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.

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?

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.

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.

Ladies Who Lunch Ring

Today I listed a new piece in my Etsy shop.

This is another piece I've made with the glass cabochons I've been making. I love this picture. It reminds me of a woman who has time to get dressed up and lunch with her friends. This woman is not me, but I'd like to be her sometimes. So even if you don't get to lunch with your friends (while wearing your long white gloves), you can wear this ring and dream it.

The ring is embroidered with red and purple seed beads. The beadwork is attached to a silver plated adjustable ring. The underside of the ring is covered in red ultrasuede.

You can check out more pictures of it here.

Scallop Shell Pendant

This morning the sun poked it head out for a very short time, but just enough for me to get some pictures taken of the new pieces I've completed.

Here's another piece using the handmade cabochons I've been making. The focal piece for this one is a beautiful print of a scallop shell. I added a second tier to the pendant made from african turquoise. I love this color combination of orange, brown, and turquoise. The pendant hangs from a ribbon and cord necklace.

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.

Southwest Inspired Cuff Finished

I finally got the cuff finished. Sometimes it seems that I get projects almost done and then finishing the final step takes so much effort. I am really happy with how this cuff turned out. I'm debating whether or not I'll post it to my Etsy shop. 

Last weekend I finished two more cuffs and I hope to find sometime this week to get them photographed and posted. Again, that final step takes so much effort. 

I've not been doing much beading this week because I've been working on a knitting project. Friends of ours just welcomed their first baby on July 4th. I started a baby blanket at the end of May and I'm still not done. 

Do you see a pattern here? Do I have a problem? I think I need to work on my "finishing" skills. At least I admit that I have a problem. If you have any suggestions or advice for my problem I'll welcome the input.

But, the sun is shining today so I think we'll go swimming instead. 

Black and White Cuff

I love this dramatic black and white cuff, but it didn't start that way. When I first started work on it, I was extremely frustrated. I usually work with a larger palate of colors. I wanted to try my hand at working with only black and white. I pulled every black and white bead from my ever growing stash. I had acquired the two quartz stones awhile back. I figured that they would become the centerpiece of a neckpiece or cuff, but would be surrounded by a rainbow of colors. As usual, I didn't have a specific plan when I started the cuff. I arranged the cabochons and started beading. Well, after only a few rows of beads I quickly decided that only black and white was not going to do. I was going to have add another color. Focusing only on the black and white, the cuff had no depth and no character. Gray was the natural choice. The addition of gray gave a pleasing step between the black and white beads. The cuff was also embellished with pearls, shell beads, glass beads, and hematite beads. 

So after, a rather dissatisfying start, I was over the top at the finished piece. It is truly a piece of art to wear. 

You can see more pictures of the cuff at my Etsy site (www.jodihorgan.etsy.com).

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.

On My Beading Mat

I thought I would share what I've got on my beading mat this weekend. I've started a new cuff with a southwest theme. The center is a turquoise stone. I've embellished the cuff with pearls, raku beads, pillow beads, seed beads, and more turquoise beads. I've finished beading the cuff and just need to attach it to the base and finish the backing.

I wasn't sure how much I would get done because the garden required a lot of attention. But it was a very productive weekend. The weather was perfect for gardening (not too hot with a nice breeze). The garden looks a lot better and I've got a cuff almost done.