Amoeba or Raindrop? - You be the judge

A couple of months ago I found these great wrap sweaters. I love them and I bought them in three different colors. However I needed a brooch to dress them up and keep them closed if needed. Here's the brooch I made.

The rivoli is an incredible shade of blue/green. While I was beading it, I kept thinking it looked like amoeba especially when I added the fringe. But now when I look at it, it reminds me of a rain drop.

What do you think?

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.

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?

Snow Day in October

Yes, you read right. I saw snow today. Yes, I did double check the calendar. Typically we don't get snow this early in Pittsburgh. Last night the weather man informed us that the last time we had snow this early was in 1972.

I'm not too happy about this snow or unexpected cold weather. I am headed on a camping trip this weekend with my daughter's girl scout troop. Fortunately, we are staying in a heated lodge, but it created a packing nightmare. Heavier jackets, mittens, hats, and long under ware were added to the packing list. I'm hoping the weather man is incorrect about any accumulation.

In honor of today's flakes, I just listed this adorable Snowflake pendant in my Etsy shop . It is a handmade cabochon made from glass and specialized paper. The cabochon is surrounded by speckled pale blue, gray, and metallic blue seed beads. The pendant is backed in slate blue ultrasuede and hangs from a ribbon cord necklace. You can check out more pictures here.

Wishing you warm thoughts this weekend. Please send warm thoughts my way. I have a feeling I'm going to be cold (at some point) the next few days.

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.

To Fringe or Not to Fringe?

Last weekend was rainy and rather cold for mid July in Western Pennsylvania. With that in mind, I created this one-of-a-kind art pendant. The piece was inspired by large raindrops. You know the kind that are huge and make a huge splat against your wind shield. 

Although I am really happy with how it turned out, I can't decide whether or not I should add fringe to the bottom. To fringe or not to fringe, is the question. So what do you think?

Something New Something Blue Cuff

This incredible one-of-a-kind cuff was created for the Etsy Beadweavers July Challenge "Here Comes the Bride...". Inspired by the items every bride needs on her wedding day (something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue), I created this cuff with a twist on the classic.

The cuff was created with 9 mother-of-pearl cabochons. The cabochons were embroidered with delica seed beads and embellished with more than 250 Swarovski crystals in crystal AB and white opal. The underside of the cuff is a beautiful slate blue ultrasuede.

If you'd like to vote please visit the Etsy Beadweavers' Blog between Julty 9th-15th to see all the entries and vote for your favorite. http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com

My cuff is number 21.

Happy 4th of July and Some More Red, White, and Blue

I decided to search Etsy for some more red, white, and blue. Here's what caught my eye.

The first are Czech glass flower cone beads from sultryaffairbeads.

The second comes from goosegrease, custom wedding cake toppers. 

And finally, these beautiful blue lampwork disks from hmbstudios.

I hope you'll take a minute to check out these Etsy shops. 

Have a happy and safe 4th of July! I'll be weeding and beading.

Red, White, and Blue

Since I didn't have anything red, white, and blue to feature I went searching on Etsy. I stumbled upon this beautiful watercolor print. The print is from the shop of LaBerge. The print reminded me of all the strawberries we've been picking from our patch and the wild ones growing in our fields. 

If you have a minute go check out LeBerge's shop. She has a wide variety of prints and original artwork. Enjoy.

Pyrite Earrings

Here's the next pair of earrings. These earrings use a square pyrite bead and a pewter bead as the focal points. The beads are surrounded by matte gray and metallic blue seed beads. A beautiful metallic blue dagger bead hangs from the bottom with Czech glass beads on either side. The earrings hang from sterling silver ear wires and are backed in black ultrasuede.

It is a rainy weekend here so I hoping that I can get some more beading done. I'm also glad it's raining because I just don't feel like weeding the garden. I'd rather weed through my beads.

Skipping Stones Cuff

While on our recent road trip, we took a few moments to skip stones on Lake Champlain. My youngest daughter was so excited when she got a stone to skip two times over the water. We could have stood there forever skipping stone after stone. 

I created the Skipping Stones Cuff to capture that memory. The center stone is a lavrovite stone. The stone is a combination of black, gray, silver, and blue. Each of the stones I bought is slightly different. Some have black spots and others have blue streaks across them. Three dark blue Czech beads are randomly placed on each side. Surrounding each of these Czech beads are seed beads that mimic the ripples of the water. The base is a metal cuff and the underside is covered with navy ultrasuede.