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.

Lavender Swirl - Spiral Bracelet

I am doing a few craft shows this spring in PA so I am making a lot of bracelets, earrings and lower priced items. This is a spiral twist bracelet in shades of lavender, blue and hot pink. The problem is I always seem to make jewelry that fits me - my wrist is 6 1/4 so I do not have many larger bracelets. I made this one 7 1/2 inches - to me this is big but I really don't know if this is large or not??

Painted Desert - Beaded Bracelet

Well last night I finished this - another strung beaded bracelet. I made this one like the previous one with fireline and a button closure and no crimping. I am liking these - they are very earthy and really comfortable to wear. I have a ton of beads to make lots of these or maybe some necklaces that will be strung.

I am going away for the whole summer - to our summer house at the lake. This is the first time we will be doing this and I am freaking about what to bring (besides the cats). It is a lot of planning plus I needed to buy a laptop and will need to get internet service there. I don't know why it is stressing me out so much - we are only 3 hours away and will be coming home to NJ a few times a month for mail and to check on the house. So if I forget or need something I can always get it.

Anyway, I will of course be bringing all my beads and jewelry books. I am thinking that it might be nice to do a few big projects there during the summer. I have enough in my shops so I can take the time to work on bigger projects. So for now that is the plan. I am also doing a few craft shows while I am there too - always fun. It is getting so close to the time we are going and I still have so much to do.

Earth Prayer - Beaded Bracelet

So here’s the thing - I really enjoyed making the other strung beaded bracelet "A Day in the Canyon". What I didn't like was working with crimps - one of the reasons I moved on from stringing. I can never seem to get a crimp I like or that I feel is secure.

I worked on this bracelet last night and was unhappy with the crimps and the closure. So today I thought how can I make a strung bracelet but use my fireline and a hand make loop closure?? I took the bracelet from last night and cut it up - I really liked the bead layout, the texture and color - I re-strung it using double fireline and made a closure with a nice wooden button I had on hand and a loop using size 8 seed beads. I went back in and reinforced the stringing a couple of times and securely fastened the closure.

I love it - no crimps and a good looking and easy to use closure. I will be making more of these beaded bracelets now that I figured out how to finish to my satisfaction.

Bits and Pieces - Beaded Necklace

I went to our lake house for Easter - had dinner with the family and had a nice time. I was going to be there for a short time but still brought my beads. I didn't want to make anything too complicated there so I decided on this looped fringe necklace. It measures 17 inched plus the closure. It is made with size 6 seed beads and various color and size chips for the fringe. I also started a RAW bracelet while I was there - it is proving to be a challange.

A Day in the Canyon - Bracelet

A Day in the Canyon is a chunky beaded bracelet. It consists of wooden beads, turquoise tree agate, size 8 turquoise seed beads and assorted glass beads. It has a bronze flower loop and toggle closure and will fit a size 7 to 7 1/4 inch wrist. This is another stringing project - I am enjoying doing these - for now!

Walk in the Woods

This is a new necklace I just finished. I have been inspired to do some stringing by reading Lorelei's Blog everyday. Her work is amazing and I felt like I wanted to get back to doing some stringing. Well this necklace is a mixture of everything - stringing, wire work and beadweaving.

I had the big green bead for such a long time and never used it, so I paired it up with some smaller beads and bronze wire to form a spiral. I added some other bigger beads as accents for the bottom part of the necklace and finished it of with a spiral rope in size 8 and 11 seed beads.

I also made a new custom closure for this necklace. I am sick of just an ordinary loop - this one is peyote stitch using size 15 and size 11 seed beads. I like it a lot. I love the whole necklace. It measures 18 inches plus the closure and the bead focal measures 2 3/4 inches. I think I will do some more of these!

Deep Blue Sea - Freeform Peyote Necklace

I have finished my freeform necklace and I am going to call it "Deep Blue Sea". This necklace is made with many seed beads size 11, 8, 6 - in shades of blue, turquoise, and aqua. It also has a few larger beads added as embellishments. The length is 16 1/2 inches plus the closure- it fits close to the neck. I enjoyed making this necklace in freeform peyote although I did get stuck a few times. I am so used to working with a plan so this type of work can be frustrating for me. I want to do a few more of these now that I am in the "freeform groove".

This necklace took me quite a long time to finish - partly because I was stuck on how to finish and partly because of the amount of work to weave the beads one-by-one. So now I need to start a new project and I am at that in-between stage that I hate. I was thinking maybe I will start 3 things and then when one is finished I do not have the "what will I make next" feeling - something will already be started. Just a thought but maybe worth trying.