A Few More Hearts

I posted a few more bead embroidered heart pins to my etsy shop today. Please stop by and check them out.

Have a great weekend!

A Little Piece of Art on Your Wrist

While preparing for my recent art show, I made a lot of new cuffs. These ones are a little different from the others I usually make. These ones have a beaded centerpiece and then the cuff is covered in ultrasuede.

Here's one that I made using one of my handmade cabochons with an Alphonse Mucha print. You can wear a little piece of art work on your wrist.

You can see more photos here.

Don't forget I'm offering free world wide shipping today through Monday. All items purchased during this time will be shipped on December 1, 2009.

New Cuff

I love these 1/2 inch bead embroidered cuffs. They are perfect for everyday wear and they are lightweight. I just listed a new one at my etsy shop.

I've had these long bugle beads for awhile. I've used some for long fringe on bead woven earrings. I hadn't really tried to use them on any cuffs. They fit perfectly across a 1/2 inch cuff. These bugle beads are twisted and have a beautiful color that is both blue and purple. The texture of these beads provide a lot of interest to a simple cuff. The abalone provides a nice contrast and breaks up the line of beads. The beadwork is attached to a metal cuff and the underside is lined with ultrasuede.

You can see more pictures of the cuff here.

Art Bazaar Preview Continues

Here's a few more things I'll have at the Art Bazaar, which starts tonight at 6:00 pm at the Boyd Community Center. You'll find more information here about the event.

This is a pendant made with with one of my handmade cabochons using a print of a Alphonse Mucha illustration.

The second is a pendant using another handmade cabochon of a sea shell print.

Art Bazaar

Sorry folks about my hit and miss blogging the last few weeks. Now that the BIG charity event is over, (as I wipe sweat from my forehead) I've got an art show this weekend. I've been madly beading the last few weeks. I've got most of my ducks in a row for the event and I'm crossing my fingers.

So, if you find yourself in Pittsburgh this weekend, you can find me here this Friday and Saturday. It is the Art Bazaar at the Boyd Community Center. The event is benefiting Art for Autism. Join me and over 30 other local artists and get some holiday shopping done while supporting a great organization.

Here's a sneak peak at a few items I will be selling at the show.

All dressed up and I have a place to go

Tonight is the night. It's finally here. After months of preparation and the last few weeks of coordinating ticket sales and seating, the benefit performance of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes for Child Watch of Pittsburgh is here. It is going to be SPECTACULAR. So many people have worked to make this event a huge success. The theater is going to be packed.

I was originally working on the bib necklace to wear to the event, but due to some technical difficulties and lack of time, plan b is going into action.

This past weekend I finished these earrings. These earrings came together so easily. It was like all the parts were meant to be. I just love them. So mama's got a new pair of earrings (and shoes) and ready to hit the town.

Bib Necklace Update

Well, I finished the beading on the necklace last weekend. I made a trip to the bead store to look at chain and decided it just wouldn't do. So instead I bought three strands of pearls, chain and a clasp. I'm thinking that there will be three strands of pearls on each side that meet at the top together at the clasp. I'm going to add some chain to the clasp so that they necklace will be adjustable. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to go back and finish the necklace, but the picture shows how it might look when it is done.

So, what do you think? Did I make the right decision with the pearls?

Silver Button Earrings

I just listed these Silver Button earrings in my Etsy shop. I really love these earrings and it was hard to decide to post them. I recently picked up these triangular drops and they are great. They have a really beautiful finish, kind of gray and brown. They were a great complement to the earrings. I used a matte gray, matte bronze, and shine bronze seed beads. The earrings were also embellished with silver pearls and hematite beads.

You can check out more photos here.

Do I need a vacation?

Not a lot of time today for a long post, but I wanted to share some other new pieces I've finished recently.

The first is a bead embroidered ring made with a handmade cabochon of a sea shell print.

The second is a bead embroidered cuff using another handmade cabochon of a sea shell print.

Do you see a theme here? Or is just me. I think I need a vacation.

Dreaming of an Escape

I've been dreaming of an escape. A trip where the ocean is clear blue, the sand is warm, and the temperature is a constant 85 degrees. I'm dreaming of an escape from the mountain of laundry, dishes, cleaning and sick children. Yes, the flu found its way to my house last week. Of course, it was not welcome, but it came anyways.

I recently finished this cuff and I know that it was inspired by my thoughts of escaping to an island paradise.

This bead embroidered cuff was created with three turquoise cabochons. The cabochons are surrounded by seed beads. The cuff is embellished with numerous pearls and Swarovski crystals in three colors (caribbean blue opal, pacific opal, and capri blue). The names of the crystals were inspiration enough. The cuff is one inch wide and is backed in black ultrasuede.

I admit that once it was finished, I did stare at it envisioning my favorite beach and hoping that I'll soon be visiting.

Are you dreaming of an escape? Where would you like to escape to when things become overwhelming?

Super Star Earrings

At last years Academy Awards, Angelina Jolie wore these incredible emerald earrings by Lorraine Schwartz. They were breathtaking and caused a lot of buzz on the red carpet. They are worth $2.5 million!

These are my "Angelina Earrings". I used a emerald green swarovski rivolis for the top section and a green agate teardrop for the bottom. The earrings are bead embroidered with dark green and silver seed beads. The earrings are backed in black ultrasuede.

These are statement making earrings and would be perfect for any red carpet event or maybe this year's office Christmas party. You can check out more pictures at the Etsy shop here.

Black, Gold, and Penguins

I purchased a handful of these black Swarovski crystal rivolis a couple of months ago. I originally thought they would find themselves in a neckpiece. However, when I finished the "Joie de Vivre" cuff, I decided to the dig out the rivolis. I've been holding onto these gold daggers waiting for the right pair of earrings to incorporate them. I'm usually so sick of a color combination after I've finished a piece, especially if it is a cuff or neckpiece. I think I was influenced by the fact that Pittsburgh Penguins kick off their season tonight. Something that we are looking forward to here at our house. There's been a lot of coverage of the team this week because they will be raising the banner representing their Stanley Cup win last year.

Black and gold are sacred in this town and you can never go wrong with black and gold.

Good luck Penguins!

Spider Earrings

I realized the other day that many of my items in my ETSY shop had expired. Since Halloween is just around the corner, I decided I would relist my bead embroidered Spider Earrings. When I purchased these beads, I instantly thought they looked like spiders. The beads have a beautiful metallic quality to them. They seem to change color depending on the light.

On a somewhat related note, I was shopping at Jo Ann Fabrics the other day with my youngest daughter and all the Halloween stuff is already on sale. And the Christmas items are already out. I had to take a double take. It is still September, right? I guess Valentine's items will be appearing around December 1 at this rate.

Challenge Complete?

Okay, so I didn't exactly meet my challenge. My challenge was to post new items each week day this past week to my etsy shop. Since I met a few challenges (computer and etsy), I didn't actually get everything posted. However, I have posted new items to my blog this week. So I going to feel somewhat satisfied that I met my challenge. I do acknowledge that it wasn't what I originally planned, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Anyone who has a husband, children, pets, etc. is very experienced with going with the flow.

Well, here's the last of the new items. And I DID post these to my shop today. I purchased these filigree drops last year from dimestoreemporium on etsy. They are brass finding that have been hand aged. I just love the look of them. They look old and weather, like they've had a life before they came to me. Because they are so detailed, I didn't want to do too much beading. I attached them to beading foundation and used bronze size 15 seed beads to embellish the edge. The earrings are backed in burgundy ultrasuede and hang from brass ear wires. They are incredibly light weight. You can see more pictures of the earrings here.

Over the Moon

This was my submission to this week's Thursday Sweet Treat Blog. The theme was "Over the Moon". I created this one of a kind art pendant.

The moon was created with four pyrite beads that are surrounded by a variety of seed, Czech, bugle, and glass beads. The dark side of the moon was created with several different types of black beads. A cascading fringe hangs from the bottom of the pendant. It was created with Czech and seed beads. The pendant hangs from a simple circular neck wire and is backed in black ultrasuede.

So I intended to post this to my etsy shop to keep up with my personal challenge. But due to an unfortunate glitch, my computer keeps losing it's connection and I can't get it posted to on etsy. I get the whole description typed into etsy and then try to move on to the next step and I lose the connection. This has provided an unending amount of frustration. I'm hoping the issue is with etsy and not my computer. I haven't had a bit of trouble getting things posted here.

So I'm going to say that at least I got a new item posted on the blog and hope to post this piece, plus another new one tomorrow on etsy.

I hope that your day has been less frustrating than mine.

White Turquoise Bead Embroidered Cuff

As promised, here is today's newest post to my etsy shop.

Back in June, I went to a new bead show that came to town and found these beautiful white turquoise beads. The beads are just beautiful. Each one is different. The all have the traditional black matrix. Some have a pink hue and some have a brown one. They are really versatile and many colors complement the stones.

I love how the white turquoise pops against the various shades of pink, purple, and gold beads used to embroider the entire cuff. The cuff is also embellished with pearls, pewter beads, and bugle beads. The base is a metal cuff and the underside is lined with pale pink ultrasuede.

You can see more pictures here.

Autumn Sunset

Okay, so here's the second day of posting something new to my etsy shop.

This bead embroidered pendant was created with a fossilized coral cabochon. It is really an incredible stone. I didn't want to do too much and take away from the stone. I added the fire opal beads for added interest. I like how they added to the circular feeling of the piece. For a simple pendant, it has a lot of natural detail. I decided to call it Autumn Sunset because of the orange hues. You can see more pictures here.

I'm hoping to take some more pictures today of the other pieces I've finished. The weather man is calling for rain, so I'd better get it done soon.

What are you trying to get done today?

New Turquoise Pendant

I've given myself a personal challenge this week. I'd like to post a new item to my etsy store every day this week. I've been steadily working on pieces for the last few weeks and really need to get them photographed and posted. I only have a few more weeks before my kids head back to school. The first week or two is really crazy. Making sure everyone has what they need and getting back on schedule is really difficult. I wanted to make an effort to pay attention to my shop while I can.

So here's the first piece...

One of my favorite color combinations is turquoise and brown. With that in mind, this pendant came together without much effort. The pendant is actually three separate sections connected by Swarovski crystals in between. The top section is made from a turquoise bead. I surrounded it with seed beads and then added the Capri Blue Swarovski crystals for detail and texture. The center section is a Mocha Swarovski rivoli this is surrounded by seed beads and turquoise colored glass beads. A coin pearl embroidered with seed beads makes up the bottom section. The pendant hands from gold neck wire, but would also look great on a piece of leather.

If you'd like to see more pictures you can check them out here.

Have you given yourself a challenge this week?

Birthdays and Blue

Sorry, I've been MIA the last few days. It has been a busy week. My daughter's 9th birthday was this week and we had a lot of activities the last few days.

Last night we had her "friend" birthday party. She decided to have it at our local "paint your own pottery" place. The girls got to make their own charms to put on a bracelet. It was a lot of fun to watch their creative process. I love that they got to be part of each step of the process - picking stamps, cutting the clay, and painting. They even learned how to make roses out of clay. It was very cool. They were very serious about the whole thing. They were working so hard that they were really quiet. Not your typical birthday party. When the bracelet are done, I'll take some pictures to share.

I actually finished these earrings last week, but am finally getting around to posting and sharing. An amazonite cabochon and a blue pearl are the focal points. The earrings are embroidered with size 11 pale blue seed beads and size 15 blue metallic seed beads. A metallic blue drop hangs from the bottom. The earrings are backed in slate blue colored ultrasuede and hang from sterling silver ear wires. You can see more photos here.

I made these as part of the Thursday Sweet Treat theme "It's Going to Be A Bright Blue Day". You can see what other artists submitted here.

Tiny Flower Earrings

Since, I've obviously been focused on flowers the last few days, I decided to relist my Tiny Flower Earrings on Etsy. These adorable earrings are perfect for any occasion. Two glass flower beads are surrounded by seed beads and hang from sterling silver ear wires. The earrings are backed in black ultrasuede. These bead embroidered earrings are so light weight, you won't even know your wearing them.