she pops another just like it in its place. It is cheap and she is relentless. By the afternoon all the other vendors in our area were disgusted with her and they were not selling jewelry, so it was not just me. At the end of the day she comes over to me and says “well it could have been a better day”. I know she made a LOT of sales while I was selling nothing I watched her ringing up the sales. I could have killed her.

I was so upset after the show I wanted to throw my jewelry into the lake and never think about making anything again. I am trying to analyze this situation. Am I jealous she sold and I didn’t – I did sell a few pieces but did so much better there last year? Is it me – I tend to stand back, let people look and ask questions if they want to – I figure if someone wants to buy they do – I will admit I am not a good sales person. I hate it when I am pressured – I just don’t know and am very confused at this point – what could I have done differently?? I know it was not the price because a lot that she sold was priced way higher than my beadwoven handmade pieces.

Nancy's July 4th Bracelet

This is a bracelet for my cousin Nancy - I found a picture of this on the internet and figured out the pattern and made a few changes - I don't know whose pattern this is and I would never sell a bracelet since I cannot give credit or get permission - this is a gift for 4th of July.

Bead Giveaway - Lorelei's Blog

Stop by Lorelei's blog today for a chance to win some fab lampwork glass beads that were donated by Magda. Check out more of Magda's work here. Happy Birthday Lorelei!!!

Liberty - Freeform Peyote Cuff

A freeform peyote cuff called "Liberty" in various size seed beads in shades of red, white and blue. Each bead was sewn by hand and there are also some larger accent beads used as decoration on the top of the bracelet. There is a handmade bead and toggle closure. The actual bracelet measures 1 1/4 inches at its widest part by 6 1/2 inches plus the closure. This bracelet will fit a size 6 1/2 inch wrist.

Like I said, I bought a lot of red, white and blue beads. I am doing a craft show this weekend and I think all of my patriotic jewelry will be great for July 4th.

Beaded Fringed Flag Earrings

My cousin Nancy wanted me to make her a July 4th necklace so I bought a LOT of red, white and blue beads. I am doing a craft show next weekend and thought I would make up some flag/patriotic earrings. This is the first pair. The top portion is brick stitch with size 11 blue and white seed beads - the bottom fringe is size 11 red and white seed beads. Very festive!

Going Green

Well all this talk about going green has made me want to bead something with green beads. For some reason green is not my favorite color - I like it on a tree but not on me.

I went looking through my bead stash and decided to try and use up some of those left over beads so I picked out some different sizes in green, turquoise and yellow and just started to bead. I decided I would make a freeform cuff. I haven made much freeform jewelry lately so it was fun to get back to just beading with no plan.

My problem with freeform is that it usually looks lousy in the beginning - you have to work a pretty good amount before it starts taking shape and I tend to get discouraged and rip it out. So I plodded along hating it and all of a sudden it started looking better - now that it is finished I like it a lot - glad I didn't rip it out!

This cuff is called The Green Party and is 1 ¾ wide and 6 ½ inch long – it also has a handmade loop and toggle closure.

Painted Pony - Beaded Necklace and Pendant

This beaded necklace and pendant is called Painted Pony. The coloring of the pendant reminded of Paint horses. I have had this pendant for some time and just never figured out what I wanted to do with it. Yesterday I was playing around and arranging beads and found the pendant and I wanted to use it, so I strung this necklace.

The pendant is silver and Fall Jasper - it is 1 1/4 inch wide and 1 1/2 inch long. It is a creamy color with chocolate brown markings very abstract looking and it has a beautiful silver bail and lost of spirals.

The necklace consists of many beads - wood, silver, soap stone, tiger eye and 8mm creamy aragonite. It also has a silver loop and toggle closure. This necklace measures 17 inches plus the closure. I liked it a lot and made a bracelet using a lot of the same beads - will post a photo soon.